Almost everyone has a favorite genre of film, but how everyone defines their favorite genre can differ greatly. Horror is one of the genres where its definition can be perceived differently by many people. Like all other genres, horror does have rules and traditions that must be included in order for a film to be considered a horror film. These rules and traditions include a protagonist, an antagonist, an escape or escape attempt of some sort, and very influential audio and visual effects. To begin with, the protagonist is an absolute must in any horror movie. The protagonist in a horror film is usually one person or a group of people. The protagonist in Sinister 2 is a mother and two sons which is provides a good example of the group protagonist This being is the antagonist. The antagonist brings a great aspect to every horror movie especially because it can change forms. An example of it changing forms is in The Boy. Most of the film the wooden doll is seen as the antagonist, but in the end there is actual human being living behind the walls that is the real antagonist (The Boy). The antagonist is an absolute must in any horror film because without it there is nothing to provide a horrifying experience for the protagonist. The antagonist is the reason any horror film is horrifying. Without an antagonist most horror films would lose a great portion of the plot, if not all of it, because the protagonist would have nothing to be scared of. The whole film would turn into a person or a group walking around possibly crying or screaming for no reason. The antagonist provides the reason for most of the protagonist’s actions throughout the This part of the horror film is where most of the action occurs. Without the escape aspect of a horror film there would not be much of climax in any horror film. The escape or an escape attempt in a horror film provides the suspense that keeps the attention of the audience. Many horror films provide a special character, who is almost a hero in essence, at this point in the film to help the protagonist escape the antagonist, or escape a situation the antagonist put the protagonist in. In the film Insidious: Chapter 3, Quinn, who is the protagonist, receives help from Elise Rainier who can speak to and interact with demons. A demon was trying to take over Quinn’s body, but Elise steps in an helps Quinn escape from the demon (Insidious: Chapter 3). Often times, just like in Insidious: Chapter 3, the special character is an insignificant character up until the part of the film where the escape occurs. These special characters are very important to the escape process, and without them many films would be significantly
The horror genre of film captives the frightfulness of individual fear, horror is the only genre that is meant captive the terror of the audience. The horror- the genre has been around well over one hundred- years there has been an extension of different types of horror and how the audience perceives horror. Many would even argue that horror films often reflect the fear of society in that certain time period. The evolution of horror reflects the evolution of society’s fear.
Audiences love to be scared. Horror films attempt to find some sort of trigger in the audiences mind, and develop it to create horror. Preceded by the great horror novels such as Dracula, and developed in the early nineteen twenties and nineteen thirties in Germany. From slash movies, to the post-modern psychological thrillers, horror films have evolved into an art form. This genre relies heavily on the basic horror conventions.
Halloween is rife with psychological scares that affect its audience greatly. “Symbolism, dreamlike imagery, emotional rather than rational logic” are present in Psychoanalytic criticism. Siskel and Ebert talked about how the movie makes you feel as if you are the protagonist, scared for your life and feeling every bit of suspense (Siskel and Ebert). The movie is purely fueled by emotional responses to what is happening to the characters and focuses itself purely on how the audience will respond. In the clip shown, the main protagonist talks about how she killed the killer but he is shown alive. The movie is not concerned with the logic; otherwise, the killer would have at least been slowed down by the injuries he sustained. Siskel and Ebert laud the movie on its set up of scenes, score, character development, and use of lighting to make the audience feel the terror the characters undergo.
Reflecting back on the most iconic figures in the history of horror cinema, characters like Michael Myers, Freddy Krueger, and Jason Voorhees still shine brighter than all the rest – even despite their current lack of utilization. In the meantime, an array of other “big bads,” ranging from Ghostface, Jigsaw, and Annabelle, has attempted to climb the proverbial ladder into the (imaginary) horror hall of fame.
Film scholars around the world agree that all genres of film are part of the “genre cycle”. This cycle contains four different stages that a specific genre goes through. These stages are: primitive, classic, revisionist, and parody. Each stage that the genre goes through brings something different to that genre’s meaning and what the audience expects. I believe that looking at the horror genre will be the most beneficial since it has clearly gone through each stage.
What is horror? Webster's Collegiate Dictionary gives the primary definition of horror as "a painful and intense fear, dread, or dismay." It stands to reason then that "horror fiction" is fiction that elicits those emotions in the reader. An example of a horror film is "The Shining", directed by Stanley Kubrick. Stanley Kubrick was a well-known director, producer, writer and cinematographer. His films comprised of unique, qualitative scenes that are still memorable but one iconic film in his collection of work is The Shining. Many would disagree and say that The Shining was not his best work and he could have done better yet, there are still those who would say otherwise. This film was not meant to be a “scary pop-up” terror film but instead, it turned into a spectacular psychological, horor film in which Kubrick deeply thought about each scene and every line.
A girl runs frantically through the woods trying to escape an axe wielding villain. The defenseless victim suddenly trips and collapses to the ground. The villain laughs wickedly as he lifts the axe above his head. The girl releases a final scream as the weapon quickly ends her life, causing the audience to go silent as they watch the villain drag away the lifeless body. Death, blood, guts, suspense, screaming, and terror are all just a few things to expect when watching a modern day horror film. What is horror? Horror can be defined as an intense feeling of fear, shock, or disgust. (Wilson) The description of horror is not very pleasant, but for some reason horror films are extremely popular. Why is this so? People are addicted to the synthetic feeling of being terrified.
common conventions of the horror genre. It thrusts us into the life of Michael Myers, an
Victor Frankenstein- He is the creator of the monster. Victor spends a majority of his time trying to destroy the creation that he made. He feels scared and depressed after creating the monster, and goes home where he finally sees the repercussions of bringing a human back to life.
The primary characteristics of a horror film include, an emphasis on themes such as, good against evil, death, mental issues and the supernatural. The settings of horror films are normally located in places that create the protagonist to be vulnerable. For instance popular locations include, isolated and dark areas, haunted houses, old churches, orphanages and hospitals. Both films attempt to cover these themes.
People flock to horror movies each year. Usually to be scared. Another is to solve the question of Who done it? Unfortunately, a lot of these horror movies fail to scare people or make the killer so obvious the audience gets bored. Occasionally, there are a few horror movies that stick out. Scream, directed by Wes Craven, is one of them. Wes Craven is always toying with the viewer's fears. Always finding ways to scare the audience at every turn. He also plays with the viewer's head, and has them second guessing themselves. How does he do it? Well, as one of the characters in the movie exclaims, "There's a formula to it. A very simple formula. Everybody's a suspect!" This paper will discuss how Craven uses sound, camera shots, and mise en scene
Throughout the whole movie these elements help each other out to make the movie a great movie and fall in the horror genre. Each element helps each other by making the next scene better than the one before. It has the storyline come to live, and having people thinking what can happen next or who has the power in the movie. By seeing this movie it can make someone feel complete and satisfied for a long
When most people think of a “slasher film” (Clover 1992) they tend to think of movies such as Friday the 13th, Halloween, and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. These movies align with the basic necessities for a slasher film ,but at the same time, are repetitive. In 1984 A Nightmare on Elm Street was created and completely changed what was looked at as a “slasher villain”. In A Nightmare on Elm Street the viewer is introduced the evil omnipresent being known as Freddy Krueger. Freddy Krueger is a nightmareous malicious monster whose only purpose is to kill. He is the embodiment of fear and evil with immense power and abilities that some would dub as “Godlike.” In James Kendrick’s Razors in the Dreamscape: Revisiting A Nightmare on Elm Street and the Slasher Film Kendrick discusses A Nightmare on Elm Street’s originality as compared to other slasher films such as Friday the 13th, Halloween, etc. Kendrick presents an understanding of how A Nightmare on Elm Street fights common archetypes and tropes associated with the slasher genre by discussing the amalgamation of Krueger and his victims and how it ultimately emasculates Krueger and leads to his demise.
Horror movies attempt to make the audience experience fear, dread, disgust or terror. The plots often involve the supernatural and fantasy world giving the audience the reassurance that what is being seen is not truly existing. Horror movie plots are often than not, predictable. Horror movies will show gruesome and graphic violence. Many times, this will include close up shots of horrifying deaths and relentless tortures in an attempt to compel an audience to express emotions such as disgust and fright. Also, the way horror movies are promoted and advertised is a difference. In trailers and movie covers the backgrounds are often red or a dark color as such. It suggests danger and advocates violence. A horror movie is scarier in that exact moment and
Psycho showed us that the monster of a film does not have to be creature or some sort of humanoid in order to strike fear into an audience. Psycho used the darkness that resides within both man and woman in order to drive his plot line. A seemingly innocent woman can be a thief, conning thousands of dollars from her very own job. Norman, while quirky, lacks immediate intimidation and does not invoke fear on first sight. He seems to be a lonely man who never found a wife and life who is ruled by his “mother.” While appearing harmless, mental instability ruled his life, rendering him capable of cold blooded murder. This movie showed us the horror and the painful lifestyle that the mentally unstable endure, a topic not often