The Living Dead Comparison

The movie industry has been developing fast recent years. Due to the improvement of technology, movies are becoming much more widespread nowadays, and especially for the horror movies. Movie directors are able to pursue as many special effects as they can to create a horror atmosphere, which makes those movie plots more eye-catching for the audiences. Honestly, I am not a fan of horror movies. I am not scared of it, I just feel a little bored about it, and I am also confused why people still want to see those movies if they feel paranoid after watching it. However, after reading two articles in Monsters, I come to realize the meaning of creation of horror movies, which is not only for fun, but also a review of our real life. Those ideas indicated by Chuck Klosterman and Stephen King are kind of similar, yet differently inherent.

Zombies, as we know them today, have mortified movie viewers for the last forty six years. Modern zombies first appeared in George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead in 1968. These zombies were the slow moving, staggering ghouls that one has seen in countless films, but in 1985, Return of the Living Dead featured a new kind of zombie, the first fast moving and talking ghoul. Both Night of the Living dead 1968 and Return of the Living Dead 1985 feature the zombie as its villain, but Return of the living dead’s fast moving, talking zombies are a more modern take on the movie monster.

The foundation of horror genre was set by monsters that not only haunted your dreams but also conveyed rich themes found deep beneath the surface. Vampires are considered a symbol of seduction and sophistication while Frankenstein monsters represent misunderstanding, oppression, and rebellion. Some of the strongest symbolism is found in standard films of the horror genre does not come from the frequently updated relics. Utilizing fear and horror as mechanisms for subtext, social commentary, and symbolism, George Romero created a new horror genre, one that scares and shines just as much as great horror classics. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead revolutionized the once stagnant zombie film and made into something unstoppable, still to this day zombie movies rake in millions of ticket sales at the box office while remaining culturally relevant.

In the “Night of the Living Dead”, it illustrates the year on which it's based pretty accurately in some ways, but not so accurately in others. In one case where the motion picture portrays 1969 accurately is when they said the cause of the dead rising was revealed as high-level radiation from a space probe, but you could compare that radiation to what nuclear fallout could be due to the cold war looming with the Russians. It also depicted how gruesome the Vietnam war was, like the blood, guts and how relentlessness the zombies were compared to the Viet-Kong. The way the movie depicted 1969 inaccurately was that there wouldn't be a black man in charge of a household of white men and women. That would be due to the reason that black people back then barely had any rights at all and weren't even seen as human due to racial discrimination. Also, movies during this time barely showed any skin on women, but you could clearly see in the movie that some women zombies were completely naked which was extremely unusual for 1969. In this movie, it puts in a lot of diversity that was very uncommon at this time, but it also broke the ice for future leadership roles to be African Americans.

The relationship of Addie and Anse Bundren in William Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying contrasts Anne Bradstreet’s To My Dear and Loving Husband. The contrast of emotion in these literary works shows a perfect foil in these couples. Faulkner characterizes the Bundren’s relationship as dysfunctional, there isn’t any true love in their marriage. Whereas, Bradstreet writes about the abundance of love she has for her husband.

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.

The true origins of zombies and the undead can likely be traced back to the stories men and women first told around campfires. They certainly date back to the origins of written language in tales such as the epic of Gilgamesh, and have taken on many different attributes through the generations. The shambling creatures that were first displayed in the movie titled “The Night of the Living Dead” are what many would consider today to be the ‘typical’ representation of the modern zombie story (Estes, 2012).

This is the first evaluation essay, and it is in a book that the readers have read called the Nuit of the Living Dead. The story had the readers in countless suspense, especially the part when the setting takes place at the time of the zombie apocalypse. However, numerous people have been wondering the same question all their lives, which is this: “How do you understand your own identity, and how does it relate to the communities you are a part of?” and the question remains unanswered to this day, until now. (Center for Civic Reflection) The four topics that shall stand as the supports of this essay, which will help us with this question, and the four topics are the following themes listed: Loneliness, Paranoia, Fear, and Conditioning. (MoreStories102) Although the title of the story would make people assume that this is a horror story, it certainly is not. This story is just about a middle-aged man who is trying to keep himself busy at night, as he was afraid that the zombies would attack him. As he attempts to help a mouse in putting it out of its misery, a van pulls up with an older driver coming out asking for directions since he got lost. (Nuit of the Living Dead 452)

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.

“Nuit of the Living Dead” written by David Sedaris, the setting in rural France leads to part of the comedic element of this story. Reading this story very much feels like trying to follow an ADD chipmunk. There are generally several thought patterns running simultaneously throughout the entire thing. It’s a quick, fun, charmingly quirky read.

The mood of this art was without a doubt, intense, suspenseful, thrilling, and fast-paced. On pieces like “Halloween”, composed by John Carpenter, “The Shining”, composed by Wendy Carlos and Rachel Elkind, or “Jaws”, composed by John Williams, all respectively, there is a heightened sense of awareness and a feeling uneasiness. I certainly found myself sitting at the edge of my seat, possibly casting a glance from side to side, reliving the childhood fears of monsters under my bed, or in this case, theatre

From the late 1960’s to the early 1970’s Spain rose as one of the leading countries to dominate the horror film genre. Struggling under a brutal and confining dictatorship for much of the 20th century, the horror genre of Spanish cinema took awhile to come together. During the difficult and challenging days of General Franco’s regime a limited series of horror films were produced, mainly for the English market. In the later years under Franco, hundreds of horror films were released. All were identified for their violence, eroticism, and unrestrained cinematography. Recently, 21st century Spanish horror films, such as The Devil’s Backbone and The Others, tell chilling ghost stories that go beyond horror genre and successfully mix suspense, horror, and coming of age techniques, during the harsh wartime, using sound, lighting, editing, and innovative camera work.

    In his work "The Dead," James Joyce utilizes his character Michael Furey, Gretta Conroy's deceased love from her youth, as an apparent symbol of how the dead have a steadfast and continuous power over the living.  The dominant power which Michael maintains over the protagonist, Gabriel Conroy, is that Gabriel is faced with the intense question of whether his wife, Gretta Conroy, loves him and whether he honestly loves her.  Joyce provides substantial information to persuade one to believe that Gabriel does truly love his wife.  Even though it is made evident to the reader that Gabriel possesses such devotion and adoration for Gretta, Michael diverts Gabriel's confidence in his love, causing Gabriel

Introduction; In the late 1960’s to early 1970’s Spain rose as one of the leading countries to dominate the horror film genre. Struggling under a brutal and confining dictatorship for much of the 20th century, Spanish cinema took a while to come together. During the hard days of General Franco’s regime a series of horror films, such as The Living Dead at Manchester Morgue, a zombie classic, were produced, mainly for the English market. In the remaining years under Franco, hundreds of horror films were released, all of which were identified by their violence, eroticism, and unrestrained cinematography. Spanish horror films such as, The Devil’s Backbone and The Other’s, tell chilling ghost stories that go beyond the genre and successfully mix suspense, horror, and the coming of age during the harsh wartime.

In the film culture, horror is one of the most solid and prominent genres. The film adaptations of the famed Stephen King’s novels; The Shining and Misery had become cult classics. Released ten years apart from each other in 1980 and 1990, both were commercially successful with the revenues of 44.4 million and 61.3 million US dollars. The two works share similar characters and settings, though the premise of each are hugely different where one is about a psychological breakdown due to hauntings in captivity, while the other is about terror of the obsessed and physical abuse. However in the matter of film adaptations, often the finished product ends up being a little, or very different than the original. In adapting literature into film, the accuracy of the details in the story plays a huge role in film making process, and that affects how well it’s received as well. Although the two adaptations had been recognized as some of the best horror novel to film adaptations of all time, Misery is renowned for its simplistic yet tasteful tribute to the original story, and The Shining had received mixed critiques for its emphasis on art directions and its pale adaptation.