AO1 Representation in Horror films

The representation of social groups in horror films are sometimes portrayed as victims or killers like in the Texas Chainsaw Massacre there is a group of teens that are victims to the masked killer but in Scream there are both victims and killers that are apart of social groups. Each group is both similar and different in different horror films depending of what era the film is from in the 50's the films groups were strict where there were mainly sexist views against women where they would normally get killed of first leaving the killer almost always a man showing that at this time men were in charge not till the 70's when Alfred Hitchcock directed Psycho which was the first film to have a final girl which made the women more dominant in the future films. A lot of stereotypes were involved in horror films include: the murder weapons being kept in the open, the hero of the film who killed the monster always runs off leaving the monster to reincarnate, the one guy in the film who says "i'll be right back" then you don't see him again throughout the rest of the film and lastly whenever a blonde girl is being chased in a horror film they always fall down and occasionally sprain there ankles. The trends in horror films is that it taps into the subconscious of a persons mind which reacts to the survival instincts while watching a good horror film your hear should start beating twice the normal speed adrenaline should also take over giving you the feeling of you actually being in the film thats why the horror films i like to watch involve giving me the feeling i am in the film making my heart race letting the film immerse me in to the story. the main thing that can kill a movie franchise for me is a dull sequel it takes the fear out of the original for me if the sequel will be as horrifying as the original or more so then it will make the franchise will only get better the best way to make a horror better in my opinion is to make the original a fraction as scary as the sequel this way the sequel will give a better fear factor to the audience which will also give the film a better audience turn out.

AO1 Meaning of Horror Films

Each horror film has a different meaning depending on the monster that the film is focused on, most monsters are made up of fiction i.e. Frankenstein, the Wolf man, Zombies and Dracula. The most popular Monster in films in my opinion is Dracula the main story behind Dracula is said to of come from roman folklore the name Dracula comes from Vlad Dracule also know as Vlad the Impaler the name Dracula means "Son of the Dragon"Vlad the Impaler was called Dracule which means Dragon in Romanian folklore the name Dracule became devil so Dracula became "Son of the Devil" this gives Dracula the name which is shown in over 55 horror films. the sound in the film Dracula (1931) give out suspense with the varies to the loud and quiet moments  the howling giving the film suspense because the unknown location of the loud noise gives anyone a chill down there spine with this the film dose not need to show any blood or gore to give the audience a fright but throughout the film it makes the audience imagine every detail of where the gore should be this is helped with the link of the camera angles and the sound that is shown. the mise-en-scene of the film is all closed off i.e. the hills in the background giving the image of a locked off area where none can escape from Dracula also the interior of the castle giving the jail cell look giving the impression that none has ever escaped and none ever will, all of the scenery of the film gives a claustrophobic feel to it. the use of Dark tones in the film give more the the feel of Dracula seeing that in the book Dracula is a creature of the night giving the film a very dark look makes it easier for Dracula it be hiding away so you never know weather he is in frame or not but most the time he is not in shot but with the imagination of the audience knowing that Dracula is a creature of the night they will subconsciously imagine Dracula hiding in the dark stalking his victims. the only special effect i could notice in Dracula is the transformation scene where Count Dracula transforms into a bat to hunt for a victim. Bela Lugosi was the star of the Dracula film Bela Lugosi is an Hungarian actor which gives a good effect for Dracula's voice in the film with a Hungarian accent which matches the kind of character Dracula is giving an evil sounding accent makes Dracula seem more real to the audience.

AO1 Structure of a horror film

The narratives of horror films all follow a smiler storyline they either follow a supernatural storyline like with Dracula, Frankenstein and Zombie films these films are declared the most popular because the monsters are given supernatural abilities and births like in Dracula as a vampire he is a creature of the night and has incredible strength and enhanced reflexes with also needing to consume blood from his victims, with Frankenstein he is created by sending an electric current through several dead body parts which a sewn together and zombies are caused from religious and scientifically reasoning i prefer modern day zombies where they are blind cannot feel anything but have enhanced hearing making them more thrilling in my opinion, the horror genre has different tales for different monster they can be liner and non-liner with Dracula the films will be separated it might show the younger Dracula then jump to a present day or a far future then keep switching between showing a non-liner way of telling the story, most horror films are left open some to give the audience a chance to think of an ending or to be continued at a later date by the same film company or a different one but most Zombie films are episodic like 28 days later and 28 weeks later these seem to be like episodes to tell the story. the camerawork that is involved with the structure builds the suspense and adds to the climactic moment in the films, with Dracula it is the moment when he first drinks the blood of a victim, Frankenstein it is the quick shots as the monster is awakening from the lighting bolt, Zombies are given this by showing a group huddling around one person as the camera quickly cuts to every angle while the audio makes to imagine the ripping of human flesh as the zombies eat but the camerawork not showing any of this which gives the audience the chance to image what is happening behind the zombie horde.

AO1 Development of Horror Films

The advances in technology in horror films has allowed for more special effects like the scene in Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde with the rotating camera lens, showing off more of the makeup as Dr Jekyll changes to Mr Hyde without use of camera cuts. This made the transformation more realistic and provided a more immersive experience. People have always tried to scare others and it could be said that the horror genre started with the old folklore and fictitious stories told before the time of film. As the times have changed the way horror stories have been told has changed also. With the printing press the were more and more books published that were used to send shivers down peoples spines like Frankenstein and Dracula. Which where then, later, adapted into films.Cultural changes over the years effected how the films were able to show gore and the way they could use this to show the stories in better detail for example in the Hostel the entire film revolves around the gore shown. Other ways that cultural changes can effect movies can be seen in Dawn of the Dead (1978) by George Romero. He used real life events, i.e. the consumerist culture at the time, to relate to the audience, showing hordes of mindless zombies crowding into a shopping mall. The film also put forward the idea of how people subconsciously follow daily routines, by having his zombies craving brains George Romero offered a harsh critique on this lifestyle.

The economical reasons for horror to develop is the films keep coming out with sequels for the original horror films like Frankenstein has a few sequels filmed like Bride of Frankenstein and Son of Frankenstein, werewolf and also Dracula has had a lot of sequels. Other vampier films also referring to the original vampire count Dracula, people watch the sequels because they liked the original films because they are either continuing the story or give a prequel showing the start of the monster. Dracula films gave the idea for more vampire movies to me filmed which changed into different genres with Blade: Trinity which was a hybrid between horror and action the film also showed a reincarnated Dracula. the main developments in horror films have to be technology because with it there was the chance to change the types of films from psychological horror (making the audience imagine the gore) into visual horror (showing the gore leaving less to the imagination) the other way the development has changed is the rules for a horror have become more lenient you can show more in a horror film now a days but when horror started up you could barely show any gore.