Themes of horror movies, Role of women in horror films and Why do people watch horror movies?

Horror films are primarily made to attract fears to the audience of the film, they can either do this by having jumpy scenes, loud and sharp noises or low grumbles. The genre of horror often involves a main character which could be an evil force, event, or personage, commonly of supernatural origin, into the everyday world. Themes or elements often prevalent in typical horror films include ghosts, torture, gore, werewolves, ancient curses,satanism, demons, vicious animals, vampires, cannibals, haunted houses, zombies and serial killers.
Horror films effectively center on the dark side of life, the forbidden, and strange and alarming events. They deal with our most primal nature and its fears: our nightmares, our vulnerability, our alienation, our revulsions, our terror of the unknown, our fear of death and dismemberment, loss of identity, or fear of sexuality.
Horror films go back as far as the onset of films themselves, over a 100 years ago. People did and probably still do use their vivid imaginations to see ghosts in shadowy shapes, to be emotionally connected to the unknown and to fear things that are improbable. Watching a horror film gives an opening into that scary world, without actually being in danger. Some people find a real thrill and fun factor in being scared or watching disturbing, horrific images.



Roles of women in horror film:

Women Portrayed In Horror

“All they want to see is demented madmen running around in ski masks hacking up young virgins.” - Peter Vincent (Roddy McDowall), ‘Fright Night’

Horror is one of the least respected genres of cinema, and yet it portrays much of today’s culture and values within its context. Scary movies reveal what frightens society most through various representations. These movies show heavy symbolism, especially in the portrayal of women and femininity, through images of sexual intercourse, fear of castration, and the strength of females. Horror films, and the slasher subgenre, are famous for portraying women as hypersexual damsels in distress who are usually murdered within the first five minutes as punishment for their indiscretions in such films as ‘Friday the 13th’ and ‘Halloween.’ They are also portrayed as antagonists, which can be seen as a reflection of men’s pathological fear of women, their power, and menstruation, resulting in castration anxiety. Horror is a genre that rarely features women in a non-exploitative way, even with modern movies such as the new ‘Friday the 13th’ being extremely sexist.

There are however positive female character’s in the genre, and these films are usually much more respected by critics and the public. In movies such as ‘The Descent’ and ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street’, women can be seen defeating typically male villains and exhibiting strength and intelligence, moving from victim to heroine.

The female subject is shown in horror movies in different ways through time. Women are beginning to come into their own in the horror genre, showing that they are as strong as men and are not the sexual objects they were once perceived as in classic horror (such as ‘Dracula’ or ‘Frankenstein’ where the woman is shown as simply an object of desire that needs to be saved by a male from the usually sexually strong male villain.) Slasher movies and films with women as villains are still being made, but the force and power of women in horror cannot be ignored and can be seen in many intelligent horror movies.
The first true slasher film is widely acknowledged to be Alfred Hitchcock’s ‘Psycho’, with the murder of Janet Leigh’s character we see a sexually independent women being stabbed with the ever phallic knife, a symbolic punishment for these women. The sexually repressed male killer fears a sexually independent woman and this is shown through her death, when the male killer thrusts his knife into her, thus taking away her sexual power through the symbolic rape of her body. Male sexuality is shown through the act of murder, since most killers in slasher films are sexually repressed, such as Norman Bates in ‘Psycho.’

In slasher movies, young women are often objectified and shown as nothing more than sex objects. The ‘Friday the 13th’ series shows this well (with the exception of the original), many of the women are shown half clothed and hyper-sexualized, taking away the audience’s ability to sympathize with them because they are seen as less valuable in society. Classic slasher films usually show a direct cause and effect link between sex and death, with murder serving as a symbolic punishment for any kind of immoral intercourse. This symbolism illustrates a kind of unconscious moral lesson to the viewer.

With the original ‘Friday the 13th' (1980), Alice Hardy (Adrienne King) is shown as the strongest woman in the film, the heroine who survives. The film is also different because the antagonist is female, Mrs. Voorhees, but she is portrayed as more masculine. Betsy Palmer who played Mrs. Voorhees was bulked up with many sweaters, wore trousers and masculine shoes and had her hair short, all stereotypical attributes of the male. Males fear the power of females especially when females become more masculine, and so it is Alice who is feminine throughout the film that is the only character that can defeat her. Alice is a good example of a positive female heroine, not a great one, but the character of Alice takes part in strip poker, has been shown at the beginning of the movie to have had an affair with an older man (the owner of Camp Crystal Lake, Steve Christy (Peter Brouwer)), and even drinks and flirts; and yet she is not punished for these acts by death. Alice is still able to fight and defeat the villain without the aid of a man; Alice uses her own strength and intelligence to kill the villain. A far cry from the 2009 film where every woman was objectified.

I have gone against these codes and conventions because I want to show that females can be the villain by having her create an evil presence for her niece.

Why do people watch horror movies?

Horror films have been attracting viewers since the beginning of cinema itself. According to some psychiatrists, the modern horror film serves many of the same functions for the teenager or adult that the fairy tale serves for the child. For instance to warn of evil in subtle ways. Horrors are designed to elicit strong emotional reactions from viewers that include fear and dread. Almost everyone who has seen a horror has been disturbed at some time by an image from this particular genre.

The appeal of horror depends on characteristics of the viewer, the film, and the viewing circumstances. Horror films are much more appealing when the viewer is by themselves, giving an experience solely between them and the film. Also viewing in groups with others can create some excitement as viewers may react from other peoples reactions.

Violent entertainment appeals primarily to males, and it appeal to them mostly in groups. For many young people, horror films are a topic of conversation and a means of confidence within a group. For example if a group of guys went to the cinema to see a particular disturbing horror they might compete in who can withstand the whole film.
Everyone has different motives for viewing horror, some may be just to have a thrill of excitement and to get away from their 'boring' lives. Although dramatic films can fulfill some of these needs, movies depicting violence and horror have been features that other forms of drama do not, including the disruption of social normality and the portrayal of horrific events that could be seen in real life. This is the escapism and thrill that horror can provide and what makes them different from other genres.