British Horror
Hammer Horror films -
Founded in November 1934, Hammer is one of the oldest film companies in the world.
Only 1/3 of Hammer films were under the genre of horror, they played around with other genres such as Noir, Historical Epic, Pyschological Thrillers and Sci-Fi. Hammer also has a back catalogue of nearly 300 title films.
Hammer horror became a well-known name within households due to their makings of the stories of Dracula, Frankenstein and The Mummy.
The Wickerman 1973 directed by Robin Hardy
Synopsis:
"Sergeant Howie (Edward Woodward) arrives on the small Scottish island of Summerisle to investigate the report of a missing child. A conservative Christian, the policeman observes the residents' frivolous sexual displays and strange pagan rituals, particularly the temptations of Willow (Britt Ekland), daughter of the island magistrate, Lord Summerisle (Christopher Lee). The more Sergeant Howie learns about the islanders' strange practices, the closer he gets to tracking down the missing child."
I found the Wickerman's trailer really uncomfortable because of the eerie music, and the breathy voice-over. I found this really effective because it emphasises from the beginning that this clearly is a horror film.
The scary thing that runs throughout the trailer is this false equilibrium that the weird villagers have created and are trying to convince the policeman that all is well. I like how within the trailer the cuts go from equilibrium to disruption to false equilibrium again. It works really well and adds to the eeriness of the trailer.
Contemporary British Horror:
Dog Soldiers 2002 directed by Neil Marshall
Synopsis:
"During a routine nighttime training mission in the Scottish Highlands, a small squad of British soldiers expected to rendezvous with a special ops unit instead find a bloody massacre with a sole survivor. The savage attackers of the special ops team return, and the men are rescued by Megan (Emma Cleasby), a zoologist who identifies what hunts them as werewolves. Without transport or communications, the group is forced to retreat to a farmhouse to wait for the full moon to disappear at dawn."
I found Dog Soldiers' trailer really action packed and gave the genre of werewolf a more zombie/post-apocalyptic action feel to the film. I really like the colourisation within the trailer because of how dark it was and the on-screen text and symbols' colour contrasted well with the darkness of the scene underneath it.
I thought the make-up and CGI of the werewolf was really good, and I liked how you could only see little sections of it so it didn't give away the whole feel and scariness of the creature.
Eden Lake 2008 directed by James Watkins
Synopsis
"Refusing to let anything spoil their romantic weekend break, a young couple confront a gang of loutish youths with terrifyingly brutal consequences. "
I found Eden Lake's trailer really good because it shows Todorov's theory very nicely. I liked how idillic the equilibrium was at first at it had a quite rom-com feel to the beginning of the film. Then the disruption slowly begins to show, and full kicks in 40 seconds or so into the trailer, so it was long enough to show equilibrium but short enough to not disinterest a horror market.
I also liked the small snippets of gore in the film, so you expect the film to be gory and gives you a warning if you're not into gore or frightening scenarios.
The difference in British Horror and American Horror Films:
I feel one of the main differences between American and British Horror is what the two perceive to be scary. A fair few of British horror films seem to have more realistic antagonists and are more real scenarios.
The British tend to use the class system in their horror films. The upper class being the protagonists, the lower class being the antagonists. This is shown perfectly within Eden Lake.
The lower class teens that live near the quarry, terrorise the upper class.
Within American horror, usually the antagonist is of some form of paranormal or fantasy entity.
An example of this is An American Werewolf in London.
This typically shows how the antagonist/protagonist is of mythical creature entities.
Founded in November 1934, Hammer is one of the oldest film companies in the world.
Only 1/3 of Hammer films were under the genre of horror, they played around with other genres such as Noir, Historical Epic, Pyschological Thrillers and Sci-Fi. Hammer also has a back catalogue of nearly 300 title films.
Hammer horror became a well-known name within households due to their makings of the stories of Dracula, Frankenstein and The Mummy.
The Curse of Frankenstein (1957)
The Dark Light (1951)
Most recently, Hammer Film's released the films;
The Quiet Ones (2014) directed by John Pogue. The film box-officed a good $17.8million.
The Woman In Black (2012) directed by James Watkins. This film box-officed a brilliant $128.5million!
Why Hammer Became Popular:
Within the 1950's, a lot of films, especially horror and action, involved a giant 'atomic monster' that terrorised cities. During this period, Hammer were making more gothic type films, which audiences enjoyed much more, because they were something different.
Because of the natural of gothic horror, such as dark, muted blue lighting and a more supernatural terror, Hammer focused on creating the classics they're well known for today.
A lot of the films Hammer created were adapted from radio plays, so they were well known or successful plays, that were turned into films.
Hammer also introduced the beautiful damsel in distress type to horror. This peaked the attention of male viewers and created the sub-genre of Hammer Glamour.
BRITISH HORROR:
The Wickerman 1973 directed by Robin Hardy
Synopsis:
"Sergeant Howie (Edward Woodward) arrives on the small Scottish island of Summerisle to investigate the report of a missing child. A conservative Christian, the policeman observes the residents' frivolous sexual displays and strange pagan rituals, particularly the temptations of Willow (Britt Ekland), daughter of the island magistrate, Lord Summerisle (Christopher Lee). The more Sergeant Howie learns about the islanders' strange practices, the closer he gets to tracking down the missing child."
I found the Wickerman's trailer really uncomfortable because of the eerie music, and the breathy voice-over. I found this really effective because it emphasises from the beginning that this clearly is a horror film.
The scary thing that runs throughout the trailer is this false equilibrium that the weird villagers have created and are trying to convince the policeman that all is well. I like how within the trailer the cuts go from equilibrium to disruption to false equilibrium again. It works really well and adds to the eeriness of the trailer.
Contemporary British Horror:
Dog Soldiers 2002 directed by Neil Marshall
Synopsis:
"During a routine nighttime training mission in the Scottish Highlands, a small squad of British soldiers expected to rendezvous with a special ops unit instead find a bloody massacre with a sole survivor. The savage attackers of the special ops team return, and the men are rescued by Megan (Emma Cleasby), a zoologist who identifies what hunts them as werewolves. Without transport or communications, the group is forced to retreat to a farmhouse to wait for the full moon to disappear at dawn."
I found Dog Soldiers' trailer really action packed and gave the genre of werewolf a more zombie/post-apocalyptic action feel to the film. I really like the colourisation within the trailer because of how dark it was and the on-screen text and symbols' colour contrasted well with the darkness of the scene underneath it.
I thought the make-up and CGI of the werewolf was really good, and I liked how you could only see little sections of it so it didn't give away the whole feel and scariness of the creature.
Eden Lake 2008 directed by James Watkins
Synopsis
"Refusing to let anything spoil their romantic weekend break, a young couple confront a gang of loutish youths with terrifyingly brutal consequences. "
I found Eden Lake's trailer really good because it shows Todorov's theory very nicely. I liked how idillic the equilibrium was at first at it had a quite rom-com feel to the beginning of the film. Then the disruption slowly begins to show, and full kicks in 40 seconds or so into the trailer, so it was long enough to show equilibrium but short enough to not disinterest a horror market.
I also liked the small snippets of gore in the film, so you expect the film to be gory and gives you a warning if you're not into gore or frightening scenarios.
The difference in British Horror and American Horror Films:
I feel one of the main differences between American and British Horror is what the two perceive to be scary. A fair few of British horror films seem to have more realistic antagonists and are more real scenarios.
The British tend to use the class system in their horror films. The upper class being the protagonists, the lower class being the antagonists. This is shown perfectly within Eden Lake.
The lower class teens that live near the quarry, terrorise the upper class.
Within American horror, usually the antagonist is of some form of paranormal or fantasy entity.
An example of this is An American Werewolf in London.
This typically shows how the antagonist/protagonist is of mythical creature entities.
Characteristics of Contemporary British Horror
Typically, British horror films have low budgets. The Descent (2006) had a budget of £3.5m, 28 Days Later (2002) had a budget of £5million.
Typically for a Hollywood film, it can be around $50-70million.
Within British horror, usually there are a lack of star names within the film. Usually the actors are television stars or actors you have not heard of until the film. Within the Descent, Shauna MacDonald was an actress who had had minor roles within British television. When she was cast within the Descent, this made her a well known actress for this popular film.
The places in which the films are shot, are easy filming in and are low cost. This is because it makes it easier for them to create the films.
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