My Influences (contains spoilers!)
1) Sir Alfred Hitchcock
(August 13, 1899 - April 29, 1980)
The "master of suspence", born in Leytonstone, was one oof the most influential filmmakers, and I regard him as the founder of the horror genre due to his advanced ideas and techniques. He was very much ahead of his time. Hitchcock is most famous for his films, 'Psycho' and 'The Birds'.
Psycho - 1960
Our media class watched 'Psycho' one night after school and I regard it as the basis of all my ideas in the horror genre. The film depicts the encounter between a secretary, Marion Crane and the motel owner, Norman Bates. For most of the film we are kept in suspence about who is doing the killing - the scene where Marion is murdered being an all time classic (my favourite of all horror icons - see my post titled 'my top ten pieces of horror film inconography). The famous shower curtain scene sums up Hitchcock's technical genius in suspence and horror. The plot is amazingly clever and the techniques used to build suspence are superb for its time (6 years before the birth of colour television). The twist at the end take you completely by surprise, with Norman turning out to be a skitzophrenic - his "mum" side being the killer everyone was looking for.
The Birds - 1963
After studying a clip from 'The Birds' in media for continuity, I decided to watch it, and I believe it to be even better than 'Psycho' technically. It is perfect, with stunning scenes of voilence and gore for search an early period film. The films plot does not really make much sense apart from the fact a town is terrorised by groups of bird attacks. I use scenes such as the where the neighbour is found dead in his house with his eyes pecked out, as the default for continuity techniques, simply because Hitchcock masters it. The film does not have a clear ending, with the family driving inot the sunset towards an uncertain future.
Nowadays, there are numerous websites and foundations based on the technical advances Hitchcock brought to film (most notably the "Hitchcock zoom" or better known as the "contra-zoom" - changing the perspective of the background whilst keeping the subject the same size by moving the dolly backwards whilst zooming in on the subject). He was always good at improvisation because his films did not always have large budgets. This skill was shown when filming 'The Ropes' in 1948 - a film appearing to be shot in entirely one take, but actually consisting of about 10 shots pieced together, with changes in shot disguised by an object taking up the entire screen for a second. These types of techniques have influenced low budget film makers worldwide.
2) The 1970's Killers
After the Hitchcock era, a new breed of horror films was born; the teen slasher. There was a trio of serial killers and they were 'Michael Myers', 'Jason' and 'Freddy Kruger' (from 'Halloween', 'Friday the 13th' and 'Nightmare on Elm Street' respectively).
Halloween - 19
78 (directed by John Carpenter)
'Halloween' followed an evil character 'Michale Myers', who had a love for killing teenagers after killing his sister when he was 6. It was the first of its kind, giving rise to a seemingly immortal killer, and featuring shocking scenes of slash murders. It was an extremely violent film in its day. The franchise of 'Halloween' still exists today, with 'Michael Myers' one of the most frightening and notorious killers of all time.
1) Sir Alfred Hitchcock
(August 13, 1899 - April 29, 1980)
The "master of suspence", born in Leytonstone, was one oof the most influential filmmakers, and I regard him as the founder of the horror genre due to his advanced ideas and techniques. He was very much ahead of his time. Hitchcock is most famous for his films, 'Psycho' and 'The Birds'.
Psycho - 1960
Our media class watched 'Psycho' one night after school and I regard it as the basis of all my ideas in the horror genre. The film depicts the encounter between a secretary, Marion Crane and the motel owner, Norman Bates. For most of the film we are kept in suspence about who is doing the killing - the scene where Marion is murdered being an all time classic (my favourite of all horror icons - see my post titled 'my top ten pieces of horror film inconography). The famous shower curtain scene sums up Hitchcock's technical genius in suspence and horror. The plot is amazingly clever and the techniques used to build suspence are superb for its time (6 years before the birth of colour television). The twist at the end take you completely by surprise, with Norman turning out to be a skitzophrenic - his "mum" side being the killer everyone was looking for.
The Birds - 1963
After studying a clip from 'The Birds' in media for continuity, I decided to watch it, and I believe it to be even better than 'Psycho' technically. It is perfect, with stunning scenes of voilence and gore for search an early period film. The films plot does not really make much sense apart from the fact a town is terrorised by groups of bird attacks. I use scenes such as the where the neighbour is found dead in his house with his eyes pecked out, as the default for continuity techniques, simply because Hitchcock masters it. The film does not have a clear ending, with the family driving inot the sunset towards an uncertain future.
Nowadays, there are numerous websites and foundations based on the technical advances Hitchcock brought to film (most notably the "Hitchcock zoom" or better known as the "contra-zoom" - changing the perspective of the background whilst keeping the subject the same size by moving the dolly backwards whilst zooming in on the subject). He was always good at improvisation because his films did not always have large budgets. This skill was shown when filming 'The Ropes' in 1948 - a film appearing to be shot in entirely one take, but actually consisting of about 10 shots pieced together, with changes in shot disguised by an object taking up the entire screen for a second. These types of techniques have influenced low budget film makers worldwide.
2) The 1970's Killers
After the Hitchcock era, a new breed of horror films was born; the teen slasher. There was a trio of serial killers and they were 'Michael Myers', 'Jason' and 'Freddy Kruger' (from 'Halloween', 'Friday the 13th' and 'Nightmare on Elm Street' respectively).
Halloween - 19
78 (directed by John Carpenter)'Halloween' followed an evil character 'Michale Myers', who had a love for killing teenagers after killing his sister when he was 6. It was the first of its kind, giving rise to a seemingly immortal killer, and featuring shocking scenes of slash murders. It was an extremely violent film in its day. The franchise of 'Halloween' still exists today, with 'Michael Myers' one of the most frightening and notorious killers of all time.
Friday the 13th - 1980 (directed by Sean S. Cunningham) 
Much like 'Halloween', 'Friday the 13th' followed a serial killer 'Jason', who murdered teens at a holiday camp after being drowned in the lake a few years before. The film was very similar to 'Halloween', with an immortal and almost supernatural villain seeking revenge or pleasure in the mass murder of teens. The films were brutal and ruthless.
Nightmare on Elm Street - 1984 (directed by Wes Craven)
The film featured another serial killer 'Freddy Kruger', who was the "dream killer", killing children in reality but only appearing as part of the dream world. He terrorised the dreams of children living in Elm Street, thus making him the third immortal and "supernatural" killer of the 70s and early 80's.
The predictable plots of all 3 films and how they create absolute terror through an unknown but unstoppable killer have influenced me in the horror genre. The faces of all 3 killers are very iconic (masked or unmasked), 2 of which feature in my top ten pieces of horror iconography. The closeness in narrative of the 3 films inspired a 2003 film by Ronny Yu, 'Freddy vs Jason', featuring 2 of the 3 notorious killers, crossing both plots to create conflict between the 2 killers.
3) Tim Burton
(August 25, 1958 - present)
I regard Tim Burton as the founder of gothic horror, and enjoy his films because of their fun, quirky nature despite the dark and terrifying atmospheres he creates. I admire Tim's wild imagination and clever underlying messages that make his films so special and unique to him. They are their own brand of films - 'Tim Burton' films. It is funny that my childhood nightmares always stemmed from 2 of Tim's films; both of which I fully adore now.
Edward Scissor Hands - 1990
The film revolves around a stereotypical American suburb and follows the fantasy-horror tale of manmade 'Edward' who has adopted scissors for hands, and lives alone in a terrifying looking castle overlooking the suburb. The film is inspired by Mary Shelley's 'Frankenstein' and the french legend, 'Beauty and the Beast', with a misunderstood character being hunted down. When I was little, the character of 'Edward' used to scare me as he could carelessly murder somebody and I used to find him creepy. Looking back, I have full sympathy for the character now, and the imagination of 'Tim Burton' strikes me as amazing - to be able to think up such a uniquely inspired character who stirs up such deep emotions inside you, yet keep the humour of a man with scissors for hands! It is unreal - and the moral message that comes with it (a common convention in gothic horror) is inspiring to me - not to misjudge on appearance. That is one thing I have learnt from the film as I have grown up, and banished any fears I originally had of 'Edward Scissor Hands'.
The Nightmare Before Christmas
- 1993
This is a truly unique film that I used to watch every Halloween and Christmas when I was little - and it used to scare the hell out of me! It follows the goings-ons in a fantasy town called 'Halloween Town', as the residents try to capture christmas with the help of 'Jack', the main character. The film is famous for interwining gothic horror elements with the imagination of fantasy, humour and wit of alternative comedy and true magic of a musical - and all this from a motion stop animated film! It even inspires me now, the ideas that 'Tim Burton' had in his head, with the visions of the 'Gambling Boogeyman', the monster under my bed and the evil pumpkins giving me nightmares when I was little. Yet now, I can see how Tim played on the myths and legends of childrens nightmares and put entirely his own spin on the stories to create a totally different world - the 'Tim Burton' world. I hope to convey some of Tims gothic style in my film as my way of making it totally alternative and unique as my own style of horror film.
4) M. Night Shyamalan
(August 6, 1970 - present)
'Manoj Nelliyattu' Shyamalan is probably the cleverest director I know, with every single one of his films panning out to be something noone has ever thought about before - and while some ideas are whacky, they always seem to make some kind of sense in the end. Every aspect of a 'Shyamalan' film is summed up in the following 4 films.
The Sixth Sense - 1999
A psycological horror film, which follows the life of a boy called 'Cole', who sees dead people. The film plays with your mind throughout and keeps to horror conventions during scenes where 'Cole' is confronted by terrorfying images of the dead. However, it provides my favourite ever twist-end to a film, with Bruce Willis's character (who tries to give 'Cole' psycological help) turning out to be dead too. If you go back and watch the film again, you realise that 'Cole' is the only character who ever has conversation or even eye contact with Willis. The film inspired me to write equally powerful and clever plots - which will be a hard feat to achieve nonetheless!
Signs - 2002
Again, a thriller horror, but inspired by 'Steven Spielberg' style sci-fi, the film follows the story of a family living in a farmhouse and are terrorised by crop circles - only for a worldwide alien enslaught to follow. I find it different to any other alien film, with far more focus on the characters (you do not see an acutal alien until about an hour and fifteen minutes into the film) and I feel it brings out human emotions in an otherwise supernatural event. I find the structure of the film clever, in keeping you tense about what the aliens look like and who they are, by only giving you split second clues and glimpses until the final 15 minutes of the film - a dramatic climax. It is one of them films that you have to pay very close attention to to really understand what the film is all about, and what role the aliens creatures play in the movie.
The Village - 2004
Much like 'Halloween', 'Friday the 13th' followed a serial killer 'Jason', who murdered teens at a holiday camp after being drowned in the lake a few years before. The film was very similar to 'Halloween', with an immortal and almost supernatural villain seeking revenge or pleasure in the mass murder of teens. The films were brutal and ruthless.
Nightmare on Elm Street - 1984 (directed by Wes Craven)
The film featured another serial killer 'Freddy Kruger', who was the "dream killer", killing children in reality but only appearing as part of the dream world. He terrorised the dreams of children living in Elm Street, thus making him the third immortal and "supernatural" killer of the 70s and early 80's.
The predictable plots of all 3 films and how they create absolute terror through an unknown but unstoppable killer have influenced me in the horror genre. The faces of all 3 killers are very iconic (masked or unmasked), 2 of which feature in my top ten pieces of horror iconography. The closeness in narrative of the 3 films inspired a 2003 film by Ronny Yu, 'Freddy vs Jason', featuring 2 of the 3 notorious killers, crossing both plots to create conflict between the 2 killers.
3) Tim Burton
(August 25, 1958 - present)
I regard Tim Burton as the founder of gothic horror, and enjoy his films because of their fun, quirky nature despite the dark and terrifying atmospheres he creates. I admire Tim's wild imagination and clever underlying messages that make his films so special and unique to him. They are their own brand of films - 'Tim Burton' films. It is funny that my childhood nightmares always stemmed from 2 of Tim's films; both of which I fully adore now.
Edward Scissor Hands - 1990
The film revolves around a stereotypical American suburb and follows the fantasy-horror tale of manmade 'Edward' who has adopted scissors for hands, and lives alone in a terrifying looking castle overlooking the suburb. The film is inspired by Mary Shelley's 'Frankenstein' and the french legend, 'Beauty and the Beast', with a misunderstood character being hunted down. When I was little, the character of 'Edward' used to scare me as he could carelessly murder somebody and I used to find him creepy. Looking back, I have full sympathy for the character now, and the imagination of 'Tim Burton' strikes me as amazing - to be able to think up such a uniquely inspired character who stirs up such deep emotions inside you, yet keep the humour of a man with scissors for hands! It is unreal - and the moral message that comes with it (a common convention in gothic horror) is inspiring to me - not to misjudge on appearance. That is one thing I have learnt from the film as I have grown up, and banished any fears I originally had of 'Edward Scissor Hands'.
The Nightmare Before Christmas
- 1993This is a truly unique film that I used to watch every Halloween and Christmas when I was little - and it used to scare the hell out of me! It follows the goings-ons in a fantasy town called 'Halloween Town', as the residents try to capture christmas with the help of 'Jack', the main character. The film is famous for interwining gothic horror elements with the imagination of fantasy, humour and wit of alternative comedy and true magic of a musical - and all this from a motion stop animated film! It even inspires me now, the ideas that 'Tim Burton' had in his head, with the visions of the 'Gambling Boogeyman', the monster under my bed and the evil pumpkins giving me nightmares when I was little. Yet now, I can see how Tim played on the myths and legends of childrens nightmares and put entirely his own spin on the stories to create a totally different world - the 'Tim Burton' world. I hope to convey some of Tims gothic style in my film as my way of making it totally alternative and unique as my own style of horror film.
4) M. Night Shyamalan
(August 6, 1970 - present)
'Manoj Nelliyattu' Shyamalan is probably the cleverest director I know, with every single one of his films panning out to be something noone has ever thought about before - and while some ideas are whacky, they always seem to make some kind of sense in the end. Every aspect of a 'Shyamalan' film is summed up in the following 4 films.
The Sixth Sense - 1999
A psycological horror film, which follows the life of a boy called 'Cole', who sees dead people. The film plays with your mind throughout and keeps to horror conventions during scenes where 'Cole' is confronted by terrorfying images of the dead. However, it provides my favourite ever twist-end to a film, with Bruce Willis's character (who tries to give 'Cole' psycological help) turning out to be dead too. If you go back and watch the film again, you realise that 'Cole' is the only character who ever has conversation or even eye contact with Willis. The film inspired me to write equally powerful and clever plots - which will be a hard feat to achieve nonetheless!
Signs - 2002
Again, a thriller horror, but inspired by 'Steven Spielberg' style sci-fi, the film follows the story of a family living in a farmhouse and are terrorised by crop circles - only for a worldwide alien enslaught to follow. I find it different to any other alien film, with far more focus on the characters (you do not see an acutal alien until about an hour and fifteen minutes into the film) and I feel it brings out human emotions in an otherwise supernatural event. I find the structure of the film clever, in keeping you tense about what the aliens look like and who they are, by only giving you split second clues and glimpses until the final 15 minutes of the film - a dramatic climax. It is one of them films that you have to pay very close attention to to really understand what the film is all about, and what role the aliens creatures play in the movie.
The Village - 2004
I did not enjoy 'The Village' as much as Shyamalan's earlier films, but I find the plot of this film so clever - following an insular turn-of-the-20th-century village who fear from leaving the village because of monsters that roam the forest that surrounds them. The twist is that the monsters are villagers themselves who have chosen to keep the villagers from entering the outside world (the actual date is 2004, not the earlier stated 1897) and have rolled back the dates to a simpler more peaceful time. The way in which each twist is revealed in stages completely decieves you and your initial thoughts, and plays with your mind.
The Happening - 2008
This film defies all other films as completely odd and ridiculous, yet it still manages to make a strange kind of sense. It is certainly Shyamalan's whackiest attempt at a film, but the apocalyptic film is scientifically plaudible at the least. It shows how people inexplicablly begin committing mass suicide and this is revealed to be because of a substance in plants that they release in order to reverse neurotoxins in the human brain, so humans go against their survival instincts. As ridiculous as it sounds, I love the idea of plants killin humans simply as their way of getting rid of humans in order to preserve earth. The moral messages of global warming are evident, and it reminds us of how powerless we are against nature and how little we really could know about the planet we live on. Another amazing 'Shyamalan' idea that I never would have thought of before.
5) The 1990's Killers
There was a re-birth of the slasher subgenre made infamous in the 70's, in the late 1990's. This sparked a slight rejuvination and a new subgenre in horror. The source of this new birth was the film 'Scream'.
Scream - 1996 (directed by Wes Craven)
This marked a new style in the teen slasher subgenre, as Wes Craven offered a more tongue-in-cheek approach to horror. Much like the killers of the 70's, the film involved a serial killer in a mask killing random teens in an act of revenge - but the difference was that it was modern. the 'Scream' villain terrorises the main character 'Sidney' over phone calls, and the whole killing spree is a ploy between two of her best friends (one is her boyfriend). Murders are almost comic-like, stereotyping American teenagers as stupid - those with a sense of humour appreciate the underlying tones of irony, and the way the villain mocks his victims. 'Scream' has become a franchise deries and created the most highly sold Halloween costumes because of the famous 'Scream' mask.
Scary Movie - 2000 (directed by Ivory Wayans)
'Scary Movie' brought the comedy value of 'Scream' to a whole new level by providing a parody of the horror genre. It is a spoof of 'Scream' and in many ways is similar, but exaggerates the comedy and irony, bringing in a new grotesque and vulgar humour never before seen in horror. I found the series of 'Scary Movie' films highly entertaining and funny, and at the time people could not take the horror genre seriously. In a way it created a horror setback, but I believe 'Scary Movie' provided new life and new ideas - challenging directors to rejuvinate the horror genre by making stories less predictable, and by bringing in their own alternative ideas by mixing subgenres much like 'Scary Movie' itself. Certianly after 2000, the horror genre came to life again, and the 'Scary Movie' films became progressively weaker on its way to number 4 - a sign that horror films were becoming great again.
6) Japanese Remakes
There were a few new types of horror born in the 21st century - the first being the Japanese remakes. Some could call it lazy directing, but some of the stories born from Japanese horror films were simply too hard for horror based directors to resist. American directors felt they could make them better from the raw, dragged out Japanese versions, and whilst technically the Japanese were more successful in scaring the audience, I was more inspired by the remakes.
The Ring - 2002 (directed by Gore Verbinski)
'The Ring' was one of the first pure horror films I watched and it really freaked me out. It should be impossible to make a little girl so stunningly scary, but the way the character Samara moves around with such power whilst creeping stutteringly towards you with the hair dragged across her face, really does creep you out. The story is really original, telling how the girl who fell down a well, cursed a video tape, sending her supernatural form to kill whoever watched it, seven days later. I love the suspense built in this film, how time seems to stop and you just know Samara is there. This is helped by the dripping water and the crackling television screen with its disturbing grainy images of random but significant iconography linked with Samara's location of death. The climax of the film (where Samara walks out of the television) really is one of the scariest you will ever see, as in the running of the film, it just makes your heart stop - it takes you by such surprise. The power of the supernatural and mystery of curses are never better than in the Japanese horror seen in 'The Ring'.
The Grudge - 2004 (directed by Takashi Shimizu)
The same can be said about 'The Grudge' (personally which I feel never quite meets the standard set by 'The Ring'). The film is a remake, and tells of a curse that is born when somebody dies in the grip of powerful rage or extreme sorrow. This again brings out the horror of supernatural forces and curses. The film itself contains many incredibly disturbing and creepy scenes, and contains so many jumpy moments that it is almost hard to watch in complete comfort - the aim of any horror film. I think the building of tension is brought to a new level in which Hitchcock did not have the resources to find; and this is done by confusing camera movements, flash montages and inconsistent but extremely eery music.
These aspects of Japanese horror have inspired me as I believe these to be the films that scared me the most growing up, simply due to their jumpy nature and the presence of cursed children that never seem to leave you after. The techniques of the films prove how powerfully scary you can make a simple horror plot - by really bringing the horror to the audience.
7) The Handheld Style
I have only ever seen 2 films using the handheld effect, but I have fallen in love with it - the 2 films being 2 of my all time favourites.
The Blair Witch Project - 1999 (di
rected by Daniel Myrick)
The film was amazingly unique as no film had ever been shot fully by a handheld video camera (or in that style). The film is made up of basic footage shot fully by a group investigating the myth of the Blair Witch in North America - all of whom go missing with the footage being retrieved a year later from the forest. This is what we are shown, as evidence of their trip and disappearance. Presented as an amateur documentary, the film is incredibly up close and intense. You really do feel like you are in the film, and are gripped by the horror of what happens to the group you are constantly with. The shaky camera is also incredibly diorientating, but is fascinating at the same time, telling the whole story entirely from one perspective. Further still, the story does not even make much sense and is totally open to the viewers interpretation, with the realism of the situation spot on - that in that situation caught up in a supernatural mystery, you too would not have a clue what was going on! The eventual fate of the filmmakers is unclear, but the amateur side of the sotry would be very easy to shoot on video camera. Therefore, the fact that the film was successful using this method shows that with the right techniques of suspense and not giving much away, we could make an equally effective horror film for our own projects.
Cloverfield - 2008 (directed by Matt Reeves)
Since 'The Blair Witch Project' no director tried to copy the handheld effect so unique to the film - until Matt Reeves. He applied the technique to a far less isolated and lost situation, but to one of pure panic and mass destruction - a disaster. The film was anything other that a disaster, showing the attack of a 'Godzilla-like' creature on New York, with the whole film shot in a video found in the wreckage after the event. You feel so part of the adventure and the pace of the film is incredible - it just never lets go of you. That is the power of the handheld effect, using pauses in the video footage to skip time, but never quite giving you a rest from the tension a real-time situation brings. At points the footage is so chaotic and disorientating it can make you feel quite queezy! The film was my favourite of the year by far.
In both films, the ending comes from the character with the video camera being killed (or thats what we assume) shown by the camera being stopped or breaking. The endings are unclear but the effect brings out realism that no other film could possibly achieve. It is truly inspiring for the amateur project we are about to tackle.
8)The "Splat Pack"
The "Splat Pack" are a group of directors who have been deemed responcible for a new type of rekindled twisted horror. I believe the films cover many subgenres of horror - mainly gore, torture and tongue-in-cheek irony. The directors include the likes of Eli Roth, James Wan, Greg Mclean, Leigh Whannell, Alexandre Arja and Rob Zombie. I will focus on 2 of these, who I believe were the most successful - the first being El Roth.
Cabin Fever - 2003
'Cabin Fever' created a new type of horror, stemming from 'Scary Movie' style comedy, but introducing pure gore. The film follows a group of college graduates who hire a cabin in the woods to celebrate, but fall victim to a flesh eating virus. The film was designed to go against many modern horror films with its comedy value making us laught at the characters in pain and the lack of support they recieve from the authorities (again stereotyping Americans as stupid). We feel uneasy throughout the film as it is all very sinister much like the similar setting shown in 'The Blair Witch Project', but the irony is extremely funny and we feel the characters learn a lesson from their bad characteristics - drinking, smoking and having sex - by enduring the disease and eventually dying. The film bought out an unknown audience characteristic; that we often enjoy watching people in pain and wondering just how far directors could bring pain. 'James Wan' pushed us even further.
Saw - 2004
I recently watched the first 4 'Saw' films and took alot of inspiration from how the films create a situation of pure helplessness and pain - where nothing else matters but rescuing your life from the clutches of death. The film follows 'Jig Saw' - a man diagnosed with cancer who is dying - who punishes people who do not appreciate their life by setting them in horribly disturbing traps. There is always a way out, but the characters have to endure enormous physical or mental torture whilst thinking on the spot in order to prevent an impending gruesome death. The film is incredibly disturbing and brings gore to an extreme level. The traps are very modern and the ideas so advanced and clever, giving us ways of dying that we never would have thought of before. The film almost does make you appreciate your life and you feel very comfortable in the safety of your living room, watching it. The camera techniques are incredible at making your heart race faster, increasing the pace of the film until you cannot bare it anymore. This is done by flash montages and seering techno music that is jumpy but simply will not let go at the vital climaxes of each scene where it really kicks in. All in all, the film, brings out a new level of anxiety, of torture and of pure terror inside you that you never knew a film could bring. 'Saw' pretty much defies the power of modern alternative horror.
After 'Saw' had become an amazingly successful franchise, Eli Roth tried to swing horror another way by creating the film 'Hostel'.
Hostel - 2006
With the help of 'Quentin Tarantino', Eli Roth's mission was to make the most disturbing film possible with 'Hostel' - a film about some American backpackers who get caught up in a hostel organisation who gain sexual pleasure from torturing and eventually killing their customers. The film is extreme in gore and violence and focuses around themes of pain, suffering and unbearable agony. The powerless situation of the characters is brought out in how close you get to them and their situation, making us feel uncomfortable, queezy but somehow excited at how far the torture can go. This links back to Eli Roth's 'Cabin Fever', showing how audiences can thrive on peoples pain and suffering. 'Hostel' gave birth to the new subgenre - "torture porn" - a genre that 'Saw' adapted for its third, fourth and fifth films, making them more focused on the torture aspect than the actual cleverness of the original storyline. To some extent, I believe the films go too far in extreme violence, but I take inspiration from the churning effect they have on their audiences.
9) Neil Marshall
(25 May, 1970 - present)
I regard Neil as the rejuvinator of the horror genre, as I feel he is the only modern day director to stick fully to horror conventions of the past (such as seen in Hitchcock films) and not rely heavily on alternative ideas. Also, his stories are completely original and he has his own indescribable style of which I find fascinating - based on deep relationships between characters being completely shattered and forgotton due to the events that follow (usually ending in humans being hunted down in some way). Neil is my favourite British director.
Dog Soldiers - 2002
His first big horror film was 'Dog Soldiers' set in the Scotland Highlands, following a group of army soldiers who become trapped in a house and hunted down by werewolves. The film was a simple film with simple characters but was almost an experiment by Neil to test out his trick of bringing the audience false hope (the main character escaping, only to be hunted down again). The film ends in an uncertain fashion with most characters dead but leaving the others to inevitable death anyway. I admire the way Neil achieves this effect of impending doom on the characters because of consistent sinister happenings about the characters at all times during the film.
The Descent - 2005
'The Descent' is a deeper more meaningful version of 'Dog Soldiers' but set in America's mountains rather than Scotland. The film follows a group of female adrenalin junkies who become trapped in a cave whilst caving, and hunted down by creatures who have evolved to live in the dark. The plot follows incredibly closely to that of 'Dog Soldiers' but holds more underlying meanings due to the many relationship-based subplots involving the main characters. These plots effect how we view each character and seem to have some sort of bearing on how each is killed - their deaths are more significant. The climax of the film shows the main character escaping, but in a horrible twist we learn this was just a dream, leaving the character trapped underground as the film ends. This finale is both chilling and disturbing and leaves us very emotional as we wanted the character to survive. Neil almost drives a knife into our hearts and twists with such an ending - and I admire this effect. I think he is a very clever filmmaker, and I may base alot of the deeper meanings of my film such as character subplots, on those found in Neil Marshall's 'The Descent'.
10) Modern Niche TV
During half term I became fascinated by the 'Dead Set' series on E4 (which I believed not to be particularly impressive nor successful in what it was trying to convey but simply a good idea and doing the basics of simple zombie flick well). It turned the cult TV show, 'Big Brother', into a living nightmare by applying simple horror conventions and a basic horror plot to reality TV, effectively creating a horror story into something very real and possibly happening to Britain. I believe it produced a similar effect to that of the handheld effect shown in 'The Blair Witch Project', but with more filmic camera movements to steady the film and create clearer character types and a clearer narrative.
Dead Set - [to be released on DVD] 2009 (directed by Yann Demange)
The first thing that was successful to match average E4 viewing figures. The awareness of this horror spin of the situation of being in the 'Big Brother' house spread amazingly fast via the internet and with the help of Channel 4/E4 advertising. The actual show was also very effective, as we find out very little about the housemate characters (they are as shallow as a stereotypical 'Big Brother' housemate would be). However, we get to know members of the crew in more detail, leaving us with more knowledge about how the show is filmed. The horror aspect is very simple but effective, with nearly the entire thing shot in an eery silence that easily depicts an empty, lifeless Britain. At moments we catch characters simply looking into the zombie-filled distance with utter disbelief and scared silence. This makes the show feel empty, taking away the livliness of a normal 'Big Brother' show and taking away the real life still cameras and replacing them with moving cameras using film techniques to portray the shock and fright of the active parts of the show (i.e. the zombie chases). I studied these techniques and they seem so simple but effective, making the show my final influence. I am using it to generate ideas as to how I will film a simple horror sequence.
The Happening - 2008
This film defies all other films as completely odd and ridiculous, yet it still manages to make a strange kind of sense. It is certainly Shyamalan's whackiest attempt at a film, but the apocalyptic film is scientifically plaudible at the least. It shows how people inexplicablly begin committing mass suicide and this is revealed to be because of a substance in plants that they release in order to reverse neurotoxins in the human brain, so humans go against their survival instincts. As ridiculous as it sounds, I love the idea of plants killin humans simply as their way of getting rid of humans in order to preserve earth. The moral messages of global warming are evident, and it reminds us of how powerless we are against nature and how little we really could know about the planet we live on. Another amazing 'Shyamalan' idea that I never would have thought of before.
5) The 1990's Killers
There was a re-birth of the slasher subgenre made infamous in the 70's, in the late 1990's. This sparked a slight rejuvination and a new subgenre in horror. The source of this new birth was the film 'Scream'.
Scream - 1996 (directed by Wes Craven)
This marked a new style in the teen slasher subgenre, as Wes Craven offered a more tongue-in-cheek approach to horror. Much like the killers of the 70's, the film involved a serial killer in a mask killing random teens in an act of revenge - but the difference was that it was modern. the 'Scream' villain terrorises the main character 'Sidney' over phone calls, and the whole killing spree is a ploy between two of her best friends (one is her boyfriend). Murders are almost comic-like, stereotyping American teenagers as stupid - those with a sense of humour appreciate the underlying tones of irony, and the way the villain mocks his victims. 'Scream' has become a franchise deries and created the most highly sold Halloween costumes because of the famous 'Scream' mask.
Scary Movie - 2000 (directed by Ivory Wayans)
'Scary Movie' brought the comedy value of 'Scream' to a whole new level by providing a parody of the horror genre. It is a spoof of 'Scream' and in many ways is similar, but exaggerates the comedy and irony, bringing in a new grotesque and vulgar humour never before seen in horror. I found the series of 'Scary Movie' films highly entertaining and funny, and at the time people could not take the horror genre seriously. In a way it created a horror setback, but I believe 'Scary Movie' provided new life and new ideas - challenging directors to rejuvinate the horror genre by making stories less predictable, and by bringing in their own alternative ideas by mixing subgenres much like 'Scary Movie' itself. Certianly after 2000, the horror genre came to life again, and the 'Scary Movie' films became progressively weaker on its way to number 4 - a sign that horror films were becoming great again.
6) Japanese Remakes
There were a few new types of horror born in the 21st century - the first being the Japanese remakes. Some could call it lazy directing, but some of the stories born from Japanese horror films were simply too hard for horror based directors to resist. American directors felt they could make them better from the raw, dragged out Japanese versions, and whilst technically the Japanese were more successful in scaring the audience, I was more inspired by the remakes.
The Ring - 2002 (directed by Gore Verbinski)
'The Ring' was one of the first pure horror films I watched and it really freaked me out. It should be impossible to make a little girl so stunningly scary, but the way the character Samara moves around with such power whilst creeping stutteringly towards you with the hair dragged across her face, really does creep you out. The story is really original, telling how the girl who fell down a well, cursed a video tape, sending her supernatural form to kill whoever watched it, seven days later. I love the suspense built in this film, how time seems to stop and you just know Samara is there. This is helped by the dripping water and the crackling television screen with its disturbing grainy images of random but significant iconography linked with Samara's location of death. The climax of the film (where Samara walks out of the television) really is one of the scariest you will ever see, as in the running of the film, it just makes your heart stop - it takes you by such surprise. The power of the supernatural and mystery of curses are never better than in the Japanese horror seen in 'The Ring'.
The Grudge - 2004 (directed by Takashi Shimizu)
The same can be said about 'The Grudge' (personally which I feel never quite meets the standard set by 'The Ring'). The film is a remake, and tells of a curse that is born when somebody dies in the grip of powerful rage or extreme sorrow. This again brings out the horror of supernatural forces and curses. The film itself contains many incredibly disturbing and creepy scenes, and contains so many jumpy moments that it is almost hard to watch in complete comfort - the aim of any horror film. I think the building of tension is brought to a new level in which Hitchcock did not have the resources to find; and this is done by confusing camera movements, flash montages and inconsistent but extremely eery music.
These aspects of Japanese horror have inspired me as I believe these to be the films that scared me the most growing up, simply due to their jumpy nature and the presence of cursed children that never seem to leave you after. The techniques of the films prove how powerfully scary you can make a simple horror plot - by really bringing the horror to the audience.
7) The Handheld Style
I have only ever seen 2 films using the handheld effect, but I have fallen in love with it - the 2 films being 2 of my all time favourites.
The Blair Witch Project - 1999 (di
rected by Daniel Myrick)The film was amazingly unique as no film had ever been shot fully by a handheld video camera (or in that style). The film is made up of basic footage shot fully by a group investigating the myth of the Blair Witch in North America - all of whom go missing with the footage being retrieved a year later from the forest. This is what we are shown, as evidence of their trip and disappearance. Presented as an amateur documentary, the film is incredibly up close and intense. You really do feel like you are in the film, and are gripped by the horror of what happens to the group you are constantly with. The shaky camera is also incredibly diorientating, but is fascinating at the same time, telling the whole story entirely from one perspective. Further still, the story does not even make much sense and is totally open to the viewers interpretation, with the realism of the situation spot on - that in that situation caught up in a supernatural mystery, you too would not have a clue what was going on! The eventual fate of the filmmakers is unclear, but the amateur side of the sotry would be very easy to shoot on video camera. Therefore, the fact that the film was successful using this method shows that with the right techniques of suspense and not giving much away, we could make an equally effective horror film for our own projects.
Cloverfield - 2008 (directed by Matt Reeves)
Since 'The Blair Witch Project' no director tried to copy the handheld effect so unique to the film - until Matt Reeves. He applied the technique to a far less isolated and lost situation, but to one of pure panic and mass destruction - a disaster. The film was anything other that a disaster, showing the attack of a 'Godzilla-like' creature on New York, with the whole film shot in a video found in the wreckage after the event. You feel so part of the adventure and the pace of the film is incredible - it just never lets go of you. That is the power of the handheld effect, using pauses in the video footage to skip time, but never quite giving you a rest from the tension a real-time situation brings. At points the footage is so chaotic and disorientating it can make you feel quite queezy! The film was my favourite of the year by far.
In both films, the ending comes from the character with the video camera being killed (or thats what we assume) shown by the camera being stopped or breaking. The endings are unclear but the effect brings out realism that no other film could possibly achieve. It is truly inspiring for the amateur project we are about to tackle.
8)The "Splat Pack"
The "Splat Pack" are a group of directors who have been deemed responcible for a new type of rekindled twisted horror. I believe the films cover many subgenres of horror - mainly gore, torture and tongue-in-cheek irony. The directors include the likes of Eli Roth, James Wan, Greg Mclean, Leigh Whannell, Alexandre Arja and Rob Zombie. I will focus on 2 of these, who I believe were the most successful - the first being El Roth.
Cabin Fever - 2003
'Cabin Fever' created a new type of horror, stemming from 'Scary Movie' style comedy, but introducing pure gore. The film follows a group of college graduates who hire a cabin in the woods to celebrate, but fall victim to a flesh eating virus. The film was designed to go against many modern horror films with its comedy value making us laught at the characters in pain and the lack of support they recieve from the authorities (again stereotyping Americans as stupid). We feel uneasy throughout the film as it is all very sinister much like the similar setting shown in 'The Blair Witch Project', but the irony is extremely funny and we feel the characters learn a lesson from their bad characteristics - drinking, smoking and having sex - by enduring the disease and eventually dying. The film bought out an unknown audience characteristic; that we often enjoy watching people in pain and wondering just how far directors could bring pain. 'James Wan' pushed us even further.
Saw - 2004
I recently watched the first 4 'Saw' films and took alot of inspiration from how the films create a situation of pure helplessness and pain - where nothing else matters but rescuing your life from the clutches of death. The film follows 'Jig Saw' - a man diagnosed with cancer who is dying - who punishes people who do not appreciate their life by setting them in horribly disturbing traps. There is always a way out, but the characters have to endure enormous physical or mental torture whilst thinking on the spot in order to prevent an impending gruesome death. The film is incredibly disturbing and brings gore to an extreme level. The traps are very modern and the ideas so advanced and clever, giving us ways of dying that we never would have thought of before. The film almost does make you appreciate your life and you feel very comfortable in the safety of your living room, watching it. The camera techniques are incredible at making your heart race faster, increasing the pace of the film until you cannot bare it anymore. This is done by flash montages and seering techno music that is jumpy but simply will not let go at the vital climaxes of each scene where it really kicks in. All in all, the film, brings out a new level of anxiety, of torture and of pure terror inside you that you never knew a film could bring. 'Saw' pretty much defies the power of modern alternative horror.
After 'Saw' had become an amazingly successful franchise, Eli Roth tried to swing horror another way by creating the film 'Hostel'.
Hostel - 2006
With the help of 'Quentin Tarantino', Eli Roth's mission was to make the most disturbing film possible with 'Hostel' - a film about some American backpackers who get caught up in a hostel organisation who gain sexual pleasure from torturing and eventually killing their customers. The film is extreme in gore and violence and focuses around themes of pain, suffering and unbearable agony. The powerless situation of the characters is brought out in how close you get to them and their situation, making us feel uncomfortable, queezy but somehow excited at how far the torture can go. This links back to Eli Roth's 'Cabin Fever', showing how audiences can thrive on peoples pain and suffering. 'Hostel' gave birth to the new subgenre - "torture porn" - a genre that 'Saw' adapted for its third, fourth and fifth films, making them more focused on the torture aspect than the actual cleverness of the original storyline. To some extent, I believe the films go too far in extreme violence, but I take inspiration from the churning effect they have on their audiences.
9) Neil Marshall
(25 May, 1970 - present)
I regard Neil as the rejuvinator of the horror genre, as I feel he is the only modern day director to stick fully to horror conventions of the past (such as seen in Hitchcock films) and not rely heavily on alternative ideas. Also, his stories are completely original and he has his own indescribable style of which I find fascinating - based on deep relationships between characters being completely shattered and forgotton due to the events that follow (usually ending in humans being hunted down in some way). Neil is my favourite British director.
Dog Soldiers - 2002
His first big horror film was 'Dog Soldiers' set in the Scotland Highlands, following a group of army soldiers who become trapped in a house and hunted down by werewolves. The film was a simple film with simple characters but was almost an experiment by Neil to test out his trick of bringing the audience false hope (the main character escaping, only to be hunted down again). The film ends in an uncertain fashion with most characters dead but leaving the others to inevitable death anyway. I admire the way Neil achieves this effect of impending doom on the characters because of consistent sinister happenings about the characters at all times during the film.
The Descent - 2005
'The Descent' is a deeper more meaningful version of 'Dog Soldiers' but set in America's mountains rather than Scotland. The film follows a group of female adrenalin junkies who become trapped in a cave whilst caving, and hunted down by creatures who have evolved to live in the dark. The plot follows incredibly closely to that of 'Dog Soldiers' but holds more underlying meanings due to the many relationship-based subplots involving the main characters. These plots effect how we view each character and seem to have some sort of bearing on how each is killed - their deaths are more significant. The climax of the film shows the main character escaping, but in a horrible twist we learn this was just a dream, leaving the character trapped underground as the film ends. This finale is both chilling and disturbing and leaves us very emotional as we wanted the character to survive. Neil almost drives a knife into our hearts and twists with such an ending - and I admire this effect. I think he is a very clever filmmaker, and I may base alot of the deeper meanings of my film such as character subplots, on those found in Neil Marshall's 'The Descent'.
10) Modern Niche TV
During half term I became fascinated by the 'Dead Set' series on E4 (which I believed not to be particularly impressive nor successful in what it was trying to convey but simply a good idea and doing the basics of simple zombie flick well). It turned the cult TV show, 'Big Brother', into a living nightmare by applying simple horror conventions and a basic horror plot to reality TV, effectively creating a horror story into something very real and possibly happening to Britain. I believe it produced a similar effect to that of the handheld effect shown in 'The Blair Witch Project', but with more filmic camera movements to steady the film and create clearer character types and a clearer narrative.
Dead Set - [to be released on DVD] 2009 (directed by Yann Demange)
The first thing that was successful to match average E4 viewing figures. The awareness of this horror spin of the situation of being in the 'Big Brother' house spread amazingly fast via the internet and with the help of Channel 4/E4 advertising. The actual show was also very effective, as we find out very little about the housemate characters (they are as shallow as a stereotypical 'Big Brother' housemate would be). However, we get to know members of the crew in more detail, leaving us with more knowledge about how the show is filmed. The horror aspect is very simple but effective, with nearly the entire thing shot in an eery silence that easily depicts an empty, lifeless Britain. At moments we catch characters simply looking into the zombie-filled distance with utter disbelief and scared silence. This makes the show feel empty, taking away the livliness of a normal 'Big Brother' show and taking away the real life still cameras and replacing them with moving cameras using film techniques to portray the shock and fright of the active parts of the show (i.e. the zombie chases). I studied these techniques and they seem so simple but effective, making the show my final influence. I am using it to generate ideas as to how I will film a simple horror sequence.
