History of Horror Films

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Nosferatu is a widely inspirational horror, originally made in 1922 it can be interpreted as a stepping stone for cinema not only horror. The story is based loosely on a Dracula theme and in its day it was truly terrifying. As horrors have adapted this production no longer has the same effect in evoking terror within an audience however it has created an outline of which other successful horrors have followed on from. It uses the key element of fantasy characters, ghouls and ghosts aren’t real yet they appear frequently in horrors. The idea of the abhuman is truly terrifying and is a very popular element included in various films, it allows writers to be limitless with abilities of their characters and most writers go to extremes making characters horrific through their appearance aswel as strength and speed etc. Frankenstein is a further character created in this way. The story blurs lines between who the monster really is, are humans the monsters because they leave anything perceived as ‘different’ marginalised and isolated? Nosferatu also creates a base for camera shots in horrors as it uses various close up shots changing swiftly to long or mid shots to create tension aswel as a visual image that emphasizes reality. A final element included in Nosferatu I believe contributes to its success would be its lighting, it uses shadows and low lighting to keep a tense atmospheric feel throughout the entire production which positions the audience to feel afraid and weary at all times. The Human Centipede (First Sequence) made in 2009 is a Dutch horror film written, directed, and co-produced by Tom Six. The film tells the story of a German doctor who kidnaps three tourists and joins them surgically, mouth to anus, forming a "human cen... ... middle of paper ... ...emed stateside production of The Cave in late-August of the same year.” “Scary as hell, gory, suspenseful, relentless, the best horror film of 2006” The film plays on every instinctive fear: darkness, claustrophobia, deformity, drowning and quite literally being killed. This is a dark, intense up close and personal horror affair. Works Cited http://www.rollingstone.com/movies/lists/the-10-best-zombie-movies-20121012/28-days-later-2002-19691231#ixzz2uMsOKxC2 http://www.nytimes.com/movies/movie/276152/28-Days-Later/overview http://www.biography.com/people/danny-boyle-412160 http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/descent/ http://www.horror-movies.ca/horror_reviews_1407.htm http://www.bbc.co.uk/films/2005/07/01/the_descent_2005_review.shtml http://www.theguardian.com/film/filmblog/2010/aug/23/human-centipede-most-horrific-film http://www.ifcfilms.com/films/human-centipede

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