Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit physical or psychological fear in its viewers. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements of the genre include monsters, apocalyptic events, and religious or folk beliefs.
Horror films have existed since the early 20th century. Early inspirations predating film include folklore; the religious beliefs and superstitions of different cultures; and the Gothic and horror literature of authors such as Edgar Allan Poe, Bram Stoker, and Mary Shelley. From its origins in silent films and German Expressionism, horror became a codified genre only after the release of Dracula (1931). Many sub-genres emerged in subsequent decades, including body horror, comedy horror, erotic horror, slasher films, splatter films, supernatural horror, and psychological horror. The genre has been produced worldwide, varying in content and style between regions. Horror is particularly prominent in the cinema of Japan, Korea, and Thailand, among other countries.
Despite being the subject of social and legal controversy due to their subject matter, some horror films and franchises have seen major commercial success, influenced society, and generated popular culture icons.
In his book Dark Dreams, author Charles Derry conceived horror films as focusing on three broad themes: the horror of personality, the horror of Armageddon, and the horror of the demonic. First, the horror of personality derives from monsters being at the centre of the plot, such as Frankenstein’s monster, whose psychology makes them perform horrific acts including rapes, mutilations, and sadistic killings. Other key works with this theme include Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho, which feature psychotic murderers without monster make-up. Second, the Armageddon theme explores the fear of large-scale destruction, which includes science fiction works but also natural events, such as Hitchcock’s The Birds (1963). Finally, the theme of the demonic features graphic accounts of satanic rites, witchcraft, and exorcisms outside traditional forms of worship, as seen in films such as The Exorcist (1973) and The Omen (1976).
Some critics have suggested that horror films can be vessels for exploring contemporary cultural, political and social trends. Jeanne Hall, a film theorist, supports the use of horror films to ease the process of understanding issues by making use of their visual elements. The use of horror films can help audiences to understand prior historical events, for example, the Vietnam War, the Holocaust, the worldwide AIDS epidemic or post-9/11 pessimism.
Anxieties surrounding race and racism have historically and continuously informed the horror genre. A good example is the history of the zombie apocalypse subgenre. The first zombie horror films, such as White Zombie (1932), were inspired by stories brought back to Europe by colonizers, and these stories explicitly presented Afro-Haitian religious and spiritual practices as evil and perverse. The film which later revived the subgenre, Night of the Living Dead (1968), incidentally presented themes surrounding race in America by casting Duane Jones, a Black actor, as the lead. Whether accidentally or actively, horror films demonstrate societal issues by who or what is chosen to incite fear, and how this choice is represented visually and narratively.
Horror film
Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit physical or psychological fear in its viewers. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements of the genre include monsters, apocalyptic events, and religious or folk beliefs.
Horror films have existed since the early 20th century. Early inspirations predating film include folklore; the religious beliefs and superstitions of different cultures; and the Gothic and horror literature of authors such as Edgar Allan Poe, Bram Stoker, and Mary Shelley. From its origins in silent films and German Expressionism, horror became a codified genre only after the release of Dracula (1931). Many sub-genres emerged in subsequent decades, including body horror, comedy horror, erotic horror, slasher films, splatter films, supernatural horror, and psychological horror. The genre has been produced worldwide, varying in content and style between regions. Horror is particularly prominent in the cinema of Japan, Korea, and Thailand, among other countries.
Despite being the subject of social and legal controversy due to their subject matter, some horror films and franchises have seen major commercial success, influenced society, and generated popular culture icons.
In his book Dark Dreams, author Charles Derry conceived horror films as focusing on three broad themes: the horror of personality, the horror of Armageddon, and the horror of the demonic. First, the horror of personality derives from monsters being at the centre of the plot, such as Frankenstein’s monster, whose psychology makes them perform horrific acts including rapes, mutilations, and sadistic killings. Other key works with this theme include Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho, which feature psychotic murderers without monster make-up. Second, the Armageddon theme explores the fear of large-scale destruction, which includes science fiction works but also natural events, such as Hitchcock’s The Birds (1963). Finally, the theme of the demonic features graphic accounts of satanic rites, witchcraft, and exorcisms outside traditional forms of worship, as seen in films such as The Exorcist (1973) and The Omen (1976).
Some critics have suggested that horror films can be vessels for exploring contemporary cultural, political and social trends. Jeanne Hall, a film theorist, supports the use of horror films to ease the process of understanding issues by making use of their visual elements. The use of horror films can help audiences to understand prior historical events, for example, the Vietnam War, the Holocaust, the worldwide AIDS epidemic or post-9/11 pessimism.
Anxieties surrounding race and racism have historically and continuously informed the horror genre. A good example is the history of the zombie apocalypse subgenre. The first zombie horror films, such as White Zombie (1932), were inspired by stories brought back to Europe by colonizers, and these stories explicitly presented Afro-Haitian religious and spiritual practices as evil and perverse. The film which later revived the subgenre, Night of the Living Dead (1968), incidentally presented themes surrounding race in America by casting Duane Jones, a Black actor, as the lead. Whether accidentally or actively, horror films demonstrate societal issues by who or what is chosen to incite fear, and how this choice is represented visually and narratively.
Wikipedia
Les diaboliques
Les yeux sans visage
Nosferatu
Psycho
Suspiria
The Blair Witch project
The exorcist
The fly
The shining
Vargtimmen
see more