2.4 - Horror

HORROR SITESThese might be useful for the Excellence question.

1) ABC News: Are Horror films a Mirror of the American Psyche?

Very relevant to horrors reflecting the time they're made in (note that it's four pages long) with comments from modern directors likening today's films to those of the 70s because of the similarities between the Iraq and Vietnam wars (hence all the remakes of 70s films now).

"I think the kind of horror that gets put out there really reflects, you know,
the environment we are living in right now, which is a pretty scary one, you
know?" said James Wan, co-author, producer and director of the "Saw" series.

"You don't know quite what could happen to us every step of the way. And I think a horror film is a way of expressing that up there on the screen, and it [is]
almost like a cathartic way of like venting one's fear, basically." "Well, I
think we're actually in a period that's cycling through the same area that the
horror films of the '70s were in because both were made during great periods of
culture clashes," said master of horror Wes Craven."You know — in the '70s it
was Vietnam and now we have, obviously what's going on in the Middle East. So
the horror films tend to be very visceral and, oddly enough, the ones these days
have a fair amount of torture in it, which is, obviously, right out of the news
and it seems that both countries — or both groups — are doing it: the United
States and its enemies."

2) Summary of Horror in the last Century
This is the handout I gave you in class (good for tracing villains over time).

3) Sex and Violence in Slasher Films

4) Analysis of 'Halloween'

5) Review of a Book on Technical Progressions in the Genre

6) 'Media Influence' on wikipaedia (lists some film 'copy-cat' crimes, though they aren't horrors)

7) The Dangers of Horror Films

8) Roots of Modern Horror VillainsThis site briefly goes over Michael Myer's motivations and there is a link to a detailed account of Ed Gein and which movies he influenced.

9) Violent Video GamesThis article is on video games desensitising people, but you could bring it into a debate on media violence and relate it to horrors somehow.

10) Violence in Media EntertainmentThis site has good links at the bottom to further sites with research into the issue. Articles on 'Media Violence Debates' and 'Research into the Effects of Media Violence'.