Film 341: Cinema of Horror
Monday and Weds: Cinema 9:00 – 11:50
Professor: Scott Higgins
Email: shiggins@wesleyan.edu
Office: 156 Center for Film Studies
Phone/Voicemail: 3176
Office Hours: Monday 12:30 – 3:00
Description:
This course focuses on the history and development of the Horror film, and examines
how that genre has been blended with Science Fiction. We will seek to understand the
appeal of Horror. One of our guiding questions will be: “Why do audiences enjoy a genre
that, on the surface, seems so unpleasant?” Toward this end, we will take up several
distinct theories of how the genre is constructed, defined, and used by producers and
viewers. Horror has been a watershed topic for scholars interested in film, and this course
gives us the chance to critically engage with important arguments and methodologies in
contemporary film studies. The genre has been equally inspiring for filmmakers
interested in playing with form to elicit audience reaction. So, we will also be concerned
with the aesthetics of horror: how film technique has been developed to terrify viewers.
Texts:
Required
Carroll, Noel. The Philosophy of Horror (Broadstreet Books)
Worland, Rick, The Horror Film: An Introduction (Broadstreet Books)
Reading Packet [Pack] available at Pip Printing, 179 Main Street.
Recommended
Gelder, Ken ed. The Horror Reader (Amazon.com and everywhere else)
Enrollment in Netflix DVD service: netflix.com
Be prepared, the reading for this class can be heavy at times.
Screenings:
Films will be shown in class. As always, you are responsible for keeping track of the
detail of these films, note taking is a necessity. Film Content will include violence,
profanity, sexual situations and nudity. If you are likely to be offended by this material,
or you believe that you cannot distance yourself enough from such films to analyze them
critically, you should reconsider your enrollment in this course. Please do not talk or
otherwise disturb others during the screenings. Please try to limit your “breaks” during
the films, you will miss important material. ABSOLUTELY NO
SURF/TWEET/TEXTing during Screenings. Keep your Computer Screen Dark.
Otherwise you will be asked to leave.
Course Schedule:
(This schedule will be adjusted to meet the day to day needs of the class. Screenings
and readings are tentative and subject to change)
Thurs. Jan 21
Topic: Brief Introduction and Overview
Film: The Golem (Wegener, 1922)
Tues. Jan. 26
Topic: Style, Genre, and the German Influence
Nosferatu (Murnau, 1922)
Reading: Skall, The Monster Show selection; Mank, “Hollywood
Horror: Chronology, 1929-1948” [Pack]; Worland, chapter 1.
Thurs. Jan 28
Topic: The Social/Psychoanalytic Approach to Horror
Film: Murders in the Rue Morgue (Florey, 1932)
Reading: Wood, “An Introduction to the American Horror
Film”[Pack], Worland, chapter 2.
Tues. Feb. 2
Topic: The Analytical Philosophical Approach to Genre Definition
Film: Frankenstein (Whale, 1931)
Reading: Carroll, Ch. 1; Worland chapter 6.
Thurs. Feb. 4
Topic: Horror Plots
Film: Freaks (Browning, 1932)
Reading: Carroll, Ch. 3
Tues. Feb. 9
Topic: The Universal Cycle and Genre History / Another Approach
To Genre
Film: Bride of Frankenstein (Whale, 1935)
Reading: Balio “Horror Films,” Worland chapter 4.
**First Analytical Paper Due
Thurs. Feb 11
Topic: The Effects of Horror
Film: Cat People (Tourneur, 1942)
Reading: Carroll, Ch. 2; Worland ch. 7; Zillman “Evolution of the
Horror Genre” (recommended) [Pack]
Tues. Feb. 16
Topic: The Lewton Cycle and Wood’s Approach
Film: I Walked with a Zombie (Tourneur, 1943)
Reading: Wood, “Shadow Worlds of Jacques Tourneur” [Pack]
Thurs. Feb. 18
Topic: The Paradox of Horror / Hammer’s Revision
Film: Curse of Frankenstein (Fisher, 1957)
Reading: Carroll, Ch. 4; Heffernan “The Color of Blood”
[Pack]
Tues. Feb. 23
Psycho (Hitchcock, 1960)
Thurs. Feb. 25
MIDTERM TEST
Film: The Thing from Another World (Nyby, 1951)
Reading:Worland, ch. 3; Sontag, “The Imagination of Disaster”
[PACK]
Tues. March 2
Topic: Horror and Exploitation in the 1950s
Film: I was a Teenage Werewolf (Fowler, 1957), The Blob
(Yeaworth, 1958)
Reading: Vieth “Cultural and Historical Contexts” “Industrial
Contexts” selections [Pack]
Thurs. March 4
Topic: Exploitation, Narration, and “Showmanship”
Film: The Tingler (Castle, 1959)
Reading: Heffernan, “A Sissified Bela Lugosi”
** Second Analytical Paper Due
SPRING BREAK
Tues. March 23
Topic: The Birth of Contemporary Horror
Film: Night of the Living Dead (Romero, 1968)
Reading: Heffernan “Inner-City Exhibition and the Genre Film”
[Pack]
Thurs. March 25
Topic: Horror goes Mainstream
Film: The Exorcist (Friedkin, 1973)
Tues. March 30
Topic: Italian Innovations and Influences
Film: Blood and Black Lace (Bava, 1964)
Reading: Paul, “The Evolution of the Italian Horror Film,”; Silver
and Ursini, “Mario Bava: The Illusion of Reality” [Pack]
Thurs. April 1
Topic: Style and Italian Horror
Film: Suspiria (Argento, 1977)
Reading: Paul, “Dario Argento” [Pack]
Tues. April 6
Topic: The Spectator, and the Slasher Film
Film: Halloween (Carpenter, 1978)
Reading: Worland, chapter 8; Harvey, “Halloween and the
Mechanics of Uncanny Atmosphere”;
Thurs. April 8
Topic: Pleasure and Contemporary Sci-Fi/Horror
Film: Alien (Scott, 1979)
Reading: Clover “Her Body Himself” [Pack]
Tues. April 13
Topic: American Camp-Horror in the 1980s
Films: Reanimator (Gordon, 1985) Evil Dead II (Raimi, 1987)
Reading: Worland, chapter 11.
*** Third Analytical Paper Due
Thurs. April 15
Topic: Contemporary Revisions: Japanese Horror
Film: Audition (Takashi Miike, 1999)
Reading: Sharrett, “Preface,” McRoy “Introduction,” “Aesthetics
of Cruelty” [Pack]
Tues. April 20
Topic: Contemporary Revisions: The Zombie Film
Film: 28 Days Later (Boyle, 2002)
Reading:Worland Ch. 13; Bankston, “All the Rage” at:
http://www.theasc.com/magazine/july03/sub/index.html
Thurs. April 22
Topic: Screaming, Knowing, Interpreting: Torture Porn
Film: Hostel (Roth, 2005)
Reading: Bernard, “Hostel-ity Toward Whiteness”
Tues. April 27
Topic: Contemporary Revisions: Haunting Atmosphere
Film: El Orfonato (Bayona, 2007) [Final Essay Option]
Thurs. April 29
Topic: Contemporary Revisions: Camcorder Horror
Film: REC (Balagueró and Plaza, 2007) [Final Essay Option]
*** IN CLASS QUIZ
Tues. May 4
Topic: Genre Limits and Horror Today
Film: Let the Right One In (Alfredson, 2008) [Final Essay Option]
FINAL FILM ANALYSIS DUE WEDS. MAY 12 @ 3:30 PM
Assessment:
3 Analytical Papers (3-4 pages each)
Due. Feb 9, March 4, April 13
In Class Test, Thurs, Feb. 25
In Class Quiz, Thursday April 29
Final Film Analysis
Due Weds. May 12
Participation
30%
25%
10%
25%
10%
Papers:
You will write three short papers that analyze film form in selected sequences that I will
show in class. In addition, you will write a longer Final Essay on one of the three films
designated on the syllabus. I will provide detailed assignments in class.
Course Policies:
Attendance: Attendance is mandatory. It will be impossible to do well in this course if
you miss class. You are responsible for material covered in your absence.
Students with Disabilities: It is the policy of Wesleyan University to provide reasonable
accommodations to students with documented disabilities. Students, however, are
responsible for registering with Disabilities Services, in addition to making requests
known to me in a timely manner. If you require accommodations in this class, please
make an appointment with me as soon as possible [during the 2nd week of the semester],
so that appropriate arrangements can be made. The procedures for registering with
Disabilities Services can be found at http://www.wesleyan.edu/deans/disabilitystudents.html.
Late Papers and Assignments: Late Papers will be marked down at the rate of one full
grade per day. Papers are due during lecture. I will not accept papers via e-mail.
Work on a Senior Thesis is NEVER an excuse to miss class or turn in an assignment
late.