Even More Gothic Horror
The Devil Rides Out by Terence Fisher 1968 [IMDB]
- Terence Fisher is an Auteur within this genre
- The film conventionally begins with the company logo
- The music is played over polysemic shots of satanic symbols to create narrative enigma
- The preffered reading of the snakes, the goats head, the cross and the stars is satan
- The use of red smoke signifies ritual
- The titles are in sans serif font this is typical of the genre
- The film opens with a long shot of a plane signifying wealth
- Then pans down to a two shot of the binary oposites of a rich man signified by his suit and hat and his servant signified by his grey overcoat uniform.
- The use of the old fashioned car and 1920's costumes signifies the past
Decadent Evil by Charles Band 2005 [IMDB]
- This film uses medium shot of a Vampire who has long black hair a black cloak a pale face which is stereotypical of the genre however he is young and modern also he uses a sowrd which is counterypical of the genre since vampires don't need them.
- The vampires are also in a castle this is shown by a tilted low angle shot which also signifes their power
- The voice over signifies the ptoaganist and provides exposition
- Later on in this film the piece uses female vampires which is countertypical but apeals to the male gaze
Quatermass and the Pit by Roy Ward Baker 1967 [IMDB]
- This film begins with orchestral Music and a picture of a skull on a black background to signify death
- The sans serif white typography appears to the side to sginfiy a documentary style film
- The orchestral music is typical of films of the time
- The policmens uniform signfies the past though this preffered reading would have only have been understood by an english audience who know the modern uniform
- Foreign audiences may denote that the setting is London from the use of the sign "Underground"
- Presenting britain in the past is a stereotypical view of britain
- The use of fog and darkness is stereotypical of the genre.
- The begging shots use high angle shots to signify vulnerability
There's a huge amount of research here Chris, on this and other posts. If you have time, it would be worth trying to do a short video - maybe using some film images (from your work and/or existing texts) - where you (and Jonny) discuss the main things you've learned about the genre, including why you think its still a good choice for a contemporary audience
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