Horror Movies: The Rise Of Terror In America

The role of the female throughout the horror genre has generally reflected the roles of women in society within the social context of the movie. In the early days of movie, women were no more than the weak and defenceless victim. They are ‘the object of the creature’s desire’ , a beautiful yet two-dimensional character who is there for no other reason than to become the victim. As feminism and the role of women in society has developed, so too has the role of the female in the horror genre. This is recognisable in both Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho (1960) and John Carpenter’s Halloween (1978).

Since it’s infancy at the beginning of the eighteenth century, horror has followed certain conventions that results in an awakening of the senses, evoking intense emotions of fear and terror in the audience. Horror feeds off triggering the primal fears embedded within all of humankind, creating a sense of menace that is the very substance of this genre. Furthermore, the central menace of a piece tends to enlighten the human mind to the world of the paranormal and the enigmatic, dark side of the unknown. The movie “Psycho” directed by Alfred Hitchcock is a perfect example. Infamous for its shower scene, but immortal for its contribution to the horror genre, “Psycho” was filmed with great tact, grace and art in regards to horror conventions.

Many horror films provide their audiences with scares and screams.  Not many viewers follow what kind of model the films follow to appease their viewers.  However, after reading film theorist Carol Clover’s essay, 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 that is a female is featured as a primary character and that the female tends to always overcome a situation at some point throughout the film to become victorious.

During 1981 there was a huge development in technology. In that same year of 1981, Stephen King published an article in the Playboy magazine by the name of “Why We Crave Horror Movies.” In his essay he wrote about why people enjoy watching horror films. King intends this essay toward young men who watch horror films. He mentions that everyone is a little insane and that it is okay to be that way. He wants young men to know and understand that there is something more to it then just wanting to get scared when watching horror movies, it is for young men's insanity relief so that the good emotions can be expressed. Back then there was a stigma, mostly in religious people, parents, and psychiatrists, but it is still present today. Critics believe that horror films were made to scare viewers and draw in the negative things. King is famous for horror movies and is known to be the king of them. The article “Why We Crave Horror Movies” was written forty years ago by King who is the author of many popular horror books and films King persuades young adults that it is okay to watch horror movies because everyone is a little bit insane in the inside.

With the large variety of interests that flourish within the society, it is no shock that genres exist, especially in film, as the definition of entertainment differs from person to person. A genre is a category of films that are characterised by similarities in the narrative elements and conventions found within the films. Genres are extremely useful to both film producers and audiences as it helps them narrow down the target audience and search for films that are in their range of interests. No one wants to watch a political drama overrun with teenagers or go into a cinema with the intentions of watching a romantic comedy, only to receive blood and gore instead.

The horror genre has held a prominent position in culture for most of history. Beginning in folklore, used as a device to scare children into good behaviors (e.g. The Grimm Brother’s Fairy Tales), horror has integrated its way into the 21st century through film, and in recent years even video games. Yearly, primarily during the fall when the leaves start to brown and the natural eerie sense of fear fills the air around Halloween, the film industry likes to fill in the holes between its major grossing seasons by filling the audience with fear. However, it was Christmas of 1973 that defined the new age of Horror, when William Friedkin released The Exorcist. According to Julia Heimerdinger of Academia’s online journal, Horror, as a whole, can

For century human are fascinated with the concept of death and the creepy crawlers that wonder through the night. As years progress the art of scary storytelling has stayed the same but, in modern day, film producers makes it more enjoyable for all people. The concept of horror movies and scary thing intrigues people for some reason, making it strange that people can actually enjoy these type of things. In 1981 Stephen King wrote an article called Why we crave horror movies. He described the people who enjoy horror movie are the mentally insane, the deep dark void in the back of your head secretly wants to come out.

A stimulating long-form look at how horror films imitate the fears and anxieties society won't discuss, "The Monster Show" is likely to resonate most with this category fans. Author David J. Skal certainly takes some liberties

A girl runs frantically through the woods trying to escape an axe wielding villain. The defenseless victim suddenly trips and collapses to the ground. The villain laughs wickedly as he lifts the axe above his head. The girl releases a final scream as the weapon quickly ends her life, causing the audience to go silent as they watch the villain drag away the lifeless body. Death, blood, guts, suspense, screaming, and terror are all just a few things to expect when watching a modern day horror film. What is horror? 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? People are addicted to the

Popular culture has a strong hold in society and can portray strong messages. Those messages are both denotative, which are clearly apparent or hidden under the surface, connotative. The film industry is one area of popular culture that portrays these messages. Horror films typically follow an exhausting repetitive script with similar themes messages and ideas being portrayed. These messages and themes are evident when analyzing the notions of main storylines, and in the way gender, ethnicity, and sexuality are illustrated. The film Jennifer’s Body, is an example that simultaneously conforms and challenges the typical scripts of horror films. This paper will be examining some of these notions of the film.

Genre is a French word meaning ‘type or ‘kind’ (Genre, 2016). The film industry has been around for at least 100 years. The evolution of entertainment is growing rapidly through the use of media. And as these years go on, films have begun to fit into specific genres, and are important to appeal to the different types of audiences. Films can be described to genre in different types of ways, such as stars, director and narrative to help identify what genre the film is (Neale, 1990, pg. 49). Genre in films has become common because it helps give the audience a different expectation. One specific genre of film is a horror. Horror is a genre that tries to create, panic, dread and fear for the audience.

The depiction of terrorism in Hollywood Movies has gone through several stages all in accordance to major threats of the time. During the 1970s no major act of terrorism took place in America; hence the major terrorism-themed movies focused on international terrorism (“Through the Lenses of Hollywood: Depictions of Terrorism in American Movies”). It is worthwhile to note that cinema has a tendency to support the social, political and cultural status quo from which it originates (Daccache and Valeriano 99). In the case of American cinema, Hollywood has supported the stance of The United States government on several occasions (Daccache and Valeriano 99). Beginning in early 1970s, with America having had almost a two-decade long war with Vietnam,

With movies like “Psycho” and “The Birds”, Hitchcock set the bar for horror movies for years. Even today, his work still influences the horror genre. The 60s also set a new bar for gore, with movies like “Blood Feast.” The 70s and 80s brought a new age of technology and a higher budget. The higher budget brought a higher production value, and that has left us with high-tech and thrilling movies like: “The Exorcist”, “Jaws”, “Alien”, “The Shining”, “A Nightmare on Elm Street”, and “Child’s Play.” With the 90s we shied away from the monsters of fiction and focused more on the monster inside of us, serial killers. This brought about movies such as “The Silence of the Lambs” and “Se7en” which show and examine the worst of the human

The good thing about films is that we not only have the opportunity to choose from a wide selection of different genres, but also compare them and understand their purpose in the world. The Horror genre has used the basic principles throughout time, and as a result, films of this type have not proven to be as timeless as another genre: Science Fiction/Fantasy. At first, these two genres might at times seem similar as they have at several occasions been blended together, but their basic, common theme serves different meanings about humans. I shall compare and contrast these two genres and focus on both classic films and modern films. From the Horror genre perspective I shall discuss Psycho (1960) and The Mist (2007), while in the Science Fiction/Fantasy genre I will examine 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), Pan’s Labyrinth (2006), and Serenity (2005). Although the Science Fiction/Fantasy genre and the Horror Genre share some similarities, the differences lie in their focus on human progress.

A genre approach consists in observing a film with codes and conventions, however, at the same time, looking at the influence of genre on expectation and audience (Chandler, 1997, pg.1). Neale (Steve,1990, pg. 56) argues that a new genre of films represents an existing generic corpus that takes a selection from the generic elements and repertoire. These are exclusive at most points in its history how, “horror film has had to characterize its monster either supernaturally, as in Dracula (1930) or psychologically, as in Psycho (1960)” (Neale, 1990, pg. 56). There are two areas that require consideration, the use of differences, similarities and the industrial marketing between a specific genre.