Horror Movies And Their Cliches
Every Horror movie has succumbed to including cliches. The nerdy girl always outsmarts the killer in slasher movies. The Jock dies. Anyone who drinks or does drugs is surely going to get it. These are the types of things common in scary movies that can be discussed in a film class. The killer always has his face covered in some type of scary or blank mask. The weapon of choice is always a knife. All Horror movie discussions can include these topics of interest. These cliches are very old. They go all the way back to the seventies, yet are still being used in movies today. Oh, we can't forget that almost all horror films feature gore effects of some kind. If the first scary movie in a series has a little bit of blood, you can bet that the sequels will go all out with that stuff.
There is one cliche that isn't talked about too much. It's fairly new and appeared in the late 90s. That is the cliche that talks about the cliche. The self awareness in slasher movies has risen. The characters themselves know what type of characters they are and they go out of their way to say it. This trend was started by the first Scream movie, which was written by Kevin Williamson.
At the time, it was a bold and fresh move. Now, it seems as though every movie has copied that "fresh move" and it is no longer so fresh.
How do the horror pictures of tomorrow cope with staying relevant? They will have to address whatever is going on at the moment and acknowledge the fact that there is an expiration date on their trendiness. Things that are hip and scary will not be in about 5-10 years time. The wheel has to be reinvented over and over again in horror movies. Weather it be the dialogue or special effects, something new has to be added or horror films will cease to exist. We've seen a new cliche popup that dealt with torture, but that has since been played out. It started with Hostel and ended with Saw 3D. Audiences are looking for new devices to keep them entertained and scared. Not surprisingly, a fourth Scream movie is on the horizon. Can Wes Craven and Kevin Williamson reinvent the wheel with their latest movie? Only time will tell, but the odds involving horror sequels are against them.
There is one cliche that isn't talked about too much. It's fairly new and appeared in the late 90s. That is the cliche that talks about the cliche. The self awareness in slasher movies has risen. The characters themselves know what type of characters they are and they go out of their way to say it. This trend was started by the first Scream movie, which was written by Kevin Williamson.
At the time, it was a bold and fresh move. Now, it seems as though every movie has copied that "fresh move" and it is no longer so fresh.
How do the horror pictures of tomorrow cope with staying relevant? They will have to address whatever is going on at the moment and acknowledge the fact that there is an expiration date on their trendiness. Things that are hip and scary will not be in about 5-10 years time. The wheel has to be reinvented over and over again in horror movies. Weather it be the dialogue or special effects, something new has to be added or horror films will cease to exist. We've seen a new cliche popup that dealt with torture, but that has since been played out. It started with Hostel and ended with Saw 3D. Audiences are looking for new devices to keep them entertained and scared. Not surprisingly, a fourth Scream movie is on the horizon. Can Wes Craven and Kevin Williamson reinvent the wheel with their latest movie? Only time will tell, but the odds involving horror sequels are against them.
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