Horror genre is where films feature scenes that alarm the viewer by the use of deathly and paranormal means. The purposes of these scenes are to frighten and revolt the viewers by applying their fears, nightmares and shock of the unknown. This thrill is anticipated by the viewers through an adrenaline rush which is what attracts them. Also, another of function of the horror genre is to highlight the rules and restrictions of society by showing the fate of people who disobey these. Many horror plots involve the use of the supernatural, including an evil event or force in the usual, everyday world. This can include ghosts, ancient curses, the devil, demons and hauntings. However, some films portray a less spiritual view through the use of serial killers, injury, disease outburst, werewolves, vicious animals, vampires and cannibals. Another objective of the horror genre is to echo a revelation of the apprehensions of a period of time. For instance, Nosferatu (1922) is not only a film about vampires but also portrays the fatalities of the Great War and the Great Flu Epidemic. As generations move on horror films also modify, particularly with the monster characters involved. For example in the 1990’s Silence of the Lambs involved a monster character which was a human that killed people in a well thought out and non-realistic manner. On the other hand in the 21st century audiences wanted an evil beyond humans by the use of ghosts, aliens and zombies. This was due to Eastern and Western superstitions converging.
A sub-genre is primarily a genre within a genre with its own distinctive topic and characteristics. They are derived from film genres adapting and developing from similar stories that involve genre paradigms, which are seen as boring and dull. If they did not evolve the film genre would stagnate and be seen as repetitive. Also, sub genres are determined in response to socio-historic factors. For example, the current economic breakdown generated the movie sub-genre of recession with films such as Drag Me to Hell. Horror has many sub-genres for instance “Slasher”, this is where a psychopath murderer that is sometimes masked stalks and explicitly kills a series of young adults in an unprovoked manner. Other horror sub-genres are animation, comedy, extra-terrestrial, holiday, monster, natural, supernatural and teen.
Hybrid genres are when two film genres are combined. Film genres should be flowing and consistently evolving from sets of paradigms otherwise movies would deteriorate and would be told in the same approach repetitively. In order to keep viewers surprised The Seven Basic Plots written by Christopher Booker need to be framed in different genre combinations, which are often contradictory genres. Horror movie hybrid genres usually start with a set of horror paradigms to ensure the audiences initial attention prior to adding other genre characteristics. Some horror hybrid genres are:
- Horror Romance – Twilight
- Horror War – Dead Snow
- Horror Sci-Fi – Alien
- Horror Historical Drama – Pride and Prejudice and Zombies
- Horror RomCom – Shaun of the Dead
What genre are you going to concentrate?
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