Movies

Horror movies are as much a mainstay of Halloween as trick or treat − but why are they so bloody?

Published

4 months ago

October 31, 2024

The Conversation

horror movies are plentiful in 2024 and plenty bloody the

James Francis, Jr., Texas A&M University

Horror Movies on Halloween

Horror movies are plentiful in 2024, and plenty bloody. The year has seen the release of films awash in blood, such as “Immaculate,” “The First Omen” and “The Strangers.” With Halloween on the way, bloody offerings are streaming, in theaters and running in marathons on cable.

Watch them, and you’ll likely notice that as the decades pass, the directors, writers and studio executives of these films seem to produce more and more on-screen blood, violence and gore. But why?

As a professor of horror studies, I explore the depths of the genre with my students – and for us to understand the evolution of blood in horror cinema, we first consider how films reflect their times.

Alfred Hitchcock and Michael Powell created proto-slashers with “Psycho” and “Peeping Tom,” respectively. Both films were released in 1960 about four months apart, both feature serial killers, and both operate on a “tell, don’t show” visual aesthetic. Rather than show the blood to the audience, the films provide narrative cues to only suggest the blood.

Janet Leigh in the shower scene from 'Psycho.' — Janet Leigh’s shower scene in ‘Psycho’ is one of the most memorable moments in movie history. Bettmann via Getty Images

Guts, gore and so much more

In “Psycho,” Marion Crane, played by Janet Leigh, is stabbed to death in the famous shower scene. But the quick-cut editing gives only the illusion of her nude body being slashed as a small amount of blood washes down the drain in black-and-white tones. By not shooting “Psycho” in color, and avoiding the image of bright red blood in the bathtub – Hitchcock’s choice – the film doesn’t seem as violent.

By the late 1960s, the restrictive Hays Code, which prohibited overt on-screen violence and the use of fake blood, was replaced by the less stringent Motion Picture Association of America film ratings system. Filmmakers could latch onto new freedoms to express fear, anxiety and dread in more visceral depictions. One way to do that – more blood.

In “Night of the Living Dead,” George A. Romero’s 1968 seminal zombie flick, the walking dead consume the flesh of the living. Even though the movie is in black and white, the monochromatic presentation does not dull the display of the undead gobbling guts and licking up blood.

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The film’s release came six months after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., and a clear connection between Romero’s film and the Civil Rights Movement then taking place is apparent. The movie’s heightened gore correlates to the movement’s all-too-bloody violent struggle, as Ben, played by Duane Jones, the sole person of color among the living, hides from the ghouls in an abandoned farmhouse with a group of six white people.

Ben works to keep the group safe but faces ongoing pushback from the white male characters. At the end of the film, a group of vigilantes, believing Ben is a zombie, guns him down before tossing his body into a fire.

The symbolism as a reflection of the times is hard to miss. Romero and John Russo, who co-wrote the screenplay, didn’t initially intend to make a statement on civil rights; but later, during postproduction, Romero realized the assassination of King turned his movie into a “Black film.”

Bloody metaphors

Then came the 1970s, when blood was sprayed all over the screen. But Tobe Hooper’s “The Texas Chain Saw Massacre” (1974), William Friedkin’s “The Exorcist” (1974) and Ridley Scott’s “Alien” (1979) have something else in common: They feature women protagonists who survive the unthinkable.

Once again, blood is a common denominator. Sally’s body is covered in it after escaping Leatherface; Regan’s body, along with the blood, spews green vomit; and Ripley sees an alien burst out of a crew member’s chest. But the films weren’t just gory – they were metaphors for the uphill battle for women’s rights in the 1970s.

The original “Halloween” (1978) also fits here, but with a twist. The character of Laurie Strode, perhaps an early prototype of women protagonists in horror films, connects back to a “tell, don’t show” sensibility while simultaneously embracing changing times. While the first kill shows Michael Myers stabbing his older sister, the audience views the death from the partially veiled perspective of Myers behind his Halloween mask. You see little until her body hits the floor to reveal the blood.

A movie poster from the movie 'Halloween' depicting a hand holding a big kitchen knife. — ‘Halloween’ was a huge hit and has thus far spawned six direct sequels, one offshoot, a two-part remake and one reboot trilogy over 46 years. Universal History Archive via Getty Images

Nightmares and reality

In the 1980s, the slasher subgenre dominated horror – and the bloodier, the better: These movies focus on the number of kills and the creative ways the victims are dispatched.

Each sequel in these horror franchises needed to up the kills, if for no other reason than to outdo its predecessors and competitors. Audiences began rooting for villains like Myers, Jason Voorhees and Freddy Krueger, all of whom had their own theme music, and in Freddy’s case, trademark one-liners. Many of the villains had more character development than their victims, who seemed interchangeable and little more than fodder for the slasher machine.

The 1990s had bigger-budgeted, more innovative films, such as Wes Craven’s “New Nightmare” (1994) and “Scream” (1996). Here the attacks are more personal; the stabbings are close-up. CGI, or computer-generated imagery, used in abundance in the “Nightmare” series, allowed for more creative and bloody kills.

Scarier times mean bloodier movies

Since 9/11, horror films have existed in a place where there’s no apparent motive other than violence and bloodshed. In “The Strangers” (2008), the villains tie up, torment and savagely maim their victims. In the 2009 remake of “The Last House on the Left,” it’s the villains who meet a bloody end. Contemporary horror understands how senseless killings on screen are effective, because the removal of emotion from the violence parallels real-world incidents.

A fan wearing a 'Ghostface' mask, complete with hollowed-out eyes, nose and mouth, and stark white skin. — ‘Ghostface’ is the villain in the popular ‘Scream’ series. James Gourley/Getty Images Entertainment via Getty Images

By the late 2010s, horror films link to the #MeToo and Time’s Up movements, most notably in the “Halloween” reboot trilogy, as Laurie Strode once again confronts Michael Myers and the trauma he inflicted 40 years prior.

The kills in the new “Halloween” trilogy are extremely bloody and violent. They also mirror the sexual and societal exploitation of women and their bodies. Ultimately, the series allows the protagonist, and the traumatized town of Haddonfield, to acknowledge the evil, confront it and try to finally put an end to it, once and for all.

The evolution in the horror genre’s presentation of blood and gore doesn’t necessarily make for scarier movies, but they often point to the scarier times in which we live. Earlier horror films, comparatively tamer and with less blood, were often box-office successes. But today’s audiences probably appreciate them more for their artistic merits than the fear they induce.

The preferences of horror audiences change over time, much like the ebb and flow of the blood depicted in these movies. The original “Halloween” has hardly a drop; the recent reboots are over the top – but still nowhere close to the mayhem depicted in the just-released “Terrifier 3.”

What the future holds is anyone’s guess. But check out the world around you, and you’ll certainly get a bloody good hint of what’s to come.

James Francis, Jr., Instructional Associate Professor, Texas A&M University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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Movie and television Reviews

Cinematic Nostalgia: Revisiting “Duel,” the Ultimate Road Rage Film

Published

4 weeks ago

February 2, 2025

Rod Washington

As I look back on the countless movies that have shaped my cinematic experience, one brave offering leaps to mind: Duel (1971), directed by the then-unknown Steven Spielberg. Having seen it for the first time just six years after its release, it struck an immediate chord with me—not merely as a film but as an immersive adventure during long, winding motorhome road trips down those nostalgic two-lane highways. After all, what’s a road trip without a bit of fear and exhilaration?

A Thrilling Premise

Duel is an unassuming yet masterful thriller, and it transports us into the boots of David Mann (portrayed by Dennis Weaver), a traveling salesman who becomes a reluctant protagonist in a deadly game of cat and mouse with an unseen truck driver in rural California. The movie begins innocently enough, but as Mann encounters a dilapidated Peterbilt, it transforms into a relentless chase that epitomizes the essence of road rage. The artful way Spielberg captures anxiety, frustration, and fear elevates Duel from a simple story to an engaging psychological thriller.

Duel (1971) Final chase sequence

Relatable Tensions

As a fan of action-packed thrillers with heart-pounding car chases, I can’t help but revel in the film’s extraordinary use of vehicles as its main characters. The timeless duel between Mann and the monstrous truck illustrates a primal struggle of man vs. machine. Who hasn’t felt that rush of adrenaline while driving, especially when faced with reckless drivers? The movie resonates deeply with anyone who has ever been on the road, creating a unique connection that persists even after more than five decades.

The cinematography, predominantly shot on location in California, adds to its authenticity, and those dusty roads remind me of childhood summers spent on family road trips. Spielberg’s direction couples beautifully with Richard Matheson’s intelligent screenplay, which coaxes tension from every frame. What’s brilliant about this film is how it manages to elevate an ordinary incident into an epic survival story.

Sound and Fury

One of the film’s most compelling features is its minimalistic approach to sound. The absence of dialogue amplifies the eeriness and tension. The growl of the truck engine serves as a character in itself, conveying menace and power without uttering a word. Spielberg’s ability to utilize sound and silence strategically keeps viewers on the edge of their seats—a technique that would define his future projects.

From the pulse-quickening moments where Mann finds himself sandwiched between track and truck, to the visceral final confrontation, every scene is carefully crafted to maintain suspense. The artistry in storytelling is evident as the viewer is left guessing about the truck driver’s motives—an enigma that intensifies the film’s allure.

Timeless Legacy

Duel is not just a thrill ride; it has left an indelible mark on cinema and continues to influence filmmakers today. Spielberg’s take on road rage feels timeless, and the film’s status as a coveted cult classic attests to its lasting power. Critics laud it as one of the greatest television movies ever made, and it proudly sits in the annals of American film history.

This masterclass in suspense is more than just a movie; it’s a nostalgic experience that can turn a road trip into a thrilling escapade—even if you’re just driving to the grocery store. As I reflect on this film, I must highlight that it’s a testament to the art of storytelling; a simple narrative framework, developed with supreme direction and compelling visuals, can create anxious anticipation and excitement.

Final Thoughts

Ultimately, Duel still resonates with viewers who appreciate its raw intensity, thrilling car and truck chases, and the fear of being prey in the vast, open roads. I wholeheartedly believe it stands the test of time, and if I were to rate it, it would earn a perfect 5 out of 5 stars in my book. A classic that perfectly encapsulates action, drama, and innovation in filmmaking, Duel remains an unforgettable ride that sparks both nostalgia and adrenaline, even fifty years later. If you haven’t seen it yet, rev up your engines and experience this cinematic gem—you won’t regret it!

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STM Blog

In Disney’s ‘Moana,’ the characters navigate using the stars, just like real Polynesian explorers − an astronomer explains how these methods work

Published

2 months ago

December 29, 2024

The Conversation

Moana — Wayfarers around the world have used the stars to navigate the sea. Wirestock/iStock via Getty Images Plus

Christopher Palma, Penn State

If you have visited an island like one of the Hawaiian Islands, Tahiti or Easter Island, also known as Rapa Nui, you may have noticed how small these land masses appear against the vast Pacific Ocean. If you’re on Hawaii, the nearest island to you is more than 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) away, and the coast of the continental United States is more than 2,000 miles (3,200 kilometers) away. To say these islands are secluded is an understatement.

For me, watching the movie “Moana” in 2016 was eye-opening. I knew that Polynesian people traveled between a number of Pacific islands, but seeing Moana set sail on a canoe made me realize exactly how small those boats are compared with what must have seemed like an endless ocean. Yet our fictional hero went on this journey anyway, like the countless real-life Polynesian voyagers upon which she is based.

Oceania as shown from the ISS — Islands in Polynesia can be thousands of miles apart. NASA

As an astronomer, I have been teaching college students and visitors to our planetarium how to find stars in our sky for more than 20 years. As part of teaching appreciation for the beauty of the sky and the stars, I want to help people understand that if you know the stars well, you can never get lost.

U.S. Navy veterans learned the stars in their navigation courses, and European cultures used the stars to navigate, but the techniques of Polynesian wayfinding shown in Moana brought these ideas to a very wide audience.

The movie Moana gave me a new hook – pun not intended – for my planetarium shows and lessons on how to locate objects in the night sky. With “Moana 2” out now, I am excited to see even more astronomy on the big screen and to figure out how I can build new lessons using the ideas in the movie.

The North Star

Have you ever found the North Star, Polaris, in your sky? I try to spot it every time I am out observing, and I teach visitors at my shows to use the “pointer stars” in the bowl of the Big Dipper to find it. These two stars in the Big Dipper point you directly to Polaris.

If you are facing Polaris, then you know you are facing north. Polaris is special because it is almost directly above Earth’s North Pole, and so everyone north of the equator can see it year-round in exactly the same spot in their sky.

It’s a key star for navigation because if you measure its height above your horizon, that tells you how far you are north of Earth’s equator. For the large number of people who live near 40 degrees north of the equator, you will see Polaris about 40 degrees above your horizon.

If you live in northern Canada, Polaris will appear higher in your sky, and if you live closer to the equator, Polaris will appear closer to the horizon. The other stars and constellations come and go with the seasons, though, so what you see opposite Polaris in the sky will change every month. https://www.youtube.com/embed/COHwfKusGbs?wmode=transparent&start=0 Look for the Big Dipper to find the North Star, Polaris.

You can use all of the stars to navigate, but to do that you need to know where to find them on every night of the year and at every hour of the night. So, navigating with stars other than Polaris is more complicated to learn.

Maui’s fishhook

At the end of June, around 11 p.m., a bright red star might catch your eye if you look directly opposite from Polaris. This is the star Antares, and it is the brightest star in the constellation Scorpius, the Scorpion.

If you are a “Moana” fan like me and the others in my family, though, you may know this group of stars by a different name – Maui’s fishhook.

If you are in the Northern Hemisphere, Scorpius may not fully appear above your horizon, but if you are on a Polynesian island, you should see all of the constellation rising in the southeast, hitting its highest point in the sky when it is due south, and setting in the southwest.

Astronomers and navigators can measure latitude using the height of the stars, which Maui and Moana did in the movie using their hands as measuring tools.

The easiest way to do this is to figure out how high Polaris is above your horizon. If you can’t see it at all, you must be south of the equator, but if you see Polaris 5 degrees (the width of three fingers at arm’s length) or 10 degrees above your horizon (the width of your full fist held at arm’s length), then you are 5 degrees or 10 degrees north of the equator.

The other stars, like those in Maui’s fishhook, will appear to rise, set and hit their highest point at different locations in the sky depending on where you are on the Earth.

Polynesian navigators memorized where these stars would appear in the sky from the different islands they sailed between, and so by looking for those stars in the sky at night, they could determine which direction to sail and for how long to travel across the ocean.

Today, most people just pull out their phones and use the built-in GPS as a guide. Ever since “Moana” was in theaters, I see a completely different reaction to my planetarium talks about using the stars for navigation. By accurately showing how Polynesian navigators used the stars to sail across the ocean, Moana helps even those of us who have never sailed at night to understand the methods of celestial navigation.

The first “Moana” movie came out when my son was 3 years old, and he took an instant liking to the songs, the story and the scenery. There are many jokes about parents who dread having to watch a child’s favorite over and over again, but in my case, I fell in love with the movie too.

Since then, I have wanted to thank the storytellers who made this movie for being so careful to show the astronomy of navigation correctly. I also appreciated that they showed how Polynesian voyagers used the stars and other clues, such as ocean currents, to sail across the huge Pacific Ocean and land safely on a very small island thousands of miles from their home.

Christopher Palma, Teaching Professor, Department of Astronomy & Astrophysics, Penn State

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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Entertainment

The sex scene isn’t disappearing – it’s simply shifting from clichéd fantasy to messy reality

Published

2 months ago

December 23, 2024

The Conversation

Today’s sex scenes are, first and foremost, fun. Lids Bierenday

Maria San Filippo, Emerson College

Writing during what seems – in retrospect – to have been the wildly carefree summer of 2019, Washington Post film critic Ann Hornaday lamented that “sex is disappearing from the big screen.”

Fast forward two years, and, improbably enough, it’s conservative New York Times columnist Ross Douthat who’s pleading for “sex and romance [to] make a comeback at the movies.”

Both commentators blame this sexual stagnation on what they see as an abstinence-only policy in Hollywood, fueled by the Weinstein effect on one hand and family-friendly franchise fever on the other, where libidinal energy has been sublimated into buff-yet-sexless superheroes. To Hornaday and Douthat, sexual prudence seems to be tipping into prudery.

Hornaday and Douthat are correct that the traditional sex scene – a tasteful “pas de deux” between glossy stars, typically straight and vanilla, presented as a spectacle for our visual pleasure – has become increasingly rare.

But after devoting hours to watching sex scenes as research for my book “Provocauteurs and Provocations: Selling Sex in 21st Century Media,” I can reassure the randy and romantic among us that sex onscreen isn’t disappearing. Far from it.

Instead, over the last decade, it’s simply changed – and mostly for the better.

What’s hot: honesty and humor

Today’s sex scenes are first and foremost fun – as ideally sex itself should be – and emphasize the truthful over the tasteful.

In some cases, you’ll see likable, relatable characters revealing perverse predilections, such as the all-consuming hots that Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s protagonist in the TV series “Fleabag” has for a clergyman she dubs “Hot Priest.” Or when Kathryn Hahn’s character in Joey Soloway’s directorial debut “Afternoon Delight” drunkenly confesses to her gal pals that she’s “masturbated to that scene for two decades.” The scene she’s describing? The gang rape from “The Accused.” What’s more, her friends agree it’s hot.

Other moments make for embarrassing yet endearing waypoints en route to real intimacy. In Desiree Akhavan’s “The Bisexual,” a bout of postcoital queefing cracks up a couple and dispels the awkwardness of their morning after. And in a carnal scene from Michaela Coel’s “I May Destroy You,” neither sanitary products nor a blood clot manages to kill the moment. It’s the latest woman-created show – joining “Girls”, “GLOW” and “I Love Dick” – to shatter the taboo against mentioning, much less showing, menstruation during sex.

Other filmmakers bulldoze the boundaries of which bodies the culture industry deems fit to depict. For this we have “Girls” creator Lena Dunham largely to thank; the actress famously insisted on baring all in the face of brutal fat shaming and portraying her show’s privileged protagonists’ sexual escapades in all their cringe-inducing candor.

Alongside defying the opposition and outrage meted out to artworks or artists deemed obscene or unattractive, some filmmakers have sought to redefine the sex scene altogether.

In my view, some of the most arousing sex scenes put to celluloid are ones where clothing stays put and verbal foreplay takes center stage. In “Laurel Canyon” and “Take This Waltz” – again, works created by women – would-be philanderers engage in dirty talk as a means to sublimate their desire, but in such smoldering terms as to arouse the viewer. https://www.youtube.com/embed/C_8fbYOtG90?wmode=transparent&start=0 Sexually charged dialogue permeates ‘Take This Waltz.’

Romcom’s morning after

While not clinching my case that the sex scene is flourishing, these films repudiate Douthat’s assertion that there’s “a cultural void where romance used to be.”

It’s all part of redefining what romance looks like on screen.

And I don’t mean merely making the couplings and casting more inclusive: “Crazy Rich Asians” relies on the same Cinderella-style premise as “Pretty Woman.” I’m talking about the sunsets-and-soulmates wish fulfillment fantasies that, for decades, served as the template for most romantic comedies: boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy gets girl.

As my new edited collection “After ‘Happily Ever After’: Romantic Comedy in the Post-Romantic Age” points out, recent films like “Appropriate Behavior,” “Before Midnight,” “Medicine for Melancholy” and the Netflix series “Love” rejuvenate the romantic comedy genre by actually addressing the realities and complexities of intimacy.

In these works, issues of coming out, growing old, being Black and staying sober are what drive the plots – and true love doesn’t conquer all.

Queering the scene

Regrettably, outside of art cinema, queer male characters rarely get naked or have sex onscreen. But given that straight sex on screen got a huge head start on queer sex, it’s no surprise that same-sex couples aren’t getting it on with gusto at the multiplex.

Queer male intimacy more often finds mainstream success by inviting viewers to relish unrequited romance in films like “Weekend,” “Moonlight” and “God’s Own Country.” Even films focused on queer women are getting in on the swoon-worthiness of not getting off, a phenomenon mocked by Saturday Night Live’s recent parody “Lesbian Period Drama.”

In some cases, queer filmmakers have stretched the boundaries of the sex scene by exchanging explicit sex acts for erotic insinuation, as with the suggestive shots of one woman’s hand penetrating the other’s armpit in Céline Sciamma’s “Portrait of a Lady on Fire,” or the infamous scene of Armie Hammer’s character slurping cum from a hollowed-out peach in “Call Me by Your Name.”

Fingers press against a peach. — If there were an award for sexiest fruit of all time, the peach from ‘Call Me By Your Name’ might win it. Sony Pictures Classics

Safer is … sexier?

An outgrowth of the #MeToo era is the on-set intimacy coordinator – a professional trained to ensure that safe practices are in place when shooting sex scenes. In many ways, their presence is long overdue in an on-set environment where nudity quotas were, for a time, the norm.

Rather than delivering a cold shower for spectators, these more ethically and safely executed scenes are arguably sexier – perhaps in part because the performers feel safer and less inhibited, and perhaps because viewers might feel less morally compromised while watching them.

As in real life, consent is what makes scenes of sexual degradation and endangerment hot. A film like Jane Campion’s “In the Cut,” in which Meg Ryan’s character is clearly heard consenting to having rough sex with Mark Ruffalo’s character, is exemplary in this regard. So, too, are the intimacy-coordinated sex scenes in last year’s “Normal People,” along with those in “Duck Butter,” which even gave the performers the opportunity to co-script the scenes themselves.

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Though I find that Hornaday’s and Douthat’s laments leave out a lot, I share their view that preaching abstinence takes a blinkered approach to art, as to life. The repercussions of rendering sex invisible – unseen and unacknowledged – aren’t just aesthetic. In times of political division and social unrest, sexual freedoms and sexual minorities are more strictly regulated and persecuted.

This threat of silencing makes it all the more important that filmmakers continue screening and – as radical sex theorist Gayle Rubin titled her landmark 1984 essay – “thinking sex.”

So far, filmmakers are meeting the challenge.

Maria San Filippo, Associate Professor of Visual and Media Arts, Emerson College

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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