The Horror Cycle

In todays lesson we were introduced to how the impact of social and psychological forces in films affect society and the audiences feelings. The idea that the Horror genre is in a cycle suggests that the horror genre is now repetitive and continuous, however it has not always been this way:

In the 1930's horror genre in films was initially formed through films such as 'Nosferatu' and 'Frankenstein'. Most horrors in the 1930's through to the 1940's included a Monster and a very similar narrative, which would eventually become repetitive and boring to an audience; desensitising the audience. . Therefore in the 1950's films introduced aliens to horror films; creating the irrational fear that monsters could come from outer space as well as just the outside world.

Eventually this genre became repetitive again forcing a new change in the genre of horror films, and this film came with the 1960 Alfred Hitchcock film: Psycho. Hitchcock redefined the whole horror genre in multiple ways through his revolutionary directing style. One of the most effective changes he made to the genre was setting the film in a simple house with a murderer who seemed harmless to most people. I can see how this change greatly impacted the industry as the irrational fear of being unsafe from certain things was now exaggerated dramatically; nowhere and nobody is safe. Audiences were left in fear and running out of the theatres when the movie was first released as before 'Psycho' no movie had ever been as horrifying. In addition the changes to characters and setting, Hitchcock played with desensitisation further by making subtle changes to things audiences were used to seeing in the real world. For example he sped up the fps of the clouds moving and filmed water moving anti-clockwise down the plug-hole; toying with the audiences comfort. As a result of these minor and major changes to the genre being so effective in cinemas, some devices used and the film as a whole is extremely iconic.

Moving onto the 1970's horror films began to feature gore a lot more, films like this were labelled as 'slashers'. Films such as 'Driller Killer' and 'Hitcher' were two of the original slashers. Further on in the 80's the 'Film Nightmare on Elms St.' took the idea of insecurity and danger into our dreams. This again had a huge impact on society as audiences were left in fear of going to sleep.

Finally this cycle was coming to an end through into the 90's as most areas that horror movies could venture had been explored already. Horror films made since the 90's until present are often recreated genres that have already been established, for example the 'Saw' series is a throwback to the slasher genre. The most significant evolution in the past 20 years of horror films is that 'teen-horrors' are much more popular. However these 'teen-horrors' often recycle a phase of horror films from the past, but appeal to a younger audience and aim to entertain the audience as oppose to put them in fear. By doing this I feel horrors made in the present are slightly mocking classic horrors.