Horror
What is horror?
Horror Films are unsettling films designed to frighten and panic, cause dread and alarm, and to invoke our hidden worst fears, often in a terrifying, shocking finale, while captivating and entertaining us at the same time in a cathartic experience.
Examples of Horror
 Scream |  Blair Witch |  Texas Chainsaw Massacre |
|---|---|---|
 The Shining |  Psycho (1960) |  Saw |
 Halloween |
Click on the photos and direct to the trailer of each example.
History of horror
Some of the first horror films were inspired by literture from Edgar Allen Poe, Mary Shelley and Bram Stoker. In the 1890s French film pioneer Georges Méliès "Le Manoir du Diable" otherwise known as "The Haunted Castle". Filmed in George's back garden with hand painted scenery and was only 3 minutes long. Its safe to say that film has come a long way since then.
The first Horror (gothic) writers who inspired many horror films to come.
The short film
Conventions of Horror Films
"Plots within the horror genre often involve the intrusion of an evil force, event, or personage into the everyday world. Prevalent elements include ghosts, extraterrestrials, vampires,werewolves, demons, gore, torture, vicious animals, evil witches, monsters, zombies, cannibals, psychopaths, and serial killers"
Sound
Horror fims often use songs that make the audience feel uncomfortable and have an eerie feel to them. Theese sound tracks often use a mixture of loud and quiet sounds to really unsettle the audience and imply that anything can happen or that something bad will happen.
Some examples
Mise-en-scene
-
Masks
-
Boiler suits
-
Knives
-
Facial deformities
-
Woods
-
Graveyards
-
Castle
-
Small spaces
-
Blood
-
Gory body parts
-
Dark Lighting
Camera and editing
-
Jump/quick Cuts - often between the "scary character" and its victims. Useful in building tension.
-
Establishing shots to demonstrate often creepy desolate setting.
-
Track and Dolly to follow a chase/runaway.
-
Low angel of villian- show power causes them to appear more fearful and intimitading
-
POV to cause sympathy amongst the characters also causes a raise in heart rate as we are placed in the characters shoes wondering if they will get away.
-
Close-ups to show emotion
Establishing shot
Low Angle.
Pyscho- Alfred Hitchcock
"Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock, KBE was an English film director and producer, often nicknamed "The Master of Suspense". He pioneered many elements of the suspense and psychological thriller genres"
Possibly one of the most famous scenes in film
The dark lighting that shields the face of the attacker which adds a sense of mystery leaving the audience wondering who the attacker is. The knife itself is a motif of horror films and repesents danger and death. The blood also repesents death and demonstrates the injuries that the attacker inflicits on the victim. The close-up of the womens mouth screaming makes the audience feel uncomfortable, the scream which is also another common motif of horror films. The soundtrack adds to the eerie feel due to its mulitple and conflicting instruments that play at the same time.
The full scene
“My suspense work comes out of creating nightmares for the audience. And I play with an audience. I make them gasp and surprise them and shock them.” – Alfred Hitchcock
Pyscho is considered the first modern horror film aswell has Hitchcocks most successfull and popular film.
Fun facts
-
Most of the film was shot quickly with a crew from television, but the 70-plus shots for this 45-second scene took a week to film
-
To get the scene past the censors Hitchcock claimed the knife never touched the victim, but studies have since suggested it does
-
Chocolate sauce was used for blood, and the hand holding the knife in some shots is Hitchcock's.
-
Janet Leigh said she avoided taking showers for the rest of her life after filming Psycho.
Click the link to be directed to the article I read on Pyscho
The Shining
wALLPAPER FROM THE SHINING.
"The Shining" written by Stephen King and directed by Stanley Kubrick.
Plot overview (IMDB)
Signing a contract, Jack Torrance, a normal writer and former teacher agrees to take care of a hotel which has a long, violent past that puts everyone in the hotel in a nervous situation. While Jack slowly gets more violent and angry of his life, his son, Danny, tries to use a special talent, the "Shining", to inform the people outside about whatever that is going on in the hotel.
What makes "The Shining" so scary?
The seting of the Outlook Hotel is enough to make the audience feel uncomfortable. There are windows and doors where they shouldnt be, the overall design simply doesnt make sense and is virtually impossible.Corridors appear where they simply shouldn't, and rooms have windows which look outside when they should logically be nowhere near an exterior wall. It's subtle to the point of being unnoticeable, but it's hard to deny that it must have a disorienting effect on the viewer's subconscious.But perhaps The Shining's most disconcerting attribute is its steadfast ambiguity. Kubrick never explains what's really happening to the Overlook's terrified tenants. How real are the visions? Are they the products of a haunted house or of the Torrances' fevered imaginations? What does that final shot actually mean? The Shining's refusal to be anything approaching explicit allows a multitude of interpretations, and the fact that we'll never truly know means it will continue to gnaw away at our deepest fears for years to come.(source: Virgin Media).
The tight spaces with plenty of hiding spaces alongside the impossible makes the setting very disturbing.
Watch this clip then read my analysis
The establishing shot of the isolated snowy area causes discomfort as the audience knows that the women and boy will not be able to find help. The cool toned blue colour establishes a coldness which ellicits fear- almost like a chill. Fear is established through the dialogue of the screaming woman as screaming is assoicated with fear. The cleaver further causes fear as it is a dangerous and deadly especially as it is being carried by an insane person. The mid-shot of Johnny knocking at the door demonstrates his creepy face which alone is terrifying. The mid-shot of Johnny shouting through the door establishes him as insane making the audience wonder what he will do. The pan from him picking the cleaver/axe up to hitting the door shows his attempt at trying to get to the women to murder her.
Click on the arrow to be directed to the top of the page
