Horror has been the kind of genre in films that create fear and tension among the audience for entertainment purposes. The genre subjects are mostly dark and may deal with uncomfortable topics or themes.
The genre spectrum goes as wide as creatures, world-ending events, or supernatural elements at play. Horror films have been produced for more than 5 decades. From its inception in silent films to an impact by German Expressionism, horror only became a recognized genre after the release of the film Dracula in 1931. As years went by, many subgenres came into its wings, including body horror, comedy horror, slasher films, supernatural horror, and psychological horror. The genre has been and will always be produced worldwide, varying in terms of content and style between regions. Horror has become sort of a home ground for the film industry in Japan, Korea, Italy, and Thailand, among other countries.
Psycho
Psycho is a psychological thriller film, directed by Alfred Hitchcock and released in 1960. The leads are Janet Leigh and Anthony Perkins. Joseph Stefano, whose screenplay the movie is based on, adapted it from the novel of the same name by Robert Bloch released in the year 1959. The novel was loosely based on the crimes of the Wisconsin murderer and Ed Gein the grave robber. The film is about a secretary named Marion Crane, who hides at a secluded motel after stealing money from her employer, but soon she learns about the motel's owner and the disturbed manager, Norman Bates, and the aftermath of their encounter is the rest of the story.
In the 1960s, Alfred Hitchcock was one of the most influential directors in the world. The production house Paramount was not impressed with the idea of a movie about a homicidal hotel clerk. It’s a movie full of twists and turns, beginning with the fact that the leading lady is killed off 45 minutes into the movie. Even the trailer is intriguing; instead of showing shots from the movie, Hitchcock the director simply walks around the set and drops hints about the plot. The film went on to make a huge fortune and launched three sequels and also a remake. The film is often categorized by multiple sources as a drama, horror, mystery, and thriller film. The film went on to be nominated for a total of 4 Academy Awards.
The Shining
The Shining is a horror film directed by Stanley Kubrick released in 1980. The film's intense, epic, horror house masterpiece is a unique sense that manages to be an example in the horror genre. The film is based on the science-fiction/horror author Stephen King's 1977 best-selling novel by the same name. Kubrick and his co-screenwriter Diane Johnson moved from the usual methods and scares of a traditional horror film, displacing them with their own methods, much more subtle, rich, and filled with symbolism. The title of the film was inspired by John Lennon's song, Instant Karma, in which the chorus goes: “We all shine on”.
Jack Torrance, who is an aspiring author and recovering alcoholic, has writer's block. So he drags his wife, Wendy, and his son, Danny, up snow-covered Colorado's Overlook Hotel after taking up a job available there as an off-season caretaker. The grand secluded hotel shuts down for the season, the manager gives Jack a grand tour, and the facility's chef, the aging Mr. Hallorann, has a discovery chat with Danny about a rare psychic gift called The Shining.
He also warns him about the hotel's abandoned rooms and insists on the off-limits of Room 237. However, instead of overcoming the block and his creative rut, slowly, Jack starts losing his mind, trapped in an environment of endless snowstorms, and the hotel filled with silence has become a prison with strange occurrences and ghostly visions. After completely losing his mind to the voices inside his head, they demand sacrifice. Is Jack capable of murder?
The Exorcist
The Exorcist, released in the year 1973, is considered to be one of the scariest horror films adapted from the book by William Peter Blatty that goes by the same name. The film went on to be a classic horror film and is still regarded as the greatest horror movie among many generations. The Exorcist went on to be nominated for 10 Academy Awards and won for the best-adapted screenplay and best sound mixing.
The story revolves around a Hollywood actress Chris MacNeil, who is separated from her actor husband. Her preteen daughter named Regan and she are in Washington DC, for the shoot of a movie called Crash Course. They have rented a reddish sandstone building in Georgetown as a place to live. Once the shoot is over, Chris plans to take her daughter to Europe as the new house in Los Angeles is under construction.
Chris, at night, hears noises emanating from the attic continuously, which she assumes to be a small infestation of rats. At the same time, Regan has been showing signs of unusual behavior, such as hyperactivity, swearing, lying, and lack of concentration at regular intervals. Dr.Kelin can only speculate that her symptoms are a manifestation of stress from the separation and moving to DC away from her home, and diagnoses her condition as hyperkinesia. Not only Dr. Klein, but other physicians are trying to determine and explain Regan's abnormal and bizarre behavior which is rapidly increasing with scientific theories, but Chris has a feeling that there is more at play when Regan's behavior includes violence and acts of superhuman strength.
Despite having no religious opinion, Chris is convinced that since there is some other force that has overtaken Regan, the necessary counter is to have that demon exorcized from Regan's body. She contacts Father Damien Karras, who is also an M.D, who acts as a psychiatric counselor for the Catholic church in the neighborhood. Father Karras has issues of his own because of the recent death of his mother. He needs the permission of the church to proceed and also his own faith, which can help as opposed to hurting Regan. The church also sends Father Lankester Merrin, who may have a better understanding of the situation and might have an idea of what has possessed Regan and why it has chosen her, which is necessary to be able to counter. Can Father Merrin and Karras have strong enough faith to exorcize the demon and can they do whatever it takes to do so?
FAQs
Q. What movie has the most jump scares?
A. The Haunting in Connecticut 2: Ghosts of Georgia has the most jump scares in a horror movie ever made with a total number of 32.
Q. Who is the creepiest horror movie character?
A. Freddy Krueger, Hannibal Lecter, Michael Myers, and Chucky are the horror villains most Americans find scary
Q. Is it healthy to watch horror?
A. Watching the kind of movies where you are on the edge of your seat with a rising heartbeat may actually help reduce stress and lower anxiety.
