Shocking Cinema

A detailed Summary of Shocking Cinema


Shocking cinema is the term used to describe films that are usually classed as horror. In this essay I will outline the meaning of shocking cinema/horror as well as talk about 3 main horror films that I studied in lessons and at home. Shocking cinema films tend to be classed as films that horrify the spectator and cause moral panic within society.

Within the actual horror category there are different genres, these include ''slasher'', ''gore'' and ''stylized''. Slasher films are mainly aimed at the younger audience with films like Halloween and the Screen trilogy. Gore films are those that centre the attention on the special effects and blood of the killings (e.g.- the video nasties that appeared in the mid 80's). An example of stylized horror would be the Dario Argento 1977 classic ''suspiria''. Horror films tend to engage and shock the viewer using two main aspects, visual suspense and sound. Both aspects play of each other and without one the other one becomes almost ineffective. A classic example of this is the now infamous ''shower scene'' from the 1960 film 'psycho'. The viewer can see the woman is the shower and the music starts getting sharper. As the shadow of the killer approaches the music starts to get even sharper


Because it's mainly teenagers that are into horror films, moral panic erupts when a new shocking title is released. This is because parents and adults think their children will be corrupted by the violence and themes that are put across.

and louder and almost reaches a crescendo. At this point the viewer feels they know what is going to happen but is still not quite sure, there is a vulnerable woman naked in the shower and a dark shadow approaching as well as suspenseful music. As the music reaches it's peak the killer emerges and pulls back the curtain rails then proceeds to stab the young woman to death using a knife. The audience is shocked on one hand but on the other quite pleased with themselves that they was scared for a valid reason! This could be another reason why shocking cinema has such a strong place in the film industry, because it engages the viewer in so many ways. Where action films normally engage the viewer on just one aspect (visual effects such as cars exploding) and romantic films rely on the storyline, horror films that are very cheap budget and a flimsy storyline can still go on to be box office successes (the most recent case being the first Blair Witch Project). This is because horror films play on people's fears, and to do that you do not need a big budget. The first film I will talk abo

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 896
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Movies

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