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Compare And Contrast Frankenstein And Van Helsing

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I must admit before I dive into this paper that I have never been a huge fan of horror movies. I really don’t like to be scared, but when a horror movie doesn’t scare me (most don’t) I am oddly disappointed. Even though I don’t like being scared my expectations for horror movies is to be freaked out or at least to be disturbed and in need of some self-reflection time. The only exception to this is when the horror movie is a parody or when the movie has a cheesy and funny overtone with a darker undercurrent as with Young Frankenstein and Van Helsing respectively. The way that these movies pull apart the horror genre and dissect it with love and admiration actually makes me want to watch more horror films, which is no small feat. Young Frankenstein draws attention to elements of horror by making fun or and exaggerating them. (Duh, that’s what parody does, I know, bear with me.) One of my favorite things about the film is that it touches on some of the social commentary and elements that make horror movies scary, such as the fascination with the knowledge of power, the message that one shouldn’t play God, the suggestion that man is evil, and of course the fearful fascination with death. Yet, unlike Van Helsing, Brook’s Young Frankenstein shows us the absurdity factor inherent in these concepts, and addresses them all with such levity and non-stop laughs that one can lose sight of these horror elements and get caught up solely in the comedy aspect of the movie. Yet, this movie

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