How did this change in the genre come about? Horror movies were reborn in the 1930s. Unlike the dreamlike imagery of the 1920s, the films were peopled by ghostly wraiths floating about silently, horror films in the 1930s were replaced with monsters that grunted and groaned and howled. Horror films in the 1930s were all about monsters. The 30s monsters were exotic and were non-human. Many of the films from the 30s were based on literary classics of the 19th century, often set in far off lands with characters in period costumes speaking in strange accent. These films focused on monsters and involved brilliant makeup. These monsters were zombies, freaks, mad scientists, a mummy, an invisible man, werewolves and ghouls.But audiences were distanced from these films because they couldn’t understand the monsters belonging to world’s that weren’t theirs. Most of the the monster movies of the 30s were made by Universal Studios. Rival studio, RKO-radio pictures, the smallest major film studio, needed to make a profit after their disappointing film “Citizen Kane” which had not worked very well. They were in finance trouble so Val Lewton was fired to make cheap horror film for easy product. He had to keep the budget under $150 000. He was …show more content…
given a title for each movie, and had to make the movie on the title he was given. However, eventually audiences became used to these movies and became tired of them, because the makeup effects became too over the top and was more funny, rather than being scary. World War 2 had a major impact on the horror genre. Director Jacques Tourneur said “ During war, for some mysterious reason, people love to be frightened’ The audience could only imagine what was happening in the war, and Lewton’s films pushed the audience into exploring their own anxieties. 2. Describe the characteristics of psychological horrors A significant change occurred in the horror genre in the 1940s when psychological orientated horrors were created. Many of the horrible things that were in the horror films in the 30s were suggested rather than shown in the 40s. Lewton said “ no grisly stuff for us, no masklike faces, hardly human, with gnashing teeth and hair standing on end. No creaking physical manifestations. No horror piled upon horror.” These films deal with our most primal nature and its fears; Our nightmares, our vulnerabilities our alienation our terror of the unknown, our fear of death and our loss of identity. Lewton realised that, “Most horror films are caused by fundamental fears: sudden sound, wild animals, darkness. The horror addicts will populate the darkness with more horrors than all the horror writers in Hollywood could think of.” 3. Discuss Cat People Cat people was produced by Val Lewton and directed by Jacques Tourneur in 1842.
It tells the story of Irena and Oliver Reed. They meet at a Central zoo park in New york. Oliver falls in love with her and they get married. Irena believes herself to be descended from this evil tribe and she fears she will be transformed into a cat if aroused to passion, anger, or jealousy. Unable to consummate her marriage Irena also lives in fear that her husband, Oliver will leave her. As Oliver’s frustration and unhappiness grows, he seeks consolation from co-worker Alice Moore. Irena becomes jealous when she learns that she may be losing Oliver to Alice. Arena is forced to release her inner feline. As a result, Alice is soon haunted by a black
panther. There are 3 scenes in this film where horror is suggested. The swimming pool scene was a scene where horror was suggested-Alice decides to go for a swim at an indoor pool at a hotel. The shadows are large enough and spooky enough that the audience can believe there is something hiding in there. Suddenly, there is a distinct growling from behind the staircase. Alice panics and dives into the pool. She senses something is present amid the rippling light reflected on the ceiling – nothing is ever shown, only suggested by growling noise and the suggestion of a shape prowling down the stairs. As the camera pans around the room there is a distinct shadow moving around. Alive screams for help and when the lights come on, there is nothing to be seen, only Irena standing by the light switch. This scene contributes to the haunted mood of the film and is very successful because of the effective lighting used. There is a sharp contrasts of lights and shadows, sound and silence. After Alice gets out of the swimming pool we see that her robe as been ripped into pieces, possibly by a cat. The bus scene is another highly effective scene - Alice leaves the restaurant after having dinner with Oliver and heads for home – with Irena on her tail. She walks down a darkened, deserted street. Through lights and shadows as she moves along – street lamps illuminate here then there – Alice hearing the footsteps behind her. At any moment we’d expect Irena to turn into a panther and Alice. Suddenly the clacking stops. Complete silence. A deafening silence. She slows down, looks back slowly, deliberately, confused, and scared. Alice picks up her step while looking back. Soon she finds herself running. Suddenly a loud hiss, which sounds eerily like a cat’s, but it’s a bus hissing as it pulls up to the curb beside her.
While she might think that her plans are working, they only lead her down a path of destruction. She lands in a boarding house, when child services find her, she goes to jail, becomes pregnant by a man who she believed was rich. Also she becomes sentenced to 15 years in prison, over a street fight with a former friend she double crossed. In the end, she is still serving time and was freed by the warden to go to her mother’s funeral. To only discover that her two sisters were adopted by the man she once loved, her sister is with the man who impregnated her, and the younger sister has become just like her. She wants to warn her sister, but she realizes if she is just like her there is no use in giving her advice. She just decides that her sister must figure it out by
The 1930’s was dominated by the Great Depression. There was not much time of money for people to spend on entertainment, but there were a few pin pricks of light. People, especially kids, went to the movie theater. They could spend ...
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.
The decade was largely dominated by silent films, but the creation of movies with sound followed afterwards. These innovations greatly improved the movies and made them more immersive and exciting for the viewer. Soon after the invention of sound in movies, the silent era movies...
The Amityville Horror, written by Jay Anson was without doubt a great piece of American literature. It has inspired many to write bestselling books, and others to create many excellent movies. Perhaps the most surprising thing about The Amityville Horror is its staying power. There are many possible explanations as to why The Amityville Horror was so popular during the 1970’s and it is no surprise that it is still in print today. The most shocking part of this books history is that it was based on a true story. The story behind the story began on November 13, 1974, when six members of an Amityville, New York, family were killed. This was one of America’s most shocking events during 1974. This is one possible explanation of the popularity of this book. America was changing drastically from 1960-1970 and people were beginning to open their minds to new ideas. One cause of people opening their minds to new things could possibly be explained because of the increased rate of drug usage during this time period. Ther can be many explanations as to why The Amityville Horror was so popular, but the two main causes of the high popularity of this film can only be explained because of what was currently going on in America. The two events in history that may have had the largest impact on this book are the creation of the movie, The Exorcist, and the Vietnam War.
For centuries, authors have placed human features on their fears allowing their public to confront a concrete creature rather than an abstract idea. The fear of death resulted in stories regarding vampires and mummies, fears of the unknown resulted in stories about creatures invading the Earth, fears of reincarnation resulted in stories of mad scientists creating life from death. With the invention of the motion picture in the late nineteenth century, these fears were able to be seen using human actors and actual “monsters” making both the fears and the fulfillment greater. As more of these films were created, audiences grew more tolerant of the once frightening monsters forcing directors to go even farther. To continue this trend, filmmakers soon were creating more fear than they were relieving creating another psychological void that needed to be filled. Sensing that the realm of horror films and many other genres of film were saturating the film industry, Mel Brooks wrote and directed two films in 1974: Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein. Th...
Classic film noir originated after World War II. This is the time where post World War II pessimism, anxiety, and suspicion was taking the world by storm. Many films that were released in the U.S. Between 1939s and 1940s were considered propaganda films that were designed for entertainment during the Depression and World War II. During the 1930s many German and Europeans immigrated to the U.S. and helped the American film industry with powerf...
Suspense embodied this film and luckily during the late 1960's Hollywood was at a time where filmmakers were able to push the limits. Many religious groups were outraged with the movie but if it weren't for the work of Polanski in Rosemary's Baby, classic horror films, such as The Exorcist, and other suspense films would cease to exist.
In both Japan and America, the film industry is a big industry. Part of that industry is the genre of horror. Movies like this include the themes of an evil entity usually killing people or causing havoc and the protagonists, which are represented as good. Many cultures have their own takes on horror movies. How they’re done and the themes that they believe are evil or that they’re scared of. Ultimately horror movies are dark and invoke fear. Japan and America are two good examples of how horror movies in different cultures can be different, similar and how they can influence each other.
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.
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.
Parody of a Typical Horror Film The idea for my production has come from unit 2 film and broadcast. fiction. The. I will be working within a group of four and we plan to produce a parody of the typical horror film.
"Horror Movies 2013." movieweb.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Dec 2013. .Noton, Adriana. "A Brief History Of Horror Movies." Ezine Articles. Spark Net, 10 Aug. 2010. Web. 1 Dec. 2013. .
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.
Horror literature has been around since as long as man has been on earth. While usually in the form of ghost stories, many have often told stories orally, or on paper, to play on the horrors and darkest fears that we as humans face. While large populations of people do not like the horror genre, some get a satisfaction or enjoyment at looking at some of their worst fears being played out in front of them via a book or movie. As the stories have advanced through history and been examined and read through many different lenses both by history and literature experts, one aspects remains to be examined, and that is the changing role on of women in the story. While many of the early stories early stories portray them as simple, one-dimensional characters, weak and unable to help themselves, they evolve into more complex and eventually pushing through the damsel in distress mantra into the complex villain or hero.