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Using two examples from the genre of horror examine what a ‘classic horror’ film is.

The horror Horror genre is perhaps one of the most popular movie genres

and we may say that it has which possibly started to develop practically

immediately with due to the development expansion of show business, and a free

access of wide audience to with cinemas and television becoming freer for wider

audiences to access. We can find a lot of causes of the popularity of this genre

but it is still not so easy to explain Despite its phenomenon being without a simple

explanation there are many causes to the popularity of horror, namely why it is so

attractive for people despite all its unreality how regardless of the genre being so

unrealistic mass audiences still find it so attractive. However On the other hand, it

would be a great mistake to say some might argue that horror movies are plain or

even primitive, but this would be a great misinterpretation. Naturally, there are

some horror movies which are really so overly stereotyped, unbearably plain, and

absolutely thoughtless not very well thought out. But However, in my opinion, it

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

real due to contemporary movie specialists whose outlook on moviemaking and

they can create nothing but films results in of low quality films, regardless of its

genre. Also I‟d say that in addition to this view it could be said that as in any other

branch of art cinema has its genius and its mediocre majority because the

standard of a good films may be created only by a good crew and the genre is not

so important based on the quality of its crew. Among such genius the genius of

cinema, I would name the crews that worked on two films of horror genre, they

are “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” and “The Thing” are perhaps two horror

movies with crew whom deserve recognition. I said The crew‟s work was

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exceptional in these cases, notwithstanding the fact that they were led by such

well qualified professionals as not because I do not want to agree with those who

believe that Donald Siegel and John Carpenter, who 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 With this is mind, we may say it could be

said that “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” and “The Thing” are classics of the

horror classics genre and the best ones were created by the best moviemakers of

the horror genre. But what I would like to analyze is the reason why Why they are

treated as such and in which way they are similar or different however, are topics

to be analysed in further detail.

Firstly of all, it is may be necessary to say that these two both films were

created at in different times decades. “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” was

created in the middle 1950s, more precisely in 1956 whereas was filmed in 1956,

whereas „The Thing’ was created filmed in 1982. It seems that such time

difference should make the quality of the films completely different but, strangely

enough however, they have a lot of many common aspects. That is why at the

beginning I would like This raises the chance to dwell upon discuss the

similarities of both films. First of all, we may say It could be said that, to a certain

extent, the theme of the films is are close in comparison. Both films focus on the

problem of the invasion of humans, or just alive bodies by some showing how

aliens that tends to can control the a person‟s personality, the hosts actions and

judgments, etc. In the case of “Invasion of the Body Snatchers”, we deal the

audience is faced with creatures that “has[have] 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 wakes up when the process is not complete, the whole

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procedure is a failure” (LeGacey, 1978, :pp.288). On the other hand, the creatures

in „The tThing‟ needs take just a few minutes to do it control their hosts because “it

can assimilate the host while it‟s still conscious, against the host‟s will” (Landon,

1993, pp.:39). The differences of these themes are P probably such changes are

caused by the changes of time or epoch between the two movies. It is obvious

could be said that the rhythm of life in the 1980s was of a much faster pace than

in 1950s, and certainly it found its expression in the perception of the idea of

possible alien assault invasions or attempts to invade the human minds.

By the way, I think It is fair to say that both films express the trend that took

place within the societysocieties of their time, when the idea of total control of athe

human mind became more and more widely spread. It means that This is shown

symbolically by the aliens creators of the both films tried to by implying those the

powers of control through either political or economical means with that by

different means aimed at demonstrating the total control of public consciousness

through the invasion of the mind ofvia a separate individual. It This was is quite

actual accurate if we take into account if we take into consideration the time when

both films were released,. in 1952 1952 it was the year of the beginning of the

cold war when the tensions between capitalistCapitalist America the well-

developed democratic world and the communistic Soviet Union grew and the

governments of many countries, including the most democratic, had started to

struggle for the control of public opinion and even each particular individual. 1945

was the year the beginning of the cold war began where the tension between the

well-developed democratic world and the communistic Soviet Union grew. The

governments of many countries, including the most democratic, then started to

struggle for the control of public opinion and even the view of each individual

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member of the public.At the same time In accordance to this, 1982 it was a period

when the cold war achieved its apologe when the necessary apologies for the

cold war were achieved and the world was on the eve of the Reagans declaration

of the war on for the „empire of evil,‟ when of which the situation was very

resembling to that of early 1950s. Furthermore, the degree of surveillance grew

and specialists began to spoke speak about the total control of certain

organizations had over people. In comparison to such a situations like these the

horror films „Invasion of the Body Snatchers‟ and „The Thing‟ seem almost

foreboding people transformed in pods in the horror films I‟ve just named look like

a prophecy and warning against such dangerous practices.

One more thing that makes An arguable difference between “Invasion of

the Body Snatchers” and “The Thing” quite different is the degree of the

combination between of reality and fiction. unreality as I would call it. In my

opinion, at this point “The Thing” is much more radical thing in the sense that it the

film is full of fantastic elements and with the state of paranoia overwhelmings the

audience and keepings people them in such a state of suspense during the whole

film viewing experience. On the other hand, in “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” it

is quite difficult to distinguish whether what we is seen is reality or unreal fiction.

Personally Here, when I watched both films I had the audience is left with a

permanent doubt in the mental health to the stability of its the main characters for

most of the viewing it 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 as it is only at the end of the film

that the theme it becomes clear, whereas this is an evident element throughout

„The Thing.‟ that the whole city was really transformed in pods people. Whereas

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in “The Thang” it is evident practically from the very beginning. Everyone realizes

that the characters act in an unreal situation they really confront some aliens that

intend to control their bodies and their minds. Probably, It could be said that the

cause of such a difference lies in the history of the origin of the both films. For we

know that “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” was significantly influenced by

proceeding films noir, that which tended to externalised the moral conflict of the

detective story. Such films inhabit contain “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 (Bisking, 1983,

ppPP.139). However the director tries to keep us in suspense for a while and

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 narrow

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

tilted camera angles. Though he Even with this the director does not forget about

classical horror films scenes such as “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 cleared and the bustle of everyday chaos suddenly turns into something

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

(Biaskin, 1983,:pp.141).

Whereas in On the other hand, the creators of “The Thing” its

creators used the experience of past works in the field of horror films for

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influence, which some might say resulted in the and I would say this film

being is a purer horror example in the sense that the psychological

tension here is was 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

being too obvious an ending. Also I want to add that In addition to this,

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

seethere are screen shots of the alien‟s victims of aliens who “transform

into twisted versions of themselves, complete with claws, spider-like

limbs, teeth and lots of flailing tentacles” (Landon, 1993,: pp.36). And

again I think that It could be said that it is the result of time changes

difference that changes the viewing experience between the two films

because in the 1980s, due to the development of computer technologies

and creating more sophisticated technical equipment, impressive special

effects became an essential part of any good horror films pretending to

be interesting and popular. Whereas Opposite to this, in the 1950s did

not have the same only technical opportunities and also had a different

method of filming. were not so good but the tradition of film shooting was

a bit different. In these cases M more attention was usually given to the

psychological side to horror films with the limited special effects that were

available at the time used to support the movie. and could only be

enforced by special effects which were not very „special‟ though in

comparison with 1980s. As for some more other similarities of both

“Invasion of the Body Snatchers” and “The Thing”, we may find not only

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theme and plot may not be the only likenesses probably idea of the film,

but also the atmosphere. of films.

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

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

film but also the atmosphere of films.

As I have already said these Both films deals with the alien intrusion

invasion into of the human life, into human body, mind and

consciousness,. These films also may serve as a warning about the

danger of such a situation, of a total control of human consciousness

when people become pods but not thinking beings. It which is

reinforced by the reigning atmosphere of tension, even and paranoia

that makes us the audience forget about that the unreality of the

events are fictional. and deep into the action. It is obvious With this in

mind it could be said that creators of these films had similar aims.

It is reinforced by the reigning atmosphere of tension, even paranoia

that makes us forget about the unreality of the events and deep into the

action. It is obvious that creators of these films had similar aims.

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.

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

the Body Snatchers” and “The Thing” act differently, I have

already which was previously mentioned that with the latter film

and how the aliens act rapidly without against the humans will and

they can act in at any time, while the former film are quite long

reacted beings, they cannot attack men only if they are not asleep

can attack its victim at any time.

But we see that t There is yet one common principle aspect to the aliens in these

this the films which is how they attack from the inside, I mean they want invade

human bodies and minds but not without wanting to take from humans their land,

or property, they and do not threat directly to their physical wealth. It seems that

human inner world the inner world of humans is much more important for them to

the aliens than anything else because they try which is evident from how they try

to control human‟s memory, and consequently our human feelings, emotions, our

state of mind, and 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. Thus, we see that unlike many other

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

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

emptiness that threatens to the people humans of the 20th century. because in

my opinion t The aliens symbolize all those complicated processes that took

place in our society in the 20th century, and of which still continues to exist today

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and that may lead to moral degradation of people humans. to their transformation

into pods.

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

conclusion that “Invasion of the Body Snatchers” and “The Thing” are real

masterpieces of the horror genre and we have perceive them not only in the

proper sense but we should also realize what the creators of these films implied.

In my paper I have named a lot of things that are either similar or different

similarities and differences in these of both films but what is the most important 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 t There are numerous remakes of these films that, in its turn, tells us

about proves 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 their traditions should be

continued but not blindly copied that would lead as to develop the development

and prosper ous the future of this genre.

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Reference: Bibliography

Biskin, Peter. “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 Movies. New York: Pantheon, 1983.

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

PranoidParanoid Style in American Movies.‟ In: Seeing Is Believing: How

Hollywood Taught Us to Stop WorringWorrying and Love Movies. New York:

Pantheon: 137-144.

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

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

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

Biskin, P. (1983). „The Russians Are Coming Aren‟t They? Them! The Thing, and

the Extremists From Beyond the Centre.‟ In: Seeing Is Believing: How Hollywood

Taught Us tTo Stop Worrying and Love Movies. New York: Pantheon: 123-136.

Gregory, Charles. “The Pod Society Versus the Rugged Individualists.” The

Journal of Popular Film 1. Winter 1972.

Gregory, C., T. (1972) „The pPod sSociety vVersus the rRugged iIndividualists.‟

The Journal of Popular Film, 1:, 3-14.

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Landon, B. „The Thing in All Its Guises: Reconsidering a Science Fiction Classic.‟

Chapter 2 of The Aesthetic of Ambivalence: Rethinking the Science Fiction Film in

the Age of Electronic (Re)production. Greenwood Press Westport, CT:, 1993.

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

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

Fiction Film in the Age of Electronic (Re) Production, Chapter 2. Westport, CT:

Greenwood Press: 27-44.

LeGacy, Arthur. “Invasion of the Body Snatchers: A Metaphor for the Fifties.”

Literature/Film Quarterly 6.23, 1978.

LeGacy, A. (1978). „Invasion of the body snatchers: A metaphor for the fifties.‟

Literature/Film Quarterly, 6.3:, 285 – 292.

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

1. Winter 1972.





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