Modern Horror Film Analysis

If there's one sub-genre of hip-hop that I'm not privy too, then it would definitely be horrorcore. Horrorcore, formed in the early 90s, saw rappers bring up horror-themed subject matter in their rhymes, often discussing topics such as serial killing and satan worship. I often find horrorcore rappers to be gimmicky, and reliant on cheap shocks rather than lyrical prowess (Insane Clown Posse has become a definitive act for the genre for these reasons). That said though, the genre certainly has an important place in hip-hop history, and in many ways bridges the gap between late 80s gangsta rap, with hardcore artists of the late 90s. With the success of gangsta rappers like N.W.A. and The Geto Boys, combined with the fact

Imagine the world without fear, where everyone wouldn't be scared of anything, but without fear, you won’t be able to think twice about your decision and you can meet get yourself killed. Fear is always with you can't get rid of it even if you tried fear is a type of nerve and it needs to be exercised. If the horror movie would occur, then you would know what to do in that situation. The horror genre is right for young readers because it's fictional, and was basically young adults were 12-13 years old.

This open letter is directed at the directors of Horror films. This letter will discus the over used gimmicks and the lack of creativity on their part. It will be written in a conversational way with the use of pathos of how these movies are faulty with a touch of humor, and rhetorical questions to emphasize certain points of my discussion of this topic. I will also use ethos through my time as a film fanatic who is passionate on all that is film especially horror film which is my favorite film genre, and is the largest genre with so many subgenres within it that have the ability to use so much imagination. I have crafted this conversation to be directed towards the directors of horror films with the use of film lingo that is used for this genre, movie examples they should look at, and a deep analysis of what and how this problem cause movie of today to lack in appeal.

In the film, Night of the Living Dead, the movie starts with two siblings, John and Barbara, driving to their father's grave to drop off flowers. John is reluctant to be there and is eager to leave while Barbara is trying to pray. John teases her like when they were children saying “They’re coming to get you, Barbara!” when they both see an unknown man. Barbara goes to apologize to the unknown man but it seems he is dazed and kills John. Barbara escapes and finds herself at an empty house. In the house, she meets Ben, who borders up to the windows after taking down 3 undead. After a bit of listening to a radio for the current status of the state of emergency, Harry and Tom come upstairs. We learn that two men, two women, and a child had been in the basement of the house during Barbara’s and Ben’s struggle with the undead. After much argumentation on if the basement or upstairs was safer between Harry and Ben, Harry went back downstairs to his wife and child. Tom and his wife, Judy, stayed upstairs with Ben believing they could properly border up the windows together. After much convincing from Helen, Harry’s wife, Harry and she join the others upstairs. While listening on the radio, they are given more updates of the state of emergency. The radio announcer suggests instead of staying in place, to now go to one of the designated “safe areas”. When places are announced, Tom says that one of the

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

Insidious easily fits the film conventions of the horror genre and themes. Insidious incorporates classic horror elements like haunted houses, ghosts, children being possessed, and outside experts of the spiritual world. A family with three children start to witness things out of the ordinary and are unable to understand what they are seeing. The mother, for instance, knew she was seeing strange deities, but her husband refused to believe it and thought she was just out of it. The classic element of denying there is anything out of the ordinary going on is a classic horror element. Typically the people who deny the reality that there might be something supernatural happening, are the first people to be killed or affected in some manner.

In my list of movies that always make me cry is the movie “Ghost” which was released on July 13, 1990. This movie made that summer really worth while and gave us romance, comedy and much to think about. The movie starred Demi Moore, Patrick Swayze and Whoopi Goldberg.

Cabin in the Woods is about a group of five friends who travel to a cousin’s cabin for the weekend. Once there, they quickly release a horde of zombies upon themselves and chaos ensues. Despite the typical beginning, this movie attempts to put a fresh spin on the classic horror model and somewhat succeeds. Along with the group of friends, several workers appear to be directing the action from behind the scenes. They provide a sort of unneeded comic relief from the disaster occurring above them. The humor and drastic change of scenery takes the viewer away from the horror landscape and draws them out of the engaging and scarier story in the cabin.

Horror can be defined as a genre meant to psychologically trigger individual fear with the presence of certain supernatural or abstract characteristics. The genre is dependent on people’s fascination with unrealism and the sensation that comes from experiencing fear personified into tangible elements on a screen. Horror films have thrilled audiences for decades, revealing stories of the more sinister parts of life. The popular allure that stems from the genre comes from the tension moviegoers experience when aroused by specific stimuli uniquely present in these cinematic features (Walters). Over time, as the genre progressed, the standardized elements found in a typical horror movie began to shift in different directions primarily due to changing societal circumstances and increasing consumer demand for cinematic innovation. The expansive nature of the different codes and conventions within the horror genre, coupled with the evolution of society’s fascination with these characteristics, has led to the mutation of the genre itself in order to allow for unique approaches to a familiar style in response to both economic developments and taste shifts within the consumer industry.

Scary movies are great because they push boundaries of the believable while sitting on the threshold of our most deep set fears. Where movies such as The Exorcist or The Blair Witch Project have shock value, they also lack depth. Where are the elements that bring these stories their credibility/believability? Some of the best horror movies of all time were science fiction stories that left the audience feeling this could actually happen in their daily lives. Who honestly believes that a ghost is going to come haunt you and your family? What about a widespread disease that is killing off everyone you know, in weeks, that is spread through touch? Schools shut down, the government tries to take over while rebellion among

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

Horror is designed to scare, cause alarm and dread, while also entertaining the audience at the same time in a cathartic experience (Dirk, 2016). Horror films are meant for a specific type of audience that enjoy scary films. Dirks (Tim, 2016) approach to genre horror, is that films went back as 100 years ago, from the earliest days our vivid imagination in seeing ghosts in the shadows to be connected emotionally of the unknown, and fear things that are improbable. You watch a horror film, it makes you aware of the scary surroundings, the essence of fear itself, without actually being in any sorts of danger. Dirks argues that there is a fun and thrill factor in being frightened, or watching something disturbing. It gives you that feeling of an adrenaline rush, as well as having that feeling someone is actually next to you lurking in the dark (Dirk, 2016).

Horror films are movies that aim to elicit a strong physiological reaction in the viewer, such as raised heartbeat and fear. Three horror films by the names of Psycho, Scream and The Messengers will be analysed and compared to an episode of the popular children’s show Shaun the Sheep. Five elements will be addressed in this analysis, those being camera techniques, Mise-en-scene, Editing, Lighting and Sound.

1. Joss Whedon says that ‘The Cabin in the Woods’ is “your basic horror movie taken apart; five kids go to a cabin in the woods to have a fun weekend of partying and possibly sex… and are therefore dismembered”. Whedon and Goddard have in essence tried to create a movie with roots tied to the horror genre; it is simply your common slasher movie where the characters are killed off one by one till there is either one person left or none for that matter. ‘The Cabin in the Woods’ also has ties to other genres such as comedy, this can be seen in scenes such as where they are all sitting around in the main room, playing truth or dare, and Jules is dared to kiss the wolfs head on the wall, also in the scene where Marty

A sixteen-year-old boy sits on the couch and watches a horror movie. Suddenly, a scene where a man stabs a woman emerges on the television screen. The boy is not distressed by this scene because he is used to witnessing a great deal of violence before. He just learned a new idea and increased his criminal expertise. As a result, horror movies inspire copycat crimes. Copycat crimes are defined as those that are “inspired, motivated or modeled after acts that have occurred before in the media” (“Understanding”). The crimes themselves either mirror the inspiring acts or are simply based upon them. Violence and criminal behavior shown in horror movies affect people psychologically and physically. Watching violence in the media desensitizes people to the world around them and enables them to become more familiar with violence and crime. One may conclude that horror movies do not affect them because they watch horror for fun, however, people are unconsciously affected by watching horror movies. Although most people believe horror movies do not impact them, horror movies inspire people to commit copycat crimes in real life because the violence portrayed in the media psychologically damages people and makes them more aware of violence.