Making Horror Respectable

2013 ◽  
pp. 61-72
Author(s):  
Barry Forshaw
Keyword(s):  
Serial Killer ◽  
Horror Film ◽  
Similar Function ◽  
Film Genre ◽  
Academy Awards ◽  
Buffalo Bill ◽  
Film Making

This chapter assesses how Jonathan Demme's adaptation brought about a seismic change in the horror film genre of the 1990s; it performed a similar function for the crime narrative. The acclaim that the film enjoyed, both critically and commercially, was unprecedented. Particularly noteworthy was the recognition from the staid, conservative members of AMPASS, the industry body whose membership is responsible for bestowing the Academy Awards. It would be easy to say that these wins were exclusively due to the exemplary film-making on display in the film, but not quite accurate — such an impressive use of the medium as was evident would not alone have seduced the conservative Academy members, given the disreputable nature of the horror medium. One factor dictating this sea change in terms of Oscar recognition was the contribution of the actor Anthony Hopkins. Ultimately, what elevates The Silence of the Lambs above its cinematic predecessor is the balancing of the two principal (interlocking) plots: the pursuit and capture of the serial killer Buffalo Bill, and the growing uneasy relationship between the monk-like Hannibal Lecter and his novice ‘pupil’ Clarice Starling.

The Vampire as Serial Killer

2011 ◽  
pp. 57-68
Author(s):  
Anne Billson
Keyword(s):  
Serial Killer ◽  
Serial Killers ◽  
Missing Link ◽  
The Press ◽  
Buffalo Bill ◽  
Serial Murderers

This chapter introduces the term 'serial killer', which refers to someone who murders people one at a time and was reportedly coined by FBI Special Agent Robert Ressler in the 1970s. It recounts how the term 'serial killer' came into vogue around the time of the release of The Silence of the Lambs (1991), which featured the hunt for a serial killer called Buffalo Bill. It also reviews a number of serial murderers that have been called 'vampires' by the press, such as Peter Kürten who was charged with nine murders and was dubbed 'The Vampire of Düsseldorf '. The chapter discusses movie vampires, who tend to leave trails of drained corpses behind them, which qualify them as serial killers. It refers to Martin's youth in the film Martin, which marks him out as a missing link between Dracula and teen-orientated vampire movies, which would exploit the vampire's bad-boy appeal for younger audiences.

Hannibal’s Precursors

2013 ◽  
pp. 11-14
Author(s):  
Barry Forshaw
Keyword(s):  
Human Skin ◽  
Real Life ◽  
The Other ◽  
Serial Killer ◽  
Serial Killers ◽  
Horror Film ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Slasher Film ◽  
Thomas Harris ◽  
Mass Murderer

This chapter discusses the other serial killers in the cinema before Hannibal Lecter. In 1959, the writer Robert Bloch was inspired by the gruesome case of the Wisconsin mass murderer Ed Gein, with his keepsakes of bones and human skin. He transmuted elements of the Gein case into the phenomenally successful Psycho (published 1959), reconfiguring the real-life Gein as the chubby, unprepossessing mother's boy Norman Bates, who dispatches a variety of victims in gruesome fashion. Subsequently, Alfred Hitchcock's adaptation of the novel (1960) laid down the parameters for a variety of genres: the serial killer movie, the slasher film, and the modern big-budget horror film which utilises above-the-title stars rather than the journeyman actors who had populated such fare previously. But above all else, Hitchcock and his talented screenwriter Joseph Stefano created a template for the intelligent, richly developed, and charismatic fictional serial killer in their version of Norman Bates. Hitchcock's film was to influence a generation of film-makers and writers; among them Thomas Harris.

Who’s Afraid of Photography?

2020 ◽  
pp. 94-98
Author(s):  
Hana Čeferin
Keyword(s):  
21St Century ◽  
Chemical Compounds ◽  
Identity Theft ◽  
Horror Film ◽  
Film Genre ◽  
Horror Genre ◽  
Open Questions ◽  
The Common ◽  
The 19Th Century ◽  
Deceased People

In contemporary horror, the photographic image is often used as the object of horror or even represents the main antagonist of the story. We can trace the origin of such depictions to the very invention of the technique of photography in the 19th century, which was also the heyday of spiritualist theories about photography making the soul of the deceased visible to the human eye using chemical compounds. A notorious example is the case of photographer William Mumler who offered well-off relatives of recently deceased people in the States to make portraits with the ghosts of their loved ones. There are also reports of some peoples that allegedly also consider the soul to be closely bound to photography and in consequence abhor photography, as the film is supposedly capable of capturing and depriving the photographed person of their soul. Films like The Ring, The Others, Peeping Tom, and The Invisible Man demonstrate how frequently uncanny photography appears in the horror film genre and open questions about the reasons of such depictions. While the theory of horror claims that horror uses specific iconography of fear to reflect the common fears of the time (e.g. an invasion of giant insects and carnivorous plants in the 50s as a consequence of American fear of a communist invasion), the article explores the issue of photography as the main antagonist in the horror genre of the 21st century and whether this means that it appears as the universal fear of digital identity, surveillance, and identity theft.

scholarly journals KAJIAN KOMPARATIF HISTORIS FILM 'PENGABDI SETAN'

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 196-202
Author(s):  
Garcia Iktia
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Research ◽  
Horror Film ◽  
Film Festival ◽  
Literature Study ◽  
Film Genre ◽  
Horror Genre ◽  
The Many ◽  
The One ◽  
In The Beginning ◽  
Made In

Indonesian films experience development over time. In the beginning film in Indonesia served as a massmobilizer and propaganda, then suspended animation. Now Indonesian films are taken into account to internationalfestivals, especially the horror film genre. The object to be analyzed in this study is a horror film, entitled 'PengabdiSetan' by director Rudi Sudjarwo produced in 2017 which is also nominated for the Indonesian Film Festival. Researchthrough the analysis of historical studies with comparative research methods, literature study of two films that have beenadapted to the same genre, namely the horror genre. Both films have good unity in the story and cinematography, but inthe film “Pengabdi Setan” made in 2017 the audience is treated to a different cinematography than the one made in 1980and the many cinematographic developments in the Indonesian film horror genre.

Slasher in the Snow: The Rise of the Low-Budget Nordic Horror Film

2015 ◽  
pp. 189-202
Author(s):  
Tommy Gustafsson
Keyword(s):  
Silent Film ◽  
Nordic Countries ◽  
Horror Film ◽  
Film Genre ◽  
Victor Sjostrom ◽  
Genre Films ◽  
Detective Films

Arguably, the horror film is the most frowned upon film genre, perhaps only surpassed by the porn film. Historically, the horror film has often been seen by Nordic film critics and film censors since the 1930s as something foreign or as yet another sign of unlawful Americanisation. Although the production of genre films has been prominent among all Nordic film industries ever since the silent film period, these genre films have mostly consisted of comedies and, especially in recent years, crime and detective films. The Nordic horror film in all its shapes and forms has been an anomaly in the Nordic countries, and this argument does not include the somewhat anachronistic genre labelling of films such as The Phantom Chariot (Körkarlen, Victor Sjostrom, 1921) and The Vampire (Vampyr, Carl Theodore Dreyer, 1932).

Harry Potter and the Hidden Heritage Films: Genre Hybridity and the Power of the Past in the Harry Potter Film Cycle

2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 430-449
Author(s):  
Shelley Anne Galpin
Keyword(s):  
Visual Display ◽  
Harry Potter ◽  
The Political ◽  
Film Genre ◽  
The Past ◽  
Visual Style ◽  
Commercial Form ◽  
Contemporary Film ◽  
Film Making

The heritage film is generally considered to be a less commercial form of film-making, one which eschews populism for ‘quality’. This article seeks to question the distinctions drawn between the heritage film and more commercial film franchises by examining the links between the conventions of heritage cinema and the Harry Potter films. Bringing together scholarship on the heritage film, the Harry Potter series and film genre, the article considers these productions in the light of their themes, with the political or class-centred aspects of the narrative examined in relation both to the visual display and to Andrew Higson's early critique of the heritage film. The article argues for different associations of heritage iconography in contemporary film-making from the initial criticisms of heritage cinema made by Higson. Details of the visual style of the Harry Potter films are also considered in relation to the allegedly typical characteristics of the heritage film. Ultimately, the article argues for the success of this film cycle being due to the incorporation of genre characteristics from both the heritage film and the fantasy genre and suggests that because of the increased prevalence of generic hybridity it is time that we began to reconceptualise the heritage film and its associated audiences.

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