HORROR FILMS

 
(sample topic for Illustration Essay)

This is just an example



A topic that I am passionate about

WHAT DO I MEAN BY HORROR FILMS?


"Horror . . .  takes nothing for granted. It's not safe . . . [It] can be a guide through a nightmare world, entered freely and by the [viewer]'s own will."  --  Robert McCammon

“All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream.”  --  Edgar Allan Poe

 

"There are two different stories in horror: internal and 
external. In external horror films, the evil comes from
the outside, the other tribe, this thing in the darkness
that we don't understand. Internal is the human heart."

John Carpenter


"The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown." --  Howard Phillips Lovecraft

"Just as our fears and terrors change with time, so  too will the definition of horror, not just from age to age but from person to person."
Horror Writers Association

WHAT DO I MEAN BY HORROR FILMS?

 

Definitions change all the time. Many horror writers reject the marginalization that comes from being labeled a "horror writer." Many film directors also try to break out of the confines of genre.

WHY ARE HORROR FILMS IMPORTANT?

THREE REASONS


Psychology

 

Social Commentary

 

Entertainment

Psychology

 

Exploring Fears

 

Coping With Death and the Unknown

 

Testing Limits

Exploring Fears

 

Civilization often limits access to true fear

 

Films and books are safe environments

Coping With Death And the Unknown

 

What comes after death?

 

What made that noise out there in the dark?

 

Is it safe to let my child walk to school?

 

What happens if I get lost?

Testing Limits

 

Masculinity/Machismo/"Courage"

 

Safe

 

Dating/Mating rituals

Social Commentary

 

Politics


Social Status
 

Ethics and Morals

Politics


Laws and Freedoms
Individual Rights vs.  Collective Rights
Personal Freedom vs. Safety
Liberty vs.  Government Control


Economic Policies
Capitalism vs. Socialism
Welfare state vs. Social Darwinism

Social Status


Men's/Women's Rights
Motherhood
Minority Rights
Sexuality
Gender
Religious Freedoms

Ethics and Morals


Justice vs. Vengeance
Limits of police / vigilantism
Violence as a response to fear
Exploitation

Entertainment

 

Message


Audience
 

Transcendance

Message

Fiction subtly invades conscious thoughts


Sometimes not so subtly.

Audience

Fiction has a large base

Transcendence

Fiction tends to last longer than nonfiction

WHY ARE HORROR FILMS IMPORTANT?

HISTORY OF HORROR FILMS

Early Films - 1890– 1929

 

La Manoir du Diable

Frankenstein

Nosferatu

The Phantom of the Opera

La Manoir du Diable


Phantom of the Opera


Universal Pictures

1930–1950

 

Frankenstein

The Wolf Man

Dracula

The Mummy

The Invisible Man

Frankenstein


Universal Monsters 

Hotel Transylvania 2 (yes, it's from 2015, but the character designs are all definitely based on the 1930s movies) 

Golden Age of Horror

1950–1960

 

Godzilla

Invasion of the Body Snatchers

The Thing from Another World

The Blob

Psycho

Godzilla


Psycho

Gore and Body Horror

1960s

 

Rosemary's Baby

Black Sunday

2000 Maniacs

Night of the Living Dead

 

 

Black Sunday


Night of the Living Dead


Exploitation takes off
Early 1970s

 

Last House on the Left

Baron Blood

Black Christmas

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre

Silent Night, Bloody Night

 
 

Last House on the Left


Texas Chainsaw Massacre


The Blockbusters, the Shockers, and the Jokes

1973–1980

*Jaws     *The Exorcist     *Carrie     *The Omen

*I Spit on Your Grave     *The Hills Have Eyes

*Cannibal Holocaust     *Salo - Or the 120 Days of Sodom

*Young Frankenstein

*Rocky Horror Picture Show

Jaws


The Exorcist​

Rocky Horror Picture Show


Slasher Movies

Late 1970s –Early 1980s

 

*Halloween     *The Burning

*Friday the 13th      *A Nightmare on Elm Street

*My Bloody Valentine     *Sleepaway Camp

*Phantasm     *Hellraiser

Friday the 13th


Hellraiser


Supernatural Horror

1980s

 

*The Evil Dead     *The Shining     *Poltergeist

*Gremlins     *House     *Children of the Corn

*The Hitcher     *The Fog     

*The Serpent and the Rainbow

*The Amityville Horror

The Evil Dead


Gremlins


Slashers Reborn - 1990s

 

*Scream     *Candyman

*Wes Craven's New Nightmare     *Wishmaster

*Urban Legend     *The Dentist

*I Know What You Did Last Summer     

Scream

Wishmaster


Found Footage and Torture Porn - 2000s

 

*The Blair Witch Project     *28 Days Later

     *The Ring     *House of 1000 Corpses

*Cabin Fever     *The Grudge     *Hostel     *Saw

*Three . . . Extremes

The Blair Witch Project


Hostel


Deconstruction, Camp, and Revision - 00s-10s

 

*Behind the Mask     *The Cabin in the Woods

*Sharknado (1-5!)     *Tokyo Gore Police

*Paranormal Activity     *Halloween (remake) 

*The Purge     *The VVitch

*Annabelle     *It 

The Purge


The VVitch

it


HISTORY OF HORROR FILMS

How to Write the Paper

Topic and Purpose



My essay will focus 
horror films, and how they're actually
deeper and more complex than
many people give them credit for.

I believe everyone should understand
what it is about horror films that engages
viewers, and why they shouldn't look down
upon horror films just for being "too scary."

Hook


A long, serrated blade slashes across 
a woman's throat while violins scream 
in surround sound. The audience around 
me gasps, but the theater is packed.

Thesis


We fixate on horror because it  helps us cope with pain,  uncertainty, and fear, while at the same time  it subconsciously infects us with morals,  ethics, and politics.

Putting it all together

A long, serrated blade slashes across a woman's throat  while violins scream in surround sound.  The audience around me gasps, but the theater is packed.  Horror films clearly have a legitimate place in the pantheon of respected movie genres, but why?   We fixate on horror because it  helps us cope with pain,  uncertainty, and fear, while at the same time  it subconsciously infects us with morals,  ethics, and politics.  From the cautionary fairy tales of the Grimm brothers to the fantasy movies about immortal serial murderers, humans have long been obsessed with tales of terror.  Children's fables often  include witches, violent dismemberment,  and consumption by wolves, and more adult stories only ramp up the terror.

The End

Made with Slides.com