Notes and Quotes
Children in Horror Films (Rachel Howe)
·
a lot of
people think about when watching scary movies are why are the evil characters
always children or targeting children.
·
this is
because they are so innocent that when they are possessed or have evil in them
that that automatically makes them much scarier than if it was happening to an
adult
·
When
watching horror films there seems to be nothing scarier than the little kid who
just pops up on screen and you know is about to do something so crazy or
witness an event that will change their personality for the rest of the film.
These are two of the ways in which children appear in film and I think that
when there is a child in a film it only makes it scarier.
·
I
have seen kids present in horror films is as the kid who witnesses a horrifying
act or sees a ghost or demon or other frightening creature.
·
usually is confused about what they are seeing
or is scared and continues to be scared for the rest of the movie.
·
This
use of children shows how innocent kids can be and in some cases how trusting
they can be
“This reminds me of
movies like Paranormal Activity where the children have a relationship with the
ghost creature and trust it as their friend but they are not the bad character
overall in the story.
This can also be
applied to a movie like The Sixth Sense where the little boy can see dead
people and interact with them but he is not the actually evil character in the
movie.”
Another way that
children are represented in horror films would be as the creepy little kid. I
think that this is the most popular in films and the way in which scares most
people.
You can tell from the minute these kids are on
screen that they are the evil one and that they will most likely be
manipulating people by their innocence or just causing issues right from the
beginning.
This can be seen in
many different kinds of films in the genre and two that stand out for me is the
movies about orphans that get adopted into new families and then their
possessed side comes out or they bring their ghost friend with them.
These characters often
have the same look and backstory and this effects the rest of the film. They
are often left alone after their parents have died and are forever changed as a
result of it and they look weirdly perfect.
They have nice hair, dark very plain clothes
but there is something about all their faces that you know right when you see
them that something is off.
The other aspect
of this type of film is that there are more creepy little girls than little
boys. I do not know why this is or what sparked this trend but often little
girls are the ones who are possessed.
The only logical explanation that I can think
of is that little girls are supposed to be “princesses” and so when they are
doing evil things it is more shocking.
Little boys can often be seen as getting into
trouble and causing mischief so it would not be as weird if it were little
boys.
The other type of film where the little kid has a ghost friend that comes
into the house to play with them but then wants them all to themselves has
become popular as well.
This can be seen in
films like Paranormal Activity and the new film which recently came out
Mama. Although not as evil as the kid who is possessed on their own it is
still a popular motif and prevalent in the horror genre
“It is interesting to
look at children in horror films and wonder why the director chose to make the
villain a child. “
“The Shining this uses
children in several different ways.”
“I definitely think that the young age
emphasizes the child’s innocence and adds to the scary quality.”
“For me, sometimes
when I see an evil child that doesn’t seem “present,” and appears to be
possessed, it also scares me because whatever is taking over the child’s body
is sinister enough to take advantage of a child – a symbol of purity,
innocence, and vulnerability. It makes me even more afraid of whatever is
possessing the child because it must be ruthless.”
“children are supposed
represent symbols of innocence and purity, so presenting them as evil beings
would be totally opposite of their stereotypical behavior and sets an eerie
contrast of character. “
“Children also tend to have bigger
imaginations, so it gives a more realistic vibe to them having a ghost friend”
Dark Side.” Why I hate
“Creepy Kids” Horror movies (including a review of ORPHAN)”
“I’m going
declare my utter contempt for horror movies in which kids (or kid-sized
slashers) are the primary villain.”
I imagine there are some of you who feel exactly the same
way.
ow what if they have Satan on their side like Damien from The Omen or Mia Farrow’s love child with the devil in Rosemary’s
Baby? They have minions and
supernatural powers so it’s not really a fair fight, but darn it if I’m still
not scared of ‘em.
Their minions may overpower me or Satan might make a
telephone pole fall on my head, but there’s no way those little guys can take
me in a brawl.
Now little creatures attacking in groups (i.e. Puppet
Master, Children of the Damned, Gremlins, Oompa-Loompas from Willy Wonka, etc…), that’s a totally different matter.
However, these “evil children” movie genuinely affect some
people.
“Who could be afraid of such a thing?”
The answer lies in the demographic which
these movies are targeting: Women and families.
These films play upon
the fear of evil within your own family or inside your own home. Your
children are either in danger or have turned against you.
Both prospects are
frightening to a mother or even a father.
hey form an emotional
empathy while watching the film because they can imagine themselves and their
own family in that exact situation and it plays upon their worst fears.
Those
fears not only include the mortal danger of their family but also the horror of
betrayal.
“It ends with a kid
having to kill, not just a rabid dog, but Yeller was a family member, his
best friend who once saved his life. “
As an antidote to Orphan, I recommend the much more clever creepy kid filmJoshua.
involves a
super-intelligent kid who at first seems sociopathically jealous of his newborn
sister.
it looks like “baby
horror” will soon eclipse “creepy kid horror” as a trend.
“it is the effect of contrasting the innocense of children with evil
(especially in the common case of the "evil child") which makes them
seem more evil than just an evil adult would.”
“Kids are scary, yo.”
“they are considered 'Unpredictable', which
can create anxiety, often turning them into 'folk devils'.
“'the Possessed'
Child who demonstrates and awareness and is complicit of his own evils.”
Evil Children' as
the representation of our societal fear of failing the younger, emergent
generations:
“Children aren't supposed to be scary.”
"Children who kill"
“Remarkably well-acted, darkly humorous, and effectively
disturbing”
“that was the
scariest movie I've ever seen."
“Audience
participation for both screenings I went to were very high.”
“The violence committed by and toward children is shocking,
realistic, and brutal.”
“Esther
is one bad Mother F!”
“Don't let the trailer fool you into thinking this is just
another "evil kid" movie. Its really much more than that.”
“Best
Horror Film in the Last Decade”
“I will
have trouble sleeping tonight...”
Why Our Brains Love Horror Movies
‘Films like Paranormal Activity 3 have a pre-registered audience just
waiting for the latest Hollywood bouquet of blood, sweat, tears, and chills to
exquisitely fill our lust for horribly sweet sensations,” Says Fischoff
“Terror as the finest emotion, and
so I will try to terrorize the reader.”
Stephen King described
“One of the major reasons we go to
scary movies is to be scared,” But the
scare we crave—and this applies to haunted houses and spooky corn mazes no less
than to horror movies—is a safe one. “We know that, in an hour or two, we’re
going to walk out whole. We’re not going to have any holes in our head, and our
hearts will still be in our bodies.”
Says Fischoff
There are people who have a tremendous need for stimulation and
excitement,” “Horror movies are one of the better ways to get really excited.”
AGE:
That may explain why horror movies are most popular with younger
audiences. Teens and twenties…
“Are more likely to look for
intense experiences,”
Says John Edward Campbell, an expert in media studies at Temple
University.
That fades with age, especially as people become more sensitive to their
own physiology: middle-aged and older adults tend not to seek out experiences
that make their hearts race, and feel that real life is scary enough.
Foreclosure?
Unemployment?
Divorce?
They don’t need to get their scares from movies.
“Older people have stimulation fatigue’’
One of the more counterintuitive findings in the science of fear is that
the stronger the negative emotions (fear, worry, anxiety...) a person reports
experiencing during horror films, the more likely he or she is to enjoy the
genre. Distress and delight are correlated.
“The pleasure comes from the relief that follows. It provides a cathartic
effect, offering you emotional release and escape from the real world of bills
and mortgages and the economy and relationships.”
THE PECULIAR
PLEASURES OF A POPULAR GENRE
‘It is argued that these attempts at posing
general explanations of the appeal of horror are, at worst, inappropriately
reductive and, at best, insufficiently specific, failing to distinguish the
diverse pleasures that heterogeneous horror audiences take from their active
involvement in the genre.’
‘It is
suggested that the former, active and particularistic conception is to be
preferred and that this necessitates a renewed attempt to grasp the diversity
of what is, after all, a heterogeneous audience capable of taking diverse
pleasures from their favored genre’
The
Reasons Why Children in Horror are So Frightening
“Scary children are a mainstay in horror”
“introducing
kids into horror is the final turn of the screw.”
“a young girl
and her doll as the main antagonists.”
“the fear
that an evil child elicits”
“One of the
most frightening things about horror is the subversion of expectation and the
twisting of reality”
Evil Kids In
The Horror Genre: Why Do They Scare Us So Much?
Vault of Horror talks
about the evil destruction of childhood:
For the longest time, horror films and the concept of
childhood have had a complex relationship.
Which brings me to the original topic: evil kids in the
horror genre. Ruling out the literal destruction of the child, the closest most
horror creators choose to come is the destruction of childhood. If horror is
all about the corruption of good, then the corruption of the ultimate good, the
innocence of childhood, is about as evil as it gets.
For this reason, the depiction of evil children stirs up
deep feelings of dread and revulsion in many viewers.
it is this underlying sense of profound and incomprehensible
wrongness that causes us to fear the so-called “evil child” in horror movies
Kindertrauma shares
thoughts on evil children and their power:
I should make a distinction right away between
"creepy" kids and killer kids. Creepy kids are more passive and may
just show up to sing a song about how you're going to die or shove bloody images
into your brain to freak you out.
less supernatural
"killer" kid,
children do hold some kind
of impossible to understand control over our psyches.
Gospel of the
Living Dead talks about zombie children:
Night of the Living Dead (1968), is one of the most striking
examples of an evil child in horror films. Here is a child who stabs her mother
to death with a trowel, then eats her father.
“zombie children.”
Blogue Macabre examines supernatural evil
children:
horror genre is that of Evil Children and to expand that somewhat, I
will include possessed or otherwise supernaturally afflicted children as I
believe many aspects that make these films unsettling are closely related to
that of inherently evil children.
TheoFantastique
reflects on why evil children get under our skin:
children represent our individual and collective future,
Unspeakable Horror
speaks out on evil children:
I was very traumatized by the little boy in Pet Semetary,
who is also buried and reborn, which could be another image of repression.
Horror writers themselves have sought to define the genre, and what these definitions lack in operationally they more than made up for in colourful imagery
“Terror as the finest emotion, and so I will try to terrorize the reader” (p. 37).
Stephen King (1981)
Modern master of horror
http://www.theguardian.com/film/shortcuts/2013/mar/04/children-allowed-act-harrowing-films
Should children be allowed to act in harrowing films?
"But what if the child is in a movie they would be way too young to watch?"
"led to years of trauma and shame"
keep the kids in the dark
the kid in The Shining never realised he was in a horror movie.
after the movie came out, they were frightened of her, as if she had actually been possessed.
"putting kids into mature movies can turn out disastrously"
https://muse.jhu.edu/journals/cul/summary/v071/71.kattelman.html
The Pleasures of Horror
He posits that the pleasures of horror must be located in discourse because nondiscursive access to these pleasures is a "logical impossibility"
Hills looks to various sites of horror fan agency, including postings to online horror message boards, fan resistance to censorship, and fan appreciation of self-referentiality.
He finds that each of these theorists also falls short because they link pleasure to "object directed" emotions, thus ignoring the "objectless states of anxiety" that are sometimes triggered by horror texts
He finds a similar weakness in the psychoanalytic theories of horror because they also depend upon
an interesting and insightful examination of the horror-fan subculture as it manifests through censorship debates and online postings
Hills suggests that there needs to be a greater emphasis upon the examination of fan activities and less focus upon the horror texts themselves.
