project%20four%2c%20the%20essay

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Using two examples from the genre of horror examine what a „classic

horror‟ film is.

The horror genre is one of the most popular genres and somewe may say that it

has started to develop practically immediately with the development of show

business and a free access of wide audience to cinema‟s and television. We can

find a lot of causes of the popularity of this genre but it is still not so easy to

explain its phenomenon, namely why it is so attractive for people despite all its

unreality. However, it would be a great mistake to say that horror movies are plain

or even primitive. Naturally, there are some movies which are really so

stereotyped, unbearably plain, and absolutely thoughtless. But in my opinion, it is

simply exclusion or films that were created by specialists who are far from real

moviemaking and they can create nothing but films of low quality regardless its

genre.

Also I‟d say that as any other branch of art cinema has its genius and its mediocre

majority because good films may be created only by a good crew and the genre is

not so important. Among such genius of cinema I would name the Two particularly

memorable horror films includecrews that worked on two films of horror genre,

they areDonald Siegel‟s “Invasion of Body Snatchers”(1956) and John

Carpenter‟s “The Thing”(1982). I said crews not because I do not want to agree

with those who believe that Donald Siegel and John Carpenter were outstanding

directors, on the contrary I am glad that people who worked on these two films

were led by such well-qualified professionals. So, we may say that “Invasion of

the Body Snatchers” and “The Thing” are classics of the horror genre and the best

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ones. But what I would like to analyze This essay will demonstrate why is the

reason why they are treated as such and in which way they are similar or

different.

First of all, Iit is necessary to say that these two films were created at during

different time periods. “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” was created in the mid-dle

1950s, more precisely, in 1956 whereas “The Thing” was producedcreated in

1982. It seems that such a time difference should make the films incomparable

completely different but, strangely enough,however they still have a lot of common

aspects. That is why at the beginning I would like to dwell upon similarities of both

films. First of all, we may say that, to a certain extent, the themes are similar in the

sense thatis close. bBoth films focus on the problem of the invasion of the human

race or just alive bodies by some aliens that tends to via assuming control of the

mind personality, the hosts actions judgments, etc. In the case of “Invasion of the

Body Snatchers”, we deal with a speciescreatures that LeGacy argues “has to

wait for the perfect moment when the target is asleep), and spend the next few

hours consuming and taking on that form. If the host wake up when the process is

not complete, the whole procedure is a failure” (LeGacey 1978:288). On the other

hand, the thing needs just a few minutes to do it because “it can assimilate the

host while its still conscious, against the host‟s will” (Landon 1993:p39). Probably

Ssuch changes are caused by by the changes of time or epoch. It is obvious that

the rhythm of life in 1980s was much faster than in 1950s, certainly it found its

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expression in the perception of the idea of possible alien assault or attempts to

invade human minds.

By the way, I think that

Bboth films express athe trend that took place in boththe societiesy when the idea

of total control of a human mind became more conceivable and more widely

spread. It means that symbolically by aliens creators of the films tried to imply

those powers either political or economical that by different means aimed at the

total control of public conscious through the invasion of the mind of a separate

individual. Both films demonstrate the effects of propaganda which the

government used to control the public. Siegel and Carpenter took advantage of

this and incorporated these ideas of public control through the invasion of the

mind into their films.

It was quite actual if we take into account Control was a very large factor if we

take into consideration the times when both films were released., For example,

1952 it was the year of the beginning of the cold war when the tension between

the well-developed democratic world western world and the communistic Soviet

Union grew and the governments of many countries, most famously America and

Russia Russiaincluding the most democratic, had started to struggle for the

control of public opinion and even each particular individual. At the same time

Similarly during,, 1982 thereit was a period when the cold war achieved its

apologue and the world was on the eve of Presidentthe Reagan‟s declaration of

the war on the „empire of evil‟. when the situation was very resembling to that of

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early 1950s. Furthermore, the degree of sSurveillance grew and specialists began

to talkspoke about the total control of certain organiszations over people.. In such

a situation the people transformed in pods in the horror films I‟ve just named look

like a prophecy and warning against such dangerous practice.. These ideas of

control are heavily emphasised by the directors within both films.

One more thing that makes “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” and “The Thing”

quite different is the juxtaposition degree of combination of reality and unreality.

as I would call it. In my opinion, at this point “The Thing” is much more radical in

the sense that the film is full of fantastic elements which creates a continuous

paranoia for the audience. and the state of paranoia overwhelms audience and

keeps people in such a state during the whole film. On the other hand, in

“Invasion of the Body Snatchers” it is quite difficult to distinguish whether what the

audience observe is fiction or non-fiction. we see is real or unreal. Personally,

when I watched Bboth films implied I had a permanent doubt ofin the mental

health of theits main characters. iIt was quite difficult to say whether it was

something really unusual, extraordinary things that happen to people in the city or

it was a simple hallucination, illusion, or just a nightmare and only at the end it

becomes clear that the whole city was really transformed in pods, people.

WWhereas in “The Thiang” it is evident practically from the very beginning.

Everyone realiszes that the characters act in an unreal situation; they really

confront some aliens that intend to control them their bodies and their minds.

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Probably, the cause of such a difference lies in the history of the origin of the

films. The audience For we know that “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” was

significantly influenced by proceedingthe film noir genre films noir that tended to

emphasise externalised the moral conflict of the detective story. Such films

inhabit:

““…shadow worlds and hover without resolve between the supernatural

and mundane rationalism. In the same sense “Invasion of the Body

Snatchers” and the other alien takeover films… psychologically

externalised the central conflict of the alien invader film – they were less

films about aliens than they were about alienation” i (Biskindg 1983:

PP.139).

However, Siegel the director tries to keep us in suspense for a while and injects

inrushes the film with rationalism and realism but when the nightmare becomes

the reality he widely uses film noir techniques such as shots down tight corridors,

silhouettes running against streetlights, close ups on sweaty faces and, tilted

angles.

Though Siegel he does not forget about classical horror films scenes such as

Biskind suggests

“shots up from under the plank under which McCarthy and Winter hide,

with the pod people crossing calmly assuring them there is nothing to fear,

the wide-angled shots out of the office window down onto the public

square, which becomes inexplicably frightening the moment all visitors are








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cleared and the bustle of everyday chaos suddenly turns into something

ordered and people start organizing the pods to be distributed about the

country” (Biaskind 1983:141).

Whereas in “The Thing” its creators used the experience of past works in the field

of horror films and I would say this film is purer horror in the sense that the

psychological tension here is weakened by a certain simplification due to which

we should not guess whether it is a kind of psychological problems of the

characters or a paranormal phenomenon for the latter is quite obvious. Whereas,

in “The Thing” Carpenter has used less of a psychological theme which is

successful as it heightens the fear factor and kept the story simplified.

Also I want to add that

In addition, “The Thing” is much richer in special effects, particularly when we see

victims of aliens who “transform into twisted versions of themselves, complete

with claws, spider-like limbs, teeth and lots of flailing tentacles” (Landon 1993:36).

This And again I think that is the result the evolution of special effects from the

1950‟s to the 80‟s which made films (particularly sci-fi and horror) seem more

realistic. of time changes because in 1980s due to the development of computer

technologies and more sophisticated technical equipment impressive special

effects became an essential part of any good horror film pretending to be

interesting and popular. Whereas, in the 1950s not only was the sfx lesser

developed, technical opportunities were not so good but the tradition of film

shooting was a bit different. More attention was usually given to the psychological



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side and could only be enforced by special effects which were not very „special‟

though in comparison with the 1980s.

Other As for some more similarities inof both “Invasion of the Body Snatchers”

and “The Thing”, include we may find not only theme and probably idea of the film

but also the atmosphere of films.

As argued, I have already said these films deals with the alien intrusion into

human life, into the human body, mind and consciousness. But they also have

other intentions. Theyse films also may serve as a warning about the danger of

such a situation, when of a total control of a human consciousness becomes a

reality. when people become pods but not thinking beings.

This ideaIt is reinforced by the reigning atmosphere of tension within the films.,

even This paranoia that makes the audience us forget about the unreality of the

events and entices them into the narrative. and deep into the action. From this

analysis, it It is obvious that Siegel and Carpenter creators of these films had

similar aims.

The representation of alien invasion is interesting in both “The Thing” and

“Invasion of the Body Snatchers.” The portrayal may be a bit different, but the

principles of such an invasion remain similar.


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Finally, I would like to add a few words about the way of alien invasion.

It may be a bit different by its form but the principle of such invasion remains

similar.

What I mean is the fact that certainly The aliens in “Invasion of the

Body Snatchers” and “The Thing” act differently as has been

argued., I have already mentioned that the latter act rapidly

without human will and they can act in any time while the former

are quite long reacted beings, they cannot attack men only if they

are not asleep.

The aliens in “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” and “The Thing” act differently as

has been argued. On the other hand,But we see t There is one common principle-

aliens in both in these this films attack from inside. , I mean they want They

invade human bodies and minds but not their land, property, they do not threat

directly to their and physical wealth. It seems that human life inner world is much

more important for them than anything else asbecause they try to control the

human‟s bodies.memory, and consequently our feelings, emotions, our state of

mind, perception of the world, our present and our past. Moreover, they “have

access to the being‟s memories, allowing them to blend in almost perfectly without

being detected by future target hosts who may know the person who has now

been replaced by these horrible alien creatures”ii. (Gregory:1972:?). Thus, we see

that unlike many other films about alien invasion, “Invasion of the Body Snatchers”

and “The Thing” pay much more attention to the inner world of people. This

implies the spiritual emptiness that threatens the people of the 21st century

because the alien‟s symbolisze all the complicated processes that take place in












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society which still continue to exist. This emptiness that led to the moral

degradation of people eventually resulted in their transformation into pods.

replaced by these horrible alien creatures”iii. Thus, we see that unlike many other

films about alien invasion “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” and “The Thing” pay

much more attention to the inner world of people, implying the spiritual emptiness

that threatens to the people of the 20th century because in my opinion the aliens

symbolize all those complicated processes that took place in our society in the

20th century and still continues to exist and that lead to moral degradation of

people to their transformation into pods.

Taking into account all the above mentioned, , I can come to the conclusion that

Siegel‟s, “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” and Carpenter‟s “The Thing” are real

masterpieces of the horror genre.. and we haveThe audience has perceived them

not only in the intendedproper sense but we should also it has been

realirealiszedze wthat the creators of these films had another message implied. In

my paper I have named a lot of things that are either There are many similarities

and differencessimilar or different in these films but what is the most importantly is

the fact that they both were and remain extremely popular. and the film that would

be better than them can be hardly imagined. One of the evidences of my idea is

the fact that there There are numerous remakes of these films which indicate the

success that, in its turn, tells us about the actuality of the plot., themes and ideas

conveyed with the help of “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” and “The Thing”. Thus

, I can say that both films should be regarded as classics of the horror genre and




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their traditions should be continued but not blindly copied as that would lead to the

underdevelopment and a monotonous prosperous future of this genre.

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Bibliography

Biskind, P.(1983) “The Mind Managers: Invasion of the Body Snatchers and the

Paranoid Style in American Movies.” “In Seeing Is Believing: How Hollyiwood

Taught UsS to Stop Worrying and Love the Fifties” Movies. New York: Pantheon.

Biskin, Peter. “The Russians Are Coming, Aren‟t They? Them! The Thing, and the

Extremists from Beyond the Center.” In Seeing iIs Believing: How Hollyiwood

Taught UsS to Stop Worrying and Love the Fifties Movies. Pantheon; NY:, 1983

.Capenter, J (Director) (1982) The Thing [Film]

Gregory, C. (1972) “The Pod Society Versus the Rugged Individualists.” The

Journal of Popular Film and Television 1:1,1. (Winter 1972), 3-14 1972.

Landon, B. (1993) „The Thing in All Its Guises: Reconsidering a Science Fiction

Classic.‟ In Chapter 2 of The Aesthetic of Ambivalence: Rethinking the Science

Fiction Film in the Age of Electronic (Re)production. Greenwood Press Westport,

CT: Greenwood Press, 1993.

LeGacy, A. (1978) “Invasion of the Body Snatchers: A Metaphor for the Fifties.”

Literature/Film Quarterly 6(3), 285-91.

Siegel, D (Director) (1956) Invasion Of The Body Snatchers [Film]






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i Bisking 1983 PP.139 ii Gregory, Charles. “The Pod Society Versus the Rugged Individualists.” The Journal of Popular Film

1. Winter 1972. iii Gregory, Charles. “The Pod Society Versus the Rugged Individualists.” The Journal of Popular

Film 1. Winter 1972.

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