Great Horror Cinema

The horror film is a genre of popular entertainment which dates back to the early days of cinema. Whether in the form of Nosferatu the vampire, or serial killer Michael Myers horror has always terrified audiences with its villain’s and scenarios.

Yet recently the genre has radically changed, with film-makers now intent on gore and torture as opposed to spine tingling chills. Furthermore the horror film market has seen an increase in lacklustre remakes/sequels and prequels, which prove to be popular on opening weekend, but ultimately lack the genuine terror that the originals captured. While strong horror films such as Drag Me to Hell under perform at the European box office. This lack of imagination could be due to a number of reasons; one being that the target audience for modern horror is predominantly teenagers who demand blood, guts and nudity. Another theory that living in a modern era it is hard to conjure up terrifying monsters to scare audiences, so instead film-makers choose to update classic horror films in order to entertain a young generation. Yet many remakes such as The Hills Have Eyes and Halloween have been awarded 18 certificates by the BBFC (British Board Of Film Classification), its as if film-makers are marketing their product towards an older audience of gore hounds, fans who grew up with the originals and are curious to see how these remakes hold up to their predecessors. In this regard the film-makers are playing to the fans, but their remakes are predominantly gorier and harder versions of classic horror films.

Take for example Marcus Nispel’s remake of Tobe Hooper’s horror classic The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. The remake is beautifully shot but is an empty, soulless piece of work which lacks the macabre atmosphere which made the original extremely frightening. The remake increases the gore to a stomach churning degree, whereas in the original the lack of gore but the suggestion of it are some of the elements which make it a classic.

Since the last instalment in the popular Saw franchise Saw 3D, we have seen a dip in the Torture Porn genre, this so called sub genre has played itself out, but at the time offered horror audiences extreme gore, sex and nudity in a masochistic setting. To fill this empty void we have seen a return to the more supernatural elements of horror, i.e. ghosts, haunted houses and things that go bump in the night. This has also led to the huge increase in 'found footage' films, from The Devil Inside to Sinister via Paranormal Activity 4 we are seeing new ways of telling scary stories, while the 'Found Footage' genre can be frustrating, there have been exceptions. i.e. Rec, The Last Exorcism and Monsters all excellent forays into the genre.

But as mainstream horror is populated by remakes and some bland films, there is hope for mainstream horror. Take Sam Rami’s Drag Me To Hell for example. The film revolves around a young woman who is cursed by a gypsy and in three days will be quite literally dragged to hell. With a focus on the supernatural in this case a curse, it has the character development of a 80s horror film, but the real strength of the film is in its pacing. The film feels like a roller coaster ride as it builds up tension in one scene and terrifies the audience in the next. Rami’s film feels very much like a demented version of his own horror classic the The Evil Dead 2, which in itself is a highly kinetic horror film. Drag Me To Hell is an example of how mainstream horror can be imaginative, and most importantly scary. In this respect the film feels fresh and liberating as it is not a remake, a sequel or constrained to misogyny or torture but is an original idea. Another example of fun and fresh Horror, is Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard's genre mash up The Cabin in The Woods. With the title alone, your playing with the conventions of the 'Stalk n Slash' genre, and by playing with these tried and tested areas the film-makers deliver something truly special, its one of the freshest and most enjoyable horror films of recent years.

World Horror is another area of the genre which proves to be everything mainstream horror lacks i.e. strong character development, great stories and moments of genuine terror. Because World Horror avoids the trappings of mainstream horror, it can deliver moments which are genuinely scary. World Horror also creates horror films designed for adults. Some of these works can be seen as horror’s saving grace. Take for example Swedish film Let The Right One In, where a troubled twelve year old boy befriends his new neighbour, only to find out she is a vampire. The films moments of horror are scattered throughout, instead we are offered moments of beauty and a slow, morbid atmosphere which builds to a stunning final ten minutes. When the horror arrives however, they are fantastically staged and scary. The tone, aesthetic choice and pace one would not find in a mainstream Hollywood horror film. One other example of adult themed horror is the Spanish horror The Orphanage. This is “adult” horror but in a heartbreaking way, as it deals with the loss of a child. The first half of the film expands on this theme, in which we see a vulnerable mother coming to terms with loosing her son. While the second half builds atmosphere, and delivers some brilliant horror moments. What makes the film so painful, is the mothers mourning is so strong, that it radiates off the screen. The film can be viewed as a companion piece to Nicolas Roeg’s masterpiece Don’t Look Now.

Another popular area of World Horror is Korean and Japanese horror. These works are aesthetically and thematically different from other examples of World Horror, they take Western story conventions and create strange and macabre films such as Audition and Dark Water. What's striking about Korean and Japanese moments of horror, is that they are slower paced. So the moment of horror is drawn out to a nail-biting climax. Take for example the climax in Ringu, where the antagonist crawls out of the television set; in any Western horror this scene would be handled as a jump shock, the scene is terrifying because of the way of she moves, slowly advancing towards us as if taking her time. This also taps into a deeper psychological fear of breaking barriers, as the cinema screen often acts as a barrier between the audience and the world of the film, the fact that the antagonist breaks through the screen, taps into our fears of these monsters coming to get us.

Audition is a master class in slowly building terror, and is proof of how Japanese and Korean violence can be more extreme. This is evident in the final scene, in which the protagonist is horribly tortured. The scene includes anti puncture to the eyeballs, the removal of the tongue and the hacking of limbs. This scene slowly builds the terror through the use of editing, and its lack of score, in its place is the sound of hacking and moaning. It is also through the use of the angles which at times mask the action, the audience is forced to picture the image in their mind, adding further terror to the scene.

It seems that with film-makers like Sam Rami, Thomas Alfredson and European directors that the future of horror is in safe hands, as these film-makers have shown that horror can be beautiful, funny, childlike and most of all scary. It is also proof that if there is an audience for horror whether it’s Torture Porn, Hollywood Remakes, European Horror or any other Sub Genre of horror audiences will continue to pay good money to see characters imaginatively killed on screen.