Horror Film Essay

Horror is a widely discussed controversial and successful genre of film, it has

been around since cinema began catching and is becoming more successful as
the years continue, there is something about horror films which will excite and
scare audiences forever.
Horror over Time
Horror began with literature with stories like Frankenstein being written
in castles on dark and stormy nights, this was closely stuck to when
the first horror films were being released.
Horror has often been at the forefront of cutting edge special effects
with films like Frankenstein in the 1930s and Dracula, the first foray
into the creation of supernatural films began in 1895 with silent film a
spook tale made by George Melies and in 1896 the first true
horror film was released called the manor of the devil again by George Melies.
Horror films began to gain popular appeal after ww1 with Germany which lead to
a rise in German directors and German expressionism, they
began instantly recognisable because of their sharp angles and
painted shadows (German film companies could only use a set
amount of electricity and using lighting for a long period of
time would cost too much, so in order to get around the issue
they painted the shadows onto the ground
(http://filmmakeriq.com/lessons/a-brief-history-of-horror/)
Traditional Gothic Writing were turned into motion pictures in the
30s such as Golem and Frankenstein to great popularity, the German production
company UFA made a deal with Hollywood to secure funding and distribution for
part ownership of their films and as a result of this many German directors
migrated to Hollywood. When the success of Horror films was realised by
Hollywood a tradition that is in full force today began to take hold, sequels, what
would begin as one standalone film would branch out in numerous sequels and
crossovers such as Dracula returns and Frankensteins House. In the 1950s
horror films were used to scare and relieve the tension of the cold war, with
Aliens and Monsters plaguing on the fear of the unknown created by struggle for
nuclear power, however the characters triumphing over the unknown evils
helped put America at ease and gave them hope for winning the cold war. In the
1970s realism was introduced with films involving the mind, this was scaring as
at the time the brain was not as well studied as it is now and it made people
think that they could become psychopaths and killers without a motive. In the
1980s slasher films high on gore and special effects became popular with films
like scream which picked about the codes and conventions of the horror industry
and the shining which was high on special effects and developed new camera
techniques. Psychological thrillers and horrors began to trend in the 90s as
people became terrified with what could happen in their own mind films such as
silence of the lambs involving cooperation with a violent cannibalistic serial
killer, religious connotations also became more popular in films such as Se7en
and the idea that people have to pay for their sins. In the 2000s all elements of
the previous generations were brought together with a theme of unescapable

death becoming popular with films such as Saw and the Final Destination
Franchise.
Codes and Conventions of Horror
Even though horror films have been around since the beginning of film they all
follow the same sort of codes and conventions some examples of these are:
Secluded locations, the cast drives or gets lost in a dangerous and secluded
location like woods or a scary castle, this isolates them from the world and
makes sure that theyre untimely deaths become legend.
There is always a never-ending tension which rises and falls
and can be climaxed with fake deaths and jump scares, this is
when the music builds to a climax and the audience assumes
something bad will happen before something weak and
harmless like an owl hooting or a rat moving diffuses the
tension the audience relaxes before the killer or monster
appears suddenly and as the tension was diffused only
moments ago it surprises and scares the audience.
Throughout horror films longshots are used often these help
to convey the closed in atmosphere that the cast is stuck in using long shots can
make the audience feel like the cast is being watched. The setting is usually
always dark the darkness and night time being a fear that binds everyone, the
fear of the unknown and what lurks in the dark. Soundtrack is one of the most
important if not the most important element of a horror film scratching violins
and deep throbbing synths add the most terrifying layer to the action and the
rise and fall of the soundtrack is the main driver in creating tension for the
audience, when the music begins to swell the audience begins to feel anxious
when there is no soundtrack or a resting soundtrack the audience feels calm and
like nothing is going to happen. Pathetic fallacy is also common in horror films,
dark and stormy weather being used to connote the scared feeling inside the
characters and perfectly timed thunder and lightning crashes going off after a
character has learned a dark secret, dark locations and bad weather are some of
the strongest icons of the horror genre and has been included since the very
beginning.
Another area of the genre that has stayed roughly the same is the representation
of women. Women in most films are seen as the damsel in distress providing
pathetic comic relief before being killed off, giving the blue blooded male hero
the anger he needs to battle and destroy the enemy once and for all such as Alex
Crosss Character in the film along came a spider, male characters are often seen
as the lone hero journeying on alone. However when women do become the hero
they often have to adopt masculine traits in order to be taken seriously it is rare
that a feminine character will become the hero and still hold all of the feminine
traits, an example of this would be the character of Ripley from the Alien
franchise who has short hair wears trousers and uses foul language traits which
stereotypically are non-feminine even the fact that she is the leader at all is
unusual, she is viewed as rebel who always talks back to her male co-workers
who belittle her and she has to earn their respect, many people would consider a
role like this a huge advancement and revolutionary however the character has
essentially had to adopt the stereotypical traits of a man in order to be respected
and in order to achieve anything. The representation of age has changed over
time as cinema has become more open and available to the public, when horror

was first beginning foreign limelight actors such as the Bulgarian Bela Lugosi
who played the original Dracula in 1931. However as cinema has become
available for all ages to watch and enjoy there has been an
increased number of youths watching horror films, with most
film companies aiming for 15 BBFC Rating in order to attract
a larger number of youths, in the modern era of horror films,
the characters are all young adults or teenagers in order to
make the audience of predominantly youth to feel more
scared as they relate to the on screen characters, the
natural stereotypical enemy of youth are older people or
adults therefore in most horror films the enemy if the enemy is a human at all is
usually played by an older person in their mid-40s for example, youth are
represented as heroes and older people as enemies.
Horror Film Distribution
The majority of Horror films are distributed through the
traditional method of cinema and eventually to DVD release.
However with the rise of instant on demand streaming small
indie horror films like Pontypool and The Citadel can rise to
stardom as well as older films like the 1930s original
Dracula being brought back to life on streaming services
such as Netflix.