Horror And Comedy

In movies, plot structure helps project the tone of the movie. The generalization of movies usually commences passively, and gradually builds into a climactic scene. Then, it dies down to its peaceful way once more, but usually not in a horror or comedy. Throughout the history of horror and comedy movies, the plots usually ended on that climactic scene and had most of the movie be the foundation for that climax. As time went on, plot structures of the two genres started to develop and one could see that they help convey their tone similarly yet differently at times.

The History of Horror

To most people, horror is the genre that makes them become gregariously incautious, meaning that they treat others without respect. The majority believe that this leads to the massive killings you see on the news. This is the opposite approach a screenwriter takes upon writing a screenplay. The screenwriter wants to allow one viewer to openly express their internal fears with other members of the audience through screams and shrills. Before horror was even meant to hit the big screen, it originated long before then back in 1896.

In France, a film was made and believe it or not, it was a vampire movie. Even back then the approach was still the same and that was to have the audience craving for terror. Again in the 1930s, a horror movie was made and it exemplified the powerful art of cinema early back then and still is stout today. Another famous movie made in the 1930s was Colin Clive's "Frankenstein". This changed the cinematic appearance of horror movies and it opened up suggestions to new experiences. One of them was bringing horror to the silver screen.

Universal Studios became America's production of horror movies. These movies included "Frankenstein", "Dracula" and "The Mummy". "Frankenstein" being the big winner led on to many sequels which definitely lived up to the primary. These included "The Bride of Frankenstein" and "The Son of Frankenstein". In 1932, a movie called "The Dark Old House" was produced and it was the movie said to give "The Bride of Frankenstein" its brilliant touches. This was the first film to ever incorporate comedy and horror to produce a movie categorized as black humor. Following this haunted house story came "The Haunting" and "Amityville Horror".

Hollywood started to become more and more of a rising attribute to the art culture. Horror movies were becoming the base of Hollywood because people kept screaming for more. European horror helped American horror in its way of acting and directing. The vampire movie made back in England used a silent film approach which was still used until the 1980s. In 1934, "The Black Cat" was produced and that's where the real gore began. This was by people being skinned alive. In the early 1940's a movie called "Cat People" was made and it turned all the tables for the artistic possibilities and gave horror a new direction to follow.

In the early to mid 1950s, horror was out of the picture for a while and this is where Sci-Fi turned over. The horror movie scene was arisen when "The Hound of the Baskervilles" was recreated from Arthur Conan Doyle's book back in 1958. This movie showed the technical aspects that were now possible and less expensive. This also showed the most gore that has ever been shown before. From the late 1950s to the early 1960s, a series of movies were made based on Poe's works. These included "The Fall of the House of Usher" and "The Tomb of Ligeia". Then, in 1960, a movie was made and it was about to change the ways of horror forever. It was about to be paving the path for horror movies forever. This movie was "Psycho".

Even though it was low-budget, the movie came to be incredibly moving and the shock value was unbearable. The camera movements and the way Hitchcock allowed the viewer to be sucked into the world of Marion Crane was incredible. In this short time, you were able to relate to her and really get a feel for her personality. This movie was also the first horror movie to use a motif and this was a reflecting mirror. Being that there were a lot of scenes that contained mirrors, it showed the mirroring of her true soul. It built up on the theme of universal guilt and the mirror shows that you can't hide from yourself. This was also the first movie to bring about the scheme of a serial killer. It is said that no movie has ever topped Hitchcock's genius approach. Today's modern horror is just based on blood and guts. At the time of its release, "Psycho" was not favored. As time went on, Psycho received more and more praise and suddenly just burst out to take the title as the "Most Brilliant Horror Movie to be Made".

By the late 1960's gore was starting to become the standard route for the horror genre. A movie called "2,000 Maniacs" was made and it had a scene with a guy rolling down a hill with a barrel full of spikes. A French film in 1965 was made and it was a psychological theme that presented the character through hallucinated images. In 1968, a movie which became a paranoia classic was "Rosemary's Baby". Polanski, the director of the film, portrayed the devil-worshippers as cartoons and this was the path that cleared the way for the seventies horror plan.

The fifties and sixties really blew out the horror genre with the exception of "Psycho" and "Rosemary's Baby". The seventies kicked it back up again when in 1973, "The Exorcist" was created. The reaction to "The Exorcist" was certainly unreal and it opened audiences' eyes everywhere and made them think twice about the devil. The movie haunted some people for days, even weeks. It grew to become AFI's (American Film Institute) number 1 choice for "The Scariest Movie of All Time". Also in 1973, "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" was released and based on a true story as well. This frightened people to know that the killer has never been caught. The movie was low-budget but had high appraisal from reviewers nationally. In 1977, "The Hills Have Eyes" was released by master horror director, Wes Craven. The mixing of fairytale and urban horror gave a new taste to audiences around. In 1978, what was to be the most shocking and intense film ever was going to be released. John Carpenter's low-budget film "Halloween" was brought into the horror movie wave. Its risking camera shots that had Hitchcock angles were just unbelievably satisfying to viewers all over. The overall movie had a purpose, climax, and depth in characterization which is what viewers had been waiting for

...