Thursday, January 14, 2010

Terror vs Horror

There are MANY different movies to choose from, but for my example I decided to use one that I have recently seen. Orphan is a perfect example of terror, because the entire time the viewer is feeling dreadful and anticipating what the little orphan girl is going to do next. In one scene in particular there is a little girl whom the orphan (Esther) doesn’t get along with. The little girl is walking up through a jungle gym type thing at the park and the eerie music sets the tone that something bad is about to happen. The viewer is forced to be anxious and waits for what we know that Esther is going to do. Sure enough, Esther pushes the girl off the jungle gym, and the little girl breaks one of her bones.

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In another instance one of the nuns from the orphanage that Esther came from came down to talk to the parents. As she leaves we see Esther forcing her little sister Max to come along with her up the road. Esther tricks Max into helping her with her scheme. We know something bad is about to happen, and the dread and the anxiety gets out hearts racing. Then of course Esther pushes Max out into the road and the nun swerves off and wrecks. Esther then kills her and forces Max to help drag her off the road. The anticipation that comes before both of these horrible actions makes this movie a movie of terror and not horror.

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The Saw movies on the other hand are completely different because of the blood and goriness from the beginning. The viewer is repulsed after seeing time after time limbs getting cut off and bodies being torn apart. One scene in particular has a man who has a chain cuffed to his ankle and he figures that the only way he is going to be able to escape and save his life is if he saws his own leg off. The viewer is appalled and shocked to see that he does indeed saw off his leg! Another instance is when this guy (pictures below) finds that his entire head is trapped in some kind of giant claw and his eye is gauged out! There is no denying that all of these Saw films would fit nicely into the horror category.

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4 comments:

  1. After reading this, I can be eternally thankful that I have never seen any of the Saw movies. That is seriously just nasty. As for the movie Orphan, I have never even heard of it! When did this come out?! Weird! That one sounds really creepy too. What happens in the end? lol

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  2. Well! If you REALLY want me to ruin the ending for you...The little girl ends up being a 30 something year old midget who is a psycho and has killed a bunch of people and escaped from a mental institute...She kills the dad and then after a struggle the mom and the deaf daughter Max get away and after the mom kills Esther. THE END. Haha

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  3. Yep, even the photos you chose plainly show the difference between terror (that girl is CREEPY in the first picture) and horror. It's interesting to note that a few years back there was a fellow who went hiking and got his arm trapped under a boulder. He sawed his arm off with a pocketknife so he could free himself from the boulder and make it out alive.

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  4. I saw the previews for the Orphan, and unlike every other senseless gore, blood and psychological terror movies, opted to not consider it. The idea of stalking and murdering your family is not a worthwhile movie plot. The more I read about terror vs horror, the more I have come to understand why horror alientates me at hello.

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