Question one
Science fiction is a sub- class of the horror film. Science fiction films sometimes often get confused with horror films. These two genres complement each other, and they have similarities because science fiction is said to have got adopted from traditional horror films. These two genres have distanced themselves from reality by use of fantasy and elements that get futuristic. Victims in horror films are shown as helpless completely, while science fiction shows the victims with more resilience. Alien a science fiction film of 1979 shows aliens getting defeated by technology and weapons. While the thing a horror film produced in 1982 with individuals being under constant fear of being invaded by the thing. These two films share aspects that make science fiction films get classified under horror films. Audiences in science fiction films sympathize less with the creatures. Noel Carroll is right to argue that science fiction is a sub- class of horror films because they share concepts of visual and technological effects.
Ghost of mars is a science fiction film of 2001. However, most of the people watching it sometimes classify it a horror. The scary effects in the film make audiences classify it as a science fiction horror film. The film is futuristic and shows individuals being possessed former habitants of the planet in form of spirits and ghosts. The individuals get viewed as the aliens while the former inhabitants having possessed humans believe that the planet belongs to them. The individuals who are miners kill and destroy the ghost possessed people.
Bride of Frankenstein is a horror film produced in 1935 that has little effect of science fiction in it. The presence of a monster and the destruction in the film makes majority of the audience classify the film in both genres. Also, the raging thunderstorms are works of science fiction. This film was received in critically and even got subjected to censorship law in some states (Hannah’s deep field space).
Question two
The priming effects are determined by the visual effect and the films narrative. A Nightmare on Elm Street is a horror film. The film exposed audiences to horror movies hence audience watching A Nightmare on Elm Street are primed on what to expect in terms of violence and narrative. Priming audiences takes away the uniqueness of a film or of a culture. A Nightmare on Elm Street was written and got directed by Wes Craven. The film is about several teenagers who get stalked and are killed in dreams by Freddy Krueger. Even though, the teenagers are unaware of the strange happenings, their parents know what is going on. The film is in series and hence primes the audience for the rest of the films. The film manages to play around with the audiences’ perceptions by its ability to transgress what is imaginary and what is real. The question that arises while viewing the film is how to distinguish dreams from reality. However, the film shows how the distinction occurs. A Nightmare on Elm Street is said to be a highly imaginative films which keeps the audience alert and fans happy.
The film was critically received as had been Vertigo and Psycho. A Nightmare on Elm Street was ranked among the best films released in 1984. The New York Times selected it to be among best of 1000 movies to get made. The success of this film was due to audiences being primed structurally and symbolically by the components of previous horror films that prepared the audience emotionally. Priming audience can be internal or external. An external example can be priming brought about by watching previous horror films such as Halloween and Friday the Thirteenth while internal priming in A Nightmare on Elm Street comes about in the beginning of the film when Tina Gray gets a nightmare which is about being stalked by a burned figure (Rikowski, 2008).
Question three
I do not agree with the statement that horror is a masculine genre. Usually men are the heroes in majority of films produced. However, horror movies unlike other genres respect gender and women get portrayed as active other than passive. Some horror films have depicted women as heroes or the characters that save other victims. For example, the film Halloween produced in 1978 shows a girl who is innocent and saves the day even though her dressing is shown to be masculine. These horror movies depict anger and strength in females that rarely gets depicted in other genres. Horror films show the female defeating the male protagonists and take over the scenarios. In films, there are the useless characters, the monster and the hero. However, either gender can get represented in any of the categories
Women in horror movies remain visible though in a low level because in this genre they are shown to work alone than in groups as depicted in other genres. Horror movies provide violence such as killing, with different motives for killing between men and women. For example, Friday the Thirteen depict a murderous mother. The Spiral Staircase has been referred to as the women series. Feminism at the movies has played an important role to ensure that women get meaningful and important roles. Horror movies are very unpredictable and either male or female can become the heroes. Horror films being labeled as male genre films are just stereotypes that do not hold. Critical evaluation based on gender of horror films have addressed the nudity exposed that depicts women negatively, mostly this could be the reason why they are labeled as male genre.
Question four
Some of the causes of fear in the 1950s were nuclear attack and the communism. Some of the movies that were produced to depict these fears were Godzilla, and Attack of the 50-Foot Woman to depict fear of nuclear attack. Fellow traveler and Guilty by Suspicion were based on fear of communism. Godzilla and Attack of the 50-Foot Woman depicts giant monsters. The films showed mutation occurring due to radiation. The existing life forms were shown to make monsters that were better because they could get photographed with blue screen techniques. Also, these existing life forms could get made to better monsters, because they could get recreated in forms of models, and also they could use stop motion animation that could get used to bring them back to life. Special effects in Attack of the 50-Foot Woman worked very well and became widespread during the 1950s. Godzilla depicted the mistrust in societies that had intellectual scientists who were seen as mad scientists. These two monster films were generated due to fears from the co-existence of an atom bomb. America dealt with the trauma of using nuclear weapon on a fellow country.
Science fiction films in the 1940s and 1950s relayed messages on fear of communism. The films showed the effect such fear had on America. Fear of communism started earlier than 1940s and also lasted to the era of cold war. Fear of communism was so much that during its peak McCarthy produced a movie by title Guilty by Suspicion, the other movie with the same message was Fellow Traveler directed by Philip Saville. These two films resulted to reporting suspected people as communists to the governments. Film monsters in form of vampire’s ghosts and aliens were intended to cause paranoia stemmed from communism. The monsters were showed to cause havoc to the world and had to get eradicated.
Question five
Science fiction films get subjected by special effects and this is one of the reasons they attract a large number of audience. Also, they are narrative in their structure. These films focus on the theme and the plot while the characters and narration come second. For example, the film Jurassic park, the special effects that get generated by the dinosaurs attract more than the actual stars. The idea of the movie is not as important in science fiction films and they do not get rated by how best the idea is. They get rated by how the special effects capture the audience. Also, science fiction films have characteristics of multiple genres, and this allows the audience to narrate creatively (Kendrick, 2010).
Science fiction films and Hollywood are unique products that have risen rapidly in the 21st century. Science fiction films have technology and a lot of science in them in this century. Hollywood is related to science fiction films because it is the factory that has made such films possible. Hollywood industry has made science fiction films popular around the globe. Science fiction films have continued to captivate audiences because they are flexible and allow manipulation of characters and films because they are not based on reality. Science fiction films get preferred mostly by young people because of the thrill that comes with the films. Science fiction films are a reversion to cinema of attraction as described by Tom Gunning. Tom Gunning says that film makers in the early days focused more on what they to ought to have shown instead of what they could have told. He says that the cinema of attraction gets aware of the audience and that images created were specifically for them. Some of the films Tom Gunning associates with cinema attraction are How We Got Into Pictures (1979) and Hooligan in Jail (1903). Moving images attract audience more and keeps them focused on nothing else but the images.
References
Hannah’s deep field space. The Political Economy of the New Hollywood and the Rise of the Science Fiction Film. Retrieved from
<http://www.hannahpok.com/deepfieldspace/framesrc2f.html>
Kendrick, J. (2010). Disturbing new pathways: Psycho and the priming of the audience. Retrieved from <http://www.academia.edu/318090/Disturbing_New_Pathways_Psycho_and_the_Priming_of_the_Audience>
Rikowski, G. (2008). 10th December 2008. The science fiction film is often mixed with horror.
Retrieved from <http://www.flowideas.co.uk/?page=articles&sub=Science%20Fiction%20Films%20and%20Horror>
