Terror Cinema

 

I know no animation, manga or comic that hade ver scared me out. I understand that works like Berserk, Flesh Colored Horror, Disk, Yami no Koe, The Horror Mansion, Attack on Titan (etc.) fit into the horror/terror/suspense genre. 
 
I feel that manga, anime and comic are more into the gore subgenre, inside of the horror genre. Pictures horrorize the audience, making it stop staring at the screen because of the strength of the scene. Gore has become real popular, especially between the youngest otakus. But we must remember that everything comes from the ancient Cinema. 

Terror Cinema begins in the 1890s with Georges Méliès’ short stories. His play “Le Manoir du diable” is considered by many as the first terror movie ever. Though the first film was made in cinema back in 1896, L’arrivée d’un train à La Ciotat (La llegada del tren), where the train arrived was only shown. The people thought the train would come out of the screen and would pass over them, so many ran away of the cinema, all really scared.

Le Manoir du diable

 Screen’s first monster was “Frankenstein Monster” in 1910, made by Edison Studios. Second monster was Quasimodo, the Hunchback of Notre-Dame. 

Frankenstein Monster

Countries as Japan, Sweden, and Germany begin to create their own terror films. Since 1923 till 1960, the Monsters from Universal Studios appear, The Hunchback of Notre-Dame, The Phantom of the Opera, Dracula, Frankenstein, The Mummy, The Invisible Man, Bride of Frankenstein, Son of Frankenstein, The Wolf Man, The Ghost of Frankenstein, Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man, Son of Dracula, y Creature from the Black Lagoon.

  
 All of these monsters became into the cinema icons. They also generate “clichés” used till these days’ terror movies.

 Modern zombi was born with George A. Romero and his 1968 movie “The Night of the Living Dead”, though the concept of Livin’-dead comes from The Monster of Frankenstein.

From a personal standpoint, the terror movies related with suspense and the intrigue of novelistic style really call my attention. Movies like Ju-on (watch review http://youtu.be/NGgo_jWJyYk), The Ring, J-Horror Theater with Yogen Pemonititon (watch review http://youtu.be/I4pldeQ0hkQ). Infection, Reincarnation, The Eye, 1962 Tales of Terror, Black and White movies from Universal Studios, The Hammer Horror, etc. 

The no history gore, just to show guts, I consider it a waste of time. Many enjoyed Saw, Hostel, but to me they’re movies that give nothing to the audience and that are only worried in showing blood. In this genre I like tapes like Evil Dead or Brain Dead, and the splatter subgenre. Its’ name because the gallons of blood showed in screen in excess, ridiculing things to produce a comic effect. We can also see this in the Class Z Cinema, where the movie is bad made on purpose, like the 2005 Japanese movie, Tokyo Zombie.

Sadly, since year 2000, American terror cinema has been running out of good ideas, and has started with the remake of many old plays, especially in slasher subgenre, like “Slaughter of Texas”, “Halloween” or “Nightmare”.

The Present Cinema of Terror still not convinces me or scares me. The only thing actual directors are trying to do is a scare hit, but they’re not trying to propose a good story or an appropriate suspense environment.