Horror on Film

Learning Outcomes

Knowledge and Understanding

Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:

• The historical development of the horror genre
• The breadth of the genre and its different forms and aesthetic approaches over time and across the world
• The key theoretical concepts, cultural debates and analytical issues relevant to the horror genre

Transferable and Generic Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• Coherently and persuasively argue your ideas, verbally and in written form
• Participate productively in and, where appropriate, lead academic discussion
• Independently identify and locate appropriate critical resources
• Organise your time successfully, respecting and meeting deadlines
• Write effectively, accurately and critically in an appropriate academic style

Cognitive Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

• Successfully analyse specific filmic texts, situating this analysis in aesthetic and cultural context
• Understand and use a range of specialised terms and concepts
• Engage critically with a range of theoretical material
• Apply different theoretical models and concepts to a variety of filmic texts

This module aims to investigate the breadth of horror films that have been produced in the last one hundred years or so, as well as looking at the kinds of issues that are directly relevant to these films. Consequently, the module will include historical movements or groupings of films such as German Expressionism, Universal’s gothic films of the 1930s and 1940s, Hammer horror films, 1980s slasher films and Japanese horror films of the 1990s and 2000s. In each case, attention will be paid to generic development as well as national and international context. The module will also look at horror auteurs, problems with censorship and issues such as the Gothic, violence, ‘the monstrous’ and the place of women in horror films. The study of horror films has led to highly specific theory dealing with the psychology and attraction of scary and disturbing films as well as the specificities of horror film structures and iconography. You will be encouraged to engage with and investigate horror films which are sometimes socially problematic and occasionally confrontational as well as more mainstream film products.

Teaching and learning methods

Teaching methods include

• Lectures, used to introduce key themes, debates, concepts and ideas.
• Seminars, incorporating small group work and larger group discussion
• Screenings of selected films
• One-to-one consultations with tutors

Learning activities include

• Independent study, research, and viewing
• Critical thinking, reading, and writing
• Participation in seminar discussions as both speaker and listener
• Preparation of written assignments

Resources & Reading list

Textbooks

Clover, Carol (1992). Men, Women And Chainsaws: Gender In The Modern Horror Film. London: British Film Institute.

Crane, Jonathan (1994). Terror and Everyday Life; Singular Moments in the History of the Horror Film. London: Sage Publications.

Summative

This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.

Referral

This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.

Repeat Information

Repeat type: Internal & External