How do new and old horror movies differ?

Since the 1900 horror movies have been increasingly popular. America has come accustom to watching Freddy and Jason go murder innocent teens or watch demons torment people in their home. In the newer movies like Paranormal Activity we are use to seeing a lot of technology incorporated. For example in Paranormal Activity you are watching for doors shutting, objects moving, etc. even in there movie the family is using video cameras to record their experiences. There is a great use of technology in modern day films, but it is just part of our culture now.

 

Older horror films in the past such as Poltergeist tended to make the actual characters the scary part. Making a scary character with grotesque features or a creepy back round story go attack the characters. There was less focus on special effects and more on what horror the character added to the film. In Poltergeist the little girl's character is part of what made the movie scary. For example by using the little girl’s famous line “their here.” And then continuing to not tell her parents about it because she was to frightened made us all freak out a little bit wondering ‘what the hell is going on! Who’s here?’

 

Another thing about modern technology in movies is the way the character looks. In modern films we focus on how the character looks trying to make them as real as possible, although we can still tell it is fake because no one looks like that in real life. In older movies you would see almost no makeup or prosthetics added to a character because these older characters would be casted based of how scary they looked in real life creating more of a thought about how this situation could be real. Also newer movies have been made more graphic through editing blood and adding makeup on the character.

 

Special effects in horror films of today also use the camera by doing certain tricks like spinning or moving fast. The way the film is lighted is also a big part of horror films today. Lighting effects usually have the lights flickering on and off or flashing. Sound effects are used more too. You might hear lightning or the sound of a ghost or zombie.

 

If you compare what was scary about both movies you will see that the newer film made in 2007 has more technology used and special effects added to up the level of scariness, while the older film released in 1982 has barely any special effects. The little girl’s character was part of the actual scariness in Poltergeist because she would do all kinds of weird, freaky things in the movie. In modern films the scary parts are hearing a loud noise or seeing a person being pulled by something you cannot see.