To start off, the most obvious aspect of the horror genre that is in this film is vampires as they are a supernatural creature. The Vampires in the film are what you would expect; blood-sucking beasts with their sharp teeth, which sleep upside down, cast no reflection and who are afraid of sunlight. But that’s not all of it.…
Gender roles have been a theme for many films throughout time. One movie that particularly challenges the idea of gender roles in the horror genre is that of Halloween (1978). In many horror films, women are depicted as weak and rather ignorant victims of the killer that is coming to attack. That is very different from how Halloween depicts the heroine of the story. She is seen as an intelligent woman trying to protect both herself and her children in a way that is both smart and productive. Siskel and Elbert view the film as more of an upbeat horror film in their movie critique. They view it as a positive that the women are given a more dominant presence and therefor making the focus of the film something so much more than a senseless murder of a women who could not defend herself.…
The theme of deeply ingrained values is also present in A Nightmare on Elm Street…
What makes us feel horror in contemporary culture? What are the modern traits of monstrosity? How does aesthetic horror re-define itself in political and social terrors? We shall base our seminars on the reading of academic texts from various disciplines and of two films that re-defined the horror genre: the ultimate zombie-film The Night of the Living Dead by George Romero (1968) and Funny Games US by Michael Haneke (2007) which offers a radical critique on mediated representations of horror. Through the close reading of articles and the two films, we shall explore the many facets of horror and discover the common ‘ingredients’ of the horrifying experience in art, politics, sociology and…
When producing a horror movie we tend to think of an indivual going around killing or chopping people up into small peices. Some horror movies might have a big scary monster that goes around and terrorize people in there neighborhood. This is the norm for most horror movies to give the storyline that scarey factor. The movie "I am Legend" was a horror movie that took a different aprroach from your normal horror movies. It was still scarey but only had that horror effect when the time was right or when the monster was approached. In this paper I will analisy the movie "I am Legend" to better understand the overall storyline and its plot.…
Postmodern horror blurs the putative boundary between good and evil, normal and abnormal, and the outcome of the struggle is at best ambiguous.” (Pinedo, 5)…
I can still recall the first time that I saw a horror film. I was seven years old and the movie was Nightmare on Elm Street’s Freddy Krueger. Freddy is a frightening character in the 1984 film. He is a serial killer who has knives instead of fingernails. The nightmare that haunted me nightly was the scene when a teenage girl wanders around a dark boiler room in only her nightgown, a screeching is heard as knives are scratched against the pipes. The combination of reality into the movie made it a more nerve-racking experience.…
The horror genre is meant to bring out the worst in people. Each and every person has dark and evil thoughts that are not often seen during the day. However, the moment they begin watching a horror movie, those evil thoughts take over. It is a “peculiar sort of fun, indeed. The fun comes from seeing others menaced – sometimes killed” (King, 1). These sort of movies appeal to the side of people that is often tucked away. While I am driving down the highway and a person suddenly cuts me off and I have to slam on the breaks, I often think what would happen if I jumped out of my car and slammed…
Initially, Edwards implements frightening and vivid imagery in order to establish fear and dread, two motives that focus on the negative aspects of life. The first refers to God’s wrath and the evils of humanity. To emphasize…
The term slasher refers to a subgenre of movies and a category of monster. These kinds of movies started becoming popular back in the 1950’s and the movie Psycho became one of the most commonly referred to for this genre of movies. This movie is most well-known for “the shower scene”, which accurately portrays the trend of victims as helpless, beautiful, and without much clothing. Even though the violence in this famous scene was well hidden, it is said that even today it has the chilling effect.…
The Amityville horror is my chosen topic which I am going to write about for my report. I have chosen this particular topic as the field of criminology is one I find really interesting and hope to study it further at university. I have recently seen the film of the Amityville Horror' and found it intriguing so I thought I would study it further. In this report I intend to cover the murderer', the murder' and the theory behind the crime.…
In his article “Why We Crave Horror Movies,” published in the December 1981 issue of Playboy Magazine, thriller author Stephen King uses a sarcastic but menacing tone to explain why people watch horror films. In the very first sentence of the article, King shows that we are all insane to some degree; we are all mentally ill, but some can hide it better than others (King 222). Why do you spend so much time and money going to the cinemas to see horror movies? We go simply to show that we are not afraid. Great horror films cause us to bring out our inner children, “…seeing things in pure blacks and whites…good versus evil” (King 223). The author also displays how the creepy, dark scenes of these gruesome adventures create a sense of normality in our own lives; seeing characters being chased by a creature with a chainsaw makes our lives seem much better. King also argues that everyone has two kinds of emotions: positive and negative. During childhood, everyone is taught the differences between the two with positive reinforcements (i.e. graham crackers, and smiles) and negative reinforcements (i.e. spankings and time outs) (King 223). Horror movies allow us to release negative or anti-civilization emotions in a manner in which society accepts them. In his article, King uses picturesque and figurative language to explain why people watch horror movies.…
Horror and thriller are a long standing favorite media type of our kind. A good scare that lingers in our minds sticks with us in ways other genres do not. The interest can span through movies and novels which both deliver results in different ways. Horrors and thrillers also affect our bodies while watching, though also differently. The reasons of why we like to be scared continue to be studied, but a few theories have emerged that are all partially accepted. Horrors and thrillers stimulate both our bodies and minds because they remain a mystery as to why we like them, they have helped us evolve, and they demand our attention.…
Remember, I was nine years old, and had never seen a true horror film, let alone a slasher film. As Michael chased down his young niece Jamie, played by the underrated Danielle Harris, and killed anyone who got in his way, I never once took my gaze away from the screen. Even during commercial breaks, I refused to get up to go to the bathroom, afraid to miss even a second of Michael's rampage. I had no context for what was happening as far as story went, as I had not seen any of the other Halloween films at this time. I wasn't even aware of Halloween as a movie. I hadn't even seen someone wear a Michael Myers mask for Halloween before. But as a nine year old, story and plot didn't mean much to me. However, the simple but effective story struck a chord with me, as I used to get really awful night terrors about being chased by monsters and madmen, and therefore really identified with the sheer terror young Jamie felt during her ordeal. I loved the motley crew of characters the film featured, most notably Dr. Loomis, played by the late Donald Pleaseance (R.I.P), who reminded me a great deal of my lovable Grandpa Jack. The iconic theme, which I had heard at haunted houses and various other places before, bore itself into my ears and would not go away. I was completely absorbed into the moody atmosphere of dread and evil. I constantly search the screen, looking for where Michael would show up next. As the film reached its terrifying climax, with Jamie's sister Rachel, played by Ellie Cornell, trying to escape Michael in a very well shot and paced sequence inside a truck, I watched with such single minded determination that I'd never had before. When the police finally arrived and blew Michael to kingdom come, I breathed the first sigh of relief since I started watching. Jamie and Rachel were saved and Michael was…
However, because of the cliches that has been used a lot in the horror genre, people get bored with horror story in these days and the genre needs to be changed in different ways to make people feel terror. One of the new genre that came out from…