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Friday, 7 September 2012

Sample Essay on Horror Genre

Horror Genre Essay

The horror genre is one of the most well-known genres and we might say that it has began to develop practically promptly with the development of show company and also a free entry of wide audience to cinemas and television. We can discover a lot of reasons from the popularity of this genre but it's nevertheless not so easy to explain its phenomenon, namely why it's so attractive for folks despite all its unreality. However, it would be a very good mistake to say that horror movies are plain or even primitive. Naturally, you will find some movies that are incredibly so stereotyped, unbearably plain, and definitely thoughtless. But in my opinion, it is merely exclusion or films that were created by specialists who are far from actual moviemaking and they are able to create absolutely nothing but films of low top quality regardless its genre.

 Also I would say that as any other branch of art cinema has its genius and its mediocre majority due to the fact beneficial films could be created only by a beneficial crew and also the genre just isn't so important. In between this sort of genius of cinema I would name the crews that worked on a couple of films of horror genre, they're “Invasion of Body Snatchers” and “The Thing”. I mentioned crews not mainly because I do not wish to agree with individuals who believe that Donald Siegel and John Carpenter had been outstanding directors, over a contrary I am glad that individuals who worked on these a couple of films were led by this kind of well-qualified professionals. So, we may perhaps say that “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” and “The Thing” are classics in the horror genre and the greatest ones. But what I desire to analyze is the reason why they're treated as this kind of and wherever way they are similar or different.

First of all, it is needed to say that these 2 films have been produced at various time. “Invasion from the Human body Snatchers” was produced within the middle 1950s, far more precisely in 1956 whereas “The Thing” was made in 1982. It appears that such time difference should make the films totally various but, strangely enough, they have many common aspects. That is certainly why at the starting I want to dwell upon similarities of both films. First of all, we may perhaps say that, to a particular extent, the theme is close. Each films focus on a issue in the invasion of human or just alive bodies by some aliens that tends to manage the personality, the hosts actions judgments, etc. During the case of “Invasion in the Body Snatchers”, we deal with creatures that “has to wait for the perfect moment once the target is asleep), and spend the next few hours consuming and taking on that form. If the host wake up as soon as the program is not complete, the whole method is often a failure” (LeGacy 1978:288). On the other hand, the point requirements just several minutes to perform it since “it can assimilate the host whilst its still conscious, against the host’s will” (Landon 1993:39). Possibly this kind of changes are caused by the changes of time or epoch. It's obvious how the rhythm of life in 1980s was a lot faster than in 1950s, surely it discovered its expression during the perception in the concept of feasible alien assault or attempts to invade human minds.

By the way, I believe that each films express the trend that took place in the society when the notion of total control of the human mind became a lot more and much more broadly spread. It techniques that symbolically by aliens creators from the films tried to imply those powers either political or economical that by several means aimed at the total manage of public conscious through the invasion in the mind of the separate individual. It was incredibly genuine if we think about if we eat into consideration the time once both films have been released, 1952 it was the year with the commencing on the cold war after the tension between the well-developed democratic world and the communistic Soviet Union grew as well as the governments of several countries, just like the most democratic, had began to struggle for your control of public opinion and even each specific individual. At the exact same time, 1982 it was a period as soon as the cold war achieved its apogee and also the globe was over a eve with the Reagan’s declaration from the war over a ‘empire of evil’ once the case was extremely resembling to that of early 1950s. Furthermore, the degree of surveillance grew and specialists began to spoke on the total control of certain firms more than people. In such a situation the men and women transformed in pods from the horror films I’ve just called look being a prophecy and warning against such harmful practice.

One additional issue that creates “Invasion with the Body Snatchers” and “The Thing” incredibly several could be the degree of combination of truth and unreality as I would call it. In my opinion, at this point “The Thing” is a lot more radical issue in the sense that the film is full of wonderful elements and also the region of paranoia overwhelms audience and keeps individuals in these kinds of a state during the whole film. Over a other hand, in “Invasion in the Human body Snatchers” it's very difficult to distinguish whether what we see is genuine or unreal. Personally, after I watched both films I had a permanent doubt inside the mental wellness of its principal characters it was extremely difficult to say whether it was one thing really unusual, extraordinary points that happen to men and women inside city or it was a effortless hallucination, illusion, or just a nightmare and only at the end it becomes clear that the whole city was quite transformed in pods people. Whereas in “The Thing” it's evident almost from the really beginning. Everyone realizes that the characters act in an unreal case they very confront some aliens that intend to control their bodies and their minds. Probably, the trigger of this sort of a difference lies in the history in the origin with the films. For we know that “Invasion with the System Snatchers” was significantly influenced by proceeding films noir that tended to externalised the moral conflict of the detective story. Such films inhabit “shadow worlds and hover with no resolve between the supernatural and mundane rationalism. Inside same sense “Invasion in the Entire body Snatchers” and also the other alien takeover films… psychologically externalised the central conflict in the alien invader film – they were less films about aliens than they have been about alienation” (Biskin 1983:139). However the director tries to maintain us in suspense for your although and inrushes the film with rationalism and realism but as soon as the nightmare becomes the reality he widely uses film noir ways for example shots down tight corridors, silhouettes running against streetlights, close ups on sweaty faces, tilted angles. Whilst he does not forget about classical horror films scenes including “shots up from under the plank under which McCarthy and Winter hide, in the pod men and women crossing calmly assuring them there is absolutely nothing to fear, the wide-angled shots out in the office window down onto the public square, which becomes inexplicably frightening the moment all targeted visitors are cleared and the bustle of everyday chaos suddenly turns into one thing ordered and folks begin organizing the pods being distributed about the country” (Biskin 1983:141). Whereas in “The Thing” its creators used the experience of past works within the field of horror films and I would say this film is purer horror inside the sense how the psychological tension here is weakened by a particular simplification due to which we should not guess whether it is a type of psychological problems in the characters or a paranormal phenomenon for your latter is really obvious.

Also I desire to add that “The Thing” is significantly richer in unique effects, especially as soon as we see victims of aliens who “transform into twisted versions of themselves, complete with claws, spider-like limbs, teeth and a lot of flailing tentacles” (Landon 1993:36). And once again I believe that may be the result of time changes mainly because in 1980s due to the development of personal computer technologies and much more sophisticated technical equipment impressive particular final results became an essential component of any very good horror film pretending being intriguing and popular. Whereas, in 1950s not just technical opportunities were not so good but the tradition of film shooting was a bit different. Far more attention was typically given to psychological side and could only be enforced by unique results which have been not quite ‘special’ while in comparison with 1980s.

As for some far more similarities of both “Invasion from the Human body Snatchers” and “The Thing”, we might find not merely theme and most likely thought from the film but also the atmosphere of films. As I have already said these films deals on the alien intrusion into human life, into human body, mind and consciousness. These films also might serve as a warning on the danger of these kinds of a situation, of the total control of human consciousness after folks become pods but not considering beings. It's reinforced by the reigning atmosphere of tension, even paranoia that makes us forget around the unreality in the events and deep to the action. It's obvious that creators of these films had similar aims. Finally, I need to add several words for the way of alien invasion. It can be a bit several by its type but the principle of this kind of invasion remains similar. What I mean is the fact that definitely aliens in “Invasion from the Physique Snatchers” and “The Thing” act differently, I have already said how the latter act swiftly with no human will and they are able to act in any time whilst the former are incredibly lengthy reacted beings, they cannot attack men only if they are not asleep. But we see that there is 1 favorite principle aliens in these this films attack from inside, I mean they want invade human bodies and minds but not their land, property, they don't threat directly to their physical wealth. It seems that human inner world is a lot more significant for them than some thing else simply because they try to control human’s memory, and for that reason our feelings, emotions, our country of mind, perception of the world, our supply and our past. Moreover, they “have access towards the being’s memories, allowing them to blend in virtually perfectly without becoming detected by future target hosts who may know the individual who has now been replaced by these horrible alien creatures” (Gregory 1972:12). Thus, we see that as opposed to many other films about alien invasion “Invasion from the Physique Snatchers” and “The Thing” pay a lot more attention for the inner world of people, implying the spiritual emptiness that threatens towards the individuals of the 20th century due to the fact in my opinion the aliens symbolize all those people hard processes that took place in our society inside the 20th century and still continues to exist and that bring about moral degradation of persons to their transformation into pods.

Taking into account all more than mentioned, I can come on the conclusion that “Invasion in the Physique Snatchers” and “The Thing” are genuine masterpieces of the horror genre and we now have perceive them not just inside the proper sense but we ought to also realize what the creators of these films implied. In my paper I have named plenty of points that are either similar or various in these films but what's one of the most important will be the reality that they both have been and remain extremely well-liked and also the film that would be far better than them can also be hardly imagined. One from the evidences of my thought could be the truth that there are lots of remakes of these films that, in its turn, tells us within the actuality from the plot, themes and ideas conveyed in the help of “Invasion on the Human body Snatchers” and “The Thing”. Thus, I can say that both films should be regarded standard of horror genre and their traditions ought to be continued but not blindly copied that would cause the development and prosperous future of this genre.

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