Justification
This horror film combines two of the major themes found in modern cinema. It integrates science fiction and zombies to produce a unique new type of horror film. Along with this, it is within a historical background that is not usually seen in these genres. This setting does not detract from the film though, but rather broadens the possibilities for these types of films. Currently, zombie films are very popular, and science fiction is climbing back to the pinnacle of success that it held in the latter half of the twentieth century, but the problem that these film types are facing is the need for new ideas. Recently, zombie and science fiction movies have become predictable and unoriginal. They are frequently made, but tend to be part of an endless series or just poor remakes of pioneering classics. This film provides a fresh look at both these genres while retaining the motifs that made them great. Using the themes of imperialism, fascism, and colonization, this film is a critique of Western traditions of globalization throughout history. This movie is in the horror genre, not only for its use of zombies and extraterrestrials, but also for its reflection on the actions of humanities throughout history.
The story follows Colin McLaren, a poor Scottish farmer born in later half of the twentieth century. The film will begin with his later life, where the world has completely changed due to alien invasion. Through a series of flashbacks, the events leading up to invasion, the first encounters, and the current situation will be revealed. This experience is seen through Colin’s eyes, but still shows how the whole world is affected. Colin, and his friend George Murdoch, had been through a lot together as kids and eventua...
... middle of paper ...
... heavy pouring rain. The aliens instantly began retreating, but the zombies continued. They did not seem to fall until they were shot in the head, and then something very strange happened. As a zombie was charging towards Colin, lightning struck him to the ground, but when he looked back up his eyes were back to normal and did not seem threatening. Colin then had George carry him on to the final ship which then pulled out of the harbor.
Bibliography
Guha, Ranajit. The Prose of Counter-Insurgency. Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1983.
Mishra, Pankaj. The Sun is at Last Setting on Britain’s Imperial Myth. The Guardian, 2013.
Robben, Antonius. How Traumatized Societies Remember: The Aftermath of Argentina's Dirty War. Culture Critique, 2005. http://www.jstor.org/stable/4489199.
Sharp, Lesley. The Commodification of the Body and its Parts. Annual Reviews, 2000.
No book has captivated the zombie apocalypse better than World War Z. Max Brooks creatively presents “a worldwide zombie pandemic from outbreak to aftermath” (Boyd, Tristan). His book encompasses many social and political themes in the world today. The book reveals true fear and shows the strength of the human race.
My premise is really quite simple: aliens are among us.And they're bad.But they're not the aliens you think they are, and they're not bad for the reasons you might imagine.In order to understand who these aliens are and why they're bad I want to begin by reaching back into the dark heart of the McCarthy era, when American paranoia in its most popular incarnation as American patriotism was at its peak.The year is 1951 and the film is Howard Hawkes' The Thing: From Another World.
George Romero's reinvention of the zombie in night of the Living Dead (1968) is clearly a critique of elements of the American society, and the film as a whole is easily twisted into a warped view on the 'American Dream'. Themes throughout Romero’s film, dealing with controversial topics during the time that the film was made, are still, to this day debated by critics and film historians. Themes of racism and war are defined within the movie, hidden underneath the idea of carnal, cannibalistic zombies and over the top heroes who, eventually, succumb to the reanimated; despite their every effort. These themes are colored over and painted to hide beneath subtle references to the typical American Dream during this time, and Romero does quite the good job at it too. This dream, whilst continuously changing in the everyday lives of modern Americans, can be loosely defined as a national ethos of the United States, or a set of ideals dealing with freedom and the opportunity for success - an upward social status that can be achieved through hard work and effort.
Canny, Nicholas: The Oxford History of the British Empire,vol I, TheOrigins of the Empire (New York 1998)
Among New American Ghost Cinema, one can witness the re-emergence of an interesting sub-genre: the Found Footage Cinema. We can observe this new fascination in many modern horror films such as 2008’s Cloverfield, 2009's Paranormal Activity, and 2011's Apollo 18. Digging below the surface of a literal reading of some of these movies, one finds a genre that can be far more intelligent than what meets the public eye. For example, within Cloverfield, the screams and images of smoke heaving through the city of Manhattan hint at post-September 11th. To understand the growing popularity of Found Footage Cinema and why we discover these political undertones, this paper will examine The Blair Witch Project (1999, Myrick and Sanchez) in the context of theorists Robin Wood and Jürgen Habermas’ discussion on humankind’s senses of truth and what our society represses or oppresses. Both Habermas’ essay “The Public Sphere” and Wood’s “Introduction to the American Horror Film” touch on the inner workings of the public’s mind. With these essays and an analysis of these films, I will be able to propose theories working towards a mode of critical engagement with the success of The Blair Witch Project. It is then that we will connect it to the wider social and political jungle surrounding America as it stood on the edge of the Twenty First Century.
In his article Advice for a Dictator, German politician Joseph Goebbels wrote, “A dictatorship requires three things: a man, an idea, and a following ready to live for the man and the idea, and if necessary to die for them” (Goebbels). Here Goebbels states the bare minimum required for a dictatorship to rule a country, but for a dictatorship to run a country, it must have unity; dictators require a unified body of people to have power over, and a unified staff of advisors to help maintain that power (13). From 1976 to 1983, the Argentine Republic was ruled by a dictatorship formally known as the National Reorganization Process. The National Reorganization Process lacked unity, and thus, was a flawed dictatorship. In 1955 the National Reorganization Process led a military coup on Peron, the former president of Argentina. The coup succeeded and as a result, the National Reorganization Process was the governing body of Argentina, and the dictatorship was in full control of its people. However, soon after the coup, Argentina returned to a state of corruption due to a division of the population into left-wing guerrillas and right-wing militants (4, p. 366). This split of the population reduced the power of the dictatorship, and subsequently caused the Dirty War, a seven year internal conflict (5, p. 4-5). Following the split and the dictatorial loss of power, changes were made in the administration of the National Reorganization Process. The dictatorship of Argentina was run mostly independently...
"Fighting Two Wars: George A. Romero's Night of the Living Dead as a Critique of 1960s American Society." Sequart Organization. Web. 19 Sept. 2017.
James, Lawrence. Raj: The Making and Unmaking of British India. New York: St. Martin's, 1998. Print.
Between the years of 1976 to 1983, the period known as the ‘Dirty War’ was in full force in Argentina. During this period, thousands of people mysteriously went missing, and are referred to now as the ‘Disappeared’. It is believed that many of the disappeared were taken by agents of the Argentine government, and perhaps tortured and killed before their bodies were disposed of in unmarked graves or rural areas. Whenever the female captives were pregnant, their children were stolen away right after giving birth, while they themselves remained detained. It is estimated that 500 young children and infants were given to families with close ties to the military to be raised. Within this essay I would like to touch on the brief history of the Dirty war and why the military felt it was necessary to take and kill thousands of Argentina’s, and also the devastating affects the disappeared, and stolen children are having on living relatives of those taken or killed. It is hard to imagine something like this happening in North America relatively recently. To wakeup and have members of your family missing, with no explanation, or to one day be told your parents are not biologically related is something Argentina’s had to deal with, and are continuing to face even today.
The genre of horror when associated to film, it reflects on a vast variety of issues but when examined for the cultural significance it is narrower to what the aim is. This review surveys multiple scholarly sources from different aspects of the purpose of horror films. This literature review justifies that horror is derived from the fear and guilt within our psychological minds. I will argue that the cultural significance of this genre relates back to the emotional appeals that are conjured up when viewing these films.
The continuing fascination with the zombie motif in popular culture, including literature, film, television, and video games, points to the fact that zombies are of greater significance in our cultural psyche than simple vehicles for inducing easy fear. At the same time that the zombies themselves hold this weight, the fear of zombification - the threat of losing one’s selfhood and becoming one of the undead - holds an equal, if not greater, fascination for individuals as well.
One might argue that the scariest horror films are those films which horrors portray a sense that something of that nature might actually happen in the real world. The beauty of horror films is that anything could theoretically be possible, like Freddy Krueger sticking his tongue through Nancy’s phone as he says, “I’m your boyfriend now, Nancy” or a horde of zombies stampeding through the cities of the United States wiping out humanity in its path. If one thinks about it long enough, anything we can perceive could happen. However, there is a line between the pure science fiction and those horror films which attempt to tackle a more realistic, social, cultural, psychological, or political problem in society.
George A. Romero, the director of Night of the Living Dead accidently created the zombie genre that we are familiar with today. Night of the Living Dead reshaped the entire genre with its bitter realism. Romero established verisimilitude unintentionally by focusing on how people react to crisis. The first zombie movies relied on semi-terrifying dress codes (of their time) and the conventional diegetic scream of a female. Whereas Romero’s film is an interpretation of humankind’s collapse. Romero drew inspiration from the infamous Vietnam War spiralling at the time and the American civil war. The verisimilitude lies within the human condition in dire times, like war. Therefore, in the Night of the Living Dead the zombie/ghoul stands as a symbol for the enemy contriving those dire times. This consequently makes the genre actually terrifying because representations have altered. Zombies are no longer an otherworldly or scientific monster e.g. White Zombie but a
Horror films are full excitement, drama, and suspenseful things that most people love to see. World War Z is the story of a man name Gerry Lane, a retired U.N. investigator, who races to safety for him and his family. What is he running from? A lethal virus that are turning people into virus spreading corpuses. Other movies that fit the horror genre are movies such as Halloween, The Exorcist and The Conjuring. This movie could arguably be considered a great example of a horror movie, because it has great aspects that a horror movie should have. I also think that this movie is a great example of a horror movie. Although World War Z is missing one of the main characteristics of a horror movie which is blood and guts, it is still a great example of a typical horror movie because it is fast paced and full of
Steele, P., & MacDonald, F. (2007). The Miles Kelly book of British history. Essex, Great Britian: Miles Kelly.