Research into Horror and Thriller - OC LM

Research Task 1 - OC

1. Women were slowly starting to be repositioned within the horror genre in the late 1960s and early 1970s with the films; Night of the Living Dead (1968), The Last House on the Left (1972), The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) and Halloween (1974). All these were repositioning the way women were seen in horror movies as they were no longer been conveyed as weak and vulnerable but as been able to protect themselves and actually seeking out the threat and trying to destroying it.

2. The conventions of a ‘stalk and slash’ sub-genre horror movie is a mixed-sex group of teenagers travel to a remote location and almost immediately indulge in drink, drugs and sex. Once these acts have taken place, those involved are steadily murdered, one by one, by an unknown and often masked killer. These are the characteristics usually displayed by a stalk and slash horror movie.

3. The core audiences of these films were teenage boys and young men. There were two main reasons for this and these were that there was female nudity involved with in the film and also the fact there was brutality in the film with graphic murders and assaults on various characters within.

4. The author argues that these films had a significant meaning as it accentuates the wrongdoing the specific group has committed. The text states ‘the killer is punishing the group either for trespassing upon its territory or is avenging an earlier wrong perpetrated by that group or a group that they symbolically represent’. The author saw to highlight that the group violated the unwritten codes that their parents had set when they were young. Which were for them to do the morally right thing.

5.’The Final Girl’ is a term used to describe the sole female e survivor of many horror films. The female is presented as part of the group but distanced from them also, she is seen by the audience as different from the other members in the group as she is presented as vulnerable and weak. The friends encourage adult behaviour by getting drunk and engaging in sexual intercourse. As the killing starts the characteristics that she is weak and vulnerable are abolished with her now been the strongest character and is seen as trying to neutralise the threat of the antagonist. She’s proven to be smarter and more conscientious than her friends, as well as more intelligent, watchful, level-headed and morally pure, she  therefore does not participate in drinking, drug-taking or sexual liaison and the first to recognise both the lack of morals in her peer group and the inherent threat of danger.

Research Task 2 - LM

1.       Stories that aim to scare the audience are popular as they address the deepest fears of people in society or a certain culture. This helps create meaning to the monsters, killers etc. that feature in the films, as they are consequent of the fears of the audience.

2.       The study of horror monsters therefore displays the worries and doubts of cultures in society today in general. As what the audience watch is what they fear, giving us insight to what people will and won’t be scared of

3.       The idea of the Vampire can be perceived as a sexual metaphor as a vampire’s method of attack involves penetration and the exchanging of bodily fluids. However as the result of a vampire attack is either death or infection, the rat like character can be metaphorically represented as an invading infection, similar to a pandemic disease, which suited the context of Nosferatu’s release as a flu pandemic was occurring in Germany in 1918, shortly after the War. This may have influenced Marnau’s ideas.

 

4.       1960’s- popular horror reflected the Freudian’s theories which were based on the psychology of the human mind. Films such as Psycho (Hitchcock, 1960) and Peeping Tom (Powell, 1960) are examples of this. These were effective as they brought horror closer to home, as antagonists were now humans like us. As well as this horror began to reflect the cultural changes in society as the first black man to play a lead role appeared in Night of the living dead (Romero, 1968)

 

 1970’s – Horror reflected secularisation, the idea that religion was having less influence on society. This was portrayed through films such as The Exorcist (Friedkin 1972),  as characters seek to cure the possessed child with science, medicine etc. however it is religion that resolves the problem. The film also reflected the changes in family structure that had occurred in recent years, as the possessed child that features is from a family headed by a lone mother.

1980’s – Audiences were drawn to visceral assaults in horror, and this trended throughout the decade, however eventually audiences became tired of this as it became a cliché

1990’s – Emphasised horrific effect now occurred in films due to ever changing technology improvements.

2000’s – Lots of remakes, with more gore through CGI, reflects the advancements in technology that have occurred.

5.       Horror is still relevant to audiences as it has the ability to adapt to each new generation, dealing with contemporary issues that occur in society today, and has done throughout time since the year it began.

 Research task 3 - OC

1.       BBC Article- Zombie faces: Why are we afraid of them?

A research project by the Open University's Stephanie Lay found that there was a distinct fear at the sight of a near human face. A study by the psychologist made up of 3000 people found that there was widespread repulsion at the sight of near human faces accentuating fear of zombie like threats.

This research was linked to the ‘uncanny valley’ phenomenon in which it showed how people react to robots.  This effect was discovered in the 1970s and showed whether giving robots human attributes would make humans more acceptant of them. At first people were more acceptant of robots that showed distant similarities to humans, but if they began to imitate humans to closely this repelled people. Mrs Lay’s description was "the sense of unease that accompanies the sight of something almost, but not quite, human".

So this identifies and proves the reason for humans viewing zombies as so horrific. As they show so many human characteristics bar the emptiness seen in their eyes proving human to feel so uncomfortable at the sight of one of them. She further states the reaction could be caused by sudden disruption at how the brain processes human faces. Being able to read someone's eyes is especially important in the processing of another person's face, highlighting the reason for the repulsion of seeing a zombies face. 

 

 

2. Why do people love the zombie apocalypse?

In truth people do not actually love the thought of a zombie apocalypse but instead love the way it is presented to them. There is two types of zombies with one been more popular than the other. You have the slow shuffling zombies who are presented with very slow reflexes and the fast zombies that run who are seen as fast and agile proving a real threat.

The reason there is such a love for the zombie apocalypse is because it is presented to us in a way that if you use your head and when necessary their fire axes and hunting rifles, you will survive. The reason zombies are so popular are because anyone can survive the storm no matter your background.  In reality very view people would actually carry the attributes to survive in a zombie apocalypse.

About zombies:

-A zombie or zombi is a mythical dead person who has returned to life as a walking corpse

-If you’re bitten you become infected

-Often slow

-they are mutilated and often missing limbs

-Show no human emotions

-Prefer to eat living things oppose to already dead

-Can smell and hear live meat

-Attracted by noise and light

-Cannot die unless the brain is destroyed

 

Horror research task 4 - LM

·         Some seek out thrills vicariously as they find them interesting and personally enriching. As well as this they seek out the suspense which is provoked by the events of the film.

·         The two different types of thrills that may be presented in this genre are the bone chilling horror story with supernatural overtones or the violent fast paced crime melodrama.