Focus Films
Night Of The Living Dead (Romero, 1968)
Texas Chain Saw Massacre (Hooper, 1974)
Hostel: part I (Roth, 2005)
How has American horror changed change over time? Something has definitel
y changed between the spaces of Hitchcock’s Psycho being released and Roth’s Hostel part I and II. Final Girls come and go and the odd uncut edition of a video nasty comes out (Last House on the Left), but has anything really changed? Has the narrative become more complex like the Saw franchise? Are women still powerful characters since the days when Jamie Lee Curtis played Laurie Strode in Carpenter’s Halloween? And how has the Special Effects changed? Is it getting less impressive with CG unlike the classic models which where used in films such as the remake of The Thing? In this research I aim to uncover all of the answers. With my focus films being Night of the Living Dead (Romero, 1968), Texas Chain Saw Massacre (Hooper, 1974), Hostel: part I (Roth, 2005).
The reason why I chose to talk about the development in American Horror is because of it’s complexities. These days there are sub genre’s for hor
ror and the technology and special effects have grown and grown until you can’t tell if someone is really being kill or if it’s only a model. There is such ground to cover with American horror as a genre that it would be very interesting to do. With the films I picked I can talk about zombie movies and George A. Romero with Night of the Living Dead, the slasher genre, franchises and the Final Girl archetype with Texas Chain Saw Massacre and modern horror, woman as evil characters, and grotesque torture scenes with Hostel: part I.
I have begun reading several book such as Men, Women and Chainsaws by Carol J. Clover and The Horror Reader edited by Ken Gelder. These book will help me a lot with some aspects of the horror genre because in Men, Women and Chainsaws, Carol J. Clover details the Final Girl archetype. Then I’m also going to look to buy a copy of Fangoria which is the most famous Horror magazine around the world. I can also look into reviews for the films by magazines like Empire film mag and Total Film mag.
Finally, what interests me about this research subject is the subject matter. Learning about how American horror. I find the genre fascinating because of the sub text of the films and how they respond to what society feared at that point in time. I also love characters like Leather Face and Ash Williams of the Evil Dead series so this is an opportunity to study them. I myself am a big fan off horror especially Japanese and American horror so researching it and learning about it will be my number one priority because I’ll just keep looking and looking, watching and watching, listening to director’s commentary and listening to director’s commentary. All until I have found all I need to know.
Night Of The Living Dead (Romero, 1968)
Texas Chain Saw Massacre (Hooper, 1974)
Hostel: part I (Roth, 2005)
How has American horror changed change over time? Something has definitel
y changed between the spaces of Hitchcock’s Psycho being released and Roth’s Hostel part I and II. Final Girls come and go and the odd uncut edition of a video nasty comes out (Last House on the Left), but has anything really changed? Has the narrative become more complex like the Saw franchise? Are women still powerful characters since the days when Jamie Lee Curtis played Laurie Strode in Carpenter’s Halloween? And how has the Special Effects changed? Is it getting less impressive with CG unlike the classic models which where used in films such as the remake of The Thing? In this research I aim to uncover all of the answers. With my focus films being Night of the Living Dead (Romero, 1968), Texas Chain Saw Massacre (Hooper, 1974), Hostel: part I (Roth, 2005).The reason why I chose to talk about the development in American Horror is because of it’s complexities. These days there are sub genre’s for hor
ror and the technology and special effects have grown and grown until you can’t tell if someone is really being kill or if it’s only a model. There is such ground to cover with American horror as a genre that it would be very interesting to do. With the films I picked I can talk about zombie movies and George A. Romero with Night of the Living Dead, the slasher genre, franchises and the Final Girl archetype with Texas Chain Saw Massacre and modern horror, woman as evil characters, and grotesque torture scenes with Hostel: part I.I have begun reading several book such as Men, Women and Chainsaws by Carol J. Clover and The Horror Reader edited by Ken Gelder. These book will help me a lot with some aspects of the horror genre because in Men, Women and Chainsaws, Carol J. Clover details the Final Girl archetype. Then I’m also going to look to buy a copy of Fangoria which is the most famous Horror magazine around the world. I can also look into reviews for the films by magazines like Empire film mag and Total Film mag.
Finally, what interests me about this research subject is the subject matter. Learning about how American horror. I find the genre fascinating because of the sub text of the films and how they respond to what society feared at that point in time. I also love characters like Leather Face and Ash Williams of the Evil Dead series so this is an opportunity to study them. I myself am a big fan off horror especially Japanese and American horror so researching it and learning about it will be my number one priority because I’ll just keep looking and looking, watching and watching, listening to director’s commentary and listening to director’s commentary. All until I have found all I need to know.
Good so far perhaps how has it changed over time or how have victims changed over time or even the monsters.
ReplyDelete