Horror Films

Horror Films

Horror films is a type of film genre which is completely different from the usual Action or Adventure films that are very popular in the film industry. Horror films do tend to overlap with the thriller, fantasyand supernatural genre as well.The purpose of these films are to bring out our emotions of terror, shock and HORROR out .They bring out the inner fear within the viewer by using their nightmares, weak spots and fear of the unknown.Sub genres will sort all the thousands of horror films into which type of horror movie it is. There are lots of different types of sub genres from Slasher to even J-Horror. Most horrors are based on a true story whether it is evil forces or demons coming into the everyday life. These horrors are most popular and recently made a big profit from the film Paranormal Activity. Fears created by horror:NightmaresLoss of identityFear of sexualityAlienationSupernatural / faith / religionDeath Fear of the unknownVulnerabilityParanoidAntagonist – normally the killer or villainProtagonist – normally the victim who survives

sLASHER

Slasher films tends to involve a lot of blood and gore which is why it is called Slasher.Throughout Slashers, there tend to be a lot of killing and deaths. These are mainly causedBy the 1 killer in the film and the killing are normally done by a weapon such as a knife.Most of the deaths would be extreme to bring the audience out of their comfort zone.Slashers are mostly age rated 18 as it includes a lot of nude scenes such as ‘Saw 3: The FreezeTrap’. These scenes are to make the viewers feel vulnerable and could be class to draw the maleaudiences in as well. The term ‘Final Girl’ is common in Slashers, this is when typically a teenage girl is left surviving at the end and defeats the enemy. ‘Scream 1-4’There is also ‘The Killer’ who is typically male with an unknown identity. The killers main characteristicsis having a signature weapon, appears in the dark, often mute and have history in childhood violence. Then there’s the ‘The victims’, young, sexy and mainly killed for being involved in sex, drugs or doing bad deeds.

sPLATTER

Splatter is the type of genre which likes to get straight to the point. Splatter is extreme blood and gore. Splatter films doesn’t wait for anyone to prepare themselves but jumps straight into the repulsive scenes straight away. These types of films aren't made for the amateurs to horror films but the ones who would like to be deepand close with the graphical side of horror. The whole film is based on graphic portrayals of gore and graphical violence.Splatter films display a lot of vulnerability of the human body with detailed killing scenes of the human body.These scenes have gotten better over the years and splatter films now a days look pretty damn close to reality. In recent years they have spiced up the splatter films by mixing the graphical violence with sexual/nude scenes.This have had a massive impact with the male audience and in some film it ahs been labeled ‘torture porn’ or‘gorno’.

vAMPIre

Vampires have been round for a very long time. Vampires also come from peoples cultures as well. Vampires are every where from children fiction books too TV series as well. Vampires is a horror genre that most people would remember from their childhood even the oldies and Younger generation today. They will recognize it from the name ‘Dracula’. Dracula has been such a success and now can be class as part of everyone's childhood, their has been over 170 versions to date. The most famous film that is linked to Vampire is the classic ‘Nosferatu’ in 1922. This film could be classed as the start of vampire in the film industry.

ZOMBIE

Zombies are a species you can say that portrays a living dead corpse or a mindless human being. Zombiesare really popular now a days as zombies are being used in TV series and fictional books. Zombies are alsoan icon that has been around for a long time. Zombies can be class as several film genre such as comedy, science fiction, thriller or romance.Zombies has been successful in the TV series such as ‘The walking Dead’ is a really popular series that has been going for a few series and rumors say they are making another one. Zombie films are sometimes even portrayed as representing a variety of social, economical and cultural issues which could be a result in the conflict in the world right now.

J-HORROR

In my personal opinion J-Horror could be class as one of the top scariest genre of horror out there. J-horror is Japanese horror which mainly evolves around cultural and religious beliefs. They are definitely saluted for their imagination, thematic and conventional ways of horror. Japanese horror is getting very popular over the years and a lot of films have been remade by the western market such as (ring, Grudge, Eye etc). J-Horror have several ways of getting the viewers of the feet through techniques such as tension building, involving ghost, using psychological horror, poltergeists, possession and exorcism.Yurei. Yurei are Japanese ghost which are mainly dressed in white clothing which are worn at funerals or to represent someone passing away in Japan or western culture. The ghost also have really long hair which came from Japanese woman growing their long black hair. Another feature to this ghost is it being very pale/white in the skin tone, this comes from the idea of a soul passing away but cannot leave so the remain behind in a body that has passed away already.

THRILLER

Thriller films tend not to be class in the horror section but depending on the graphic content of the film, some film pass the line and step into the horror section.This includes graphic content such as threats that may lead to death, this does not include psychological content. The threat will be constant and will scare the viewers as well. If you add an investigation side or adventure side to the story, I moves away from the Slasher/Splatter side of horror. You can say it’s a action and adventure film with a little bit of horror which you get Thriller when you mix all these together. A good example of a horror film which could be classed as a Thriller is Jaws. Jaws is a film where they have a story line to it and once in a way you have a threat to death. There is the occasionally killing but there is a investigation side to it.

MONSTER

Monster films tend to be given to films that involve human beings or one or more monsters. While there is no specific academic genre classification of that name, the term is usually applied to films sometimes labeled as horror, fantasy or science fiction genre that in most cases involve oversized monsters.Monsters are normally an oversized species that cannot be controlled which then it will be classed as a monsters. A good example of this would be King Kong. Monsters can also be smaller species as well that kill.

PSYCHOLOGICAL

Psychological horror films has been very popular in the recent years as it has gotten really damn close to reality. Psychological films has gone for a certain level of ‘Realism’ to inflict fear in its audience. Psychological horror films are mainly based on ghosts, spirits, religion or a haunting. Often related to the mind of the human being and effecting people physiologically. Usually reveals a certain evil behind something in reality or based on a true story. When its based on a true story this gets the viewers going even more as it gives them the idea that its real and it can happen.The main Psychological films involve possession and dark forces. This is extremely effective as it is remained spiritual presences, their have been a lot of recent films that would be classed as an Psychological horror. A really famous recent one would be paranormal which is evolved about possessions and demons. Supernatural comes into Psychological films as well as all the activity that happens in Psychological films seem to ‘abnormal’ to be true.

BLAIR WITCH

STUDY CASE

Director:Daniel Myrick, Eduardo SánchezDistributor:Artisan EntertainmentRelease Date: January 25, 1999Genre:Psychological Worldwide Gross:$248,639,099Budget:US$ 25,000Summary:Three film students travel to Maryland to make a student film about a local urban legend... The Blair Witch. The three went into the woods on a two day hike to find the Blair Witch, and never came back. One year later, the students film and video was found in the woods. The footage was compiled and made into a movie. The Blair Witch Project.

EXORCIST

Director: William Friedkin, Wong Kar-waiDistributor:Warner Bros. Release Date: December 16, 1973Genre:Psychological Worldwide Gross:$441,071,011 Budget:$12 million Summary:A visiting actress in Washington, D.C., notices dramatic and dangerous changes in the behavior and physical make-up of her 12-year-old daughter. Meanwhile, a young priest at nearby Georgetown University begins to doubt his faith while dealing with his mother's terminal sickness. And, book-ending the story, a frail, elderly priest recognizes the necessity for a show-down with an old demonic enemy.