New Criticism Of Horror Film

Rotten Tomatoes 2.0 We as humans can analyze and form opinions over literature. Those opinions lead to many different critical approaches. Critical approaches have begun ever since literature has been present, and have since evolved with modern literature. In the movie reviews, the forms of criticism generally used were feminist criticism and new criticism. New Criticism focuses on the entirety of the literary piece, “like an organism, the work develops…[from] parts to whole” (Mays 1974). In “Siskel & Ebert Halloween (1978) Review,” the two critics analyzed the movie using New Criticism. One of the critics commented, “Artistry can redeem any subject matter,” while describing how he thinks the flow of the music and the high view of light contribute to the “up and jumpy” feel of the movie. The critics center their attention on filmmaking and state how each part of the film share equal responsibilities to create the horror movie. This, according to their review, is what makes this a successful horror film compared to the “freak-show” movies they have previously reviewed. The others have the same basic idea for a horror film, but with their New Criticism

However, this critic’s review was more negative. The critic’s New Criticism approach is demonstrated when he mentions the filmmaker’s “overused visual tricks, featuring dramatic falling stuff, Instagram filters, and suuuper slooow moootion.” The sarcasm used to critique this piece shows “the affirmation of unity for the artwork” is not present in this film (Mays 1975). The mixture of facts and inaccuracies throughout the film help enrich to the critic’s view of disappointment. The total disturbances for the critic ranged from an actor with a non-Greek accent, a very loud character, to “a blend of historical truth and [the director’s] nonsense.” Again, these small factors play a vital role in creating a very sarcastic New Critic