FEARS AND MONSTERS

 

Introduction

 

Scary movies are a popular form of entertainment, and can appear in the structure of Horror or Thriller films. There are many differences between the two genres, which I highlighted in my 'Conventions of Thrillers' blog post. Whatever form they appear, the two Genres are still very popular, so our class decided to analyse how fear is created through films, and why people continue to watch scary movies.

Fears

One method used to create discomfort in the audience, is by incorporating common fears in the movie, so the audience are automatically uneasy from seeing their own fears on screen. This helps them connect with the characters, and start feeling fear on behalf of them. Scary movies often contain themes of death, darkness and being hunted. Below are some common fears that effect society, which are often included in films:

Movies that exploit fears

As previously mentioned, movies exploit societal fears in order to make their movie more effective. Below are some examples of movies that target specific fears.

Monsters and what they represent

Dracula

	- Rich - Prays on young virgin girls - Seduces them - Sleeps in a coffin - Drinks blood	- Signifies the patriarchy - Exploitation of women - Using power to corrupt - Rich people abusing the poor (social structure) - Blood infections (AIDs, STDs) - Good vs evil (binary opposites) - The devil (corrupts innocence, prays in the dark)

Godzilla

	- Giant monster set loose - Walks around the city, crushing people and things - Out of control - random directions - Created with nuclear power	- Signifies not being able to control what happens - Even with technology things can be out of our control - We don't always have control over things we start/create - Nuclear war, controlling nuclear power - Fear of something bigger than us - Revenge of nature

Zombie

	- Eats people - Spreads disease - Last man standing - End of the world	- Signifies fear of being alone in the world / facing other people - Drug addicts (they want something so badly they will do anything to get it) - Invasion - Death (unstoppable force) - Fear of old age (getting slower, losing their mind) - Anarchy

The Alien

	- Extra-terrestrial beings	- Superior being - the unknown - Space (infinite) - The inner voice (represented by the second mouth) - Not knowing what's beyond us

Why do people watch scary movies?

There are many theories on why people watch scary movies, and some are listed below. I agree with them to varying degrees, however I agree with David Skal the most, because horror films wouldn't be so scary if they didn't reflect internal fears. For example, scenes in horror films when the villain is hiding in the dark are more frightening to someone who is naturally afraid of the dark.