UCL Discovery
UCL home » Library Services » Electronic resources » UCL Discovery

Gangs and guilt: Towards a new theory of horror film

Kord, ST; (2016) Gangs and guilt: Towards a new theory of horror film (Sunderland, L, Trans.). Cultural Dynamics , 28 (1) pp. 69-83. 10.1177/0921374015623387. Green open access

[thumbnail of kord_Gangs_and_Guilt.pdf]
Preview
Text
kord_Gangs_and_Guilt.pdf

Download (240kB) | Preview

Abstract

The most basic and unanimous statement made in scholarship on horror films is that horror films are ‘about’ fear: the primary purpose of horror films is to scare viewers. Based on horror films from the 1970s until the present in which child gangs play a significant part, this essay advances a new theory of horror film, namely that horror films primarily seek to elicit not fear but guilt. The analysis focuses on four topics: themes, camera angles, horror’s cinematic casting of ‘abnormality,’ and the rift, unique to the horror genre, between audience ‘alignment’ and ‘allegiance.’

Type: Article
Title: Gangs and guilt: Towards a new theory of horror film
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1177/0921374015623387
Publisher version: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0921374015623387
Language: English
Additional information: Copyright © The Author(s) 2016.
Keywords: Children in film, film theory, genre theory, horror films
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of Arts and Humanities
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL SLASH > Faculty of Arts and Humanities > SELCS
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1431923
Downloads since deposit
454Downloads
Download activity - last month
Download activity - last 12 months
Downloads by country - last 12 months

Archive Staff Only

View Item View Item