Grief, Mourning, and the Horrors of Familial Inheritance

2021 ◽  
pp. 68-101
Author(s):  
David Church
Keyword(s):  
Horror Films ◽  
Narrative Strategies ◽  
Art Cinema ◽  
Horror Genre ◽  
Familial Inheritance

Familial traumas, especially grief about a lost parent or child, form one of the most prominent ways that post-horror encroaches on the generic territory of serious arthouse dramas, generating lingering discomfort in viewers. With the affective shape of trauma at their disposal, many of these films depict mothers and their offspring turned monstrous through unsuccessful processes of mourning. Examining the narrative strategies and depictions of trauma in Goodnight Mommy, The Babadook, and Hereditary, this chapter argues that themes of generationally inherited dysfunction serve as a larger metaphor for post-horror’s own relationship to both the horror genre and art cinema, including its atavistic influences from earlier generations of art-horror films.

British film production and the horror genre

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johnny Walker
Keyword(s):  
Horror Films ◽  
Horror Film ◽  
Film Production ◽  
Home Video ◽  
Horror Genre ◽  
British Cinema ◽  
Distinctive Aspect ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Audience Demographics ◽  
New Millennium

Chapter 2 contemplates why British horror was revived at the dawning of the new millennium, and also considers some of the reasons why British horror films produced in the 2000s and 2010s can be viewed as constituting a distinctive aspect of contemporary British cinema. I discuss the establishment of the UK Film Council (UKFC) in 2000 and contextualise the contemporary British horror film in the international film marketplace, drawing parallels between British horror and British film production more broadly, British horror and international horror production, and the audience demographics targeted by distributers and film production companies. This involves examining British horror’s shift from a theatrical genre to one associated primarily with the home video and online market.

“I’m Nervous That Watching Horror Makes Me Look Stupid”

2021 ◽  
pp. 87-99
Author(s):  
Mathias Clasen
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Cultural Capital ◽  
Horror Films ◽  
Horror Genre ◽  
Academic Study

The horror genre has traditionally struggled with an image problem, with horror films being seen as unintelligent, aesthetically uninteresting, and perhaps even morally problematic. This genre stigma has historically been extended to horror fans, who may worry about a lack of cultural capital. Horror movies rarely receive prestigious critical accolades, and the academic study of horror only emerged toward the end of the twentieth century. In recent years, an emergence of ambitious and genre convention-challenging horror movies has prompted some critics to talk about a horror renaissance or even the birth of “post-horror” or “elevated horror.” However, horror films have always had the capacity for engaging with serious themes in an artistic way, and there is often a discrepancy between critics’ evaluations of horror films and audiences’ evaluations. The genre stigma seems to be abating, but some horror fans may still worry about looking stupid—especially if they startle easily.

Polanski and Horror: Rosemary’s Baby

Macbeth ◽  
2017 ◽  
pp. 15-26
Author(s):  
Rebekah Owens
Keyword(s):  
Horror Films ◽  
Horror Film ◽  
Horror Genre

This chapter considers Roman Polanski's approach to the genre and horror output before the film Macbeth. It discusses Polanski's 1965 work Repulsion, that centres around Carol Ledoux and her disintegrating sanity, which is expressed from her subjective viewpoint. It also mentions how Repulsion showed Polanski as a master of the craft of psychological horror. The chapter looks at the Gothic aspects of the horror genre that is recorded in Polanski's autobiography, where he wrote of his experiences watching horror films in Paris. It details how Polanski decided to make a horror film that was designed to make people laugh, rather than the unintentional merriment that Hammer horror had provoked.

scholarly journals Scaring away anxiety: Therapeutic avenues for horror fiction to enhance treatment for anxiety symptoms

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Coltan Scrivner ◽  
Kara Alise Christensen
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy ◽  
Behavioral Therapy ◽  
Horror Films ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Evidence Based ◽  
Therapeutic Tool ◽  
Theoretical Rationale ◽  
Horror Genre ◽  
Fear And Anxiety ◽  
Haunted Houses

From scary stories to horror films and haunted houses, the horror genre is wildly popular. Although horror aims to elicit fear and anxiety, many people with anxiety are horror fans and some report using horror to cope with anxiety. In this article, we provide a theoretical rationale for why people with anxiety might choose to access and find relief in horror films. First, we discuss aspects of horror that could make it alluring to people with anxiety and how the use of horror may be negatively reinforcing. Next, we examine how engagement with horror could be used to build skills for resilience in generalized situations. We build on processes from evidence-based therapies (i.e., cognitive behavioral therapy and exposure therapy) to explain how horror media has the potential to be used as a therapeutic tool. Finally, we discuss steps for future research on horror as a therapeutic tool for anxiety-related disorders.

Arctic Carnivalesque: Ethnicity, Gender and Transnationality in the Films of Tommy Wirkola

Films on Ice ◽  
2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gunnar Iversen
Keyword(s):  
Traumatic Events ◽  
Second World War ◽  
World War ◽  
Art Cinema ◽  
Horror Genre ◽  
Hollywood Films ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Ethnicity And Gender ◽  
Second World ◽  
The Way

This chapter examines the way in which Sámi filmmaker Tommy Wirkola ironically appropriates contemporary Hollywood films such as The Blair Witch Project (1999) and Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill (2003-4) to create ironic, postmodern genres films that address questions of ethnicity and gender. Iversen examines the way in which Wirkola’s films made in Norway such as Kill Buljo: The Movie (2007) and the ‘Nazi zombie horror splatter comedy’ Dead Snow (2009) appropriate the horror genre to tell stories about traumatic events in Northern Norwegian history -- such as the German invasion during Second World War -- while incorporating visual references to European and Scandinavian art cinema. Iversen also analyses the representations of masculinity in Knut Erik Jensen’s Cool and Crazy (2001).

Apprehension Engines: Defining a New Wave of Art-Horror Cinema

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-26
Author(s):  
David Church
Keyword(s):  
Horror Films ◽  
Crossing Over ◽  
New Wave ◽  
Art Cinema ◽  
Negative Affects ◽  
Genre Conventions

This chapter introduces the term “post-horror” and positions it as an emergent cycle within the longer traditions of art cinema and specifically art-horror cinema. The chapter argues that post-horror films are distinguished by their minimalist aesthetic, their use of epistemic and narrative ambiguity, and their de-sensationalized approach to genre conventions. Prioritizing atmospheres of lingering dread and physical/emotion isolation instead of monsters and jump scares, these films evince a tonal distance from more mainstream genre expectations. Hence, by crossing over from the arthouse/festival circuit to multiplexes, these films’ capacity to generate strong negative affects which do not easily translate into populist entertainment has engendered both outsized acclaim from high-minded critics and backlash from more casual viewers.

What’s the Big Deal about Horror Movies, and Who Watches Them, Anyway?

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Mathias Clasen
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
Simulation Theory ◽  
Horror Films ◽  
Adaptive Function ◽  
Horror Genre ◽  
Vicarious Experiences ◽  
Main Attraction

The audience for horror films is more diverse than many people seem to assume. The genre appeals to women and men, young and old, thrill seekers and neurotics alike. The horror genre is also more popular than many might assume, with hundreds of horror movies being produced in the United States each year, and an increase in horror movie production in recent decades. When people seek out horror movies, they desire emotional stimulation, and the fear elicited by a horror movie is a main attraction, not an unfortunate byproduct. The threat simulation theory of horror argues that people have safe, vicarious experiences with dangerous scenarios through scary fiction. This adaptive function of horror explains the paradoxical appeal of the genre.

“I’m Nervous That Horror Films Are Immoral”

2021 ◽  
pp. 71-86
Author(s):  
Mathias Clasen
Keyword(s):  
Moral Psychology ◽  
Real World ◽  
Horror Films ◽  
Moral Panics ◽  
Horror Genre ◽  
Cautionary Tales ◽  
The Relationship

The horror genre has historically been the focus of several moral panics, most recently revolving around films in the “torture porn” subgenre, and before that around “video nasties,” rape-revenge films, and splatter movies. However, there is no research to support a concern that horror fans are immoral or that horror films make people unempathetic or sadistic. Horror films are more morally complex than many critics have assumed, and the relationship between horror films and moral psychology is also more complex than critics have assumed. Studies have also shown that horror films may actually be associated with a decrease in real-world violence. Moreover, horror films (with their roots in cautionary tales) are often moralizing, but their effects on viewers’ moral compasses may be limited.

Peeping Tom as a proto-slasher

2021 ◽  
pp. 43-60
Author(s):  
Kiri Bloom Walden
Keyword(s):  
Film Theory ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Horror Films ◽  
Male Gaze ◽  
Original Script ◽  
Feminist Film Theory ◽  
Horror Genre ◽  
History Of ◽  
Feminist Film

We explore the film in the wider context of the history of the Horror genre. This chapter looks at the idea that Peeping Tom can be seen as a proto-Slasher. Looking specifically at the Cinematography and use of the ‘killer’s Point of View’ shot we see how Peeping Tom has also gone on to influence later Horror films. This chapter includes analysis of camera technique and elements of the original script. We look at the film in relation to film theory, especially feminist film theory which has developed in relation to the act of looking and the role of the ‘male gaze’ in Horror films.

Kubrick and Horror

The Shining ◽  
2017 ◽  
pp. 17-34
Author(s):  
Laura Mee
Keyword(s):  
Horror Films ◽  
The Self ◽  
The Other ◽  
Horror Film ◽  
Horror Genre ◽  
The Uncanny ◽  
Mise En Scene ◽  
Popular Work ◽  
The Grotesque

This chapter discusses Stanley Kubrick's relationship with the horror genre. The Shining (1980) is a clear example of Kubrick's status as ‘an artist of complex and popular work’—rather than being exclusively one or the other. Many approaches to understanding the film see it as a ‘serious’ work by a master filmmaker operating without commercial imperative, or elevated above a disreputable genre. This overlooks a number of important contextual considerations, not least the fact that Kubrick had been clear in asserting that he wanted to make a supernatural film and liked a number of horror films. Moreover, Kubrick, whose films ‘repeatedly mix the grotesque and the banal, the conventions of Gothic confessional morbidity and the self-conscious involutions of modernist parody’, was ideally placed to make a horror film. If The Shining is in many ways typical of the Kubrickian style, then it surely follows that the Kubrickian style was ideal for horror. His auteurist style—the use of black comedy, his artistic approach to mise-en-scène and cinematography, an interest in the uncanny—all lend themselves to the genre.

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