Top 20 Horror Films of All Time
- The Exorcist (1973)
- The Shining (1980)
- The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)
- Psycho (1960)
- Alien (1979)
- The Thing (1982)
- Rosemary's Baby (1968)
- Halloween (1978)
- Suspiria (1976)
- Dawn of the Dead (1978)
- Jaws (1975)
- Don't Look Now (1973)
- Night of the Living Dead (1968)
- The Innocents (1971)
- Carrie (1976)
- An American Werewolf in London (1981)
- The Haunting (1963)
- Audition (1999)
- Evil Dead II (1987)
- The Omen (1976)
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What is Horror?
Horror is a genre which aims to use fear and disgust to the viewers. It is commonly used in films such as Psycho and Saw. The films often consist of built tension, death, gore and fear.
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| The Messengers (2007) |
Horror is basically abnormal occurrences happening to normal people and the writers or directors of horror use this and make the viewers think that they could be that person, that ordinary person.
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Shaun of the Dead (2004)
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Horror is sometimes used with other genres, such as comedy, thriller or drama. Some horror films intertwine with thriller, for example Unborn or The Messengers.
Scary Movie and Shaun of the Dead are comic horrors, they are spoofs based upon other horror films to mock typical codes and conventions of horror.
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Do you like horror films?
I interviewed a few people asking them questions on horror films.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8fNjR2CO4k&feature=youtu.be
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8fNjR2CO4k&feature=youtu.be
Horror Film Poster Analysis
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Horror Film Grossings and their Production Companies
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Hide and Seek Opening Scenes (Link)
In my group there was Hannah Moore, Ellie Fletcher and myself. We chose the opening scenes of Hide and Seek directed John Polson, which is about a widower and his daughter. After the sudden death of his wife, David Callaway decides to move upstate with his traumatised daughter, Emily. Emily finds it hard to settle in and David starts becoming more concerned with her imaginary friend named Charlie. Near the end of the film we find out that Charlie isn't an imaginary friend but a person closer to David than he thinks.
We analysed and evaluated the mise en scene, camera angles, sound and editing of this films opening.
This is the feedback I gave to some of my classmates that did the same.
Silence of the Lambs
Silence of the Lambs
Directed by Jonathan Demme
Analysed by Ben Bowen, Dom Simmons, Toby Harvey and George Jackson
The first scene is a dark and eerie location set in a forest, the credits appear very sharply and are very jerky making the audience uncomfortable and as they are appearing you can see a tree in the foreground where Ben made a very good annotation. He mentioned how the tree in the foreground is very clear however you can't see behind it showing how some things are clear whereas some things are less obvious which foreshadows the future of the film.
The trees in the forest and leafless therefore are lifeless and dead which hints at the genre of the film.
You can hear a crow-like sound as the credits appear which is non-diagetic which puts the audience on edge as they can't see where it is coming from.
As Jodie Foster's character, Clarice Starling, appears she is heavy breathing which sets an eerie tone. She is running so the audience assumes she running away from something as George says this brings a sense of excitement and fear to the viewer. Also, as we see the close up of her face we see she is sweating which signifies she is a strong and determined character.
As Ben said, the tracking shot of Clarice running it is as if we're chasing her which implies it is a psychological thriller.
Dom pointed out as she climbs over the fence it's as if she overcoming challenges which again foreshadows the future and when she overcomes them it brighter on the other side implying that she will be happier when she achieves.
The Grudge
Directed by Takashi Shimizu
Analysed by Daryl Meadows
Daryl made some very good comments on the connotation of the scenes. For instance when the woman enters the lady's house the house is messy and chaotic representing the old lady's mind - how it is confused and mental because we find out later on in the film that she has been affected by the Grudge.
Also he mentioned the cobwebs which are associated with spiders catching their prey which mirrors the Grudge. Also the candle she is holding is flickering which shows she is scared and nervous but also creates shadows which scares the viewers.
One annotation that Daryl didn't make was the high angle which would normally make her seem dominant however she was looking up which made her seem vulnerable and nervous which also made the audience uncomfortable.
Silent Hill
Directed by Christophe Gans
Analysed by Georgia, Catherine, Emma and Akshay
A point that Georgia made when she was analysing Silent Hill was that the mother was carrying a teddy bear and shouting a girl's name which makes it clear that she is looking for someone. The fact that she is holding a teddy bear makes the audience think that she is looking for a little girl maybe, which means that the girl might be in danger so the audience are more engaged because a young person is involved.
Sharon (the mother) is wearing pasty and soft colours showing her innocence and how she is the victim in this film/scene.
A point that the group didn't make was when we have a falling aerial shot of the underground fire. In this shot the audience are made to feel like they are falling into this fire so we're put in the mother and daughters situation.
They mentioned the ash on the 'Silent Hill' on the title sequence symbolising the fire of the underground fire.
Jennifer's Body
Directed by Karyn Kusama
Analysed by Becky Roydhouse, Harri Long and Harri Nicholls
Analysed by Becky Roydhouse, Harri Long and Harri Nicholls
The group mentioned the cross reference of the colour pink, on the title sequence 'Jennifer's Body' was in pink and also her wallpaper and the colour is very feminine so it shows she is a girly girl.
In the bedroom scene a really good point made by the group was the fact that she's sitting on her bed and the camera pans up from the bottom of the bed refering to the childhood fears of something under your bed.
When Amanda Seyfriend's character is in the prison cafeteria you hear diegetic sounds of whispering.
A few things that the group didn't make were that when Amanda's character walks through the prison playround, everyone is wearing orange however because nobody is moving at all, she stands out and so the audience is drawn to her.
Also when she's locked into the room for assaulting someone in the prison there is a close up of her face as we hear a non-diegetic sound of her talking. Her face has shadows across it which maybe represents the fact that she hiding something.
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Psycho Opening Scene - Analysis
This is my analysis of Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho.