New Classics of the Horror Film Genre Essay -- Pleasures of Horror Fil

Dracula. Frankenstein. Godzilla. These monsters no longer strike fear into the hearts of viewers as they once did. Formerly the villains of the classic monster icon, these relics, who now playact all that is archaic in crime film history. The monster movie of the past makes way for the thriller or slasher movie of the present, while the monster villain gives its role to the deranged, psychotic ensuant cause of death. Friday the 13th series, nightmare on elm Street, Copycat and Seven have become the new classics in the literary genre of the horror film. With films like The People Under the Stairs, Nightmare on elm Street, and innovative Nightmare, Wes Craven has proven himself to be a master of the population of modern horror films. With recent masterpiece anticipate, Craven shows his audience that he is not restricted by the typical conventions of the horror film. In nearly of these films, the background is set up before the killer does any real slashing. However in Screa m, Drew Barrymores character is tormented by the killer from the films very beginning and both she and her boyfriend are dead less(prenominal) than ten minutes aft(prenominal) the opening credits. Craven manages to make Scream a film of less fluff and more substance than more or less thrillers. Recurring themes in the film, such as the lack of teens seriousness, the callous temperament of todays younger generation, the crossover and confusion between reality and movies, and the negative image of television media not only add to the films entertainment value, but excessively often portray a fairly accurate picture of 20th century America.Despite all the films blood and gore, Craven creates a comedic step so successfully that at times the audience wonders whether Scream world poweriness be a comedy after all. Even though the caoutchouc of their small town has been shattered by a deranged serial killer, the characters do not seem to take the situation very seriously. The brin y characters are eating lunch at school the day after the first murders and, as might be expected, the killings make up the national of their conversation. At one point, the character Randy turns to Tatem, and in a convince imitation of Billy Crystal, he asks her, Did they really find her liver in the mailbox? Because I heard they found her liver in the mailbox. Tatem and Sidney, the other female present and the movies main character, cringe at this tasteless remark. Tatem... ...ssuring that we tarry productive m mbers of society (King 500). So, perhaps if you are in urgency of this type of therapy, or in search of an offbeat study in American popular culture, all that you need is a good horror film. Rent Scream or go to a movie field of view to see the sequel. You will probably be surprised by what you see, and you might even be impressed.Works Cited Craven, Wes. Interview. Fresh Air. National Public Radio. KQED, San Francisco. 16 February 1998.King, Stephen. Why We Crave Hor ror Movies.? Common Culture. Petracca, Michael and Madeleine Sorapure, eds. Upper Saddle River prentice Hall, 1995.Pinedo, Isabel Cristina. Recreational Terror Women and the Pleasures of Horror Film Viewing. Albany State University of New York Press, 1997.Works Consulted Grant, Barry Keith, editor. Planks of Reason Essays on the Horror Film. London The Scarecrow Press, Inc., 1984.Newman, Kim. Nightmare Movies. New York Harmony Books, 1988. Riptov, S.A. Kidnapped Corpus Whasamat Univ. Press, 1984Scream. Dir. Wes Craven. With David Arquette, Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, Skeet Ulrich, and Drew Barrymore. Dimension Films, 1997.