Freddy Krueger. Michael Myers. Jason. If one sees these names and automatically pictures knives and a hockey mask, undoubtedly, that person is a fan of the slasher movie genre. Being drawn to these types of movies for the suspense, the thrill, the adrenaline-rush puts its fans in a unique category. However, in 1996, after years of substandard slasher-movie sequels virtually ruined the horror movie genre, director Wes Craven and screenwriter Kevin Williamson redefined the genre with Scream, a movie which inspired a new wave of meta stories across all genres of films, calling out stereotypical tropes and clichés amongst classic scary movies (Welk).
Depending on who you ask, a slasher film is defined as a subgenre of horror films
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With the release of the movie, Wes Craven was simultaneously praising and satirizing the genre entirely. Scream was sharp, self-aware, and certainly resonated with a generation of angsty teens. The film starts off powerfully with a chilling scene starring Drew Barrymore as high school student Casey Becker, where she is taunted on the phone by killer, “Ghostface,” who asks her his signature question, “What’s your favorite scary movie?” This question, unlike in other films, shapes Scream’s cognizant presence in a world familiar with the horror genre. At the end of the opening scene, Casey meets her gruesome demise just before the opening credits--ultimately setting the tone for the ensuing horror …show more content…
Since Sidney's boyfriend, Billy Loomis, is so obviously shown as a possible suspect throughout the movie, it's actually surprising when it does, in fact, turn out to be him. His motive, however, is pretty surprising. With Stu Macher (Matthew Lillard) as his accomplice, who meets his own fatal end, Billy began his killing spree as retaliation for his parent's divorce brought on by his dad's affair with Sidney's mom. Another surprising element to this twist is that Sidney finds out that Cotton Weary (Liev Schreiber), the man Sidney believed to have killed her mother one year prior, is actually innocent, and that Billy and Stu murdered her mother because of the affair. This just goes to prove one of the greatest quotes from the movie, “Everybody’s a suspect!”
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.
To begin with, some people would say they enjoy a horror movie that gets them scared out of their wits. They go see these movies once a month on average, for fun, each time choosing a newer sequel like “Final Destination” or “The evil Dead”. King says “When we pay our four or five bucks and seat ourselves at tenth-row center in a theater showing a horror movie we are daring the nightmare” (405). As a writer of best-sel...
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.
Scream 4’s brilliance was that it took old tropes and remixed them, a blending of old and new. Director Wes Craven was already accomplished, he directed films such as The Last House on the Left, The Hills Have Eyes, and A Nightmare on Elm Street- and the previous three Screams before Scream 4 came
Finally, horror became ‘Slasher.’ The 1970’s became obsessed with realistic news stories and characters and films became more stylize and followed similar storyline conventions. Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974), Halloween (1978) and Night Mare On Elm Street (1984) where full of psycho villains, teens in danger and the sole survivor leading to plenty of sequels. The only other horror genre or thriller genre focused on suspense, movie...
The genre of horror films is one that is vast and continually growing. So many different elements have been known to appear in horror films that it is often times difficult to define what is explicitly a horror film and what is not. Due to this ambiguous definition of horror the genre is often times divided into subgenres. Each subgenre of horror has a more readily identifiable list of classifications that make it easier to cast a film to a subgenre, rather than the entire horror genre. One such subgenre that is particularly interesting is that of the stalker film. The stalker film can be categorized as a member of the horror genre in two ways. First, the stalker film can be identified within the horror genre due to its connection with the easily recognizable subgenre of horror, the slasher film. Though many elements of the stalker film differ from those of the slasher film, the use of non-mechanical weapons and obvious sexual plot points can be used to categorize the stalker film as a subgenre of the slasher film. Secondly, the stalker film can be considered a member of the horror genre using Robin Wood’s discussion regarding horror as that which society represses. The films Fatal Attraction, The Fan, and The Crush will be discussed in support of this argument. (Need some connector sentence here to finish out the intro)
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.
The Web. 1 Dec. 2013. http://ezinearticles.com/?A-Brief-History-Of-Horror-Movies&id=4834368>. Parker, Sam. A. Horror Through The Decades. Bauer Consumer Media, 2009.
This depends on the location - is it a business mans office or an old
Too many horror films provide scares and screams throughout their respective cinemas. Not many viewers follow what kind of model the films follow to appease their viewers. However, after reading film theorist Carol Clover’s novel, watching one of the films she associates in the novel “Halloween”, and also watching the movie “Nightmare on Elm Street” I say almost every “slasher” or horror film follows a model similar to Clover’s. The model is a female is featured as a primary character and that females tend to always overcome a situation at some point throughout the film.
Within the genre of horror films falls the sub-genre of teen slasher/stalker films. These teen slasher/stalker films take the horror genre film characteristics into account, however they add more to the formula. More violence, sadism, brutality, and graphic blood and gore are used to increase the terror factor. Sexuality and gratuitous nudity are also key characteristic of many of these films. Imitations and numerous sequels are also a common characteristic of teen slasher/stalker films as well.
SCREAM starts out in the quiet country region of Woodsboro, California. The silence is soon broken by the ringing of a phone coming from the inside of Casey Becker's home. The conversation between Casey and the threatening Voice, eventually leads up to having Casey scared out of her wits and being gutted. Sidney Prescott learns about the murder, and also finds out it was almost as bad as the murder of her mother (Maureen Prescott), which occurred almost a year ago. Randy Meeks, Reporter Gail Weathers, and Deputy Dewey Riley all get mixed up in the story with Sidney. If you want to learn anything else about the movie, go WATCH IT!!!!
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
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.