Archive for the ‘Deep Thoughts’ Category

Halloween’s definition of normality – that is, how normality is represented in the film – is depicted as being relatively care-free with only minor day-to-day inconveniences and annoyances to battle with (a friend speaking to your crush for you, a boyfriend getting grounded on a date night, getting harassed by bullies, etc.). It is an enclosed suburban world where evil does not reside, and the time of when it once did is considered a distant memory; a history that is acknowledged but not really known or given much, if any, attention. The horror inherent in this film is that this normality comes under threat by something completely unexpected that they could not have prepared for. Michael Myers is a threat that seeks to change the definition of normality in his world – that is, the world as seen through his eyes – and ends up also changing it for others. Read the rest of this entry »

Horror’s Connection with Expressionist Cinema

Robert Wiene’s The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari is regarded by many to be the first horror film in terms of how we recognize the genre today. Released just two years later, F. W. Marnau’s Nosferatu barrowed some of Caligari’s style to help construct what were to become the basic features of the horror genre that would continue to present day. Converting expressionism from the medium of painting and sculpture to the medium of cinema, Caligari’s style would prove to be even more influential than what following 1920s German films would indicate. Not only would these films set the standard for critical and popular success in their genres in Germany, but the entire field of cinema as well (particularly with America’s Dracula (1931) and Frankenstein (1931), and Italy’s 1960s and ‘70s horror).

In the very early years of silent cinema (1890s-1910s), horror sometimes crept to the surface. Hepworth’s early silent short Explosion of a Motor Car could possibly be considered one of the first horror films as it displays a car spontaneously combusting and its passengers falling back down to the ground from up above, one severed limb at a time. However, the film’s incorporation of an obvious comical undertone keeps it from claiming that title with any seriousness. Being that Caligari has influenced the horror genre for nearly a century, it is a far more defensible title owner. Caligari, as well as Nosferatu, has a foot firmly set in both the expressionist and horror genres because the two (genres) share a common foundational characteristic. That characteristic is the desire to impress a dark mood by way of exaggerating and/or hyperbolizing a film’s aesthetic. The result of this is a similarity in style. However, being that Caligari would not be considered the first horror film without its incorporation of an exclusively expressionistic style, it is important to explore what cinematic expressionism actually is. Read the rest of this entry »