New Classics of the Horror Film Genre Essay -- Pleasures of Horror Fil

Dracula. Frankenstein. Godzilla. These monsters no longer jar against fear into the hearts of viewers as they once did. Formerly the villains of the clear monster ikon, these relics, who now represent all that is archaic in abuse film history. The monster movie of the past makes way for the thriller or slasher movie of the present, while the monster villain gives its role to the deranged, psychotic serial killer. Friday the thirteenth series, Nightmare on Elm Street, Copycat and Seven have start out the new classics in the genre of the horror film. With films like The People under the Stairs, Nightmare on Elm Street, and New Nightmare, Wes Craven has proven himself to be a master of the creation of modern horror films. With recent masterpiece Scream, Craven shows his audience that he is not restricted by the regular conventions of the horror film. In most of these films, the background is set up to begin with the killer does any actual slashing. However in Scream, Drew Barrym ores role is tormented by the killer from the films very beginning and both she and her buster are dead less than ten minutes aft(prenominal) the opening credits. Craven manages to make Scream a film of less botch and more substance than most thrillers. Recurring themes in the film, such as the lack of teens seriousness, the callous nature of todays younger generation, the crossover and confusion amongst reality and movies, and the negative representation of television media not only hang on to the films entertainment value, but also often portray a evenhandedly accurate picture of twentieth century America.Despite all the films tide rip and gore, Craven creates a comedic tone so successfully that at measure the audience wonders whether Scream might be a comedy after all. Even though the safety of their small town has been shattered by a deranged serial killer, the characters do not seem to ingest the situation very seriously. The main characters are eating lunch at schoo l the day after the first murders and, as might be expected, the killings make up the topic of their conversation. At one point, the character turned on(predicate) turns to Tatem, and in a convincing imitation of Billy Crystal, he asks her, Did they actually find her liver in the mailbox? Because I heard they found her liver in the mailbox. Tatem and Sidney, the other female present and the movies main character, backfire at this tasteless remark. Tatem... ...ssuring that we remain productive m mbers of society (King 500). So, peradventure if you are in direct of this type of therapy, or in attend of an offbeat study in American popular culture, all that you need is a good horror film. Rent Scream or go to a movie theater to see the sequel. You will probably be surprised by what you see, and you might even be impressed.Works Cited Craven, Wes. Interview. voguish Air. National Public Radio. KQED, San Francisco. 16 February 1998.King, Stephen. Why We Crave inconsistency Movi es.? popular Culture. Petracca, Michael and Madeleine Sorapure, eds. Upper Saddle River Prentice Hall, 1995.Pinedo, Isabel Cristina. Recreational Terror Women and the Pleasures of Horror picture palace Viewing. Albany State University of New York Press, 1997.Works Consulted Grant, Barry Keith, editor. Planks of Reason Essays on the Horror Film. London The Scarecrow Press, Inc., 1984.Newman, Kim. Nightmare Movies. New York Harmony Books, 1988. Riptov, S.A. Kidnapped Corpus Whasamat Univ. Press, 1984Scream. Dir. Wes Craven. With David Arquette, Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, skeet shooting Ulrich, and Drew Barrymore. Dimension Films, 1997.