Some notable trends have marked horror films in the 2000s. ‘The Others (2001)’ was a successful horror film of that year. The film was the first horror in the decade to rely on psychology to scare audiences, rather than gore. A minimalist approach which was equal parts Val Lewton's theory of "less is more" (usually employing low-budget techniques seen on 1999's The Blair Witch Project) has been evident.
There has been a major return to the zombie genre in horror movies made after 2000. The Resident Evil video game franchise was adapted into a film released in 2002. The British film ‘28 Days Later (2002)’ featured an update on the genre with ‘The Return of the Living Dead (1985)’ style of aggressive zombie. An updated remake of Dawn of the Dead (2004) soon appeared as well as the zombie comedy ‘Shaun of the Dead (2004)’. This resurgence lead George A. Romero to return to his Living Dead series with’ Land of the Dead (2005)’, ‘Diary of the Dead (2007)’ and ‘Survival of the Dead (2010)’
A larger trend is a return to the extreme, graphic violence that characterized much of the type of low-budget, exploitation horror. Films like ‘Audition (1999)’, ‘Wrong Turn (2003)’, took their cues from ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974)’, and’ The Hills Have Eyes (1977)’. An extension of this trend was the emergence of a type of horror with emphasis on depictions of torture, suffering and violent deaths with films like ‘Saw (2004)’, and ‘Hostel (2005)’, and their respective sequels. Finally with the arrival of ‘Paranormal Activity (2009)’, minimal thought started by ‘The Blair Witch Project’ was reaffirmed and is expected to be continued successfully in other low-budget productions.
No comments:
Post a Comment