The 60s
have significantly changed the world – with its sexual revolutions, the
loosening of the censorship laws and the creation of a new film rating system
by the Motion Picture Association of America. The 70s were a disappointment in
a sense – the partying mood of the previous decade has died and it all just went downhill.
However, the more and more grim society has created plenty opportunities for
the horror industry to blossom and the boundaries of film could be pushed
further.
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| Count looking rather surprised there. |
People started to get bored with traditional Gothic monsters (such as Dracula) and became desensitized. Film makers had to come up with new ideas and
step away from the mainstream themes (that is why there weren’t many
reincarnations of good old monsters in the 70s) which resulted in the huge
increase in the production of gory and graphic horror films – they makers created
films noteworthy for their shocking expositions of body mutilation, blood (hectoliters
of blood, most likely) and bold use of colour (all the more vivid, because of
the realism of films at that time).
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| The scarily realistic gore in 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre' |
‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ and ‘Alien’ (which actually received an Oscar for Best Visual Effects) are two great examples of how graphic the visuals could get and how far the 70s have moved in terms of realism.
The 1970s was a pretty grim time – the impact of that can be clearly seen in the film industry. Many horror films dealt with societal issues and addressed genuine psychological fears, which was a great change – horror became a genre not only about bizarre monsters from faraway lands, but more the intellectual sort of fear (obviously, the genre could be divided into two sub-categories: the one about the deep-seated paranoia or the one all about guts and blood).
Speaking of psychological fears: one consistent fear appeared to be the fear of
children (clearly seen in ‘The Omen’ and ‘The Exorcist’ where children were the
main antagonists, but also noticeable in ‘Halloween’). Actually, ‘The Exorcist’, (despite the amount of time that has passed since the premiere of the film) has been voted the scariest film of all time (back in October 1999). It marked a beginning of the aforementioned new era for horror, taking its subject very seriously.
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| Looking at Damien in 1976 'The Omen', it is not surprising people found children rather unsettling. |
The crumbling
family unit was a source of much fear and mistrust – the danger wasn’t a
faceless creature anymore, it could be found in your own house: it was your brother
(Halloween), sister (Alice Sweet Alice), husband (The Stepford Wives), son (The
Omen). It all links back to the paranoid mood of the decade and the discovering that not only monsters can be spooky back in the 60s.
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| The irony in 'The Exorcist' was truly great |
Additionally,
there is very little humour in the 70s horror (except for the ocassional irony) and also, many of the classics created back in the day were based on books (such as ‘Carrie’, based on a novel written by Stephen King - the original 'Carrie', not the millions of reboots) and the fact is, many of the most successful horror films ever made were actually adaptations of books (‘The Shining’ from the 80s is a brilliant example).
You have obviously undertaken a good level of research into 1970s horror films and, although you chose not to use Prezi, your research evidence does make use of images and gifs (the Texas Chainsaw Massacre one is a bit much perhaps!)
ReplyDeleteAfter conducting your research do you think that it is still possible for horror film makers to be inventive and creative in the 21st century or are they all destined to produce formulaic films which either copy or adapt previously used storylines?
Although it may appear difficult, I believe it is possible for filmmakers to be innovative and creative. Many stories have been told over and over again, that is true (such as 'Carrie') and the same ideas have been exploited, but there definitely is a way to avoid repetition and using a general formula. It's difficult, that I know for a fact - it may appear everything 'was before' - but not impossible. You could look at it from the same angle you look at books. Many people say that everything was told already, but somehow writers come up with new and creative ideas. If they can do that, filmmakers can as well. It takes effort, but it is definitely worth it in the long run (success of the film - people like originality).
ReplyDeleteInteresting and intelligent thoughts Wiktoria. I think that your ability to think critically will be useful as your group move from the preliminary task into the main task.
DeleteWhen you begin planning your own initial ideas for a horror film aimed at a teen audience in the coming months we will see whether or not you are able to come up with ideas that are "new and creative" in a genre that has become rather formulaic.