Movie Analysis : Horror / Gore Films

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The topic I have chosen for my investigation is horror/gore films. The hypothesis I am trying to show is the desensitisation audiences have adopted from films such as Carrie and The Human Centipede. What I have noticed over the years is the competition within the film industry over who can produce the most thrilling, spine-tingling and downright mortifying horror films that will still attract audiences. There are always reams of people who are dismayed by the copious amounts of blood and gore they find in most horror/thriller films, so why are productions like these still being made? The public yearn for more. They want more gore, more extreme deaths, and suspense; but how far will they go? Where will the line be drawn? In a world that is so saturated and ingrained in violence, where brutal murders, wars an deaths can be seen on television and read about in the newspapers, is it possible that people are becoming desensitized to it? Think back to 1960, when Alfred Hitchcock released his now world famous horror, Psycho. The famous scene where actress Janet Leigh is attacked in the shower and brutally and very graphically stabbed repeatedly to death by the psychotic murderer played Anthony Perkins. In the 60’s, not many directors were brave enough to go into the horror/gore genre and fully explore it; this made Psycho terrifying and was considered especially violent. If you compare this film to some of the horror/gore films that are being released in the present time, Psycho would be considered tame by today’s standards. Comparing Psycho to a modern day horror such as Carrie, it is evident how much the horror film industry has changed and developed. It has grown in such a way that we are always out looking for a higher thrill, a more... ... middle of paper ... ... building in volume. They then fall and whip the ground as they make contact. Carries facial expression at this time shows no remorse. The fizzing of the wires then causes what looks like the same light pattern you would get from lightening; this fills the room with intervals of blindingly bright lights. Jump cuts are repeatedly used to show the students in the hall trying to escape the hall. Echoes of students screaming things like, “We’ve got to go!” and “Come on!” cover up the non-diegetic sound of the instrumental track in the background, however it is not shown which students exactly are saying this. Back to the original Carrie, things are starting to take a turn for the worse. One of the students tries to take control of the hose that is killing and injuring his classmates. The non-diegetic suspenseful instrumental track is building in volume ever so slightly.

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