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Horror Movies: Horror Films
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In Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho (1960), the object of horror does not look like a monstrous or supernatural other, but rather a normal human being. The horror has a human explanation, too, based in Freudian psychology and sex. Other seminal examples include Peeping Tom (Michael Powell, 1960), Homicidal (William Castle, 1961), What Ever Happened to Baby Jane (Robert Aldrich, 1962), Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte (Robert Aldrich, 1964), Pretty Poison (Noel Black, 1968), and The Collector (William Wyler, 1965). Films of the horror-of-personality sub-genre continue to appear through the turn of the century, with 1991's The Silence of the Lambs a noteworthy example. Some of these films further blur the distinction between horror film and crime or thriller genre.
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Turning the great horror movie clichés on their severed ears, Freak Out opens like all great slasher films -- with a flashback of an incidental character. Young Cliff is being dropped off at school by his alcoholic mother, only to be tormented by his teacher and peers. Thirteen years later, Cliff escapes from a mental institution to find that the school that he vowed revenge on is no longer standing. Disappointed and with nowhere to go, Cliff wanders onto the doorstep of horror film addicts Merv and his best friend Onkey. With visions of slashers and maniacs and box-office grosses (oh my!) dancing in their heads, wannabe schlock kings Merv and Onkey fit Cliff with a potato sack on his head and cover his face with a hockey mask, transforming him into the ultimate homicidal filmaniac. Things soon take a turn for the worst after the killer “finds his groove,” dispatching shoppers and employees alike in a supermarket.
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Note: New Nightmare, with In the Mouth of Madness, The Dark Half, and Candyman, were part of a mini-movement of self-reflective horror films. Each film touched upon the relationship between fictional horror and real-world horror. Candyman, for example, examined the link between an invented urban legend and the realistic horror of the racism that produced its villain. In the Mouth of Madness took a more literal approach, as its protagonist actually hopped from the real world into a novel created by the madman he was hired to track down. This reflective style became more overt and ironic with the arrival of Scream.
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Anchor Bay Entertainment, an IDT Entertainment company, gives cult film fans yet another treat with the November 7 th DVD premiere of Freak Out , director Christian James's first excursion into stomach-clutching, bloodcurdling and drop-dead hilarious horror. Winner of numerous accolades including the “Commendation Award” for Feature Films at Manchester's Festival of Fantastic Films, “Best Genre Cross-Over” Award at the Rhode Island International Horror Film Festival, and an official selection at the Montreal Fantasia Festival, Freak Out is set up to please both “serious” and “spoof” horror fans alike. SRP for the 2-disc Special Edition DVD is $19.98 and pre-book is September 27 th 2006 .
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Any good horror movie is only as good as its villain, and this is really what makes Halloween so much better than all the other schlock horror films. The movie's opening five minutes are presented entirely from Michael Myers' warped point of view (some consider those five minutes to be among the creepiest film sequences ever). Michael doesn't have one line in the entire movie, so you never find out his motives. But this just makes him all the scarier; he's a killing machine that cannot be reasoned with. Case in point: as Laurie frenetically tries to get inside of a house to get help, she sees Michael walking calmly across the street with a knife. He shows no emotion, and does not rush over.
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A horror film is a film dominated by elements of horror. This film genre incorporates a number of sub-genres and repeated themes, such as slasher themes, vampire themes, zombie themes, demonic possession, alien mind control, evil children, cannibalism, werewolves, animals attacking humans, haunted houses, etc. The horror film genre is often associated with low budgets and exploitation, but major studios and well-respected directors have made intermittent forays into the genre. Some horror films exhibit a substantial amount of cross-over with other genres, particularly science fiction.
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Horror Films