What I have learnt from my research...
There is a clear progression within the themes of horror films, which in many respects are in conjunction with the changes in society over the past fifty decades. From my research its evident early horror movies relied on creating fear through the use of monstrous characters, resulting in a lot of death and violence (most renowned as shown in Dracula 1931 and Jaws 1975). Back then they could easily use props such as teeth and blood as a key feature to attract audiences. As time goes on you see a development of humans becoming the antagonists. Due to a greater scientific understanding of psychology films portraying madness such as Psycho 1960 became significantly successful. Furthermore, into the 70s the benefits of using children as a antagonist was realised. Typically kids being shy and innocent, the idea of them being evil was not only frightening but proved enticing to audiences. The ever growing fear of gun/weapon control, particularly in America has also seen wide popularity towards the Slasher and Home Invasion genres. The films portray real life concepts which therefore scare people more when watching them. In addition, antagonists have become more intelligent. Unlike a monster, there seems to be an attraction to films (predominantly thrillers) that keep the audience on their toes. The Purge 2013 is a prime example, as the antagonists wear masks, not only appearing more sinister but also showing a cunning side of the story which makes audience think. In the past decade the Psychological and Paranormal sub genres have taken hold. From the overwhelming success of the first Paranormal activity film, it is clear through the now advanced special effects and use of editing technology, fear of the unknown plays a huge role in film plots.
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