Blog task 5: Genre Analysis
Horror, as the genre, has existed for more than a century now. First, it was inspired by authors like Bram Stoker, Edgar Allan Poe and Mary Shelley. Horror also sometimes collaborates with other film genres, such as thriller, supernatural fiction and fantasy. Horror movies depend on humans most important emotion: fear. The basic elements in a horror movie includes vampires, ghosts, demons, evil clowns, monsters, evil witches, zombies, psychopaths and the list could go on. These films usually target the audiences fears and nightmares. The first ever horror movie is a 3-minute short film by Georges Méliès called ‘’Le Manoir du Diable’’ (1896) or ‘’The Haunted Castle’’.
”The haunted castle”
The plots usually originate from already used characters and storyline. This is why it is important to be as original as possible when it comes to horror movies. For example, the famous ‘’The exorcist’’ made in 1973 was based on a novel called ‘’The exorcist’’ by Blatty. It follows the demonic possession of a 12 year old girl and her mother’s attempt to rescue her through an exorcism by two priests. In 2013 ‘’The conjuring’’ was released, which is also about a young girl who is possessed and two priest comes to her rescue. The only difference is, is that in ‘’The conjuring’’ there is more story behind it (we get to know the 2 priests), whereas ‘’The exorcist’’ is only about the possessed girl. So in conclusion, it is inevitable to make some kind of change in the plot, to make a story that the audience won’t recognize as a horror film that was already made.
”The conjuring” (2013)
”The exorcist” (1973)
But why does the audience feel fear when watching horror movies? It’s because of the high usage of sound and/or special effects and lighting, but most importantly: Jump scare. It is a technique often used in horrors, it is intended to scare people by surprising them with a change in event or image, usually comes with a frightening sound, for example loud screaming. Surprisingly, it is when there is no jump scare that causes the audience to feel more discomfort, because they don’t exactly know what will happen.
Horror films often can have physical effects on the audience. One of the most common effect is the inability to sleep. The individual could have issues with falling asleep due to fear and anxiety from watching the movie.
The role of women and how women see themselves has also changed by the horror genre in the film industry. Horror movies such as ‘’My bloody valentine’’ (1981) and ‘’Friday the 13th’’ (1980) was aimed for mainly male audiences, in order to ‘’feed the fantasy of men’’. Now, it has changed in a way that women became the main audience and fans of these films, also they became protagonists in them.
”Friday the 13th” (1980)
”My bloody valentine” (1981)
Many horror films created controversy in the early years, many faced censorships as well. A great example is the film ‘’I spit on your grave’’ (1978) which is about rape, and the revenge of the victim, was banned in countries like Ireland, Norway, Iceland and West Germany. Most of them removed this ban, except Ireland.
”I spit on your grave” (1978)
