Almost everyone has a favorite genre of film, but how everyone defines their favorite genre can differ greatly. Horror is one of the genres where its definition can be perceived differently by many people. Like all other genres, horror does have rules and traditions that must be included in order for a film to be considered a horror film. These rules and traditions include a protagonist, an antagonist, an escape or escape attempt of some sort, and very influential audio and visual effects. To begin with, the protagonist is an absolute must in any horror movie. The protagonist in a horror film is usually one person or a group of people. The protagonist in Sinister 2 is a mother and two sons which is provides a good example of the group protagonist This being is the antagonist. The antagonist brings a great aspect to every horror movie especially because it can change forms. An example of it changing forms is in The Boy. Most of the film the wooden doll is seen as the antagonist, but in the end there is actual human being living behind the walls that is the real antagonist (The Boy). The antagonist is an absolute must in any horror film because without it there is nothing to provide a horrifying experience for the protagonist. The antagonist is the reason any horror film is horrifying. Without an antagonist most horror films would lose a great portion of the plot, if not all of it, because the protagonist would have nothing to be scared of. The whole film would turn into a person or a group walking around possibly crying or screaming for no reason. The antagonist provides the reason for most of the protagonist’s actions throughout the This part of the horror film is where most of the action occurs. Without the escape aspect of a horror film there would not be much of climax in any horror film. The escape or an escape attempt in a horror film provides the suspense that keeps the attention of the audience. Many horror films provide a special character, who is almost a hero in essence, at this point in the film to help the protagonist escape the antagonist, or escape a situation the antagonist put the protagonist in. In the film Insidious: Chapter 3, Quinn, who is the protagonist, receives help from Elise Rainier who can speak to and interact with demons. A demon was trying to take over Quinn’s body, but Elise steps in an helps Quinn escape from the demon (Insidious: Chapter 3). Often times, just like in Insidious: Chapter 3, the special character is an insignificant character up until the part of the film where the escape occurs. These special characters are very important to the escape process, and without them many films would be significantly
Too many horror films provide scares and screams throughout their respective cinemas. Not many viewers follow what kind of model the films follow to appease their viewers. However, after reading film theorist Carol Clover’s novel, watching one of the films she associates in the novel “Halloween”, and also watching the movie “Nightmare on Elm Street” I say almost every “slasher” or horror film follows a model similar to Clover’s. The model is a female is featured as a primary character and that females tend to always overcome a situation at some point throughout the film.
Halloween is rife with psychological scares that affect its audience greatly. “Symbolism, dreamlike imagery, emotional rather than rational logic” are present in Psychoanalytic criticism. Siskel and Ebert talked about how the movie makes you feel as if you are the protagonist, scared for your life and feeling every bit of suspense (Siskel and Ebert). The movie is purely fueled by emotional responses to what is happening to the characters and focuses itself purely on how the audience will respond. In the clip shown, the main protagonist talks about how she killed the killer but he is shown alive. The movie is not concerned with the logic; otherwise, the killer would have at least been slowed down by the injuries he sustained. Siskel and Ebert laud the movie on its set up of scenes, score, character development, and use of lighting to make the audience feel the terror the characters undergo.
The genre of horror films is one that is vast and continually growing. So many different elements have been known to appear in horror films that it is often times difficult to define what is explicitly a horror film and what is not. Due to this ambiguous definition of horror the genre is often times divided into subgenres. Each subgenre of horror has a more readily identifiable list of classifications that make it easier to cast a film to a subgenre, rather than the entire horror genre. One such subgenre that is particularly interesting is that of the stalker film. The stalker film can be categorized as a member of the horror genre in two ways. First, the stalker film can be identified within the horror genre due to its connection with the easily recognizable subgenre of horror, the slasher film. Though many elements of the stalker film differ from those of the slasher film, the use of non-mechanical weapons and obvious sexual plot points can be used to categorize the stalker film as a subgenre of the slasher film. Secondly, the stalker film can be considered a member of the horror genre using Robin Wood’s discussion regarding horror as that which society represses. The films Fatal Attraction, The Fan, and The Crush will be discussed in support of this argument. (Need some connector sentence here to finish out the intro)
Reflecting back on the most iconic figures in the history of horror cinema, characters like Michael Myers, Freddy Krueger, and Jason Voorhees still shine brighter than all the rest – even despite their current lack of utilization. In the meantime, an array of other “big bads,” ranging from Ghostface, Jigsaw, and Annabelle, has attempted to climb the proverbial ladder into the (imaginary) horror hall of fame.
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.
What is horror? Webster's Collegiate Dictionary gives the primary definition of horror as "a painful and intense fear, dread, or dismay." It stands to reason then that "horror fiction" is fiction that elicits those emotions in the reader. An example of a horror film is "The Shining", directed by Stanley Kubrick. Stanley Kubrick was a well-known director, producer, writer and cinematographer. His films comprised of unique, qualitative scenes that are still memorable but one iconic film in his collection of work is The Shining. Many would disagree and say that The Shining was not his best work and he could have done better yet, there are still those who would say otherwise. This film was not meant to be a “scary pop-up” terror film but instead, it turned into a spectacular psychological, horor film in which Kubrick deeply thought about each scene and every line.
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.
common conventions of the horror genre. It thrusts us into the life of Michael Myers, an
The primary characteristics of a horror film include, an emphasis on themes such as, good against evil, death, mental issues and the supernatural. The settings of horror films are normally located in places that create the protagonist to be vulnerable. For instance popular locations include, isolated and dark areas, haunted houses, old churches, orphanages and hospitals. Both films attempt to cover these themes.
People flock to horror movies each year. Usually to be scared. Another is to solve the question of Who done it? Unfortunately, a lot of these horror movies fail to scare people or make the killer so obvious the audience gets bored. Occasionally, there are a few horror movies that stick out. Scream, directed by Wes Craven, is one of them. Wes Craven is always toying with the viewer's fears. Always finding ways to scare the audience at every turn. He also plays with the viewer's head, and has them second guessing themselves. How does he do it? Well, as one of the characters in the movie exclaims, "There's a formula to it. A very simple formula. Everybody's a suspect!" This paper will discuss how Craven uses sound, camera shots, and mise en scene
Victor Frankenstein- He is the creator of the monster. Victor spends a majority of his time trying to destroy the creation that he made. He feels scared and depressed after creating the monster, and goes home where he finally sees the repercussions of bringing a human back to life.
Throughout the whole movie these elements help each other out to make the movie a great movie and fall in the horror genre. Each element helps each other by making the next scene better than the one before. It has the storyline come to live, and having people thinking what can happen next or who has the power in the movie. By seeing this movie it can make someone feel complete and satisfied for a long
What is a horror movie? 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 important?
Horror movies attempt to make the audience experience fear, dread, disgust or terror. The plots often involve the supernatural and fantasy world giving the audience the reassurance that what is being seen is not truly existing. Horror movie plots are often than not, predictable. Horror movies will show gruesome and graphic violence. Many times, this will include close up shots of horrifying deaths and relentless tortures in an attempt to compel an audience to express emotions such as disgust and fright. Also, the way horror movies are promoted and advertised is a difference. In trailers and movie covers the backgrounds are often red or a dark color as such. It suggests danger and advocates violence. A horror movie is scarier in that exact moment and
Psycho showed us that the monster of a film does not have to be creature or some sort of humanoid in order to strike fear into an audience. Psycho used the darkness that resides within both man and woman in order to drive his plot line. A seemingly innocent woman can be a thief, conning thousands of dollars from her very own job. Norman, while quirky, lacks immediate intimidation and does not invoke fear on first sight. He seems to be a lonely man who never found a wife and life who is ruled by his “mother.” While appearing harmless, mental instability ruled his life, rendering him capable of cold blooded murder. This movie showed us the horror and the painful lifestyle that the mentally unstable endure, a topic not often