Friday, 27 November 2009
Thursday, 19 November 2009
What Is A Horror Film?
What is a horror film?
A horror movie is a film that shows emotion of fear, and horror to frighten the viewers. Their plots involve themes of death, violence, or the supernatural. People have willing to pay the price of watching a horror film because this triggers a rush of adrenalin.
Personal
The audience’s own identification with the fears or terrors of the narrative:
Fear of the other/monster in the darkness.
Fear of the body being ripped / mutilated.
Our own personal boundaries being transgressed
Emergence of terror at any level being enjoyed from a safe / vicarious distance.
Ideological
· The implicit (hidden) or explicit (obvious) messages embedded within the narrative.
· Themes of punishment, rejection and/or revulsion at subjects which deviate from ‘correct’ thinking.
· From simplistic or basic messages (the virgin ‘good’ girl surviving at the expense of her rebellious ‘slutty’ friend)… to the more nuanced or subtle fears of strangers / hitchhikers breaking our boundaries.
Or the condemnation of any deviant (ie non Christian) religions. Our perception that the power of science can defeat the darkness at the expense of older beliefs in religion and superstition.
In our modern understanding of fear we rationalise the supernatural and defeat it with psychology rather than Latin chants.
Modern media creates ‘demons’ by crusading against sections of society and labelling them
Are there really so many more paedophiles today than in the past?
How many escaped mental patients have actually stalked and killed people?
Industrial / Financial
Perhaps the most lucrative Genre in the film industry horror draws in huge audiences justifying the continual re-invention, re-making and franchising of every successful horror product.
We wonder at whether there should be an Indiana Jones 4 or a Lethal Weapon 5 but no question is raised over the legitimacy of producing Saw 6 or re-making A Nightmare on Elm Street and 9 Previous incarnations.
A horror movie is a film that shows emotion of fear, and horror to frighten the viewers. Their plots involve themes of death, violence, or the supernatural. People have willing to pay the price of watching a horror film because this triggers a rush of adrenalin.
Personal
The audience’s own identification with the fears or terrors of the narrative:
Fear of the other/monster in the darkness.
Fear of the body being ripped / mutilated.
Our own personal boundaries being transgressed
Emergence of terror at any level being enjoyed from a safe / vicarious distance.
Ideological
· The implicit (hidden) or explicit (obvious) messages embedded within the narrative.
· Themes of punishment, rejection and/or revulsion at subjects which deviate from ‘correct’ thinking.
· From simplistic or basic messages (the virgin ‘good’ girl surviving at the expense of her rebellious ‘slutty’ friend)… to the more nuanced or subtle fears of strangers / hitchhikers breaking our boundaries.
Or the condemnation of any deviant (ie non Christian) religions. Our perception that the power of science can defeat the darkness at the expense of older beliefs in religion and superstition.
In our modern understanding of fear we rationalise the supernatural and defeat it with psychology rather than Latin chants.
Modern media creates ‘demons’ by crusading against sections of society and labelling them
Are there really so many more paedophiles today than in the past?
How many escaped mental patients have actually stalked and killed people?
Industrial / Financial
Perhaps the most lucrative Genre in the film industry horror draws in huge audiences justifying the continual re-invention, re-making and franchising of every successful horror product.
We wonder at whether there should be an Indiana Jones 4 or a Lethal Weapon 5 but no question is raised over the legitimacy of producing Saw 6 or re-making A Nightmare on Elm Street and 9 Previous incarnations.
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