The Horror Genre
The horror genre is a topic that can be written or filmed about. In
this essay, I will be concentrating on films, and how the horror genre
is included in them. The main ingredients in a horror film are music,
sound effects, lighting, camera trickery & special effects and most
importantly a clever, catchy, scary script. But to make horror what it
is, a director will include many other things that create suspense and
the eerie atmosphere of the scene, or simply make us cringe. The prop
are not just there to fill space, the costumes aren't chosen because
the character had to wear something or the film done at night because
the filming finished late. I will explain the reasons these factors
are deeply thought about and invested in later, as well as the effects
they have on the viewers mind and the atmosphere of the scene.
The actors and actresses in a film need to be suited for their roles.
Could you imagine a film where Arnold Schwarznegger is the innocent
murder victim, and Dale Winton the serial killer? Don't you think it
would be a little bit more logical the opposite way round? Due to
Arnold's reputation as the killer or hero, people may not want to
watch him being brutally and mercilessly murdered; does Dale's voice
suit a typical gruff murderer's voice? But the actor is not the only
important part - a characters costume can have a major effect on our
emotions towards another. For instance, if the murder victim is smart,
young business man, with a tidy suit, he would be considered a happy
man, probably with family, the viewer may feel pity on him and his
family if he is killed. This effect on the viewers mind is ...
... middle of paper ...
...p a photo of a small girl or a painting of an old man?
This depends on the location - is it a business mans office or an old
corridor in a haunted castle? Also, the location and time of day is
important. Does a murder happen in an isolated woodland cottage at
midnight or in the centre of New York at rush hour? And the sound is
very important, too. Sound effects need to be perfectly timed,
incidental music needs to be of the right style at the right scene.
The action needs to be suited to character and personality, make-up
not obvious (unless intended) and have sensible and logical camera
work and lighting.
If a horror film has a well written script with no 'dead ends' or
'gaps' in it, professional acting implied and an enjoyable, thrilling
and scary plot, it will be popular and enjoyed by nearly all who watch
it.
“Do you like scary movies?” purred a sinister voice over the telephone, and immediately Scream had marked itself out as something new in a tired genre. When it was released in 1996, the classic slasher franchises had all pretty much ran out of steam. Scream was different, it was a breath of fresh air: smart and self-referential, it reminded horror fans what they loved about the genre in the first place, and scared them silly at the same time.
sample, but it also appeals to population and emotion. To further explain why we crave
The Importance of Aesthetic Distance in American Horror Movies What then do we make of American horror movies? In the canon of horror pictures they almost always come second in respect to foreign horror movies and any American horror film that is considered to be artful is the one with the most aesthetic distance. Upscale slashers like Johnathan Demme's The Silence of the Lambs (1991) or David Fincher's Seven (1995) are both gruesome and bloody borrowing many of the same shock techniques as their lower budget counterparts (for example, Russell Mulchahy's Sevenish thriller Resurrection (1999)), both focus on the body and its violation, either through sexual means or violent means, and both feature villains who fit easily into Carol Clover's
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.
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.
First, the movie Trick 'r Treat is part of the horror comedy type of horror film trend that started in the 1980's. Films of this type are fully aware of the tropes of the horror genre, and exploit them either for comedic purposes or surprise. Horror comedy films also know the history of the horror genre and make references to it. Trick 'r Treat belongs to the horror comedy movement because it is self-aware, the director knows the genre well and uses that for comedy and to defy the viewers expectation. For example, the viewer expects the girls who are costuming in the beginning to be brutally murdered, except for Laurie, who is a virgin and would therefore survive, because they are pretty and sexual, which in horror films is usually a death sentence for girls.
Each of the teenagers in the group plays an archetypal role that can found in many of the horror films of the last thirty years. Jules plays the role of ‘The Whore’, Curt ‘The Athlete’, Holden ‘The Scholar’, Marty ‘The Fool’, and Dana ‘The Virgin’. The remaining two in the third act of the film, Marty and Dana, discover that the order in which they group dies can be flexible, as long as ‘The Whore’ dies first and ‘The Virgin’ lives or is the last to perish. This revelation for the characters partly acts as a critique of the moralistic view of sex as resulting in death in the traditional slasher movie. For example in films that established the slasher in the horror genre like John Carpenter’s ‘Halloween’ (1978), all of the characters that engage
and think deeply about NYC, there has been a chime in my head of the messengers
We all have cravings, be it for snacks or sweets, there is always something we desire. We crave horror in the same way. In Stephen King’s essay, “Why We Crave Horror Movies,” he argues that people need to watch horror films in order to release the negative emotions within us. King believes that people feel enjoyment while watching others be terrorized or killed in horror movies. King’s argument has elements that are both agreeable and disagreeable. On one hand he is acceptable when claiming we like the thrill and excitement that comes from watching horror movies; however, his views regarding that the fun comes from seeing others suffer cannot be agreed with because the human condition is not as immoral as he claims it to be.
We crave horror movies simply for “the fun of it” in agreeing with Stephen King Why We Crave Horror movies. King gave multiple examples in his story as to why we crave horror movies and I can agree with just about each and every one of them. After watching a few horror movies for yourself, you will understand why it is easy to agree with King. If you have watched movies such as the 2004 movie Dawn of the Dead, The Purge, or The Conjuring you will also be able to relate to Chuck Klosterman My Zombie, Myself “Zombies are just so easy to kill.” Klostermans theory of zombies are extremely useful because it sheds insight on the difficult yet exciting problem of zombies in the real world. Klosterman’s argument that the repetition of modern life is
Stephen King, a very well-known writer and director, has a passionate voice when it comes to anything dealing with horror. In “Why We Crave Horror Movies,” King calls us out for knowing that we love the adrenaline rush and how we are so captivated by horror movies. He explains how we watch horror movies for the level of fun. King proposes that we go to defy ourselves; to see how far it can push us and that is what makes the experience so interesting. We lock our inner psycho from reality and feed it with the demonic, bloody violence found in horror movies. Doing this suggests that horror movies are our fix for our psychotic thoughts. Stephen King’s “Why We Crave Horror Movies” portrays that we are all insane in some weird way through
a. Autopsy Room Four a man is lying on the table awaiting his living autopsy unable to scream.
Would you rather be horrified beyond repair or thrilled to the point of no return? In horror, the main purpose is to invoke fear and dread into the audience in the most unrealistic way. Horror movies involve supernatural entities such as ghosts, vampires, teleportation, and being completely immortal. As thriller films are grounded in realism and involve more suspense, mystery, and a sense of panic. Though both genres will frighten the audience, it will happen in two different ways. Whether the horror thrills or the thriller horrifies, a scare is always incorporated.
The roar of the people surrounding me is like being right behind the jet of
“Natural Born Killers,” “ Psycho,” “ Friday the 13th ,” and “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” are all horror films. In these films there is always some crazy person or monster-like character that goes around and slaughters innocent people. And usually, but not all the time the killer is killed at the end of the movie. The media publishes or broadcasts stories that say that horror films influence people to imitate these wrongful acts of violence. I believe that these movies do not influence people to imitate these murderous crimes onto innocent people. Horror films are a way for people to exercise their violent emotions with out hurting anyone.