Horror and Society
A Special Relationship
Horror films are one of the most successful genres in film history and arguably the most thrilling. Every year dozens of horror films are released all with the same enticing intention, to terrify us. However only a few horror films achieve that goal. What is it about these horror films and these monsters that both excite and appall us in equal measure? How do horror films reflect the fears of their time? What effect do horror films truly have on people? And how has the effect and the commentary of the horror film changed and developed over the years? This article will look through the history of horror films and examine the most famous films, characters and events that shed a light on the most interesting and special relationship between horror films and society. The first section will focus on how horror films have changed over the years, the waves of horror film that defined each time period and the effect these horror films had. The second section will look at the characters that lead horror films, the killers and evaluate their inspiration as well as their effect on the public. The third section will evaluate how horror films represent fears of that time period while the fourth and final section will look at the interesting relationship horror films and censors have had. Enjoy and remember…they are only movies.
Dracula To Saw.. The development and waves of the horror film
Horror films have changed and developed dramatically since the initial golden age of the 30s when Universal were the kings of film horror. With films such as Dracula and Frankenstein the first true horror movie monsters had been born. Even now in 2010 the powers of the design of those two classics live on. The iconic image and design of Frankenstein, with the two bolts stuck either side of his neck or the long dark cape of the villainous count. The imagination of design and make up that was present at that time has gone down in history, with these two monsters being such a part of popular culture and film history that even those who have not viewed these films know full well of the looks of the monsters at the centre of them. However it was not just the groundbreaking make up and character design that put these films down in history but the huge effect they had on the general public, both positive and negative. Dracula and Frankenstein were huge hits, both garnering huge box office and public excitement however a certain scene in Frankenstein again perfectly represents, how that even when horror films are accepted and loved by its audience, certain scenes will always be too much to handle for the current generation. The scene involved Frankenstein happily playing with an innocent little girl, however he then drowns and kills the girl accidentally. The scene was heavily cut by the censors, the relationship between horror films and censorship has always been a rocky one and this incident right back in the 1930s shows how from the very beginning horror films and censors weren’t going to get along. In today’s film world that scene would never be cut with much more gruesome scenes being played out in the torture porn films of Saw, Hostel or even the most recent, The Human Centipede. Horror films traditionally come in waves; in the 30s we had the initial early wave of the Universal and RKO horror films that would lay the groundwork and foundation for horror films of the future. Lewtons Bus (used in the film Cat People) is now a technique used in practically every horror film; it’s the feeling that something horrible is about to appear but then an innocent human being or mere object jumping out and unknowingly scaring the films protagonist and us. In the late 70s and early 80s a new sub genre of the horror film took center stage…the slasher film.
Kicked off by Halloween, films such as Friday The 13th and A Nightmare On Elm Street were born. The typical slasher film mainly consists of a killer, a knife and a bunch of stupid teenagers. These films however, especially Halloween all owe a debt to the Alfred Hitchcock classic Psycho. All these films have left their place in popular culture whether it is the infamous shower scene of Psycho, the hockey mask of Jason or the chilling nursery rhyme of A Nightmare On Elm Street. However Psycho was born out of the disturbing real life case of Ed Gein, Before Psycho horror films had contained monsters that were from another realm, whether it be creatures, or aliens from outer space the horror movie villain had never been from home. However the case of Ed Gein was a sick gift for those horror filmmakers as now a true real life killer had been found and nobody even knew what he was doing. The idea of a seemingly innocent, loveable man turning out to be a killer was portrayed perfectly through Psycho. Where Norman Bates the gentleman who cares for his elderly mother turns out to be not only a killer but also schizophrenic. A man who wouldn’t hurt a fly is stabbing women in the showers. Bringing this real life fear, this sense of the everyday to the horror films revolutionized them in a way that had never been seen before. With the Texas Chainsaw Massacre the crimes of Ed Gein were once again brutally brought to the big screen. Psycho was a huge hit and its shower scene is one of the most iconic moments not just in horror film history but in film history as well. However the psychological intentions of films like Psycho and Halloween which relied just as much on the unkown, unseen, the sound and the music were misunderstood by the dozens of imitators trying to cash in on the new found popularity of the slasher film. However the slasher films with their endless sequels eventually ran themselves into parody, that was until Wes Craven the man behind one of the best of these “slasher” films in the form of A Nightmare On Elm Street, gave not just slasher films but horror films a rebirth in Scream.
Scream has undoubtedly not just the greatest opening in horror film history but also arguably the greatest opening in film history. Running a grueling, tense and thrilling 12 minutes it is the perfect example of how to kill a character in the most exciting way. What made Scream such a hit is that it gave birth to the postmodern horror film. It evaluated the clichés and conventions of the horror films and mocked them all whilst giving us a terrifying experience. However after the rebirth of the 90s born by Scream, came the noughties were two types of horror film dominated. Remakes and Torture Porn. The noughties seemed to be the point where all great horror films had been made, gone were the early day classics of Dracula and Frankenstein, gone where the infamous killers of Freddy, Jason and Leatherface and gone was the postmodern irony. Hollywood resorted to remaking its old classics, trying to recapture the magic of days gone past. With Saw, the decade had its horror franchise it will be remembered for. However Jigsaws demented games brought about a new genre of gloriously gory films with full focus on the death rather than the story. However foreign films such as The Orphanage and Let The Right One In proved that there was still imagination in horror films. Cloverfield, Drag Me To Hell and The Mist were examples of original, inventive and fun horror films, proving that horror certainly has a lot to look forward to. And If horror films are stuck in a remake and sequel rut, what better way to resurrect it than the release of a new Scream film in 2011.
Horrors Characters
Horror films are traditionally dominated by its key component, the monster or killer we all love to hate, This section at the article will look at some of the most famous characters in horror film history, what the inspiration behind them was and what effect they had on the public. Everybody has heard of Jason from Friday The 13th or Freddy from A Nightmare On Elm Street. However these creations, these monsters who we would like to believe are far away, were inspired by everyday elements that give all of them a chilling cutting edge and relevance. Take Freddy Kruger the man with knives for fingers who kills you in your dreams…
1, 2 Freddie’s coming for you….
3,4 Better lock your door…
5,6 Grab a crucifix
7,8 Better stay up late
9,10 Never sleep again
The influence behind this sadistic killer can be found in a story from the writer and director Wes Cravens childhood. One night a young Wes woke up to investigate a strange noise only to find outside his house a grown man, dressed like the killer Wes would later create, who gave Wes the fright of his life. This is just one example along with Ed Gein demonstrating how the most terrifying figures of the horror film genre are born out of our world, the real world. As if to show that horror films are merely a mirror, reflecting the current time periods fears and horrors, showing the public the “real” world and in the form of supernatural killers reflecting current fears rather than making up new ones. The great horror characters, the truly memorable are remembered not just for their iconic design or costume. They are remembered because they hit a nerve inside people, they struck a chord that is so hard to strike. Characters like Freddy, Michael Myers and Norman Bates are so iconic because they represented fears we all have. However do we have a tendency to glorify these horrible characters? Is it because we admire them? Seeks ways to make money out of them? Or subconsciously are trying to make them less scary? Nowadays you can buy Freddy Kruger pajamas; he along with many other horror icons is merchandise and a franchise. Kruger went from being a terrifying killer to a wise cracking loved comedian. What is to be said about a society that takes a sadistic killer and turns him into a hero? The more familiar something becomes the less scary it is. You can buy action figures, lunch boxes etc. the classic horror characters have become so familiar and so part of popular culture it is hard for them to be as effective as they were all those years ago. Except for perhaps Jigsaw in the Saw films, the most recent decade did not give us a brand new, fresh iconic horror villain. There were plenty of remakes and sequels trying to get extra mileage out of Freddy, Michael, Jason and Leatherface but all failed. However the observation of how we familiarize these characters, continues to bring up the question..how do horror films reflect their generation?
Horror Films: A Reflection of a time periods fears
Look at the history of horror films, look at what they entailed, when they came out etc. and then search for a news story or a war or a paranoia that was around at the time and you can see not just where these films got their inspiration from but why they were so effective. In the 1950s horror films involved creations from man that were behind their control and how soldiers would save the day, perfectly playing into cold war paranoia. In the 60s Psycho played into the fear of Ed Gein and how a horrible killer could be our next-door neighbor. In the 1970s Vietnam inspired horror film directors so is it fair to say that the most recent batch of horror films have been inspired by Iraq?
If you want to see a post 9/11 horror film that reflects the fear of cities crumbling and unknown terror look no further than the 2008 film Cloverfield. Commonly described as The Blair With Project meets Godzilla, Cloverfield is infact a film that I believe could go on to be a historically important horror/thriller. The scenes of ash filling up the streets, buildings collapsing etc. are all images that evoke 9/11 and in the film New York is under attack from an unknown and unseen terror that has brought military action to the city and put its population into a frenzy. Cloverfield is non-stop, visceral, thrilling excitement however looking at the story and images it is so much more than a simple horror film. It is one that truly reflects fear and paranoia that was born out of the attack on September 11th 2001. When speaking to Fox News about horror films reflecting current fears that change through the decades, Eli Roth the director of Hostel and producer of The Last Exorcism said “In times of terror, people want to be terrorized but in a safe environment because with all the horrible things going on in the world especially with the war in Iraq and the aftermath of hurricane Katrina where our government did nothing, people just want to go and scream and there is really no place in society where you can just go and scream at the top of your lungs and let it out of your system. Horror movies really provide that safe environment to do that” he also adds “It goes in cycles, in the 70s with Vietnam all of a sudden you had movies like Last House On The Left, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Dawn of The Dead. If you noticed during the Clinton administration when things were calm there weren’t that many horror movies but now thanks to George Bush, Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld we have a whole new wave of horror movies” he continues “If you talk to all the horror directors of the 70s they say they were making films as a reaction to watching Vietnam on television”
This theory that horror films can almost act as form of therapy, allowing its audience members to let go but also that they are stark reminders and reflections of what is currently going on. Is a fascinating and undeniably powerful observation. Horror films don’t inspire wickedness, they are inspired from it. However how much do horror films influence our behavior? The censors always have a lot to say about that…
Censorship and Horror
As mentioned in the first section of this article with the infamous scene in Frankenstein, horror films have always been censored heavily. However the most dramatic example of the war between censors and horror films was demonstrated with the video nasties scare. Video nasty was a phrase used to describe a video of a horror films that had not gone down well with the censors and was banned through the UK Video Recordings Act of 984. This is a dramatic example of how censors can seek to ban horror films as they believe they housed content that would “deprave and corrupt” those who watched them. In The U.K some films were banned by The British Board Of Film Classification but were not “video nasties” films such as The Exorcist and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre are examples of this. Many tv shows and songs at the time referenced the video nasties and helpfully for horror fans they drew up a list of all the films that were deemed video nasties. Giving all horror fans a checklist of films they had to see. Films on this list included I Spit On Your Grave, The Last House On The Left and The Evil Dead. Many of these horror films were misunderstood, most notably in the case of The Evil Dead, which was a horror/comedy however the infamous tree rape scene did not help its cause. Of the banned films 39 have since been released uncut as the ban came to an end, 23 were released with scenes cut, 1 has been released with additional footage and 11 are still banned because they have not been resubmitted for classicification by the films distributors. This example of censors clamping down on horror films shows a great fear of how horror films affect those who watch it. Films such as Childs Play have been scolded as inciting violence in children and inspiring horrible murders. Horror films have been cited as the influence behind horrible crimes. However the ultimate piece of dialogue that defines the whole debate on whether a horror film truly does deprave and corrupt its audience is captured in Wes Cravens Scream when the killer remarks “Horror films don’t create psychos, they just make them more creative!”
Horror films do not make people turn crazy, do not make people want to kill others they merely give those people ideas.
Whether you think horror films are good or bad. There is no denying their rich and interesting history has given us not only some of the most classic characters ever put on to film but have also acted as time capsules. You can watch Cloverfield and see how it reflects today; you can watch the horror films of the 70s and observe how they reflect Vietnam. Horror films are not dumb, corrupt guilty fun. They can truly reflect the fears of their time, can give people an amazing experience watching a film, they can even help people deal with their fears as much as they terrify them. Horror is an important and fascinating genre. Not all of it can be covered in this one article. However no matter how much people may be scared by them, or want to get rid of them or avoid them horror films will always be there. A new wave ready to come and scare a new generation and to define its time period.
“When I see people walking out of a horror film, I see them flushed, laughing and patting their friends on the back…not looking for their next victim” Wes Craven sums up it perfectly. Horror films are when done properly a beautiful experience; the adrenaline and excitement they give cannot be matched by any other genre in film. They will always be a huge part of society and will always be loved and hated in equal measure but undeniably important. The films have developed, society has developed and while it is fascinating to look into the past of horror films it is equally exciting to anticipate its future and what boogeyman are waiting to scare us and keep on scaring us for years to come.
By Michael Dalton
A Special Relationship
Horror films are one of the most successful genres in film history and arguably the most thrilling. Every year dozens of horror films are released all with the same enticing intention, to terrify us. However only a few horror films achieve that goal. What is it about these horror films and these monsters that both excite and appall us in equal measure? How do horror films reflect the fears of their time? What effect do horror films truly have on people? And how has the effect and the commentary of the horror film changed and developed over the years? This article will look through the history of horror films and examine the most famous films, characters and events that shed a light on the most interesting and special relationship between horror films and society. The first section will focus on how horror films have changed over the years, the waves of horror film that defined each time period and the effect these horror films had. The second section will look at the characters that lead horror films, the killers and evaluate their inspiration as well as their effect on the public. The third section will evaluate how horror films represent fears of that time period while the fourth and final section will look at the interesting relationship horror films and censors have had. Enjoy and remember…they are only movies.
Dracula To Saw.. The development and waves of the horror film
Horror films have changed and developed dramatically since the initial golden age of the 30s when Universal were the kings of film horror. With films such as Dracula and Frankenstein the first true horror movie monsters had been born. Even now in 2010 the powers of the design of those two classics live on. The iconic image and design of Frankenstein, with the two bolts stuck either side of his neck or the long dark cape of the villainous count. The imagination of design and make up that was present at that time has gone down in history, with these two monsters being such a part of popular culture and film history that even those who have not viewed these films know full well of the looks of the monsters at the centre of them. However it was not just the groundbreaking make up and character design that put these films down in history but the huge effect they had on the general public, both positive and negative. Dracula and Frankenstein were huge hits, both garnering huge box office and public excitement however a certain scene in Frankenstein again perfectly represents, how that even when horror films are accepted and loved by its audience, certain scenes will always be too much to handle for the current generation. The scene involved Frankenstein happily playing with an innocent little girl, however he then drowns and kills the girl accidentally. The scene was heavily cut by the censors, the relationship between horror films and censorship has always been a rocky one and this incident right back in the 1930s shows how from the very beginning horror films and censors weren’t going to get along. In today’s film world that scene would never be cut with much more gruesome scenes being played out in the torture porn films of Saw, Hostel or even the most recent, The Human Centipede. Horror films traditionally come in waves; in the 30s we had the initial early wave of the Universal and RKO horror films that would lay the groundwork and foundation for horror films of the future. Lewtons Bus (used in the film Cat People) is now a technique used in practically every horror film; it’s the feeling that something horrible is about to appear but then an innocent human being or mere object jumping out and unknowingly scaring the films protagonist and us. In the late 70s and early 80s a new sub genre of the horror film took center stage…the slasher film.
Kicked off by Halloween, films such as Friday The 13th and A Nightmare On Elm Street were born. The typical slasher film mainly consists of a killer, a knife and a bunch of stupid teenagers. These films however, especially Halloween all owe a debt to the Alfred Hitchcock classic Psycho. All these films have left their place in popular culture whether it is the infamous shower scene of Psycho, the hockey mask of Jason or the chilling nursery rhyme of A Nightmare On Elm Street. However Psycho was born out of the disturbing real life case of Ed Gein, Before Psycho horror films had contained monsters that were from another realm, whether it be creatures, or aliens from outer space the horror movie villain had never been from home. However the case of Ed Gein was a sick gift for those horror filmmakers as now a true real life killer had been found and nobody even knew what he was doing. The idea of a seemingly innocent, loveable man turning out to be a killer was portrayed perfectly through Psycho. Where Norman Bates the gentleman who cares for his elderly mother turns out to be not only a killer but also schizophrenic. A man who wouldn’t hurt a fly is stabbing women in the showers. Bringing this real life fear, this sense of the everyday to the horror films revolutionized them in a way that had never been seen before. With the Texas Chainsaw Massacre the crimes of Ed Gein were once again brutally brought to the big screen. Psycho was a huge hit and its shower scene is one of the most iconic moments not just in horror film history but in film history as well. However the psychological intentions of films like Psycho and Halloween which relied just as much on the unkown, unseen, the sound and the music were misunderstood by the dozens of imitators trying to cash in on the new found popularity of the slasher film. However the slasher films with their endless sequels eventually ran themselves into parody, that was until Wes Craven the man behind one of the best of these “slasher” films in the form of A Nightmare On Elm Street, gave not just slasher films but horror films a rebirth in Scream.
Scream has undoubtedly not just the greatest opening in horror film history but also arguably the greatest opening in film history. Running a grueling, tense and thrilling 12 minutes it is the perfect example of how to kill a character in the most exciting way. What made Scream such a hit is that it gave birth to the postmodern horror film. It evaluated the clichés and conventions of the horror films and mocked them all whilst giving us a terrifying experience. However after the rebirth of the 90s born by Scream, came the noughties were two types of horror film dominated. Remakes and Torture Porn. The noughties seemed to be the point where all great horror films had been made, gone were the early day classics of Dracula and Frankenstein, gone where the infamous killers of Freddy, Jason and Leatherface and gone was the postmodern irony. Hollywood resorted to remaking its old classics, trying to recapture the magic of days gone past. With Saw, the decade had its horror franchise it will be remembered for. However Jigsaws demented games brought about a new genre of gloriously gory films with full focus on the death rather than the story. However foreign films such as The Orphanage and Let The Right One In proved that there was still imagination in horror films. Cloverfield, Drag Me To Hell and The Mist were examples of original, inventive and fun horror films, proving that horror certainly has a lot to look forward to. And If horror films are stuck in a remake and sequel rut, what better way to resurrect it than the release of a new Scream film in 2011.
Horrors Characters
Horror films are traditionally dominated by its key component, the monster or killer we all love to hate, This section at the article will look at some of the most famous characters in horror film history, what the inspiration behind them was and what effect they had on the public. Everybody has heard of Jason from Friday The 13th or Freddy from A Nightmare On Elm Street. However these creations, these monsters who we would like to believe are far away, were inspired by everyday elements that give all of them a chilling cutting edge and relevance. Take Freddy Kruger the man with knives for fingers who kills you in your dreams…
1, 2 Freddie’s coming for you….
3,4 Better lock your door…
5,6 Grab a crucifix
7,8 Better stay up late
9,10 Never sleep again
The influence behind this sadistic killer can be found in a story from the writer and director Wes Cravens childhood. One night a young Wes woke up to investigate a strange noise only to find outside his house a grown man, dressed like the killer Wes would later create, who gave Wes the fright of his life. This is just one example along with Ed Gein demonstrating how the most terrifying figures of the horror film genre are born out of our world, the real world. As if to show that horror films are merely a mirror, reflecting the current time periods fears and horrors, showing the public the “real” world and in the form of supernatural killers reflecting current fears rather than making up new ones. The great horror characters, the truly memorable are remembered not just for their iconic design or costume. They are remembered because they hit a nerve inside people, they struck a chord that is so hard to strike. Characters like Freddy, Michael Myers and Norman Bates are so iconic because they represented fears we all have. However do we have a tendency to glorify these horrible characters? Is it because we admire them? Seeks ways to make money out of them? Or subconsciously are trying to make them less scary? Nowadays you can buy Freddy Kruger pajamas; he along with many other horror icons is merchandise and a franchise. Kruger went from being a terrifying killer to a wise cracking loved comedian. What is to be said about a society that takes a sadistic killer and turns him into a hero? The more familiar something becomes the less scary it is. You can buy action figures, lunch boxes etc. the classic horror characters have become so familiar and so part of popular culture it is hard for them to be as effective as they were all those years ago. Except for perhaps Jigsaw in the Saw films, the most recent decade did not give us a brand new, fresh iconic horror villain. There were plenty of remakes and sequels trying to get extra mileage out of Freddy, Michael, Jason and Leatherface but all failed. However the observation of how we familiarize these characters, continues to bring up the question..how do horror films reflect their generation?
Horror Films: A Reflection of a time periods fears
Look at the history of horror films, look at what they entailed, when they came out etc. and then search for a news story or a war or a paranoia that was around at the time and you can see not just where these films got their inspiration from but why they were so effective. In the 1950s horror films involved creations from man that were behind their control and how soldiers would save the day, perfectly playing into cold war paranoia. In the 60s Psycho played into the fear of Ed Gein and how a horrible killer could be our next-door neighbor. In the 1970s Vietnam inspired horror film directors so is it fair to say that the most recent batch of horror films have been inspired by Iraq?
If you want to see a post 9/11 horror film that reflects the fear of cities crumbling and unknown terror look no further than the 2008 film Cloverfield. Commonly described as The Blair With Project meets Godzilla, Cloverfield is infact a film that I believe could go on to be a historically important horror/thriller. The scenes of ash filling up the streets, buildings collapsing etc. are all images that evoke 9/11 and in the film New York is under attack from an unknown and unseen terror that has brought military action to the city and put its population into a frenzy. Cloverfield is non-stop, visceral, thrilling excitement however looking at the story and images it is so much more than a simple horror film. It is one that truly reflects fear and paranoia that was born out of the attack on September 11th 2001. When speaking to Fox News about horror films reflecting current fears that change through the decades, Eli Roth the director of Hostel and producer of The Last Exorcism said “In times of terror, people want to be terrorized but in a safe environment because with all the horrible things going on in the world especially with the war in Iraq and the aftermath of hurricane Katrina where our government did nothing, people just want to go and scream and there is really no place in society where you can just go and scream at the top of your lungs and let it out of your system. Horror movies really provide that safe environment to do that” he also adds “It goes in cycles, in the 70s with Vietnam all of a sudden you had movies like Last House On The Left, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Dawn of The Dead. If you noticed during the Clinton administration when things were calm there weren’t that many horror movies but now thanks to George Bush, Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld we have a whole new wave of horror movies” he continues “If you talk to all the horror directors of the 70s they say they were making films as a reaction to watching Vietnam on television”
This theory that horror films can almost act as form of therapy, allowing its audience members to let go but also that they are stark reminders and reflections of what is currently going on. Is a fascinating and undeniably powerful observation. Horror films don’t inspire wickedness, they are inspired from it. However how much do horror films influence our behavior? The censors always have a lot to say about that…
Censorship and Horror
As mentioned in the first section of this article with the infamous scene in Frankenstein, horror films have always been censored heavily. However the most dramatic example of the war between censors and horror films was demonstrated with the video nasties scare. Video nasty was a phrase used to describe a video of a horror films that had not gone down well with the censors and was banned through the UK Video Recordings Act of 984. This is a dramatic example of how censors can seek to ban horror films as they believe they housed content that would “deprave and corrupt” those who watched them. In The U.K some films were banned by The British Board Of Film Classification but were not “video nasties” films such as The Exorcist and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre are examples of this. Many tv shows and songs at the time referenced the video nasties and helpfully for horror fans they drew up a list of all the films that were deemed video nasties. Giving all horror fans a checklist of films they had to see. Films on this list included I Spit On Your Grave, The Last House On The Left and The Evil Dead. Many of these horror films were misunderstood, most notably in the case of The Evil Dead, which was a horror/comedy however the infamous tree rape scene did not help its cause. Of the banned films 39 have since been released uncut as the ban came to an end, 23 were released with scenes cut, 1 has been released with additional footage and 11 are still banned because they have not been resubmitted for classicification by the films distributors. This example of censors clamping down on horror films shows a great fear of how horror films affect those who watch it. Films such as Childs Play have been scolded as inciting violence in children and inspiring horrible murders. Horror films have been cited as the influence behind horrible crimes. However the ultimate piece of dialogue that defines the whole debate on whether a horror film truly does deprave and corrupt its audience is captured in Wes Cravens Scream when the killer remarks “Horror films don’t create psychos, they just make them more creative!”
Horror films do not make people turn crazy, do not make people want to kill others they merely give those people ideas.
Whether you think horror films are good or bad. There is no denying their rich and interesting history has given us not only some of the most classic characters ever put on to film but have also acted as time capsules. You can watch Cloverfield and see how it reflects today; you can watch the horror films of the 70s and observe how they reflect Vietnam. Horror films are not dumb, corrupt guilty fun. They can truly reflect the fears of their time, can give people an amazing experience watching a film, they can even help people deal with their fears as much as they terrify them. Horror is an important and fascinating genre. Not all of it can be covered in this one article. However no matter how much people may be scared by them, or want to get rid of them or avoid them horror films will always be there. A new wave ready to come and scare a new generation and to define its time period.
“When I see people walking out of a horror film, I see them flushed, laughing and patting their friends on the back…not looking for their next victim” Wes Craven sums up it perfectly. Horror films are when done properly a beautiful experience; the adrenaline and excitement they give cannot be matched by any other genre in film. They will always be a huge part of society and will always be loved and hated in equal measure but undeniably important. The films have developed, society has developed and while it is fascinating to look into the past of horror films it is equally exciting to anticipate its future and what boogeyman are waiting to scare us and keep on scaring us for years to come.
By Michael Dalton
Below is the interview with horror director Eli Roth, mentioned in the article above.
This video was taken from: "Eli Roth interview Fox News" (Video). Feb. 08 2007. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5nOl1oeP4Q
Research for this article was conducted through the following sources (Including the interview above):
Kermode, Mark. "Scream and Scream Again: The History of the Slasher Movie." Scream and Scream Again: The History of the Slasher Movie. Channel 4. Television.
"A History of Horror with Mark Gatiss- Frankenstein Goes to Hollywood." Frankenstein Goes to Hollywood. BBC Four. 11 Oct. 2010. Television.
Kermode, Mark. "Scream and Scream Again: The History of the Slasher Movie." Scream and Scream Again: The History of the Slasher Movie. Channel 4. Television.
"A History of Horror with Mark Gatiss- Frankenstein Goes to Hollywood." Frankenstein Goes to Hollywood. BBC Four. 11 Oct. 2010. Television.
