The Evolution Of The Horror Film Essay — страница 2

these movies a lot scarier. This was a rather important factor in the social lives of American teenagers. In the sixties, demented psychotic killer was created in the film PSYCHO As the film industry got increasingly larger the process of poster making became costly and too slow moving for anxious film directors. So, lo and behold Coming Attractions made their first appearance. Coming attractions are a summary through intriguing movie clips formed to entice the audience to spend even more money on yet another “must-see” movie. Films did improve upon themselves in the department of sound and picture quality. Camera angles were now more in-tune with the goings on in the picture and there less mistakes, although quite a few times microphones had been spotted hovering at the top

of the screen, which is why the envelope effect was created. Costume designers discovered such man-made materials as nylon, faux fur, and foam rubber. All of which were used to create muscled suits, animal costumes and masks. As time went by the human tolerance for fear increased, challenging directors to up the effort they put into their next shocking film. Thus writers of the seventies tried to tap into the greatest fears of the time – stalkers? of all forms: dead or alive, male or female, young or old. It had just became the sign of the changing times that it was no longer safe to leave doors unlocked. Stories of troubled youths who were predestined to be killers, strategically killing friends and family members to warn their target victim that they could be next i.e.:

“Jason” and “Michael Myers”. Films may have had features such as gateways to hell, relation to a supernatural object and the female voice-over introduction, popularized in the seventies. Leading directors made uncompromising, bleak, yet sickly humorous movies that often contain gratuitous nudity with sprinklings of nuclear scares and cold war paranoia overtones. Criticisms were “too artsy” or “too cheap” or “too disgusting”. On the upside, these were movies that encouraged the audience to hope the star makes it out alive. Many never realize that because the actor or actress is the star? he or she won’t die-too quickly. In the eighties Freddie Krueger and Jason ruled the horror field. Freddie lived in dreams and staying awake to avoid him never worked. This

blew the minds of teenagers and scared the mess out of young children. Jason just wouldn’t die. In the movie no matter how fast you ran he always caught up though he was walking. Special effects were becoming very important to the film’s execution. Used (not abused) wisely, they can help propel a story to the next level helping to engulf the audience in the moment. In the sixties and seventies special effects in the sound department were much better with the help of the primitive computer. Eighties sound was unbelievably better. The improvement of the computer gave the most accurate sound/action timing available. In recent years horror films have been more elaborate and contain actual plots unlike earlier years when a horror film didn’t necessarily make much sense. “In

earlier films a climax and elaborate costumes were thought to produce a successful horror film.”(Brickett 56) Well maybe, out of supposed fear certain elements are added to make the film seem more’ attractive to the target audience-whoever they may be. “The love angle,” writes Amber (a college student in Illinois)”drags down most of the classics to modern audiences. The older movies suffer for this now, because of the love element that was added is borrowed by the romantic comedies of the time. How many horror movies get stopped for the sake of ‘DRAMA’, this really clashes with the mood and atmosphere the movie makers are trying to achieve.” Directors may argue that “if that’s what it takes; that’s what it takes.”54 “Old classics such as the Werewolf

movies, Dracula, and Frankenstein have been updated time and time again. They have either been the answer to a gore writer’s rut or the result of a vision of something the director felt he could improve upon.”(Johns 184) In the early nineties horror just didn’t appeal to the public. It caused many to yawn towards horror. Major themes of mid-nineties horror films were based on killers: alien viruses, characters from old folklore, from other dimensions, and most recently ones bent on revenge. Like Michael Myers they also strategically killed friends and family but modern psychotic killers try to manipulate the mind by paranoia. This particular theme has been portrayed in many of Wes Craven’s thrillers. Thrillers are considered by some as movies that mock the whole horror