The Horror Film

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Hello Readers! Welcome to Brisa and Karina’s horror blog! Our goal is to not only introduce our readers to old and new horror films, but we will be breaking down the films by analyzing the plots, characters, and giving our own opinions which will allow for our readers to voice their opinions as well. We will also be discussing readings we've discussed throughout the class as well. Throughout the posts, we will be including keywords and themes taken from the course as well as including media to keep our readers entertained such as involving GIFS, video clips, and images. In our blog we will be discussing the themes of the meaning of color, blaxploitation, zombification, contagion, and other interesting topics dealing with horror.

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Readers! Let’s define the themes we’ll discuss throughout the blog.

Blaxploitation: a term for a genre of movies, made particularly in the 1970s, that largely featured Black actors and were aimed at Black audiences.

Contagion: the communication of disease from one person to another by close contact.

Zombification: The changing of the natural behavior of a given creature or entity that is created through introduction of an outside catalystColor in film: certain colors in film elicit certain emotions from the audience

Color in film: certain colors in film elicit certain emotions from the audience

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Get out: Scared Woke

Good day my spooky fans! I’d like to discuss Victor Lee Lewis’s Scared Woke: On Get Out and the Uses of Horror in Transformative Learning. Get out proposes an assumption of the relationship between horror film and literature and the practice of everyday life. In Lewis’s article, he labels the film Get Out as a resource for transformative learning.  Lewis explains how horror is a genre that deals with literature and everyday life that questions true fear instilled in us humans and makes us question the nature of violence and evil. Lewis begins to state that “I have never thought about it until now, it is a vehicle of cultural expression that Black people have that predates the history of cinema. Black America has always been intimately acquainted with personal and pervasive social horror. All Black people recognize the horror in Chris’s face” (Lewis 1). When reading this, it was inevitable to envision the look of horror on Chris’s face as he’s being hypnotized and as tears are streaming down his face. An important take I also took from this is how Jordan Peele successfully lets the white viewer see such ordinary situations through the viewpoint of a Black protagonist. It is an opportunity for Black audiences to validate some of their deepest and most unspoken experiences with Get Out such as existential dread and anxieties. Despite white civility's violent nature, it declares Black creativity.

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Get Out, 2017

Hello reader, I will be talking about the movie itself “Get Out.” I haven’t seen the movie myself but watching this clip above it gives a lot of information about the movie. The main character of the movie is called Chris. He is meeting his girlfriend’s family for the first time and gets some strange looks from the parent’s visitors. Chris and another visitor are the only African Americans present in the scene and Chris asked the visitor about his history with African Americans. The visitor answers the question until Chris snaps a picture of him and goes crazy. The visitor shouts, “GET OUT” while bleeding from his nose and giving him a sign that he should leave the household before it is too late. He, later on, comes back as in nothing happened. This is an example of voodoo happening since the parents are in some type of witchcraft stuff. The girlfriend seems to not know what is going on but Chris is aware something is wrong with her parents. I will definitely now watch the film to see what happens next. 

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Get Out (2017)

My ghouls and goblins! I’ll be closing out the blog by analyzing Jordan Peele’s magnificent Get Out (2017). The film follows couple Chris and Rose, an interracial couple who have finally made it to the point of dating where meeting the parents is necessary. In the beginning of the film, we see the couple in awe of each other and in the honeymoon phase so when the movie takes a dark turn, it’s quite the shock. Rose invites Chris to meet her family on a weekend getaway trip upstate. Missy and Dean, Rose’s parents, immediately are overbearing and overly accommodating which the watchers can mistake for simply adapting to their daughter being in a interracial relationship but we are completely mistaken. The movie begins to become eerie once we notice the behavior of the family starts to become more than just being nervous. We begin to notice at the family reunion how all eyes are on Chris, but  in a extremely disturbing way. The truth begins to unravel about the families true intentions which are completely deranged. After being attacked by the family, Chris realizes he’s being captured in order to be hypnotized and it is later revealed that the white family targets African Americans to do sick twisted surgical procedures where brains are implanted into what they consider the “ideal body”. After the movie takes this drastic turn, we see Chris inevitably fighting for survival. Jordan Peele successfully made a horror that will keep you on the edge of your seat yet have you chuckling at the humor thrown into certain scenes. Overall, one of the best horror films I’ve seen to date.

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Zombie in Film, pt.3 David Strohecker

For this article, I will like to talk about the zombie renaissance. The zombie renaissance includes films like 28 days later, Dawn of the Dead, and the Walking Dead. What they all have in common is disease-infected by the zombies themselves. Along with the apocalypse happening. In 28 Days Later, it is said to be a “rage virus” leading to threats to survival. This is true once you’re inflected in some way shape or form it is safe to say that you will die. If someone were to be inflected I would love to kill them before it gets to me. In a way, I feel like the human will appreciate being killed too. The zombie renaissance gives different protective of the past to the future. The future now is implying zombies into monsters. This is understandable considering that zombies don’t really talk but eat people. 

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Zombification

Hello zombies! After discussing contagion I felt compelled to discuss the differences in zombification not just in the films we’ve discussed previously, but in tv shows such as the iconic The Walking Dead. As of lately, I’ve been obsessed with the series and couldn’t help but compare the walkers in the show to the zombies in 28 Days Later and The Girl with All The Gifts. In 28 days, society is beyond repair and has been completely obliterated by the rabies disease whereas in The Girl with All The Gifts, there are still studies occurring in order to salvage society and we learn that kids aren’t infected. The differences in the two alone are conflicting because although both societies have been tarnished, at least one is trying to find the studies in order to find a cure. In The Walking Dead, the show revolves around a police officer, Rick Grimes, trying to find his family while doing his best to survive an apocalypse and along the way he meets strangers and bonds and friendship is later created. Unlike the other two films, the series revolves around other dangerous troupes and living through and adapting to an apocalypse rather than trying to find a cure or trying to redeem society. The “walkers” in the series are flesh eating zombies that attack living humans but the twist of the series is that although you turn into a walker after being bit, humans can also turn into a walker through natural death. The infection is airborne which is absolutely horrifying. I strongly recommend this series to you ghouls and goblins! It will have you in a whirlwind of emotions such as anger, sadness, anxiety, and fear. Truly a remarkable zombification series.

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28 Days Later (2002)

Spooky fans! As we continue the theme of contagion, I’m extra excited for today’s blog. Today, we will be breaking down the iconic Danny Boyle’s 28 days later. The film depicts the chaos that could occur if there were to be a real rabies outbreak. The film begins with a group of animal rights activists accidentally freeing a chimp who is severely infected while working at their medical research lab. Our main character, Jim, wakes up almost a month after the outbreak to a society that is completely demolished. His entire city is deserted and there is almost no one in sight. When Jim finally comes in contact with other survivors, they endeavor on a journey to attempt to find safety. Tying into the theme of contagion, we can relate to films such as Girl with all The Gifts, White Zombie, and Night of the living Dead. With all of these films, we see the same kind of apocalyptic theme but the difference between 28 days later is the fact that they fight for survival and sanctuary and how to adapt instead of eliminating them like the other films. I’d also like to mention the speed of the zombies, they’re relatively slow in other films but in 28 days later, we see them trying to outlast survival instead of trying to fight them off. Feel free to leave some comments/opinions on whether you believe in apocalypse, it's important to seek adaptation and sanctuary or eliminating the threat.

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The Girl With All The Gifts,

Hello reader, I will be explaining this part of the clip of “The Girl with All the Gifts”. The story overall is about several children immune to a mutated fungal disease that will turn into cannibalistic zombies. In the clip above it is shown that the woman wants to help the child but suddenly the child discovers someone taking over her body and wanting to hurt the woman. As the woman is untying the child who was stuck on the chair finds the opportunity to attack the woman. The good news is the child told her to leave the room. The child proceeds to find ways to get out safely as she is a dangerous weapon to others. As you could see the child is possessed by the spirit of the zombies but at the end of the story she saves herself from evil. 

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The Girl with All the Gifts (2017)

Ghouls and goblins! To continue the theme of contagion, today we will endeavor to explore a post-apocalyptic horror science fiction film, Colm Mccarthy’s The Girl with All the Gifts (2017). The film deals with an entire society being destroyed by a disease caused by parasitic fungus. Initially, once you’re infected you have absolutely no free will or your own thoughts and you become a flesh-eating being. The film gives us an idea of how destructive this disease was to humanity by showing us how much has changed within a decade. Scientists have conducted inhumane studies in order to find a cure. These studies involve researching on a group of young children who initially crave human flesh and are constantly being guarded by soldiers. One of the main scientists who is in charge of analyzing the children finds herself drawn to Melanie, who is peculiar. The two grow extremely close and create a bond which ultimately gets compromised when the base is infected and the lab is breached. Without giving too much away. The premise of the film deals with humanity going to shambles and being overrun by cannibalistic zombies; it's up to young Melanie to save mankind. I couldn’t help but tie this film back into White Zombie due to what’s at stake in the film, the identity of those within the population. As I’ve mentioned in my previous post, These films truly give you a sense of fear because of how quick “normalcy “ can change.

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Nicole Birch’s Millennial Zombie

Horror fans, I have an exciting post for you today! Touching on the basis of contagion in horror, I'd like to analyze Nicole Birch’s Millennial Zombie. The article touches base on not just the evolution of zombies in horror films but the revolution as well. Birch mentions that the tensions of early zombie films were never as explicit as they are now, but they once served as a means of translating cultural and political immediacy into entertainment. We can compare this to 28 days later which was released in 2002 and Girl with All The Gifts, released in 2016. The evolution of the zombies in 28 days later vs. Girl with All The Gifts is quite drastic. In the newest film, there are a series of studies going underway in order to stop the progression and unexplained immunization whereas in 28 days later, society is completely obliterated and unsalvageable. Once you’ve been infected there is absolutely no solution. “As zombie films evolved over the years, their objectives changed; in many cases, the politics of the time period disappeared from zombie films altogether. Many zombie films dating from the early 1980s to late 1990s, even into the early 2000s, were seen as politically docile, melodramatic, even comical.5 Certainly not all zombie filmmakers recognized or explored the cultural, cinematic shift that took place at the turn of the millennium, but for some, the transformation was utterly manifest” (Birch 1138). 

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On Race And Night Of the Living Dead, Kyle Allkins

In this article, Kyle Allkins speaks out about people who claim to think there is no way a horror film could involve racism. Judith Halberstam claims that “it would be very difficult in a horror film to show and punish racism simultaneously,” according to Allkins that is not the case. She goes on and talks about how zombie films have racism, racial profiling, racial violence, and racial self-hatred and link racism with sexism. Many people don’t be African Americans as good guys but make them feel like the bad guy. This takes me back to the White Zombie I talked about before and how not only African Americans are zombies but whites as well. For example, the main character lady became a zombie after being poisoned. Allkins admires Romero’s work in all his zombie films being represented by African Americans and allowing them to be heroes as well. Zombies are represented by any race and will continue in cinema history. I feel like it can be an easy multiple-cultural thing to do in films. You can never go wrong with the representation of race in a Zombie. 

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Night of the Living Dead, 1990 film

Hello Readers, I will be talking about the “Night of the Living Dead” but particularly a scene as shown above in the post. A woman named Barbara is living her life with a group of other survivors from zombies. She acknowledges that zombies are just like them, humans. Before one became a zombie they’re human. Later proceeds have been affected by some sort of another zombie. Barbara says to herself, “They are us, we are them” as she watches the human being hang on the tree. She knows that they were once human or are human but no one knows and people decide to shoot them down. Later on in the scene, the two men destroy a door and found themselves another zombie who happens to be black with colored white eyes. As in Barbara had some type of relationship with the zombie. The two men kill them and Barbara doesn’t react. She finds another guy who she once knew but shot him. I feel like she wanted to act cool in front of the two men but that wasn’t the case. She wanted to feel wanted and feel like the rest of the group who also kill zombies. If the group found out about the relationship she had with the black zombie she could’ve been dead herself. Sad to see her not react in any type of way but he is a zombie and could be dangerous. 

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Night of The Living Dead (1968)

Horror fans! You’re in for a treat with today’s blog! We will be discussing George A. Romero’s iconic Night of the Living Dead (1968). I’m most excited about today’s post because I’ve found myself quite fond of horror movies that deal with groups of normal people who get themselves into horrific situations. Night of Living Dead takes place in Pennsylvania and follows the grief of two siblings named Barbara and Johnny. The two take a trip to Pennsylvania to visit their fathers grave. Things start becoming eerie when the radio goes off and weird stuff starts happening. Trouble strikes when they see a pale man who ends up murdering Johnny and attacks Barbara. Barbara runs off and seeks safety in a farmhouse where she finds a dead woman who has clearly been eaten. The movie takes a turn when a man comes to her safety and ends up boarding up the windows. She learns that two other men are there along with a wife and a younger daughter. The desperate group seek refuge in the abandoned farmhouse but their dilemma deals with nonstop corpses leaving the graveyard craving flesh and humans. After watching the film, I couldn’t help but think about contagion in films. For as long as time, this film for example, horror movies aim to target urgent fears. In horror, when we see the “what if '' and this can cause a deep rooted fear we didn’t even know we had. I mean, who wouldn’t be horrified by a walking dead being who is growling and trying to eat you alive? Contagion in horror is one of the most effective ways to instill fear in those who think “well… this would never happen so why would I be scared?” Give Night of the Living Dead a try and allow yourself to fear the impossible! Have a spooky day readers!

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Hello Again Readers,

I wanted to add the scene where Anthony is at the art gallery trying to figure out what he is and what is going on. This is a perfect scene about how Candyman protects his people instead of white people who did him wrong back in 1980. Enjoy !!!

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Hello Readers, I will be talking about the movie “Candyman” the 2021 version. A quick summary of the “Candyman” in the 1992 version, it has been told if you say the name “Candyman” in front of the mirror 5 times he will show up and kill you with his hook. Candyman was the son of a slave by a wealthy lander. He fell in love with the daughter of the lander and who got pregnant. Which led to Candyman getting excluded by the father and covered in by honey. Helen turns out to be a look-alike to Candyman's old lover. Keep in mind that Helen saved baby Anthony from Candyman by a bonfire. 

The film “Candyman” 2021 talks about Anthony who is now a grown adult who now lives in Chicago. His mother tries to forget about the past by moving cities but he gets daydreams about the past he didn’t know about. Anthony is an artist himself and captures pictures from where Candyman lives. He comes back and starts getting visions and starts painting those visions. Turns out that Anthony was becoming one with Candyman and controlling him. This movie shows more about black history through the number of characters who are played. After watching the movie, I noticed how much Candyman is helping black people not to be killed because his dad was a slave once. Very symbolic to see how Candyman kinda protects his people by killing all the white police officers. Keep in mind Anthony is being controlled by Candyman. It is good storytelling of how much it is connected between the past and now. It shows how much history can repeat itself by having the same fights about one race oneself. Blacks and whites are constantly repeating the same issue of not getting the same rights. 

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Enjoy this clip of Candyman (1992) where Helen's paranoia is confirmed and she comes face to face with Candyman himself.