Shocking cinema is the term used to describe films that are usually classed as horror. In this essay I will outline the meaning of shocking cinema/horror as well as talk about 3 main horror films that I studied in lessons and at home. Shocking cinema films tend to be classed as films that horrify the spectator and cause moral panic within society.
             Within the actual horror category there are different genres, these include ''slasher'', ''gore'' and ''stylized''. Slasher films are mainly aimed at the younger audience with films like Halloween and the Screen trilogy. Gore films are those that centre the attention on the special effects and blood of the killings (e.g.- the video nasties that appeared in the mid 80's). An example of stylized horror would be the Dario Argento 1977 classic ''suspiria''. Horror films tend to engage and shock the viewer using two main aspects, visual suspense and sound. Both aspects play of each other and without one the other one becomes almost ineffective. A classic example of this is the now infamous ''shower scene'' from the 1960 film 'psycho'. The viewer can see the woman is the shower and the music starts getting sharper. As the shadow of the killer approaches the music starts to get even sharper and louder and almost reaches a crescendo. At this point the viewer feels they know what is going to happen but is still not quite sure, there is a vulnerable woman naked in the shower and a dark shadow approaching as well as suspenseful music. As the music reaches it's peak the killer emerges and pulls back the curtain rails then proceeds to stab the young woman to death using a knife. The audience is shocked on one hand but on the other quite pleased with themselves that they was scared for a valid reason! This could be another reason why shocking cinema has such a strong place in th...