Define or describe the following terms and their importance to the history of the American science fiction and horror genre:
1) Expressionist film in Germany is a period of silent movies. The primary feature of Expressionist film is the theatrical appearance in the films. The actors used painted, dramatic scenery and exaggerated make-up. The changes in the German art were reflected in the sets, which had high contrast between white and black, different geometric shapes were used, all of which created exaggerated light and shadow.
2) Dracula of 1930 was inspired by the novel written by Bram Stoker and it is significant to the history of the American cinematography, as its main character, Dracula, set the bar for numerous vampire movies of the future. The film's uncanny performances and imaginative direction made the Transylvanian the most renowned horror characters in the world cinema. The main character has a distinctive look that is easily identified by people.
3) James Whale is the author of Frankenstein. The director perfectly understands the elements that would best transform the tricky horror genre lightning into mainstream success. Casting was important in his work and he always managed to create amazing and unforgettable performances and characters. A characteristic feature of his work was the fact that he infused his monsters with actual emotional motivations and personality quirks, creating villains the audience can all relate to. They are not just killers, but rather people.
4) The Say the Earth Stood Still is one of the most influential science fiction movies of all the times shot by 20th Century Fox and directed by Robert Wise. It was based on a short story by Harry Bates called “Farewell to the Master”. Its most important role in the cinematography is related to its anti-war message and inspiration to many other prominent works in the history.
What makes a horror film or science fiction film stand out from other genres? What makes them unique?
Horror film is a specific genre of film, the main mission of which is to scare the viewer, evoke a sense of fear or anxiety, an atmosphere of horror, and torment him in anticipation of something terrible - the so-called suspense effect. However, at the dawn of the genre there have been disagreements over its naming. For example, actor Christopher Lee, who is known in horror circles, in one of his interviews that he gave in 1975, said that the term horror is not true (Jancovich, 2002). He argued that the conditionality of such films makes them harmless. He insisted that the term was used of the fantasy film.
There are certain characteristic features of horror that make it outstanding of the others. The main element and such feature is fear. It incarnates on the screen using some plot twists, events, images, and other techniques. Fear can develop in the course of fantastic events, or on the background of psychopathology and abnormal human actions. It can be called a manifestation of elemental forces, demonstrations of violence, blood, guts.
A horror movie indeed is a cinematic genre that against the background of fantastic events develops motive of fear as the emotional basis of a poetic image. It is well suited for certain types of horror movies. Poetic image in the horror film may be absent. Horror genre, like every other cinematic genre, did not escape the mass production of films. Poetic image in such films is lost in stamps and templates, which are abundant in the plot and events.
In the classic horror film viewer sees picture of the struggle between good and evil. That, however, is found in other genres of cinema. In horror films, there is a fight between the executioner and the victim. The killing acts monster or otherworldly element, a human with his deviations from normal behavior and thinking. However, in many horror films scheme executioner-victim is absent or very vague, and the plot is merely stating a fact. Unlike the kind fairy tales, victory in horror films is not always on the good side.
Why was Cabinet of Dr. Caligari so influential? What set this film apart from the others produced not only in Germany, but also in America and Russia?
If we evaluate the film itself, it is modern in spirit, surprising, amazing and almost flawless picture. First of all, it is an excellent result of collective creativity. Initially the script was written by Carl Mayer and Hans Janowitz, based on a real incident and designed in the image of the psychiatrist - hypnotist - showman - killer endowed with legal authority to make fun of the costs of authoritarianism in all areas: administrative, social, political, and mental health.
Thus, the space of the film resembles a painful nightmare - not only because we got inside the brain of a madman, but also because this space is entirely built by human hands and minds. Scenario, in addition to aesthetic and plastic solutions that go to its only benefit has a powerful inner strength. It moves forward in jumps, with dizzying surprises until the last frame. Two of the most memorable turns arediscovery (inside story of a madman) that Caligariis not only showman and a murderer, but also a psychiatrist and discovery (after the story of a madman) that Caligari is the same psychiatrist who is personally responsible for the treatment of the narrator.
Thus, the absolute integrity of this nightmare opens amazing vistas in the evaluation of the narrator of madness and insanity in general. It is a clash in the film between a nightmarish, phantasmagoric plastic image of madness and flawlessly built inexorably dramaturgical perception of madness is a specific advantage of the film, which makes it really outstanding.
Why was Universal the home of the horror film in Hollywood? Why can it be argued that the hay day of the horror film lasted from 1930 - 1935?
Horror of the Universal Studios, Classic Monsters - these words mean a lot for horror fans. Everyone interested in the history of the genre knows that it was during the reign of Universal monsters when there developed some canons of the genre. The degree to which these black and white films influenced the development of the horror is very difficult to measure, their echoes can be found in so many films, and they have not disappeared now. In fact, Universal Studios monsters are familiar not only to fans of horror, they are known to everyone.
Images created by this company became a part of the world, dug into its skin, and now they cannot be separated from the mass culture. Dracula (and vampire in general) as a man in a black cloak with a standing collar (red lining added later by the Hammer studio) and slicked black hair, Frankenstein as a lanky awkward monster with a deformed head - not as they were established in the literature, but such as Universal studio created them (Church, 2004). These images have become so memorable, that pushed out the creation of the mass of its predecessors, became the ordinary stamp, and even the canonical image.
It all started with Dracula, although this was not the first horror movie that was shot at Universal, before it there also were profitable horrors. The studio had well-received movies Hunchback of Notre Dame (1923) and Phantom of the Opera (1925), and there were other horror movies. In 1930, Universal studio stopped making silent films and took sound ones, and even won an Oscar. However, by 1931 the financial affairs of the company were strongly shaken.
Film that saved the studio from bankruptcy was Dracula. The huge success of the film brought financial stability, which was so necessary for the company. Lugosi was the star of the company, and Laemmlibelieved in the profitability of horror. Gloomy gothic cinematography become a brand name for horror movies of the studio. The second step was the release of yet another horror movie - it was Frankenstein, which became even more successful financial investment than Dracula. There were several other successful pieces before 1935, when the Laemmli dynasty ceased to manage the company. After them, there started another important period in the history of horror, but the time described above is really remarkable and important.
How are scientists portrayed in Cold War film, according to Cyndy Hendershot? Why is this view dominate in American films of this era?
In Paranoia, the Bomb, and 1950s Science Fiction Films by Cyndy Hendershot, it has been claimed that the culture of the 1950s or the periods after the Cold War was largely motivated by the discovery and utilization of nuclear weapons. Hendershot applied a psychoanalytic recall of paranoia and made use of Freud’s analysis to approach the impact of the Cold War in America. She began her book by taking into account the science fiction films reworking the political agenda of the movement of scientists that formed in the wake of the usage of bomb to destroy Japan during the final periods of the Second World War. Hendershot discussed several films including the Invasion of the Body Snatchers in presenting the effects of radiation in the human body when it starts to infiltrate. The different movies examined the varied facet of the impact of the Cold War as well as the possibly deadly side-effects of nuclear proliferation.
In Cold War Films, scientists are presented as innovators and inventors of weapons used during the war. These weapons created paranoia and immense fear among the people. Following the use of atomic bond to destroy cities of Nagasaki and Hiroshima, Japan surrendered and World War II ended. However, the number of deaths was so massive ranging from 60,000 to 80,000 in Nagasaki. Further, the destructive power of the weapons fueled many atomic experiments by scientists in the succeeding years. In particular, during the 1950s, the horrific impacts of the bombs were still absorbed. However, at that time, nuclear technology of scientists was also considered to have positive outcomes. A number of experts believed that by being able to harness the atom, this would result to a utopia that involved livable paradises changed from Arctic wastes, air-conditioned jungles, world peace, and revolutionized fuel for transport needs.
Generally, the American cinema of the 1950s was embodied by two opposing trends namely overcoming the consequences of the Great Depression and finding comfort despite the financial pressure posed on cinema and the kind of competition that arose from television provoked filmmakers to boost those screen means that could not be used on television, resulting in increased cost of film production. Since the U.S. cinema had less than in Europe, independent artistic status, the fight for the TV viewer has become in the second half of the 20th century one of the main driving forces of the cinema.
Has the horror genre ever been pure or has there been a constant hybridisation?
Horror genre is a vivid one in the cinematography, constantly developing and transforming. Thus, it was inevitable for it to develop certain popular subforms, the majority of which are hybrids with some other genres. The purest horror movie is considered to be slasher. It is a subgenre of horror films, sometimes called film body-counter or dead teen movie. This kind of films is characterized by the presence of a psychopath killer who hunts a group of victims. The victim and the viewer do not know who will be next, and under what circumstances he would die. All this creates a certain element of suspense.
Another popular subgenre of horror is movies about cannibals. The very first film, which to some extent was devoted to cannibalism, was the film “Bloody fest”, which was released in 1963. Also worth noting is that this subgenre separated from zombie movies. Cannibalism in a horror movie has a lot in common with the phenomenon of cannibalism of zombies. However, cannibals in horror films are living beings like ordinary people. This is the main difference between characters in the movie about cannibals and zombie movies. In horror movies about cannibals, cannibal victim often appears friend or helper. He lures the victim into a cunning trap, eats it, and then takes care of the tracks. In movies about cannibals, many features are borrowed from the detective genre.
Movies about werewolves is another subgenre. The first of them was silent film “Werewolf” released in 1913 (Hutchings, 2004). The very first sound film was a film about werewolves of German production “Le Loup Garou”. Studio Universal Pictures in 1935 issued a rental movie, called "Werewolf of London". Vampire movies are a kind of horror of immortal beings who are hostile to people, and in dire need of human blood. The plot of the movie resonates with films about zombies and cannibals. Vampires need human blood to sustain their lives, zombies eating human flesh for the same purpose, and the cannibal - to meet their needs of psychopathology.
Zombie movies is another kind of horror, devoted to resurgent dead. In different movies, they have various guises, from barely moving creatures, moving on all fours or on crutches, to creatures that surpass human strength, speed and agility. In a number of zombie horror movies, they are good, positive characters. However, this image is often used in comedy. Comedy horror is another blend of two genres that is rather popular today.
Gothic film is the one, in which there is most often represented detective story. It unfolds against the backdrop of night, rain, brilliant water streets or roads. In this respect, gothic film a little echoes to the noir film genre, there are many similarities both in imaging technology, as well as the plot. First of gothic horror, which became known, was created by director Friedrich Wilhelm.
References
Church, D. (2004). Memory, Genre, and Self-Narrativization; Or, Why I Should Be a More Content Horror Fan. Horror Film: Creating and Marketing Fear, 235.
Hendershot, C. (1999). Paranoia, the bomb, and 1950s science fiction films. Popular Press.
Hutchings, P. (2004). The horror film. Pearson Education.
Jancovich, M. (Ed.). (2002). Horror, the film reader. Routledge.
Schneider, S. J. (2004). Horror film and psychoanalysis: Freud's worst nightmare. Cambridge Univ Pr.
