Horror genre mr darby

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Horror Genre Kofo Abidemi

Transcript of Horror genre mr darby

Horror Genre

Kofo Abidemi

History of the horror genre Horror is a long- serving and resilient genre and the only reason it has survived till today is that it has both very clear generic codes and conventions. The horror genre is significantly important in terms of looking at how women are represented either as victims, avenging angels with attitude or empowered sexual vixens.

Historical exams of horror films include:• Frankenstein- Mary Shelly (1818 and 1831)• Dracula- Bram Stoker (1897)• The Picture of Dorian Grey- Oscar Wilde (1891)• The Golem – Gustav Meyrink (1981)• Nosferatu- Bram Stoker

The examples listed above all have essentials elements which is said to be very important in a horror film

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Contemporary examples of Horror • The key codes and conventions of the horror genre have famously been

canonised in The scream trilogy , I know what you did last summer, Friday the 13th and Scary movie delighted in self- conscious intertextual references to Halloween.

• In addition, There is `Wet' Horror which involves a large amount of blood, guts decomposing and shape-changing bodies whereas `Dry' Horror chills and Prickles the skin with a sense of mounting unease often with a psychological aspect or dealing with supernaturally.

There are 4 main horror genres: Killers; Monsters; Paranormal and Psychological horror however are subgenres that are very popular that can also be considered to now be a genre. These are Zombies and Gore/splatter horror.

Horror Genres… The `Killer’ genre is the most famous out of all the other genres . This genre includes films that features a killer, natural or supernatural, usually a psychopath, which destroys people. The genre mixes thriller, crime and psychological horror.

• Inside the `killer’ genre you have the subgenre of `Slasher’. Basic Slasher have existed for a long time but really became popular in the early 80’s with the success of Halloween and Friday the 13th. This sub-genre usually features a lot of pursuits and a lot of gruesome murders. Teenagers are often the victims in such films .Examples of Slasher films are ;

•Halloween (1978)•Friday the 13th (1980)•A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)•Scream (1996)

Horror Genres…

The `monster’ genre evolved from the early 1910’s with the first versions of Frankenstein. In the `Monster’ genre you can find the subgenre of `classic Monsters/ Mythological Monsters’.

•This sub-genre regroups the monster films that have either been inspired by early roman (e.g. Frankenstein in 1818 or The Invisible Man in 1897), or by well-known myths and legends. Examples of films in this subgenre are;

•Frankenstein (1931)•The Mummy (1932)

Horror Genres…The `paranormal ‘ genre uses the fear of the unknown which is naturally a classic topic of horror. Gathering everything from ghost to demons and even witches, it is usually the part of horror cinema that gets the scariest.

• Ghosts, spectres, or spirits are mostly common in horror cinema, they usually are the soul of dead people which, for whatever reason (unfinished business and revenge are the most common reasons) does not go to the hereafter but stay on earth, haunting people.

• Poltergeist (1982)

• The Frighteners (1996)

• Ju-On (2002)

• Mama (2013)

In the `Paranormal’ Genre you also find sub genres features such as the classic `Haunted house’, `possession’ which is when someone's body is infiltrated by an evil spirit, or a demon, that will take control over that person. The genre owns its success to The Exorcist (1973), one of the most famous horror films of all. Furthermore, the tend to have demons and devils which play on religious beliefs

Horror Genres…`Psychological’ Horror & Thriller is the part of horror that feels the most real since it features the work of humans, either that have become crazy or that are stranded in exceptional situations. Often linked with the thriller genre, these films build most of their horror around psychological tension.

In this genre you themes such as madness and Paranoia are evident great examples of this in films are pscycho (1960) . This genres tends put people in a situation related to our worst fear and phobia. The most commonly used is probably claustrophobia.

Horror Genres…Splatter

• Splatter is the default term to define gory films. Emphasizing on gruesome scenes, splatter films slightly differs from torture films by the fact that they use graphics and gory scenes within a story that is not cantered on the torture itself. Examples include; I Spit on Your Grave (1978)

Torture

• Strongly related to the previous sub-genre, the torture films actually focus their story on the torture itself. Whether it has a goal like in saw or just fro pleasure. These films often relate the story of mad people and the poor innocents that meet them. Examples include; Saw (2004)

Sub Genres

• Sub genres groups other types of horror that are not really genre, but more horror styles. For examples, comedy is indeed a genre, but you’ll find that each horror-comedy can be fitted into one of the genre aboveComedy horrorThere are elements of comedy in a large number of the films genre presented above, but only a few movies really emphasizes on the comedy itself. This is however a rising sub-genres in which audiences can expect to see more horror-comedies in the coming years. Examples include; The Little Shop of Horror (1960)and Shaun of the Dead (2004)  Post-Apocalyptic & Sci-fi HorrorHorror and Science-Fiction are vey close they tend to interact with each other’s.

Sub Genres… Horror Romance

• Even the horror genre cannot escape the success that romance encounters in any type of cinema. Often linked to vampires examples include Warm Bodies (2013)

 Gothic Horror

• Gothic Horror defines a very atmospheric type of horror, a blend between dark horror, melancholy and romance. Associated with the gothic culture, its main inspirations are Bram Stoker’s Dracula

Body Horror

• Body Horror defines films that are cantered on the human body, usually involving body transformation, deformation and/or destruction. It also covers body transformations such as the human-werewolf ones.