Horror
The History
The concept of horror has remained concurrent throughout the existence of humanity. We have attempted to spread fear and terror with the use of folk tales and legends since we could communicate, however the concept of horror was not used through the medium of film until the late 1800’s. The first recorded film featuring events of the super natural was Le Manoir du diable (translating to The House of the Devil) but the first viral horror movie to follow the conventions we’re all accustomed to was Frankenstein created in 1910. This sparked off a movement of blood and terror leading us to what we have today, with amazing films and franchises such as Scream.
The Conventions
Films
Horror films often belong to a specific genre, whether it be:
- Sci-fi
- Action
- Slasher
- Japanese Horror
- And many more sub-genres
This is generally a means of organising the production and marketing of a film. It allows filmmakers to target their ‘niche’ audience and maximise their profits. For example, some enjoy slashers, but avoid movies filled with gore at all costs; meaning that if you didn’t differentiate the genres your audience wouldn’t know what to expect when walking into the cinema. These sub genres also contain conventions within themselves, i.e. the slasher genre.
A media theorist named Graeme Burton argued that films from a particular genre will all contain conventions that stay concurrent throughout every film in that particular genre. Graeme created a genre formula, which is as follows:
· Protagonists
· Stock Characters
· Stock Situations
· Iconic props (i.e. Jason’s Hockey mask/Freddie Krueger's claws)
· Background and décor
· Themes (love, revenge, survival, etc.)
Burton also created elements that in theory apply to every Scream movie that has ever or will ever be released. One of these theories includes the ‘final girl’ theory, which can be applied to Sidney Prescott. This is a unisex name, which is also part of the convention. There is also a masked antagonist, and stock characters that are generally superficial and commit ‘impure’ deeds, such as partaking in drugs or having sex before marriage. This almost presents the antagonist as a deliverer of justice, or punisher of some sort, which is very ironic as the killer is usually a teenager who partakes in these impure deeds as well (with one of the killers from scream one taking Sidney’s innocence before revealing his true nature). In Burton’s theory there is also a figure of justice, usually smart brave and heroic, however in Scream Sidney is given Dewy, the clumsy policeman. There is also a ‘red herring’ who is someone we are made to think is the killer. Wes Craven cleverly gets us to think that it’s Sidney’s boyfriend, and then has him fake his own death to assure us that he isn’t, and then in another U-turn in the story it turns out he really is the killer, but just has an accomplice.
Another quite silly convention is that the person (generally the victim) who is trying to escape the killer falls over as they are being chased, and for some reason instead of getting up, choose to crawl away while the killer takes a leisurely stroll towards them i.e. Jason Voorhees (God knows how he caught up to a running person by walking the whole chase sequence). However Wes Craven defies this convention and has the killer running at full speed towards the victims; however he is often knocked out or tripped over.
The killers (who have often became Icons in the horror genre) also usually share common conventions, such as an item of some sort, Like Jason’s mask, or Freddie Kruegers blade fingers/claws. In some cases even actors become icons in their particular Genre, i.e. Tom Cruise doing mainly action movies.
Another convention is that a lot of horror films are set in isolated cities or towns, contrary to the popular belief that violent murders always occur in populated cities. There are also common themes or messages underlined within the movies, such as the theme of self belief, love, betrayal, or hate. The protagonist is also often questioning their sanity and if what they are experiencing is real, due to a psychologically damaging event that may have happened in their past, i.e. Sydney Prescott’s mother being murdered.
There are also unwritten rules of how to survive a horror movie. These are:
1. If think you’ve killed the monster or killer, don’t check if he/she’s really dead, run like hell.
2. Don’t say ‘I’ll be right back’ and go to the basement, especially if the power has switched off
3. Don’t leave the main group. Ever.
4. Stay out of grave yards
5. Don’t be a cocky sportsman
6. Be a virgin
However an example of a movie that goes against these conventions is Scream 4. Wes Craven intentionally created the fourth (and possibly final) installation of the franchise to go against all of the slasher rules he had created, maybe as a final ‘Ha ha!’ to the film boffins that think that they have him all figured out.
- Sci-fi
- Action
- Slasher
- Japanese Horror
- And many more sub-genres
This is generally a means of organising the production and marketing of a film. It allows filmmakers to target their ‘niche’ audience and maximise their profits. For example, some enjoy slashers, but avoid movies filled with gore at all costs; meaning that if you didn’t differentiate the genres your audience wouldn’t know what to expect when walking into the cinema. These sub genres also contain conventions within themselves, i.e. the slasher genre.
A media theorist named Graeme Burton argued that films from a particular genre will all contain conventions that stay concurrent throughout every film in that particular genre. Graeme created a genre formula, which is as follows:
· Protagonists
· Stock Characters
· Stock Situations
· Iconic props (i.e. Jason’s Hockey mask/Freddie Krueger's claws)
· Background and décor
· Themes (love, revenge, survival, etc.)
Burton also created elements that in theory apply to every Scream movie that has ever or will ever be released. One of these theories includes the ‘final girl’ theory, which can be applied to Sidney Prescott. This is a unisex name, which is also part of the convention. There is also a masked antagonist, and stock characters that are generally superficial and commit ‘impure’ deeds, such as partaking in drugs or having sex before marriage. This almost presents the antagonist as a deliverer of justice, or punisher of some sort, which is very ironic as the killer is usually a teenager who partakes in these impure deeds as well (with one of the killers from scream one taking Sidney’s innocence before revealing his true nature). In Burton’s theory there is also a figure of justice, usually smart brave and heroic, however in Scream Sidney is given Dewy, the clumsy policeman. There is also a ‘red herring’ who is someone we are made to think is the killer. Wes Craven cleverly gets us to think that it’s Sidney’s boyfriend, and then has him fake his own death to assure us that he isn’t, and then in another U-turn in the story it turns out he really is the killer, but just has an accomplice.
Another quite silly convention is that the person (generally the victim) who is trying to escape the killer falls over as they are being chased, and for some reason instead of getting up, choose to crawl away while the killer takes a leisurely stroll towards them i.e. Jason Voorhees (God knows how he caught up to a running person by walking the whole chase sequence). However Wes Craven defies this convention and has the killer running at full speed towards the victims; however he is often knocked out or tripped over.
The killers (who have often became Icons in the horror genre) also usually share common conventions, such as an item of some sort, Like Jason’s mask, or Freddie Kruegers blade fingers/claws. In some cases even actors become icons in their particular Genre, i.e. Tom Cruise doing mainly action movies.
Another convention is that a lot of horror films are set in isolated cities or towns, contrary to the popular belief that violent murders always occur in populated cities. There are also common themes or messages underlined within the movies, such as the theme of self belief, love, betrayal, or hate. The protagonist is also often questioning their sanity and if what they are experiencing is real, due to a psychologically damaging event that may have happened in their past, i.e. Sydney Prescott’s mother being murdered.
There are also unwritten rules of how to survive a horror movie. These are:
1. If think you’ve killed the monster or killer, don’t check if he/she’s really dead, run like hell.
2. Don’t say ‘I’ll be right back’ and go to the basement, especially if the power has switched off
3. Don’t leave the main group. Ever.
4. Stay out of grave yards
5. Don’t be a cocky sportsman
6. Be a virgin
However an example of a movie that goes against these conventions is Scream 4. Wes Craven intentionally created the fourth (and possibly final) installation of the franchise to go against all of the slasher rules he had created, maybe as a final ‘Ha ha!’ to the film boffins that think that they have him all figured out.
Horror Films
Trailers
In some cases a horror film trailer is more important than the actual movie, ridiculous, but true. Only a small portion of us actually enjoy watching these movies that force us to question our own safety once were home alone, meaning that trailers will have to be all the more enticing for the mass audience to feel like they need to watch the movie being advertised. A lot of horror movie trailers often feature sharp, fast paced editing to showcase the gore and horror that may be within the movie but at the same time keep it clean to the public. They also usually showcase slow, ominous music to make the audience feel as if time is moving slowly, encapsulating them, and forcing them to pay attention to the trailer. After the final title and closing mini-credits roll, there is often a short final scare. These usually feature no backing music to add suspense, and then the scare is accompanied by a high pitched scream or something along those lines. This usually leaves the audience sitting there thinking ‘That scared the life out of me! ... I want to see more’.
Quick cuts are very common in a horror teaser trailers. They keep their target audience on the edge of their seats and create an intense atmosphere. They also provide many quick scares for the audience whilst watching it. Flashes of violent scenes used imply the way a character may die.
Setting
The setting shown within horror trailers are usually common settings such as houses, bedrooms, or in most cases schools. In terms of suspense and tension, setting is of great importance as it provides the audience with an idea of what kind of movie it is, or what it will consist of.
Sound
Sound effects or Music are both important in a horror movie trailer. Sound effects and Music helps created the atmosphere of horror and ‘the chills that travels down your spin’. With Sound effects you can make slashing noise loud and realistic and it could give the audience the feeling as if they are about to get slashed or even killed. With Music it builds up attention and Chills when watching the trailer. When music such as loud base is used in a horror trailer, it gives the viewers a good shock before even watching the horror film. It also sometimes builds up the attention of surprises and with characters screaming in the film, it goes well with the music.
Quick cuts are very common in a horror teaser trailers. They keep their target audience on the edge of their seats and create an intense atmosphere. They also provide many quick scares for the audience whilst watching it. Flashes of violent scenes used imply the way a character may die.
Setting
The setting shown within horror trailers are usually common settings such as houses, bedrooms, or in most cases schools. In terms of suspense and tension, setting is of great importance as it provides the audience with an idea of what kind of movie it is, or what it will consist of.
Sound
Sound effects or Music are both important in a horror movie trailer. Sound effects and Music helps created the atmosphere of horror and ‘the chills that travels down your spin’. With Sound effects you can make slashing noise loud and realistic and it could give the audience the feeling as if they are about to get slashed or even killed. With Music it builds up attention and Chills when watching the trailer. When music such as loud base is used in a horror trailer, it gives the viewers a good shock before even watching the horror film. It also sometimes builds up the attention of surprises and with characters screaming in the film, it goes well with the music.
Horror Film Director: James Wan
James Wan is a Malaysian born Australian director. He and his business partner Leigh Whannell are notorious for directing the movies Saw, Insidious, Dead Silence, and Death Sentence.
Back in 2003, James and Leigh had made a 9 minute-long version of SAW to showcase the script. The producers who saw the short film were hooked on the concept of the movie, and agreed to produce it. The movie had a miniature $1.2 million budget, and it was initially meant to be a straight-to-DVD film. However this was a gory tale of horror like no other, and the idea of inflicting pain upon yourself to save your own life caught the public’s eye, and the movie was a surprising success. SAW was renowned for inducing a sense of fear and claustrophobia, and this is what James had to say on the matter:
'I wanted to make the film really claustrophobic, and one way I was going to do that was, every time we go to a new location, I'm not going to set it up using an establishing shot. You don't see a house, and then cut to the inside of the house. You cut to inside, to inside, to inside.’
Although the movie was such a huge success, it got a lot of slack for being too horrific and violent for the public. James responded with this:
‘When we handed in our first cut, the Sundance version, we were essentially told the film was too intense. Really? I'm going to be penalized for doing what I'm supposed to do as a director? I think they have a problem with the 'tone' as well. How do you cut 'tone'? How do you censor 'tone'?’
James and Leigh went on to serve as executive producers for a further 7 SAW movies.
Wan then went on to produce the creepy puppet film ‘Dead Silence’, and the action movie ‘Death Sentence’. James has also gone onto direct the movie ‘Insidious’, and even the trailer for the hugely popular horror video game ‘Dead Space’.
Back in 2003, James and Leigh had made a 9 minute-long version of SAW to showcase the script. The producers who saw the short film were hooked on the concept of the movie, and agreed to produce it. The movie had a miniature $1.2 million budget, and it was initially meant to be a straight-to-DVD film. However this was a gory tale of horror like no other, and the idea of inflicting pain upon yourself to save your own life caught the public’s eye, and the movie was a surprising success. SAW was renowned for inducing a sense of fear and claustrophobia, and this is what James had to say on the matter:
'I wanted to make the film really claustrophobic, and one way I was going to do that was, every time we go to a new location, I'm not going to set it up using an establishing shot. You don't see a house, and then cut to the inside of the house. You cut to inside, to inside, to inside.’
Although the movie was such a huge success, it got a lot of slack for being too horrific and violent for the public. James responded with this:
‘When we handed in our first cut, the Sundance version, we were essentially told the film was too intense. Really? I'm going to be penalized for doing what I'm supposed to do as a director? I think they have a problem with the 'tone' as well. How do you cut 'tone'? How do you censor 'tone'?’
James and Leigh went on to serve as executive producers for a further 7 SAW movies.
Wan then went on to produce the creepy puppet film ‘Dead Silence’, and the action movie ‘Death Sentence’. James has also gone onto direct the movie ‘Insidious’, and even the trailer for the hugely popular horror video game ‘Dead Space’.
Movie Review: The Broken
‘The Broken’ is a psychological horror movie directed and written by Sean Ellis. This movie is much like the gory thriller ‘Mirrors’, except it’s somewhat decent and actually requires you to use your brain throughout the movie. The Broken features Gina McVey (Lena Headey) who is a professional radiologist. After the painfully dull opening credits and establishing scenes, we are greeted with a lovely family dinner, during which a mirror breaks out of nowhere. The family laugh and this is casually shrugged off, but they soon realise that this is no joking matter.
The next day Gina is walking to work, when she sees a woman who looks exactly like her driving her car. Now, usually the reaction among the common individual would be ‘this is kind of weird, I’m going to get as far away from this city as possible’ but oh no, not Gina. She follows her identical counterpart to her apartment, breaks in, and then finds a photograph of her and her father. Now this was strange, as Gina didn’t remember being in this photograph at all. Heading home bemused to what she has just seen, she gets into a car accident (the special effects were pretty awesome if I should say so myself) that lands her in hospital. After waking up, she asks her boyfriend, Stefan (Melvil Poupaud) if she can stay at his apartment, however soon realises that although Stefan looks exactly the same, he doesn’t act like the Stefan she knows and loves. Gina soon learns that the mirror that broke during the family dinner released doppelgangers of her family and friends, all trying to kill their ‘real’ selves to steal their places.
This movie does an amazing job of creating an eerie atmosphere, whether it be through the bizarre library of sound effects and music, or the shockingly creepy stares the doppelgangers exchange with everyone they come into contact with. There are also various beautiful aerial shots of London throughout the movie that adds a nice touch.
Gina soon finds her doppelganger, dead, but then has a flashback and realises that she was the doppelganger the whole time, and the Gina she followed home was the ‘real’ her. The crash causes Gina to forget that she had just ‘killed herself’, and the movie is left off with Gina’s brother visiting her at work, and then realising that it’s not really his sister (and then he proceeds to run off screaming like a girl).
Overall I feel that the movie was quite soft and littered with various plot holes and unexplained events, but after watching the film it leaves you screaming “Ohhhh!” Much like with movies like Shutter Island. However it also seemed that they poured most of their budget into creating the spectacular slow-mo car crash at the beginning of the movie, as the rest of the death scenes look pretty, well, cheap. However at the same time the severity of mental damage she had suffered from during her car crash leaves just one question to mind... Was any of this even real? Or just another one of her various nightmares she has during the movie?
Out of 5, I’d probably give this movie a solid 2.5.
The next day Gina is walking to work, when she sees a woman who looks exactly like her driving her car. Now, usually the reaction among the common individual would be ‘this is kind of weird, I’m going to get as far away from this city as possible’ but oh no, not Gina. She follows her identical counterpart to her apartment, breaks in, and then finds a photograph of her and her father. Now this was strange, as Gina didn’t remember being in this photograph at all. Heading home bemused to what she has just seen, she gets into a car accident (the special effects were pretty awesome if I should say so myself) that lands her in hospital. After waking up, she asks her boyfriend, Stefan (Melvil Poupaud) if she can stay at his apartment, however soon realises that although Stefan looks exactly the same, he doesn’t act like the Stefan she knows and loves. Gina soon learns that the mirror that broke during the family dinner released doppelgangers of her family and friends, all trying to kill their ‘real’ selves to steal their places.
This movie does an amazing job of creating an eerie atmosphere, whether it be through the bizarre library of sound effects and music, or the shockingly creepy stares the doppelgangers exchange with everyone they come into contact with. There are also various beautiful aerial shots of London throughout the movie that adds a nice touch.
Gina soon finds her doppelganger, dead, but then has a flashback and realises that she was the doppelganger the whole time, and the Gina she followed home was the ‘real’ her. The crash causes Gina to forget that she had just ‘killed herself’, and the movie is left off with Gina’s brother visiting her at work, and then realising that it’s not really his sister (and then he proceeds to run off screaming like a girl).
Overall I feel that the movie was quite soft and littered with various plot holes and unexplained events, but after watching the film it leaves you screaming “Ohhhh!” Much like with movies like Shutter Island. However it also seemed that they poured most of their budget into creating the spectacular slow-mo car crash at the beginning of the movie, as the rest of the death scenes look pretty, well, cheap. However at the same time the severity of mental damage she had suffered from during her car crash leaves just one question to mind... Was any of this even real? Or just another one of her various nightmares she has during the movie?
Out of 5, I’d probably give this movie a solid 2.5.