“Walls that seem safe and keep the killer
out soon becomes a prison keeping you trapped with the killer” – Carol Clover
Horror films are favourited by many because
of the limitless things this genre of film can include, from disturbing killer
plots to explicit erotic fantasies and relationships. But by far, it’s the
thrill of getting scared, freaked, disgusted, scarred even which makes it
exciting, typically what these films are designed to do.
American scholar Lawrence Grossberg
presents 3 theories which discusses the relationship between genres. He states
that “there are many way to define a genre as there are theories of meaning,
but three are most commonly used. The first defines a genre by a shared set of
conventions.” This involves lighting, camera techniques and the strategic use
of sound. These are key to represent what horror films usually consists of. For
example, low lighting, eery sound effects, point of
view shot - which is a commonly used camera angle. To instill fear into the audience these factors are extremely
important. Without sound it would be difficult to impact a viewer if they were watching a
paranormal film for example.
The second approach to the theories Grossberg
outlined defines “…genre(s) as the underlying structure of values that the
genre puts into play.” In films that include monsters and unnatural beings require a lot of special effects and heavy make-up. However suspense films such
as The Shining horrifies the viewers by playing with their mind, a good example
of an impact of a psychological thriller.
“Genres are not simple and stable
catergories… they are constantly changing… for example, making dialogue more
like the ‘real world’ and introducing social-issue controversies… that had (or
may have been preiviously) avoided.”
Grossberg’s third theory outlines the
realism in many horror films because it is created with society in mind, thus
scaring and shocking the audience from the fear created. Poltergeist for example was a
film that was created at a time when the ‘unknown’ was being questioned.
Contrasted between todays film which explores current issues such as the ‘end
of the world’ and ‘life-killing diseases.’
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