Horror Theory:
Wheeler Winston Dixon Theory:
Wheeler Winston Dixon says that, in horror films, both men and women can be seen as "sites of activity". They are usually the ones at the start of the film and tend to die early on. These "Sites of activity" characters aren't properly introduced to the audience and their main purpose is to get killed. Because of this, the audience doesn't feel any connection to them and aren't emotionally involved when these characters die. A good example of Dixon's theory is in the film "The Woman In Black" (2012). In the opening title sequence, the three girls playing in a room end up being controlled by The Woman and, as a result, end up dying. |
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Carol Clover Theory:
Clover's theory is that the audience that enjoy watching horror are tapping into their masochistic fears. Clover discovers that S&M has a place in horror, but not necessarily of the sexual tendency. For example, the 'S' stands for Sadism. This is a character (usually the killer) that gets pleasure from inflicting pain on someone else. This could also be a member of the audience that gets pleasure from watching someone else getting slaughtered, hence why they watch horror films. The 'M' stands for Masochism. This is someone who enjoys receiving pain. So if you put them together, the sadists and the masochists, you will have created something amazing and unusual. Clover also believes that as well as sadism having a place in horror, masochism dominates because that is the first and for most aspect that is drummed into the audience. Clover's theory also points out that every role has a meaning in a horror film. For example, the killer (who is usually male) kill because they either have childhood issues or are sexually disturbed. Although, women killers tend to kill for different reasons, but the mother from Friday 13th killed because she showed gender confusion. The victims in horror films tend to be women. This is because many sadists would rather enjoy seeing a beautiful woman being hacked up than a man. For example, in Halloween 2, the male victim is killed in 2 shots in medium long shot, whereas the nurse is killed in medium close-up shot. The "Final Girl" in horror films is the girl the audience does not expect to be still alive. She is usually dressed in boyish attire and goes overlooked for the majority of the film, until all the pretty ones are dead and mashed up. The audience can then relate to her, as she is the hero and they cheer her on as she fights back at the killer. |
Wes Craven Theory:
The locations in horror films are quite controversial. Normally, the audience would have more fear from old, abandoned houses. But actually, Clover has discovered that the relatively new houses are the worst because they look safe and that's where the audience don't expect bad things to happen, because it's something that we can relate to. |
AC