creep

Creep

Synopsis:

Two men are working in the sewers one man dies the other is assumed to have been attacked. We are introduced to a woman who is exited to be going to a party were she will be meeting George Clooney however unfortunately her friends leave without her and she is left to get a cab to the train station. She falls asleep and misses the last train, she realises she has been locked in in her attempt to get out of the station she experiences many disturbing and horrific murder events and all caused by an individual who we later on realise is Craig who was a test baby for a scientist. It ends with her in the morning sitting in the train station in a state that people think she is a homeless.

Horror genre:

Has the setting of an underground (dark, excluded from the out side) also the creep the bad character that murders, very much a bloody film and also the survivor.

Horrific?

The events that occur in this film are very horrific. The facts of knowing that you have been locked into a place were you are all-alone and not being free until the morning is scary as it is. The is the part where the man attempts to rape her is very horrific the knowledge of knowing that there is no one around to help her. The murders each in themselves are extremely horrific seeing every murder in one night is extremely disturbing and then also the character of the creep s a horrifically displayed character in the film. In the end where Kate is sitting in the train station is awful as everyone entering the station think she is a homeless person.

Key scenes:

The sewer scene.

Kate falling asleep.

The first time of seeing the creep scene.

The scene where we establish that the “creep” is actually an experiment made by the scientist and his name is Craig.

The final scene of her sitting on the platform of the station.

The horror of Dracula

The horror of Dracula

Synopsis:

 Jonathan harker travels to count Dracula’s castle and playing the part of a librarian for the castle. In an attack caused by Draculas’ bride Dracula unfortunately kills him. Van helsing comes to look for harker discovering that he has died and therefore goes on a quest to find count Dracula and kill him. Along the way van helsing manages to become the hero and save the women of the film and eventually slay Dracula.

Horror film genre:

There are gothical horror elements such as the eagle at the beginning. There is blood and gore in the film villan  (Dracula) protagonist (van helsing) the setting of a deserted castle and also the system of women breaking the rules of horror must be punished.

Contextualising:

 In 1958 women had a lack of free expression and the atmosphere was of a sexist environment this is defiantly portrayed in the film as we see many example of women being shown as inferior to men. Women were seen more as objects than equal beings.

When this film was first released it was an x rated film it is now rated a 12A.

28 days later

28 DAYS LATER

Synopsis:

Britain has previously been infected with an extremely dangerous virus. Character (Jim) wakes up to a deserted country and wreckage everywhere. He is not up to date with what’s has happened but is a survivor. He is found by two fellow survivors a series of events take place where he loses friends but also gains some on the way he left only Jim, Selena and Hannah they eventually reach there destination of which they were expecting to be safe and have the army rescue them however it did not turn out this way and after more bad events they are left to escape which results in better things as they are found by a helicopter and saved.

Conventions of horror genre to fit the film:

The survivors in the film were Jim, Serena and Hannah. Iconographic features e.g. blood, deserted location (Britain after infections spread). Also the hero in the film or antagonist is Jim.

Horrific:

The horrific features of the film could be the blood gore and destruction shown throughout. The way in which people are killed. Wakening up to what feels like a world all alone no one left. The issue of the infection that is extremely contagious. The devastation on seeing someone you have been drawn to come close to die in front of you.

What makes this distinctively a British film?

The location the films set in London signifying that its British.

 The accents of the characters are all British actors. 

Van helsing

Van Helsing

Van Helsing is first introduced to us in hid desire to find his friend Harker who is in quest to find count Dracula and kill him. He comes across as an intelligent man by his mannerisms and the fact that he is a doctor. He asks for information and receives the diary of harker therefore he realises that he is dead and now can further knowledge himself about the whereabouts of Dracula.

As a man we automatically relies that he is a strong character in the film. The holmewood family confide in him as a second opinion doctor for Lucy Holmwood. Van Helsing can see the signs of vampire bites and knows automatically the problem for Lucy’s sickness this tells us that he is an alert character and his intelligence over the first doctor becomes apparent. In the film van helsing is very much the heroic character. The women in the film become independent upon van helsing he is shown as the character who is there to save the day and save the damsel in distresses.  He is shown to be a strong character role as he deals with all the trouble that appears and survives until the end with no bites. 

notes diagram for Dracula

notes on Dracula

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the horror of Dracula essay

Charlotte singleton.   Film essay

How are women represented as inferior and sexualised beings in ‘The horror of Dracula’? 

The horror of Dracula is a Terrance Fisher, hammer horror film that is very much a gothical horror. It was released 16^th June 1958 however the film was set in may 1885 at this time period women were on a different sphere to men. The issue of women being inferior and a lower gender to men was very much an issue at this time of which the film was made. Women where seen to stay at home and do the household chore’s and to have and look after the children.

At the beginning of the film we see a women who lives in Draculas castle she is specifically pinpointed to the statement of ‘women being inferior and sexualised in the film’. We see her asking /begging for help from Harker. Fisher has used this showing women having to rely on men for help and support which makes the male feel they have a higher status in life as they see women to be reliant upon them rather than independent. Also a woman in need of help fits the category of damsel in distress. Continuing to focus on how the statement could fit the first woman in the film we see her low cut dress would have been quite inappropriate and is drawing attention to her assets which places her as a sexualised being. She has to flaunt herself to be noticed by men, which makes her venerable as well as sexualised. The red lipstick together with the low cut dress Fisher has made her to be quite a seductive character in the film. The male gaze becomes apparent in this part if the film.

The next victim in the film is Lucy Holmwood who is sick. Dracula targets her. She is represented in a sexualised way as she becomes addicted to Dracula coming to bite her. The fact that she almost has pleasure from it represents her to be inferior by ‘laying herself on a plate’ for Dracula also when we first see her she is represented as an innocent

Young girl with her high cut night gown and her religious cross around her neck however she takes it off and pulls her

Collar down to show her neck. This contrasts our first perception of her and we now think she fits the statement.

On Van Helsing’s way to the castle of Dracula he stops off at the same place of which Harker stopped at the beginning and asks if they know anything about the whereabouts of his friend Harker. We see inferiority of men to women in this scene as the woman openly begins to tell him about what she knows however the owner puts a stop to her freely speaking to him and she then goes quite after the word of the man.  Although she still gives Van Helsing the diary she found the fact that she had to do it secretly shows she could also be classed as an inferior woman in this film.

The maid of the Holmewood house is a woman who has been used to portray the difference between the rich and the poor according to gender. The fact that mina holmewood is a well of women is because she has a husband to be that way however the maid is a single woman and is having to rely on her money wage from Mr Holemwood to keep her going in life. If she were a richer woman she wouldn’t be working as a maid to serve the family. Maybe this is Fishers point of women being inferior to men and only if they were married to a man would they lead a richer life. However I disagree that the maid is shown as a sexualised being in the film. The maid was also shown to be a ‘damsel in distress’ and needed the help from the two men in the house. As she was almost hysterical, Van Helsing slapped her round the face which she took showing the authority of men vs. women although he did not mean it in offence in the modern day that would not be acceptable.

The next victim for Dracula was Mina holmewood. Mina is represented as a richer well-dressed presentable woman in

society she fits the stereotypical wife in the era the film was set in. wearing high collared tops, hair up, minimal makeup etc. however as like Lucy, when Dracula has put his power on her she also wears her hair down lower cut tops and red lipstick and becomes more of a sexualised being in the film. Although she is portrayed to be quite a strong woman at the beginning when meeting her, she also has to rely on the help of the men to release her from the power of Dracula.

In conclusion it is notable that all the victims that are targeted by Dracula are women excluding Harker. The men became the heroes as they saved the day, which just goes to show that the statement could certainly apply to this film only the men could have been heroic. 

Hammer Horror Research

HAMMER HORROR

Hammer is a film production company in the United Kingdom. It was made in 1934; they made a series of films from mid 1950’s-1970s these films were gothic hammer horror. The first hammer horror film was called the curse of Frankenstein may 2^nd 1957 by Terrence fisher.

 Hammer also made a series of what were known as "mini Hitchcock’s"

They were very low-budget suspense thrillers that were in black-and-white.

Laura mulvey

Laura mulvey is a British feminist film theorist. She worked at the British film institute for years. In 2008-2009 Mulvey was the Mary Cornille Distinguished Visiting Professor in the Humanities at Wellesley College.

Mulvey is best known for her essay- visual pleasure and narrative cinema it was written in 1973 and published in 1975 in the influential British film theory journal screen.

The male gaze is were the idea that when we watch a film we watch it from a heterosexual man point of view so we focus on the woman and her curves/figure for longer and things like her legs etc. so we are watching film through a mans point of view