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The evolution of horror movies
Horror in cinema essay
Genre of horror introduction
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Horror as a film genre has existed since around 1900 and has captured the imagination and fear of viewers through its attack on the viewer's own fears. Nothing is off limits to the genre whether it be a fictional monster or a societal fear of the time.What qualities of this genre and of the culture it thrives in allows this genre to be ever present and popular in today's society. Horror has had different angles for getting the scare from their audience. One of the most popular in the early stages of horror was using a simple supernatural monster. An example of this was Tod browning’s Dracula. Dracula (1931) was a much more toned down version of the character of Dracula than what modern audiences would be used to but was more than enough …show more content…
Back when horror was still young as a genre their stories were often very limited in the way that they depicted the monster or actions of the films. The advancements pushed the genre where it had not gone before, “The revolution in FX technology that spawned a frightening persuasive level of verisimilitude and visceral in the depiction of futuristic worlds” (Doherty pg. 210). This realism Doherty speaks about in the quote is the fear that is in the possible reality that the monster is something that is believable. As technology progressed so did the horror genres productions. Previously impossible shots could be done using special effects and CGI. This new generation can almost create anything imaginable making the productions more elaborate. A quote by the famous futurist Alvin Toffler exemplifies the cost of technology advancements “Our technological powers increase, but the side effects and potential hazards also escalate.”. These side effects that Toffler references becomes a huge factor into the horror genre. As horror adapts to the natural fears around it the movement forward in technology has produced great advancements in production but also in potential fears and nightmares. In recent years the horror film scene has seen more and more movies depicting the scenario of horror through social media and other forms of technology. The movie Unfriended is one of many to capitalize on this new fear of the technologies around us. The use of the social media platform is being used to convey horror stories just as the portable camera was used to shoot POV shots to create the Blair Witch Project. To shift the view make it closer to home because it is something everyone uses in today's society. . By using the technologies that everyday people use today to make the nightmare ever more real for the everyday
The article Why We Crave Horror Movies by Stephen King distinguishes why we truly do crave horror movies. Stephen King goes into depth on the many reasons on why we, as humans, find horror movies intriguing and how we all have some sort of insanity within us. He does this by using different rhetorical techniques and appealing to the audience through ways such as experience, emotion and logic. Apart from that he also relates a numerous amount of aspects on why we crave horror movies to our lives. Throughout this essay I will be evaluating the authors arguments and points on why society finds horror movies so desirable and captivating.
Hollywood in known for making literary adaptations, and such adaptations will exploit context. Movies bring literary properties to the public that otherwise would not bother to read them. However the "marriage" of literature and film holds their own separate qualities. It is precisely the point that Hollywood distorts and corrupts serious literature for the entertainment pleasures of a mass audience. In the task of comparing and contrasting the novel of "Dracula" to film extracts of "Bram Stoker’s Dracula", values, meaning and context discovered lie between discrepancy and similarity.
These have been adapted from the early twentieth century, and have developed a whole series of genre conventions into a familiar variety of scary settings, iconography, and stereotyped characterisation. Audiences have a clear understanding of this, and they use it to their advantage. They can keep putting the audience through the jolts that horror conventions continue to give. An effective way of keeping the horror fresh would be to break the cycle, by breaking certain conventions. The isolated setting in the two films is a key device used to establish a threatening atmosphere.
Comparing the 1931 version of Dracula, starring Bela Lugosi, with Frances Ford Coppola's Bram Stoker's Dracula 1993 version yields some similarities. Both films are of the same genre: Horror. Both films are set around the same time period. Also, both deal with a vampire coming to England and causing disruptions in people's lives. Beyond these few similarities are numerous contrasts.
Over the years people have given new out looks on the original vampire, Dracula. He was a tall non-attractive looking man who would never come out during the day. Hollywood however has made new vampire stories such as Twilight, True Blood, and The Vampire Diaries/The Originals that have new ideas of a vampire. These novels/books all have differences, but some still have key characteristics of the original vampire.
...bout Dracula as the class system. Changing into a vampire could represent the changing of social class. Being involved with someone of a different social class was rarely done, and looked down upon. As well as that, it was nearly impossible to change classes once in one.
The first stage of the genre cycle is called the primitive stage. During this stage of the cycle, the genre of horror is very new. Filmmakers are trying to decide what makes a horror film a horror film, while audience are figuring out what they should expect every time they see this kind of film. For example, Todd Browning’s Dracula is the basic, stripped down blueprint for many monster-horror films today. It features the “bad guy” accompanied by the “good guy”. After several horrifying events, Van Helsing kills the vampire, Dracula, and good prevails, again. Thus, establishing that in horror films no matter how grue...
One might argue that the scariest horror films are those films which horrors portray a sense that something of that nature might actually happen in the real world. The beauty of horror films is that anything could theoretically be possible, like Freddy Krueger sticking his tongue through Nancy’s phone as he says, “I’m your boyfriend now, Nancy” or a horde of zombies stampeding through the cities of the United States wiping out humanity in its path. If one thinks about it long enough, anything we can perceive could happen. However, there is a line between the pure science fiction and those horror films which attempt to tackle a more realistic, social, cultural, psychological, or political problem in society.
From Transylvania to Hollywood, vampires have transformed from unfamiliar, mysterious personalities to one of the most dominant monsters in the horror genre today. Vampires are one of the oldest and most noted creatures in mythology, with many variations of them around the world. Although the most famous version is Bram Stoker’s Dracula, many variants have come before and after telling of the same legend with their own added ideas and modifications to relate to their cultures. Today, there is a multitude of literary and film works that convey and resurface peoples’ fear of vampires. As gothic works like Dracula, by Bram Stoker and Scooby-Doo! and the Legend of the Vampire directed by Scott Jeralds share certain traits reflective of the genre;
Horror films are designed to frighten the audience and engage them in their worst fears, while captivating and entertaining at the same time. Horror films often center on the darker side of life, on what is forbidden and strange. These films play with society’s fears, its nightmare’s and vulnerability, the terror of the unknown, the fear of death, the loss of identity, and the fear of sexuality. Horror films are generally set in spooky old mansions, fog-ridden areas, or dark locales with unknown human, supernatural or grotesque creatures lurking about. These creatures can range from vampires, madmen, devils, unfriendly ghosts, monsters, mad scientists, demons, zombies, evil spirits, satanic villains, the possessed, werewolves and freaks to the unseen and even the mere presence of evil.
...negative manner. These changes are a representation of the cultural acceptance of each topic during the different eras. The almost 100 year gap in the creation of each work of art, shows that Dracula is a classic novel that will forever be adapt and changed according to the creators personal bias.
Dracula, by Bram Stoker, is a classic tale of Gothicism. Traditionally, gothic tales only carried single theme of horror. Through Dracula, Stoker breaks this single theme barrier. The theme throughout Dracula is clearly displayed through the characters as they step from ignorance to realization in this tale of horror.
People are addicted to the synthetic feeling of being terrified. Modern day horror films are very different from the first horror films which date back to the late nineteenth century, but the goal of shocking the audience is still the same. Over the course of its existence, the horror industry has had to innovate new ways to keep its viewers on the edge of their seats. Horror films are frightening films created solely to ignite anxiety and panic within the viewers. Dread and alarm summon deep fears by captivating the audience with a shocking, terrifying, and unpredictable finale that leaves the viewer stunned.
Dracula, the 1931 film directed by Tod Browning is loosely based upon the novel of the same name. Therefore both share similar characteristics but are distinct. The differences between the novel and film occur due to the cinematic choices made as well as the fact that the film is based off of not only the novel Dracula but also the 1924 play Dracula. One major decision made by Browning was to alter the role of Johnathan Harker. In the novel Johnathan is the solicitor who meets with Dracula in Transylvania and narrowly escapes the “veritable prison” and is a changed man due to his experiences there (25).
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.