Horror Films essay

Traditionally, horror genre was one of the popular genres and Hollywood kept releasing a huge number of such films for years and until the present moment this genre was considered to be quite successful. However, in recent years, notably in recent decade, the first traces of a profound crisis in this genre became obvious. In fact, the contemporary horror films are practically deprived of uniqueness and originality many of horror films of the past were famous for. At the same time, old ideas are currently exploited that leads to the creation of a number of sequels and remakes of old horror films that may be treated as another evidence of a crisis of the genre.

In such a way, the development of horror films is currently in decline that basically results from the shortage of bright ideas for such type of films in Hollywood. Naturally, it is necessary to find the causes of such a crisis of the genre that used to be rapidly growing and flourishing even a couple of decades ago. In fact, this will help to better understand not only the reason of the crisis in horror genre but also reveal the trends of the contemporary epoch since to a significant extent horror films reflect the epoch. Consequently, the crisis of horror films may indicate at certain socio-cultural crisis in the contemporary society.

Horror films as the reflection of time

Naturally, it is possible to argue that horror films reflect the epoch they were created in since often they are considered to be primitive and too bloodthirsty to be really a part of cinematography as one of the main branches of the contemporary art. However, such a view on horror films is rather simplistic and basically refers to horror films of a low quality while there are a lot of horror films that may be treated as real pieces of art. For instance, such an old classical horror films as “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” (1956) is a perfect reflection of the epoch it was created in since its basic theme is the idea of the establishment of the total control over human mind and who dare to say that it was not a part of American life when the struggle against communism resulted in numerous attempts from the part of the state to establish control over human mind and promote anti-communist ideology to the extent that society could be simply transformed in a kind of zombies, another popular personage of horror films.

By the way, it is possible to trace the development of similar ideas in other horror films that indicate that this genre is characterized by certain stability in its development but what the contemporary horror films unfortunately lack is originality and difference from the films of the past. In this respect, it is worthy to remember another classical horror film “The Thing” (1982) which is thematically close to “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” but its difference from its predecessor is obvious because actions in this film takes place faster and in this work it is easier to establish control over human mind that also reflected the great changes that have occurred in American society of 1980s since 1950s. And again the main theme of the film perfectly conveyed the mood of the epoch of the Cold War and ideological struggle for human minds.

Unfortunately, nowadays it is hardly possible to find the film that would be different not ideologically but that would have some peculiarity indicating at the current epoch and the contemporary lifestyle. Naturally, the theme may be still popular but contemporary horror films resemble some copies or clones of classical and popular horror films of the past.

Nonetheless, horror films still keep releasing but their aesthetical and artistic quality is under a big question because of the lack of originality but, at the same time, they seem to be a typical product of mass culture and society which the only aim is consumption while ideological consistency and message of the films are not very important. Actually, this is probably what characterizes both contemporary epoch and contemporary horror genre.

The current situation in the horror genre

Thus, it would be logical now to briefly dwell upon the brief overview of the recently released horror films and the basic trends indicating in the crisis of the horror genre.

First of all, it should be said that nowadays the horror genre is characterized by a large number of sequels which became traditional since late 1980s and became particularly popular in 1990s. Among the most recent sequels may be named the “Saw” which presently accounts for three sequels or “Scary Movie”. Obviously, such a trend to sequels indicate at the attempts to exploit a successful idea that, being ones implemented, is multiplied and repeated throughout sequels. Such a situation naturally deteriorates the public perception of horror films because they are not unique and original but rather boring and similar to one another.

However, this is often the point of view of critics and specialists while the audience, in contrast, wants to watch the sequel of a film people liked, especially if it was an open ended work that makes viewer to be intrigued. On the other hand, it is commercially profitable since the sequel seems to be more profitable and reliable alternative to the development of an absolutely new idea or film.

By the way, this is also one of the major reasons for the creation of remakes of classical horror films that used to be popular in the past and remain popular among connoisseurs of the horror genre. For instance, one of the recent remakes is the famous “Omen” which was released in 2006 and symbolically its first night was appointed on June, 6. In fact, this film is a remake of a popular sequel which was shot practically three decades ago.

However, such remakes also indicate at a profound crisis of the horror genre because they still do not bring in any new idea and what is more they are extremely similar to the original versions which, unquestionably, were high quality products. Anyway, their simple duplication does not mean a progress of the horror genre and reveals the lack of interesting and original ideas in horror film making.

Causes of the crisis and perspectives of horror films

Obviously, the lack of ideas and consequently the lack of original, new, different films lead the horror film genre to a crisis and threatens to end with a collapse of these films production. At the same time, it is necessary to find the causes of such a crisis in order to properly evaluate the perspectives of the genre.

Ironically, in all probability the real causes of the crisis of the horror genre may be found in the contemporary epoch which horror films actually reflect. In fact, it is unarguable fact that one of the main goals and moving forces of the contemporary cinema industry at large and horror films in particular is profit and this is exactly what makes directors, screen writers, producers to prefer sequels and remakes to original horror films.

As it has been mentioned above, sequels and remakes are financially more attractive since they exploit the popularity of the first or original versions. On the other hand, such a situation forces horror films’ creators to focus on the quantity rather than quality. In fact, there is simply no time to invent something new while there are a lot of successful samples in the past.

It is not a secret that often people believe that one does not really need some great abilities, skills or talent to shoot a horror film. Whether this position is right or not but it is worthy to note that films of the horror genre are traditionally quite limited in their variations unlike films of other genres that actually can explain the popularity and progress of other genres compared to horror films.

At the same time, skeptical attitude of critics and even audience to horror films does not stimulate the development of new ideas since viewers have already get used to traditional horror films and some innovative ideas can be simply misunderstood and the horror film may fail that is absolutely unacceptable for the contemporary profit-oriented cinema industry.

Furthermore, it is necessary to realize that really gifted directors, screenwriters, or actors cannot be born every year and this may be another reason for the crisis in the horror genre, i.e. the lack of really interesting, gifted, and creative individualities. It is also necessary to point out that it is one of the consequence of the epoch of mass production and mass consumption since nowadays horror films do not really need to be original or different to be sold but they need to be just horror films, scaring the audience, stimulating its emotions.

As a result, the contemporary horror genre cannot simply progress because it simply reflects the routine of the contemporary epoch where everything is sacrificed for the sake of guaranteed interest from the part of the audience which actually does not want to be overloaded with some philosophical messages or innovative ideas.

In such a situation it is hardly possible to speak about great perspectives of the horror genre because it is practically impossible to exploit the same idea, same images, same tricks all the time. Eventually, this will lead to the total lack of interest to horror films but the horror genre would not decline easily because the low interest from the part of the audience would force creators of horror films to look for new ideas, to experiment, to new forms. The reason for such a forecast is quite obvious – the horror genre is potentially very interesting for mass viewers and the popularity of old horror films, their remakes and sequels reveal the full potential of really successful ideas implemented in this genre.

Conclusion

Thus, taking into account all above mentioned, it is possible to conclude that nowadays horror genre is in a crisis which is basically provoked by the lack of ideas. At the same time, the contemporary horror films perfectly illustrate the righteousness of the thesis that they reflect their epoch. Similarly to horror films of the past that symbolized the major trends of past epochs, contemporary horror films tend to reflect the mass production and mass consumption which influenced all spheres of the contemporary life and put the commercial success of horror films above artistic interest, originality and uniqueness of these films. This is why sequels and remakes are currently dominating in the horror genre but sooner or later the situation will change for better because of the great potential of horror films.