American Horror Films

Hellraiser, produced by Roger Corman of New World Pictures, follows in the tradition of other low-budget horror films produced by such minor production companies as Universal (Cook 312). These movies drew upon German Expressionism to create Gothic atmospheres for such movies as Frankenstein (1931), Murders in the Rue Morgue (1932), and The Invisible Man (1935) (Cook 312). With their use of the monstrous "other" and the setting of the foreboding house, these movies also set the stage for what was later to become the "slasher" film. As Metz point out, most current horror films, which meld the Gothic monster with family melodrama, owe a "spiritual debt" to Psycho (1960), one of the first movies to bring those two elements together (Metz 42). Further, he notes "it is a rare exa

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or a descendent of the European version of the "gollem" (277). According to Shipman, these "walking dead" may have a human form, but like Frankenstein, the gollem, or any other recreated being, they have no soul, therefore no real human feeling (278). In many cases, they fit into Norden's discussion of the element of the banality of evil as depicted in movies (52). The Cenobites, however, are a direct liaison with evil and the supernatural, and are beyond the human comprehension of natural law. This puts them within the realm of the fantastic and therefore unbelievable and uncontrollable by human standards (Metz 48). The melodramatic element is added as Larry Cotton moves back to his family home in an effort to regain some form of old-fashioned family feeling between he, his new wife, Julia, and his daughter, Kirsty. Once the theme and style are in place, it takes little to set the story in motion. This is accomplished when Frank Cotton, petty thief, a man bored with what the world has to offer him, summons the Cenobites so that he may experience the ultimate "high", which is absolute pain and suffering at the cost of his life. Characteristic of this type of film, the mask of normality is so thick, some of the characters
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Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1813
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page)