THE HISTORY OF HORROR
Why are stories that aim to scare their audience so popular?
Horror is a film genre that has been around ever since the early stages of film making, and continues today to be one of the most successful genres in media. Many of the early horrors (such as Le Manoir du Diable, Melies, 1896) put stories into the perspective of film, proving to be massively popular amongst audiences.
What insight can the study of horror monsters give?
It is thought that many cultures tend to create meaning from aspects of horrors, such as monsters, affecting the audiences at the hear of their real life fears in contemporary society. These observations were recorded by Daniel Cohen (for further reference).
For example, many horrors today are relative to the prospect of real life occurrences, such as a zombie apocalypse. Though it is unlikely to happen, many people become curious as to the outcomes of such situations and many horrors satisfy this curiosity.
What did Nosferatu (1922), one of the earliest horror films, use the vampire as a metaphor of?
Nosferato was a film that made use of contemporary social context in order to convey messages throughout the film. The date of this film is significant in that it is just post WWI. Nosferatu (meaning vampire), is represented as an invader who brings pestilence to society and must be eradicated. This film's German origin is also significant as Germany at the time, had been devastated by the war and its economy was failing as well as lacking in basic resources. Furthermore, these harsh living conditions also prompted bouts of deadly flu throughout Germany, leaving thousands dead. This image is also conveyed in Nosferatu through the rat-like appearance of Count Orlock- the vampire.
Why according to Hendry is horror still relevant to audiences?
Hendry (teaches Media at Runshaw College) believes horror to still be one of the prevalent genres in contemporary society for many reasons. For example horror has the ability to adapt to allow it to tap into each generation's concerns whether they be zombie apocalypses of vampires etc. Concerns like these will never fade as new ones always arise, offering more opportunities for film makers to simulate these situation in their own unique ways.
Good summary of reading source, please add link to the article. Whose post is this? You need to have separate, personal logins too so we can clearly see who has made a post.
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