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Which theoretical framework will you use to better answer your questions?  

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Which theoretical framework will you use to better answer your questions?  

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I will examine the "monster within" by examining American horror films from the context of sexuality and violence. Ideas of Id, ego, and Superego shall be utilized in order to examine characters within the movies.

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The films that I will focus on are: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde
Director: Rouben Mamoulian
The Hills have Eyes
Director: Alexandre Aja
The Night of the Living Dead
Director: George A. Romero

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What will your paper contribute to better understanding your topic? 

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What will your paper contribute to better understanding your topic? 

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-Understand the subtle message of horror films
-Understand Id, Ego, and Superego in context of return of the repressed
-Connection between horror films and sexuality/violence

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American horror films contain the fear of the "monster within". This fear resembles the repressed tension of people within society. Throughout the day people repress unacceptable ideas of sex and violence according to society. When a person fails to repress these tensions the "monster within" can get loose.

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Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde is an 1886 Gothic novella by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson. It follows Gabriel John Utterson, a London-based legal practitioner who investigates a series of strange occurrences between his old friend Dr Henry Jekyll and a murderous criminal named Edward Hyde.

Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde is one of the most famous pieces of English literature, and is considered to be a defining book of the gothic horror genre. The novella has also had a sizable impact on popular culture, with the phrase "Jekyll and Hyde" being used in vernacular to refer to people with an outwardly good but sometimes shockingly evil nature.

Robert Louis Stevenson in 1885

Stevenson had long been intrigued by the idea of how human personalities can reflect the interplay of good and evil. While still a teenager, he developed a script for a play about William Brodie, which he later reworked with the help of W. E. Henley and which was produced for the first time in 1882. In early 1884, he wrote the short story " Markheim", which he revised in 1884 for publication in a Christmas annual.

Inspiration may also have come from the writer's friendship with an Edinburgh-based French teacher, Eugene Chantrelle, who was convicted and executed for the murder of his wife in May 1878. Chantrelle, who had appeared to lead a normal life in the city, poisoned his wife with opium. According to author Jeremy Hodges, Stevenson was present throughout the trial and as "the evidence unfolded he found himself, like Dr Jekyll, 'aghast before the acts of Edward Hyde'." Moreover, it was believed that the teacher had committed other murders both in France and Britain by poisoning his victims at supper parties with a "favourite dish of toasted cheese and opium".

The novella was written in the southern English seaside town of Bournemouth in Hampshire, where Stevenson had moved in 1884 to benefit from its sea air and warmer climate.

According to his essay "A Chapter on Dreams" (Scribner's, Jan. 1888), he racked his brains for an idea for a story and had a dream, and upon waking had the idea for two or three scenes that would appear in the story Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. Biographer Graham Balfour quoted Stevenson's wife, Fanny Stevenson:

In the small hours of one morning,[...] I was awakened by cries of horror from Louis. Thinking he had a nightmare, I awakened him. He said angrily: "Why did you wake me? I was dreaming a fine bogey tale." I had awakened him at the first transformation scene.

Lloyd Osbourne, Stevenson's stepson, wrote: "I don't believe that there was ever such a literary feat before as the writing of Dr Jekyll. I remember the first reading as though it were yesterday. Louis came downstairs in a fever; read nearly half the book aloud; and then, while we were still gasping, he was away again, and busy writing. I doubt if the first draft took so long as three days."

As was customary, Mrs. Stevenson would read the draft and offer her criticisms in the margins. Robert was confined to bed at the time from a haemorrhage. In her comments in the manuscript, she observed that in effect the story was really an allegory, but Robert was writing it as a story. After a while, Robert called her back into the bedroom and pointed to a pile of ashes: he had burnt the manuscript in fear that he would try to salvage it, and thus forced himself to start again from nothing, writing an allegorical story as she had suggested. Scholars debate whether he really burnt his manuscript; there is no direct factual evidence for the burning, but it remains an integral part of the history of the novella. In another version of the story, Stevenson came downstairs to read the manuscript for his wife and stepson. Enraged by his wife's criticism, he went back to his room, only to come back later admitting she was right. He then threw the original draft into the fire, and stopped his wife and stepson from rescuing it.

Stevenson's house Skerryvore in the southern English coastal town of Bournemouth where he wrote Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

Stevenson rewrote the story in three to six days. A number of later biographers have alleged that Stevenson was on drugs during the frantic re-write: for example, William Gray's revisionist history A Literary Life (2004) said he used cocaine, while other biographers said he used ergot. However, the standard history, according to the accounts of his wife and son (and himself), says he was bed-ridden and sick while writing it. According to Osbourne, "The mere physical feat was tremendous, and, instead of harming him, it roused and cheered him inexpressibly". He continued to refine the work for four to six weeks after the initial revision.

The name Jekyll was borrowed from the Reverend Walter Jekyll, a friend of Stevenson and younger brother of horticulturalist and landscape designer Gertrude Jekyll.

Gabriel John Utterson and his cousin Richard Enfield are on their weekly walk when they reach the door of a large house located down a by-street in a busy quarter of London. Enfield tells Utterson that months ago, at three o'clock in the morning, he saw a sinister-looking man named Edward Hyde trample a young girl after accidentally bumping into her. Enfield forced Hyde to pay her family £100 to avoid a scandal. Hyde brought Enfield to this door and gave him a cheque signed by a reputable gentleman later revealed to be Doctor Henry Jekyll, Utterson's friend and client. Utterson fears Hyde is blackmailing Jekyll, as Jekyll recently changed his will to make Hyde the sole beneficiary in the event of Jekyll's death or disappearance. When Utterson tries to discuss Hyde with Jekyll, Jekyll says he can get rid of Hyde when he wants and asks him to drop the matter.

A year later in October, a servant sees Hyde beat Sir Danvers Carew, another one of Utterson's clients, to death and leave behind half a broken cane. The police contact Utterson, who leads officers to Hyde's apartment. Hyde has vanished, but they find the other half of the broken cane, which Utterson recognizes as one he had given to Jekyll. Utterson visits Jekyll, who produces a note allegedly written to Jekyll by Hyde, apologizing for the trouble that he has caused. However, Hyde's handwriting is similar to Jekyll's own, leading Utterson to conclude that Jekyll forged the note to protect Hyde.

For two months, Jekyll reverts to his former sociable manner but, in early January, he starts refusing visitors. Dr Hastie Lanyon, a mutual friend of Jekyll and Utterson, dies of shock after receiving information relating to Jekyll. Before his death, Lanyon gives Utterson a letter to be opened after Jekyll's death or disappearance. In late February, during another walk with Enfield, Utterson starts a conversation with Jekyll at his laboratory window. Jekyll suddenly slams the window shut and disappears, shocking and concerning Utterson.

In early March, Jekyll's butler, Mr Poole, visits Utterson and says Jekyll has secluded himself in his laboratory for weeks. Utterson and Poole break into the laboratory, where they find Hyde's body wearing Jekyll's clothes, apparently having killed himself. They find a letter from Jekyll to Utterson. Utterson reads Lanyon's letter, then Jekyll's.

Lanyon's letter reveals his deterioration resulted from the shock of seeing Hyde drink a serum that turned him into Jekyll. Jekyll's letter explains he held himself to strict moral standards publicly, but indulged in unstated vices and struggled with shame. He found a way to transform himself and thereby indulge his vices without fear of detection. Jekyll's transformed body, Hyde, was evil, self-indulgent, and uncaring to anyone but himself. Initially, Jekyll controlled the transformations with the serum, but one night in August, he became Hyde involuntarily in his sleep.

Jekyll resolved to cease becoming Hyde. Despite this, one night he had a moment of weakness and drank the serum. Hyde, his desires having been caged for so long, killed Carew. Horrified, Jekyll tried more adamantly to stop the transformations. Then, in early January, he transformed involuntarily while awake. Far from his laboratory and hunted by the police as a murderer, Hyde needed help to avoid capture. He wrote to Lanyon in Jekyll's hand, asking his friend to bring chemicals from his laboratory. In Lanyon's presence, Hyde mixed the chemicals, drank the serum, and transformed into Jekyll. The shock of the sight instigated Lanyon's deterioration and death. Meanwhile, Jekyll's involuntary transformations increased in frequency and required ever larger doses of the serum to reverse. It was one of these transformations that caused Jekyll to slam his window shut on Utterson.

Eventually, the supply of salt used in the serum ran low, and subsequent batches prepared from new stocks failed to work. Jekyll speculated that the original ingredient had some impurity that made it work. Realizing that he would stay transformed as Hyde, Jekyll wrote out a full account of the events. Jekyll ends by saying that he does not know if Hyde will be executed or if he will find the courage to commit suicide first, but he does not care, because he (Jekyll) is dying imminently, and whatever happens next happens to someone other than him.

Gabriel John Utterson, a lawyer, has been a close loyal friend of Jekyll and Lanyon for many years. Utterson is a measured and at all times emotionless bachelor - who nonetheless seems believable, trustworthy, tolerant of the faults of others, and indeed genuinely likeable. However, Utterson is not immune to guilt, as, while he is quick to investigate and judge the faults of others even for the benefit of his friends, Stevenson states that "he was humbled to the dust by the many ill things he had done". Whatever these "ill things" may be, he does not partake in gossip or other views of the upper class out of respect for his fellow man. Often the last remaining friend of the downfallen, he finds an interest in others' downfalls, which creates a spark of interest not only in Jekyll but also regarding Hyde. He concludes that human downfall results from indulging oneself in topics of interest. As a result of this line of reasoning, he lives life as a recluse and "dampens his taste for the finer items of life". Utterson concludes that Jekyll lives life as he wishes by enjoying his occupation.

Dr Henry Jekyll/Mr Edward Hyde

Based in Soho in London's West End, Dr Jekyll is a "large, well-made, smooth-faced man of fifty with something of a slyish cast", who sometimes feels he is battling between the good and evil within himself, leading to the struggle between his dual personalities of Henry Jekyll and Edward Hyde. He has spent a great part of his life trying to repress evil urges that were not fitting for a man of his stature. He creates a serum, or potion, in an attempt to separate this hidden evil from his personality. In doing so, Jekyll transformed into the smaller, younger, cruel, remorseless, and evil Hyde. Jekyll has many friends and an amiable personality, but as Hyde, he becomes mysterious and violent. As time goes by, Hyde grows in power. After taking the potion repeatedly, he no longer relies upon it to unleash his inner demon, i.e., his alter ego. Eventually, Hyde grows so strong that Jekyll becomes reliant on the potion to remain conscious throughout the book.

Richard Enfield is Utterson's cousin and is a well-known "man about town". He first sees Hyde at about three in the morning in an episode that is well documented as Hyde is running over a little girl. He is the person who mentions to Utterson the actual personality of Jekyll's friend, Hyde. Enfield witnessed Hyde recklessly running over a little girl in the street and the group of witnesses, with the girl's parents and other residents, force Hyde into writing a cheque for the girl's family. Enfield discovers that Jekyll signed the cheque, which is genuine. He says that Hyde is disgusting-looking but finds himself stumped when asked to describe the man.

A longtime friend of Jekyll, Hastie Lanyon disagrees with Jekyll's "scientific" concepts, which Lanyon describes as "...too fanciful". He is the first person to discover Hyde's true identity (Hyde transforms himself back into Jekyll in Lanyon's presence). Lanyon helps Utterson solve the case when he describes the letter given to him by Jekyll and his thoughts and reactions to the transformation. After he witnesses the transformation process (and subsequently hears Jekyll's private confession, made to him alone), Lanyon becomes shocked into critical illness and, later, death.

Poole is Jekyll's butler who has been employed by him for many years. Poole serves Jekyll faithfully and attempts to be loyal to his master, but the growing reclusiveness of and changes in his master cause him growing concern. Finally fearing that his master has been murdered and that his murderer, Mr Hyde, is residing in Jekyll's chambers, Poole is driven into going to Utterson and joining forces with him to uncover the truth. He chops down the door towards Jekyll's lab to aid Utterson in the climax.

Utterson joins this Scotland Yard inspector after the murder of Sir Danvers Carew. They explore Hyde's loft in Soho and discover evidence of his depraved life.

Sir Danvers Carew, MP

A kind, 70-year-old Member of Parliament. The maid claims that Hyde, in a murderous rage, killed Carew in the streets of London on the night of 18 October. At the time of his death, Carew is carrying on his person a letter addressed to Utterson, and the broken half of one of Jekyll's walking sticks is found on his body.

A maid, whose employer - presumably Jekyll - Hyde had once visited, is the only person who has witnessed the murder of Sir Danvers Carew. She saw Hyde murder Carew with Jekyll's cane and his feet. Having fainted after seeing what happened, she then wakes up and rushes to the police, thus initiating the murder case of Sir Danvers Carew.

Richard Mansfield was mostly known for his dual role depicted in this double exposure. The stage adaptation opened in Boston in 1887, a year after the publication of the novella. (picture 1895)

Literary genres that critics have applied as a framework for interpreting the novel include religious allegory, fable, detective story, sensation fiction, doppelgänger literature, Scottish devil tales, and Gothic novel.

The novella is frequently interpreted as an examination of the duality of human nature, usually expressed as an inner struggle between good and evil, with variations such as human versus animal, civility versus barbarism sometimes substituted, the main point being that of an essential inner struggle between the one and other, and that the failure to accept this tension results in evil, or barbarity, or animal violence, being projected onto others. In Freudian theory, the thoughts and desires banished to the unconscious mind motivate the behaviour of the conscious mind. Banishing evil to the unconscious mind in an attempt to achieve perfect goodness can result in the development of a Mr Hyde-type aspect to one's character.

In Christian theology, Satan's fall from Heaven is due to his refusal to accept that he is a created being (that he has a dual nature) and is not God. This idea is suggested when Hyde says to Lanyon, shortly before drinking the famous potion: "your sight shall be blasted by a prodigy to stagger the unbelief of Satan." This is because, in Christianity, pride (to consider oneself as without sin or without evil) is a sin, as it is the precursor to evil itself.

In his discussion of the novel, Vladimir Nabokov argues that the "good versus evil" view of the novel is misleading, as Jekyll himself is not, by Victorian standards, a morally good person in some cases.

Id, ego and super-ego

According to the theory about the id, ego and super-ego, Mr Hyde is the id which is driven by primal urges, instincts, and immediate gratification, the super-ego is represented by the expectations and morals of Victorian society, and Dr Jekyll is the rational and conscious ego which acts as a balance between the id and super-ego. When Jekyll transforms into Hyde, the ego is suppressed, and the id is no longer held back by either the ego or the super-ego.

The work is commonly associated today with the Victorian concern over the public and private division, the individual's sense of playing a part and the class division of London. In this respect, the novella has also been noted as "one of the best guidebooks of the Victorian era" because of its piercing description of the fundamental dichotomy of the 19th century "outward respectability and inward lust", as this period had a tendency for social hypocrisy.

Another common interpretation sees the novella's duality as representative of Scotland and the Scottish character. In this reading, the duality represents the national and linguistic dualities inherent in Scotland's relationship with wider Britain and the English language, respectively, and also the repressive effects of the Church of Scotland on the Scottish character. A further parallel is also drawn with the city of Edinburgh itself, Stevenson's birthplace, which consists of two distinct parts: the old medieval section historically inhabited by the city's poor, where the dark crowded slums were rife with all types of crime, and the modern Georgian area of wide spacious streets representing respectability.

Some scholars have argued that addiction or substance abuse is a central theme in the novella. Stevenson's depiction of Mr Hyde is reminiscent of descriptions of substance abuse in the nineteenth century. Daniel L. Wright describes Dr Jekyll as "not so much a man of conflicted personality as a man suffering from the ravages of addiction". Patricia Comitini argues that the central duality in the novella is in fact not Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde but rather Dr Jekyll/Mr Hyde and Utterson, where Utterson represents the rational, unaddicted, ideal Victorian subject devoid of forbidden desires, and Dr Jekyll/Mr Hyde constitutes his opposite.

The publication of The Origin of Species had a significant impact on Victorian society. Many did not fully understand the concepts of evolution, and assumed Darwin meant humans had evolved directly from apes, and that if it was possible to evolve into humans, it was also possible to degenerate into something more ape-like and primitive. Mr Hyde is described as a more primitive and less developed version of Dr Jekyll, and gradually Hyde becomes more bestial as his degeneration progress.

The novel was written at a time when the Labouchere Amendment was published, criminalizing homosexuality. The discourse on sex in general had become a secret and repressed desire, while homosexuality was not even to be thought about. This represents Mr. Hyde, whose purpose is to fulfill all of Dr. Jekyll's repressed desires. The lack of prominent women in the novel also helps to create a homosexual interpretation, since the focus is on romanticizing bachelor boyhood for men. There were some things that Dr. Jekyll did as Mr. Hyde that he was too embarrassed to confess for, even on his deathbed, which follows the secrecy and shame of homosexuality in the Victorian era. Lanyon also refused to speak, sparing Jekyll the embarrassment and criminality of being known as a homosexual.

The book was initially sold as a paperback for one shilling in the U.K. These books were called "shilling shockers" or penny dreadfuls. The American publisher issued the book on 5 January 1886, four days before the first appearance of the U.K. edition issued by Longmans; Scribner's published 3,000 copies, only 1,250 of them bound in cloth. Initially, stores did not stock it until a review appeared in on 25 January 1886 giving it a favourable reception. Within the next six months, close to 40 thousand copies were sold. As Stevenson's biographer Graham Balfour wrote in 1901, the book's success was probably due rather to the "moral instincts of the public" than to any conscious perception of the merits of its art. It was read by those who never read fiction and quoted in pulpit sermons and in religious papers. By 1901, it was estimated to have sold over 250,000 copies in the United States.

Although the book had initially been published as a "shilling shocker", it was an immediate success and one of Stevenson's best-selling works. Stage adaptations began in Boston and London and soon moved all across England and then towards his home country of Scotland.

The first stage adaptation followed the story's initial publication in 1886. Richard Mansfield bought the rights from Stevenson and worked with Boston author Thomas Russell Sullivan to write a script. The resulting play added to the cast of characters and some elements of romance to the plot. The addition of female characters to the originally male-centred plot continued in later adaptations of the story. The first performance of the play took place in the Boston Museum in May 1887. The lighting effects and makeup for Jekyll's transformation into Hyde created horrified reactions from the audience, and the play was so successful that production followed in London. After a successful 10 weeks in London in 1888, Mansfield was forced to close down production. The hysteria surrounding the Jack the Ripper serial murders led even those who only played murderers on stage to be considered suspects. When Mansfield was mentioned in London newspapers as a possible suspect for the crimes, he shut down production.

There have been numerous adaptations of the novella, including over 120 stage and film versions alone.

There have also been many audio recordings of the novella, with some of the more famous readers including Tom Baker, Roger Rees, Christopher Lee, Udo Kier, Anthony Quayle, Martin Jarvis, Tim Pigott-Smith, John Hurt, Ian Holm, Gene Lockhart, Richard Armitage, John Sessions, Alan Howard, Rory Kinnear and Richard E. Grant.

A 1990 musical based on the story was created by Frank Wildhorn, Steve Cuden, and Leslie Bricusse.

There have also been several video games based on the story, such as "Jekyll and Hyde", published by MazM.

S. G. Hulme Beaman illustrated a 1930s edition, and in 1948 Mervyn Peake provided the newly founded Folio Society with memorable illustrations for the story.

The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner by James Hogg, one possible source of inspiration

The Hulk, a fictional superhero whose creation was inspired by a combination of Frankenstein and Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.

Louis Vivet, a mental patient diagnosed with dissociative identity disorder. His case caught Frederic W. H. Myers's attention, who wrote to Stevenson after the story was published. Stevenson was polite in his response, but rejected the interpretation that Dr Jekyll was suffering from DID.

British singer Example directly references Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde in his song "Skies Don't Lie". The song lyrics, referring to the duality of human character, read "don't discriminate Jekyll or Hyde, everybody's different at night".

Five Finger Death Punch, a heavy metal band, has a song by the name of "Jekyll and Hyde" in their sixth album Got Your Six.

Monster High, a fashion doll franchise, has two different iterations of the sons of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.

Katherine B. Linehan, ed. (2003). Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. Norton Critical Edition, W. W. Norton & Co. Text, annotations, contextual essays, and criticism. ISBN 0-393-97465-0

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Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde - Wikipedia

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Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde is an 1886 Gothic novella by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson. It follows Gabriel John Utterson, a London-based legal practitioner who investigates a series of strange occurrences between his old friend Dr Henry Jekyll and a murderous criminal named Edward Hyde.

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The Hills Have Eyes (1977 film) - Wikipedia

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The Hills Have Eyes is a 1977 American exploitation- horror film written, directed, and edited by Wes Craven and starring Susan Lanier, Michael Berryman and Dee Wallace. It is about a family that is targeted by a family of savages after being stranded in the Nevada desert.

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IS SO MUCH VIOLENCE IN FILMS NECESSARY ? on JSTOR

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Fredric Wertham, IS SO MUCH VIOLENCE IN FILMS NECESSARY ?, Cinéaste, Vol. 2, No. 1 (5) (SUMMER, 1968), pp. 4-6, 36

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What's weighing on Americans? Look to horror movies for your answer-they're one of the best measures of the American consciousness. From an early fascination with the Gothic, to the mutant horrors of the Atomic Age and alien enemies of the Cold War, to the inner demons of the psyche and the American Dream turned nightmare, the history of American horror films is a reflection of changing American cultural attitudes and values-and the fears that accompany them. This survey of the pivotal horror films produced in America examines the history of the genre as a reflection of cultural changes in the United States. It begins with an exploration of the origins of the genre, and follows its development until the present, using various films to document the evolution of Hollywood horror flicks and illustrate their cultural significance. The second part focuses on eight pivotal directors whose personal visions helped shape the genre-from early pioneers like Tod Browning and Alfred Hitchcock, to modern masters like John Carpenter and Wes Craven. Instructors considering this book for use in a course may request an examination copy here.

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What's weighing on Americans? Look to horror movies for your answer-they're one of the best measures of the American consciousness. From an early fascination with the Gothic, to the mutant horrors of the Atomic Age and alien enemies of the Cold War, to the inner demons of the psyche and the American Dream turned nightmare, the history of American horror films is a reflection of changing American cultural attitudes and values-and the fears that accompany them.

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Better Off Dead: The Evolution of the Zombie as Post-Human: The Evolution of the Zombie as Post-Human on JSTOR

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In an age where anxiety pervades our culture, Better Off Dead explores whether the zombie resembles our pre-historic past or acts as a mirror showing our presen...

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Since 1968's Night of the Living Dead, zombie culture has steadily limped and clawed its way into the center of popular culture. Today, zombies and vampires have taken over TV shows, comic books, cartoons, video games, and movies. Zombies, Vampires, and Philosophy drags the theories of famous philosophers like Socrates and Descartes into the territory of the undead, exploring questions like: Why do vampires and vegetarians share a similar worldview? Why is understanding zombies the key to health care reform? And what does "healthy in mind and body" mean for vampires and zombies? Answers to these questions and more await readers brave enough to make this fun, philosophical foray into the undead.

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Since 1968's Night of the Living Dead, zombie culture has steadily limped and clawed its way into the center of popular culture. Today, zombies and vampires have taken over TV shows, comic books, cartoons, video games, and movies.

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The proliferation of zombie-related fiction, film, games, events, and other media in the last decade would seem to indicate that zombies are "the new vampires" in popular culture. The editors and contributors of Encyclopedia of the Zombie: The Walking Dead in Popular Culture and Myth took on the prodigious task of covering all aspects of the phenomenon, from the less-known historical and cultural origins of the zombie myth to the significant works of film and literature as well as video games in the modern day that feature the insatiable, relentless zombie character.

The encyclopedia examines a wide range of significant topics pertaining to zombies, such as zombies in the pulp magazines; the creation of the figure of the zuvembie to subvert decades of censorship by the Comics Code of Authority; Humans vs. Zombies, a popular zombie-themed game played on college campuses across the country; and annual Halloween zombie walks. Organized alphabetically to facilitate use of the encyclopedia as a research tool, it also includes entries on important scholarly works in the expanding field of zombie studies.

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Encyclopedia of the Zombie: The Walking Dead in Popular Culture and Myth

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The proliferation of zombie-related fiction, film, games, events, and other media in the last decade would seem to indicate that zombies are "the new vampires" in popular culture.

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The Modern Horror Movie, Text and Subtext

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The Modern Horror Movie, Text and Subtext

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One must go beyond the movie screen, actors, action, drama to understand the subtle.

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Danse Macabre examines the various influences on King's own writing, and important genre texts of the 19th and 20th centuries. Danse Macabre explores the history of the genre as far back as the Victorian era, but primarily focuses on the 1950s to the 1970s (roughly the era covering King's own life at the time of publication).

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Essay Summary: Why We Crave Horror Movies - Samantha WRT1010

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Are we all insane?

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Why We Crave Horror Movies
Stephen King
A hotel with ghosts as its guests, a downtrodden teenager whose teleki
netic powers wreak havoc at her prom, a giant dog from hell, a satanic antique
store owner ... all are products of the fertile (and some would say twisted)
imagination of Stephen King, whose books are so widely l'ead-and the
movies made from them so popularly viewed-that his creations may well
have become part of the American collective consciousness. In the following
article, King takes a break from story-telling to reflect on the genre that has
brought him worldwide recognition.
King begins by stating a bold and not entirely tongue-in-cheek premise:
"I think that we are all mentally ill." Underneath a frequently thin veneer of
civilization, he suggests, we all have fears, homicidal rages, and sexual de
sires"-baser urges which he calls "anticivilization emotions"-a11d the
function of horror movies is to appeal to those dark elements within ourselves
and therefore reduce their psychic energy. Thus purged of our negative im
pulses, we can go on to engage in positive feelings of love, friendship, loyalty
and kindness. According to King, then, horror movies serve an important reg
ulating function, defusing people's destructive urges and helping to maintain
a society's psychic equilibrium.
Before you read this article, consider your own feelings about portray
als of the macabre, especially in films. If you enjoy horror movies, are you
drawn to them for the reasons Stephen King suggests-that is, do you have
deep-seated fears, angry urges, or inappropriate sexual drives that need defus
are there other factors involved which King has not considered? More
to the point, how do you respond to King's basic premise: that everyone is in
some sense mentally im
I think that we're all mentally ill; those of us outside the asylwns
only hide it a little better-and maybe not all that much better, after
all. We've all known people who talk to themselves, people who
sometimes squinch their faces into horrible grimaces when they be
lieve no one is watching, people who have some hysterical
snakes, the dark, the tight place, the long drop . . . and, of course, those
final worms and grubs that are waiting so patiently underground.
King I Why We Crave Horror Movies
517
When we pay our four or five bucks and seat ourselves at tenth 2
row center in a theater shOWing a horror movie, we are daring the
nightmare.
Why? Some of the reasons are simple and obvious. To show that 3
we can, that we are not afraid, that we can ride this roller coaster.
Which is not to say that a really good horror movie may not surprise a
scream out of us at some point, the way we may scream when the
roller coaster twists through a complete 360 or plows through a lake at
the bottom of the drop. And horror movies, like roller coasters, have
always been the special province of the young; by the time one turns
40 or 50, one's appetite for double twists or 360-degree loops may be
considerably depleted.
We also go to re-establish our feelings of essential normality; the 4
horror movie is innately conservative, even reactionary. Freda Jackson
as the horrible melting woman in Die, Monster, Die! confirms for us that
no matter how far we may be removed from the beauty of a Robert Red
ford or a Diana Ross, we are still light-years from true ugliness.
And we go to have fun. 5
All, but this is where the ground starts to slope away, isn't it? Be 6
cause this is a very peculiar sort of fun indeed. The fun comes from
seeing others menaced-sometimes killed. One critic has suggested
that if pro football has become the voyeur's version of combat, then
the horror film has become the modern version of the public lynching.
It is true that the mythic, "fairy tale" horror film intends to take 7
away the shades of gray .. . It urges us to put away our more civilized
and adult penchant for analysis and to become children again, seeing
things in pure blacks and whites. It may be that horror movies provide
psychic relief on this level because this invitation to lapse into simplic
ity, irrationality and even outright madness is extended so rarely. We
are told we may allow our emotions a free rein ... or no rein at all.
If we are aU insane, then sanity becomes a matter of degree. If 8
your insanity leads you to carve up women like Jack the Ripper or the
Cleveland Torso Murderer, we clap you away in the funny farm (but
neither of those two amateur-night surgeons was ever caught, heh
heh-heh); if, on the other hand your insanity leads you only to talk to
yourself when you're under stress or to pick your nose on the morning
bus, then you are left alone to go about your business. " though it is
doubtful that you will ever be invited to the best parties.
The potential lyncher is in almost all of us (excluding saints, past 9
and present; but then, most saints have been crazy in their own ways),
and every now and then, he has to be let loose to scream and roll
around in the grass. Our emotions and our fears form their own body,
and we recognize that it demands its own exercise to maintain proper
muscle tone. Certain of these emotional muscles are accepted--even
518
519 Movies
exalted-in civilized society; they are, of course, the emotions that
tend to maintain the status quo of civilization itself. Love, friendship,
loyalty, kindness-these are all the emotions that we applaud, emo
tions that have been immortalized in the couplets of Hallmark cards
and in the verses (I don't dare call it poetry) of Leonard Nimoy.
When we exhibit these emotions, society showers us with posi- 10
tive reinforcement; we learn this even before we get out of diapers.
When, as children, we hug our rotten little puke of a sister and give
her a kiss, all the aunts and uncles smile and twit and cry, "Isn't he the
sweetest little thing?" Such coveted treats as chocolate-covered gra
ham crackers often follow. But if we deliberately slam the rotten little
puke of a sister's fingers in the door, sanctions follow-angry remon
strance from parents, aunts and uncles; instead of a chocolate-covered
graham cracker, a spanking.
But anticivilization emotions don't go away, and they demand 11
periodic exercise. We have such "sick" jokes as, "What's the difference
between a truckload of bowling balls and a truckload of dead babies?
(You can' t unload a truckload of bowling balls with a pitchfork .. . a
joke, by the way, that I heard originally from a ten-year-old.) Such a
joke may surprise a laugh or a grin out of us even as we recoil, a possi
bility that confirms the thesis: If we share a brotherhood of man, then
we also share an insanity of man. None of which is intended as a de
fense of either the sick joke or insanity but merely as an explanation of
why the best horror films, like the best fairy tales, manage to be reac
tionary, anarchistic, and revolutionary all at the same time.
The mythic horror movie, like the sick joke, has a dirty job to do. It 12
deliberately appeals to all that is worst in us. It is morbidity unchained,
our most base instincts let free, our nastiest fantasies realized ... and it all
happens, fittingly enough, in the dark. For those reasons, good liberals
often shy away from horror films. For myself, I like to see the most ag
gressive of them-Dawn of the Dead, for instance-as lifting a trap door
in the civilized forebrain and throwing a basket of raw meat to the hun
gry alligators swimming around in that subterranean river beneath.
Why bother? Because it keeps them from getting out, man. It
keeps them down there and me up here. It was Lennon and McCart
ney who said that all you need is love, and I would agree with that.
As long as you keep the gators fed.
Examining the Text
1. How seriously do you think King expects readers to take his open
ing statement? What evidence does he offer to support his assertion?
Does disagreeing with him here mean that you must automatically re
* * " , ' , . __ L _[ t...:_ of horror movies?
Evans I Monster Movies: A Sexual Theory
2. King states that the horror movie is "innately conservative, even re
actionary" (paragraph 4). Is he using these terms politically or in an
other sense? In what ways can horror movies be seen as "reactionary,
anarchistic, and revolutionary all at the same time" (11)?
3. King basically offers three reasons for the popularity of horror
movies (3, 4, and 5-14); obviously the third is his main. thesis. Summa
rize King's three reasons. Which do you find most persuasive, and
why? Can you offer any other reasons?
4. King's tone throughout this essay is quite informal (it was origi
nally published, by the way, in Playboy magazine). Find several exam
ples that illustrate his informality and describe the overall effect.
For Group Discussion
For the sake of discussion, accept King's premise that we all have
"anticivilization emotions" (11). List as a group some other things be
sides horror movies and "sick" jokes that we use to purge these emo
tions and "keep the gators fed." As a class, consider the extent to
which these examples are products of contemporary society and what
this suggests about how our psychic behaves differ from those of peo
ple who lived a century or more ago.
Writing Suggestion
Consider several of your favorite horror movies. In an essay ana
lyze these in light of King's theories about the horror genre's appeal.
Do your examples support or disprove King's point about the dare
devil, normative, and psychological function of horror movies?
Monster Movies: A Sexual Theory
Walter Evans
In an essay earlier in this chapter, Mark Schaefermeyer breaks film crit
icism down into three categories: semiotic critics look for signs and relation
ships among images in films; contextual critics examine movies in a specific
context, focusing, for example, on a director's style or on a movie as a repre
sentative of a particular genre; and structuralists look at films from the per
spective of a certain theory or belief system, whether mythic, political,
psychological, or historical. Walter Evans, the author of the following essay,
b,elongs to the last of these camps. In "Monster Movies: A Sexual Theory," he
relies on a psychological approach to human sexual development to explain
why monster movies are especially appealing to adolescents. Compared with
S!qJhen King's explanation, Evans's is both more limited and more detailed.

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Stephen King -- Why We Crave Horror Movies

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Why We Crave Horror Movies Stephen KingA hotel with ghosts as its guests, a downtrodden teenager whose teleki­netic powers wreak havoc at her prom, a giant dog from hell, a satanic antiquestore owner ...