A Necessity?

Horror movies have changed since the beginning and this holds true to the different opinions on when horror movies as a genre began. It has changed in so many ways and in much intensity in many areas. The change has even led to differences and debates about what the genre entails. The plots have changed, the special effects (in every way, intensity, persistence, money),, the marketing , the target audience, ect…. Why have these changes occurred and have they been somewhat necessary to keep horrifying an audience? You could assume that this may be plausible due to the fact that the viewing audience is one that is changing quickly and in many respects as the world is as well. Can what horrify’s us change or can even the emotions which we equate with horrifying change as well? Or are all of these emotions secondary to some basic ones? Is the directors main goal to try and elicit whatever secondary emotion is most easily accessible due to the times and if so is this changing for the right reasons or not? Does special affects change our ideas of horror and can desensetation be applied to plots and narratives the same way that it is applied to aesthetics?

The possibilities for narratives and plots change with what emotion may be the easiest to manipulate at the time and elicit fear. This can be shown in sub-conscious themes in movies such as Them, Night of the living Dead, and Thing. Not to say that the other possibilities to manipulate other emotions are not possible they are just not as on the surface as others at the time. Desenseation of plot and aesthetics can come from our real world. When the atomic bomb was dropped and we see images like Vietnam on the mass media or on the cover of times. Science has been progressing so much that cloning is not surprising anymore to hear about or the advancement in medical technology that to some are mind boggling how it works and the massive size of it. The onslaught of mass murders and the disillusionment of the government. These images put more pressure on horror movies to change in a way to keep up with what we are seeing in real life. How horrifying or unknown does something in a movie appear if you can think of an example in real life that isn’t that farfetched from it? Or the unknown in the present horror movie genre is not as compelling of the unknown in the real world. How scary is a vampire when there are genetic mutations or sickness from radiation and chemicals from the military complex or chemical companies. How unknown and horrifying is a haunted house that just makes sounds when you have “haunted houses’ and realistic video games of haunted houses where you shoot the ghost. Just the progression of special affects and the affects it has on the viewing advance at large; will trickle over to almost every fiction movie genre at large. After you see a sci-fi movie with cool special affects the viewing audience as a large may want more and may need more just to fulfill their new level of imagination that is needed to create emotions of horror. The greater numbers of horror movies each year made competition even fiercer. People had to try and set themselves apart from others. This meant plot and aesthetics. Plots and narratives like aesthetics had to change as well because the more movies that are done in the same fashion than the less responsive advances may seem to be. There has to be bad horror and o.k. horror movies for there to be great ones. If everyone were great than how horrifying would each next one be? A person born in the post modern horror age who has not watched any previous may find a new horror movie the scariest thing every. Someone though who has been born earlier may not think that though. Can this same thing be said to art? What does someone think about contemporary art who was born in the 1890’s. He may have a different idea of what beautiful is than a person born in the 1960’s. Does that mean then that contemporary art vs. whatever art was popular during the 1890’s have differing ideas on what beautiful is or just different vehicles in how they arrive there. Are the movies no longer art because the bottom line is money and the creativeness in each one is eventually aimed towards that? A horror movie that doesn’t horrifies but, makes millions.