Lexie Brauer
Dr. Henderson
History of Film
26 April 2018
The Evolution of Goblins, Ghouls, and Guts
Movies are undoubtedly an American pastime. From the beginning of the film industry to the present, movies have evolved to fit the interests of society while also challenging the norms. This leads to the evolution of film because new standards are being introduced to the public every year, leaving audiences expecting more of the same material. At the same time, original aspects of the film industry remain intact when making movies, indicating that there are decade-old qualities that are still effective to this day. One genre in particular that has displayed this evolution since the beginning is the horror genre. With there being many horror films that influence other horror films, there are a few major blockbusters that served as an influence for countless other horror films. John Carpenter’s Halloween, and Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez’s The Blair Witch Project display multiple of these qualities that influenced other films to attempt to build off the success of these horror flicks. Carpenter’s film led to a successful slasher saga and Myrick and Sanchez’s first ever first-person film introduced the unique idea of this film style while also budgeting an incredible amount compared to the cost of production. The evolution of the horror genre includes camera angles and filming styles, introduction of gore, gender roles, and many more qualities.
The evolution of camera angles and varying shots contributed to the revolutionizing of the horror genre. Horror movies with the most success properly use angles such as perspective shots, wide shots, and tracking shots to provide the appropriate atmosphere to the movie (Horton 2106). These camera angles have developed throughout the years, and with increasing success of horror movies, critics begin to evaluate each detail that makes a movie a blockbuster or a flop. In Halloween, John Carpenter implemented new technology to lengthen the opening scene in his movie. With the use of a Steadicam, his cinematographer performed a long tracking shot that portrayed a young Michael Myers committing his first murder (Konow 2017). The camera followed alongside Myers throughout the entirety of the opening scene. Carpenter has stated that he admires the long tracking shot because of its ability to capture the entire environment of a scene (Konow 2017). Carpenter’s use of innovative cinematography in the first installation of Halloween has since revolutionized the long tracking shot, and led to other unique implications of new camera angle techniques. In the horror movie It Follows, there is a long tracking shot used in the opening scene portraying a girl being chased by the antagonist, which show similarities to the tracking shot in Halloween.
Another example of this revolutionized idea of camera angles is the “found-footage” technique that began with The Blair Witch Project in 1999. The technique brings in a new feeling of fear due to the concept of discovering evidence, which leads to a much more realistic interpretation. The Blair Witch Project was successful because it capitalized on the viewer’s lack of familiarity with this new “found-footage” technique (Schaefer 2016). The footage consisted of the character’s filmed encounters with a witch in a Maryland forest, as the footage is all that is recovered from the trip. With this new camera technique, the demise of the characters is usually known by the viewers prior to the movie. The suspense lies in the events that build up to the climax of the film. Despite this, “found-footage” has still been a success. The Blair Witch Project has influenced movies such as Cloverfield and the Paranormal Activity films. Both display the idea of “found-footage” and have propelled this technique to fame, as evident by the multiple movies in the Paranormal Activity saga and the amount of money profited. Both Halloween and The Blair Witch Project show revolutionary camera techniques that are still found in horror movies today.
The adrenaline rush from horror movies undeniably draw the audience in and get their attention. The suspense and anticipation from not knowing what could come next is agonizing to viewers. One of the most popular techniques that is used throughout the horror genre is jump scares. Ghosts, demons, and zombies bursting in front of the camera is something that the audience expects while watching a movie, but are never ready for. One of the first notable jump scares was in the 1925 The Phantom of the Opera, when Christine reveals Lon Chaney’s true identity. This silent jump scare was so terrifying that members of the audience had reportedly fainted and screeched out of alarm. The audience was aware that Psycho was going to be a horror film, but they weren’t expecting the amount of jump scares that would be presented. One of the most adrenaline rushing scenes in Psycho is when Arbogast is slowly walking up the staircase and the camera cuts to a door creaking opening. Out of nowhere, Norman Bates storms towards Arbogast slashing him to pieces without any notice. The famous slasher, shower scene was a memorable scare for many because the audience foreshadowed what was happening, but still got a thrill out of it (Muir). In the 1965 film, Repulsion, the technique of a man in the mirror was introduced, which also serves as a jump scare. This technique is most commonly used for when the main character is gazing into a mirror and the antagonist pops in the reflection. The man in the mirror technique has been passed around for decades and has been shown in multiple other films like Evil Dead 2, Night of the Demons, and The Amityville Horror (Muir).The unique techniques that have originated from the horror genre are what make it so exotic and distinct from other popular movie genres.
The presence and amount of gore in horror movies has become more prevalent over the years. While John Carpenter’s Halloween succeeded in striking fear into viewers without much of the stomach-churning gore, later films would find this effective in reaching more diverse audiences. People who were less susceptible to the jump scare would find themselves unable to view such horrific scenes of violence. The introduction of this type of horror technique stretched the boundaries of the genre, which allowed for more people to find entertainment in some form of horror. Following the slasher era of horror films, the industry had suffered through a low point. But with the introduction of new technology in the 1990s, this so-called “splatter subgenre” began to ramp things up again (Kantilaftis 2015). In actuality, people began to find dark humor in these types of films due to the vulgar extent to which they were produced. An early example of this type of subgenre would be Wes Craven’s Scream and it’s following sequels. Scream is classified as a slasher film, but introduced seemingly unnecessary gore into the equation that combined with jump scares and moments of heightened suspension to make for an effective horror film. It was shortly after the release of Craven’s successful film that the first installment of James Wan’s Saw series would hit theatres. The evolution of gore in film is overwhelmingly apparent in Saw, due to the immense amount of blood and gore. It came to a point where some people physically could not stomach the scenes, but apparently was a hit with the majority of viewers. Saw had seven films in its first run of work, which followed with the release of Jigsaw in 2017 that served as a sort of prequel to the first seven. The production of the Scream movies and the Saw movies indicate that people keep coming back to watch these gory films. The evolution of gore between the production of both Scream and Saw is apparent to say the least, indicating that this new subgenre has contributed to the success of horror films.
Although the horror genre is constantly evolving, there are still classic scenes and characters that have remained persistent throughout the years. In any common slasher film, there is usually a happy campfire scene that gets flopped into a mass murder along a friend group. The films that have the most iconic campfire scenes are Friday the 13th Part II, Madman, and Sleepaway Camp. Nothing ever good comes from dark and stormy nights, except for horror movies. Thunder and lightning completed the eerie mood along movies like The Initiation and Insidious: The Last Key (Muir). Ghosts and monster always show up when you least expect it, which presents the killer in the back seat technique. Killers in the backseat have been around all the way from the 1988 Child’s Play to the 2003 Scream 3. Lastly, there’s nothing more terrifying than the typical, dirty local planning to rip your guts out. One of the most popular flesh eating mutant movies is The Hills Have Eyes (Muir). The leather faced massacre in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre also highly contributed to the local killer character. These horror scenes and characters became more prominent in the early 80’s and are still being produced and reconstructed into the 21st century of horror films.
With the rise in popularity of horror movies and increasing amount of these films, certain stereotypes became apparent to critics and the audiences. While there are many stereotypes, such as the main character being the only survivor and the anticipation of a jump scare following silence, the gender roles in horror films have evolved significantly. Producers have recognized these stereotypes and adjusted gender roles according to society’s opinions. Men and many women had grown tired of seeing the female character portrayed as weak and frightened, and had become tired of the female characters making bone-head decisions during moments of suspense. Audiences had become too used to seeing a male as the antagonist in the film as well (Piepenburg 2015). The appearance and identification of these stereotypes had resulted in a decline in popularity of horror movies. A study in 2015 indicated that horror films were nearly the worst genre in terms of income (“Movie”). Prior to this study, there were a good amount of films that had strayed from the gender stereotypes and showed promising success. One example would be The Descent, directed by Neil Marshall. In fact, this film consisted pretty much of only female characters. The main character was a female, and while the common stereotype of the main character being the last alive was apparent, she also ended up dead, which is another stereotype challenged in this film. Another gender stereotype is the killing of characters who engage in sexual activities. This stereotype is mostly associated with girls, but has been associated with men and couples as well (Piepenburg 2015). In Drew Goddard’s The Cabin in the Woods, Anna Hutchison’s character begins to engage in sexual intercourse in the woods with Chris Hemsworth’s character. Shortly after, her character is captured by the previously awoken zombies and beheaded on the spot. There are many other examples of how gender roles have evolved in horror movies. In Jordan Peele’s Oscar-winning film titled Get Out, the “bad guy” of the film is an entire family who uses the daughter to seduce and bring home black men. While this film had many aspects that contributed to its brilliance, the gender stereotype of the daughter being the main antagonist was a hit. Audiences also weren’t prepared for the only survivor to be an African American male, while there were no Caucasian survivors. Gender roles were something that needed to be addressed in order for audiences to expect less and wonder “What is going to happen next?” These gender stereotypes are beginning to change more with every horror film, and it has contributed to Oscar-worthy films and high-grossing blockbusters.
The evolution of the horror genre has been very intricate throughout the years. While maintaining varying levels of success throughout the process, there have been many moments of struggle to discover new ways of entertaining horror audiences. What once started as a limited idea has grown into a genre with numerous subgenres to capitalize on everyone’s preferences and stimulations. It is now to the point where people who do not enjoy slasher films such as Scream can find interest in darker films filled with jump scares, such as The Conjuring. People who cannot stand the content of Saw can find enjoyment in classic horror movies, such as The Shining or The Exorcist. The evolution of horror has brought about this idea of satisfying everyone to some extent. The future of horror is looking as good as ever with the rate of variation among horror films. But it began with the evolution of things such as gore, gender roles, and camera techniques, which will always be viewed as early revolutionizing aspects to the horror genre.
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