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Art or arthouse horror (sometimes called elevated horror)[3][4][5] is a sub-genre of both horror films and art-films. It explores and experiments with the artistic uses of horror.
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Characteristics
Art-horror films tend to rely on atmosphere building, psychological character development, cinematic style and philosophical themes for effect - rather than straightforward scares.[1][4]
Art-horror films have been described as "a fascinating byproduct of the collision of art and commerce, of genre convention and personal vision".[1] Historically, the genre was loosely related to J-horror and Italian Giallo.[1] In the 2000s, a movement of transgressive films in France known as "New French Extremity" has been described as an arthouse horror film movement.[6]
Although commentators have suggested some horror films have exemplified qualities applicable to "art horror" for many decades, the term became more widely used during the 2010s, with independent film company A24 credited with popularising the genre.[4][5][7] The term "elevated horror" was first used in the early 2010s, and subsequently has been the subject of criticism and debate among film critics as it became more widely used.[8][9][10]
Notable art horror films
20th century
- The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (Robert Wiene, 1920)[11]
- Nosferatu (F.W. Murnau, 1922)[11]
- The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog (Alfred Hitchcock, 1927)[12]
- M (Fritz Lang, 1931)[12]
- Vampyr (Carl Theodor Dreyer, 1932)[13]
- The Bride of Frankenstein (James Whale, 1935)[11]
- Cat People (Jacques Tourneur, 1942)[13]
- The Leopard Man (Jacques Tourneur, 1943)[1]
- I Walked with a Zombie (Jacques Tourneur, 1943)[13]
- Black Sunday (Mario Bava, 1960)[11]
- Eyes without a Face (Georges Franju, 1960)[11]
- Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock, 1960)[11]
- The Innocents (Jack Clayton, 1961)[11]
- Carnival of Souls (Herk Harvey, 1962)[11]
- Blood and Black Lace (Mario Bava, 1964)[11]
- Kwaidan (Masaki Kobayashi, 1965)[11]
- Repulsion (Roman Polanski, 1965)[11]
- Hour of the Wolf (Ingmar Bergman, 1968)[11]
- Rosemary's Baby (Roman Polanski, 1968)[14]
- Images (Robert Altman, 1972)[1]
- Don't Look Now (Nicloas Roeg, 1973)[11]
- Ganja and Hess (Bill Gunn, 1973)[15]
- Sisters (Brian De Palma, 1973)[12]
- Eraserhead (David Lynch, 1977)[11]
- Opening Night (John Cassavetes, 1977)[16]
- Suspiria (Dario Argento, 1977)[11]
- Hausu (Nobuhiko Obayashi, 1977)[11]
- The Brood (David Cronenberg, 1979)[12]
- The Driller Killer (Abel Ferrara, 1979)[17][18]
- Vengeance Is Mine (Shōhei Imamura, 1979)[12]
- Nosferatu the Vampyre (Werner Herzog, 1979)[19]
- The Shining (Stanley Kubrick, 1980)[11]
- Possession (Andrzej Zulawski, 1981)[1]
- Videodrome (David Cronenberg, 1983)[20]
- The Hunger (Tony Scott, 1983) [21][22]
- The Vanishing (George Sluizer, 1988)[12]
- Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (David Lynch, 1992)[12]
- Cronos (Guillermo del Toro, 1993)[12]
- Safe (Todd Haynes, 1995)[23]
- Funny Games (Michael Haneke, 1997)[12]
- Perfect Blue (Satoshi Kon, 1997)[24]
- Audition (Takashi Miike, 1999)[1]
21st century
- The Devil's Backbone (Guillermo del Toro, 2001)[25]
- Mulholland Drive (David Lynch, 2001)[11]
- High Tension (Alexandre Aja, 2003)[6]
- Inland Empire (David Lynch, 2006)[26]
- Pan's Labyrinth (Guillermo del Toro, 2006)[11]
- Frontier(s) (Xavier Gens, 2007)[6]
- Let the Right One In (Tomas Alfredson, 2008)[27]
- Coraline (Henry Selick, 2009)[28]
- Antichrist (Lars von Trier, 2009)[29]
- Beyond the Black Rainbow (Panos Cosmatos, 2010)[30]
- Black Swan (Darren Aronofsky, 2010)
- A Field in England, (Ben Wheatley, 2013)[11]
- Under the Skin (Jonathan Glazer, 2013)[31]
- Only Lovers Left Alive (Jim Jarmusch, 2013)[1]
- Enemy (Denis Villeneuve, 2013)[1]
- The Babadook (Jennifer Kent, 2014)[32]
- It Follows (David Robert Mitchell), 2014)[33]
- The Witch (Robert Eggers, 2015)[4]
- The Neon Demon (Nicholas Winding Refn, 2016)[31]
- Shin Godzilla (Hideaki Anno, 2016)[34]
- Raw (Julia Ducournau, 2016)[35]
- Kizumonogatari (Tatsuya Oishi, 2016)[36]
- Mother! (Darren Aronofsky, 2017)[31]
- Get Out (Jordan Peele, 2017)[37]
- One Cut of the Dead (Shin'ichirō Head,2017)[38]
- Hereditary (Ari Aster, 2018)[39]
- A Quiet Place (John Krasinski, 2018)[9]
- Annihilation (Alex Garland, 2018)[40]
- Suspiria (Luca Guadagnino, 2018)[14][41]
- Mandy (Panos Cosmatos, 2018)[42]
- Midsommar (Ari Aster, 2019)[4][43]
- The Lighthouse (Robert Eggers, 2019)[28]
- Saint Maud (Rose Glass, 2019)[3]
- Roh (Emir Ezwan, 2019)[44]
- Impetigore (Joko Anwar, 2019)[45]
- Relic (Natalie Erika James, 2020)[3]
- Friend of the World (Brian Patrick Butler, 2020)[46]
- Cryptozoo (Dash Shaw, 2021)[47]
- Lamb (Valdimar Jóhannsson, 2021)[48]
- Titane (Julia Ducournau, 2021)[49]
Notable directors
- Abel Ferrara[50]
- David Cronenberg[12][26]
- Stanley Kubrick[13]
- Takashi Miike[1]
- Roman Polanski[11][14]
- Lars von Trier[51]
- Jacques Tourneur[1]
- Ari Aster[31][43]
- Werner Herzog[1]
- Robert Eggers[4][52]
- Nicholas Roeg[53]
- David Lynch[54]
- Herk Harvey[12]
- Dario Argento[13]
- Mario Bava[13]
- Panos Cosmatos[30]
- Guillermo del Toro[12][11]
- Joko Anwar[45][55]
- Alfred Hitchcock[11][12]
- Michael Haneke[12]
- Marina de Van[6]
- Alexandre Aja[6]
- Julia Ducournau[35]
See also
- Arthouse animation
- Social thriller
- New Hollywood
- New French Extremity
- Arthouse musical
- Arthouse science fiction film
- Arthouse action film
- Vulgar auteurism
- Extreme cinema
- Postmodern horror
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m "Under the Skin, Only Lovers Left Alive, and a Brief History of the Art-Horror Film". Vulture. Retrieved 2020-06-29.
- ^ Romano, Aja (2018-11-07). "How Suspiria turns the color red into a plot point". Vox. Retrieved 2021-12-20.
- ^ a b c "5 'Elevated' Horrors Every Film Buff Needs To See". British Vogue. 2021-05-01. Retrieved 2021-12-16.
- ^ a b c d e f "How A24 Horror Movies & Arthouse Horror Became Popular In The 2010s". ScreenRant. 2021-01-15. Retrieved 2021-12-16.
- ^ a b "This Was the Decade Horror Got "Elevated"". Vanity Fair. 2019-12-17. Retrieved 2021-12-16.
- ^ a b c d e West, Alexandra (2016-05-20). Films of the New French Extremity: Visceral Horror and National Identity. McFarland. ISBN 978-1-4766-6348-7.
- ^ Best Horror Movies - 100 Scary Movies To Watch Now, Ranked By... Time Out
- ^ Ehrlich, David (2019-03-25). "The Evils of 'Elevated Horror' — IndieWire Critics Survey". IndieWire. Retrieved 2021-12-20.
- ^ a b Barber, Nicholas. "Is horror the most disrespected genre?". www.bbc.com. Retrieved 2021-12-22.
- ^ Why Elevated Horror Is an Unnecessary and Elitist Term - Horror Obsessive
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w Scott-Travis, Shane. "The 25 Most Artistic Horror Movies of All Time". Taste of Cinema - Movie Reviews and Classic Movie Lists. Retrieved 2021-12-16.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Bibbiani, William (2019-04-26). "Arthouse of Horrors: The Scariest Movies on The Criterion Channel!". Bloody Disgusting!. Retrieved 2021-12-16.
- ^ a b c d e f "The Art-Horror Film: Genius or Pretentious?". Horror Movies. 2021-04-22. Retrieved 2021-12-16.
- ^ a b c "Art House Films Are Changing Horror". Horror. Retrieved 2021-12-16.
- ^ "Ganja and Hess". Austin Film Society. Retrieved 2021-12-16.
- ^ Nero, Dom (2018-10-10). "'Opening Night' Is the Ultimate Arthouse Horror Film". Esquire. Retrieved 2021-12-16.
- ^ The Driller Killer - Movie Reviews and Movie Ratings - TV Guide
- ^ The Driller Killer - Enzian Theater
- ^ 11 Art-House Horror Movie To Watch This Halloween Instead Of The Typical Slashers - HuffPost
- ^ "The 10 Best Arthouse Horror Films to Stream". The Manual. 2021-10-03. Retrieved 2021-12-20.
- ^ Cut by Cut: Parallel Editing in The Hunger (1983) - Horror Movie Reviews - Horror Movieroom
- ^ THE HUNGER (1983) - Horror Cult Films
- ^ Pulling Focus: Safe (1995) — Taste of Cinema
- ^ Chapman, Paul (9 August 2018). "Satoshi Kon's Psychological Thriller "Perfect Blue" Heads to U.S. Theaters". Crunchyroll. Archived from the original on April 6, 2019. Retrieved 20 May 2019.
- ^ Scary Stories for the Thinking Man - The Austin Chronicle
- ^ a b The 10 Best Arthouse Horror Films to Stream | The Manual
- ^ "Let The Right One In". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 2022-02-20.
- ^ a b "5 Artsy Horror Movies That Are Overhyped (& 5 That Are Actually Brilliant)". ScreenRant. 2021-02-06. Retrieved 2021-12-16.
- ^ "Art Horror Series". Austin Film Society. Retrieved 2021-12-16.
- ^ a b Trippy horror/fantasy Beyond the Black Rainbow gets DVD/Blu-ray release date - JoBlo
- ^ a b c d Hadsell, Brian (2018-06-16). "'Hereditary'—Like: The 5 Best Recent Arthouse Horror Movies". TVOvermind. Retrieved 2021-12-16.
- ^ Howell, Amanda (2017), Ryan, Mark David; Goldsmith, Ben (eds.), "Haunted Art House: The Babadook and International Art Cinema Horror", Australian Screen in the 2000s, Cham: Springer International Publishing, pp. 119–139, doi:10.1007/978-3-319-48299-6_6, ISBN 978-3-319-48298-9, retrieved 2022-02-20
- ^ 'It Follows' Box Office: How Indie Horror Film Became Cult Sensation - Deadline
- ^ DeHart, Jonathan (June 6, 2016). "Godzilla Resurgence: Japan Reboots Its Most Iconic Monster". The Diplomat. Retrieved October 8, 2016.
- ^ a b "'Titane' director on the queer body horror film seducing critics, bewildering audiences". NBC News. Retrieved 2021-12-20.
- ^ "NisiOisin's Kizumonogatari Light Novel Gets Anime (Updated)". Anime News Network. July 28, 2010. Retrieved February 27, 2016.
- ^ Mendelson, Scott. "Jordan Peele Talks 'Get Out' And His Love For Horror Movies". Forbes.com. Retrieved February 10, 2017.
- ^ Shawhan, Jason. "One Cut of the Dead Makes Played-Out Elements Fresh". Nashville Scene. Retrieved 2022-02-25.
- ^ Wilkinson, Alissa (2018-06-01). "Hereditary is the terrifying arthouse horror film of the year". Vox. Retrieved 2021-12-16.
- ^ Fleming, Mike Jr. (March 26, 2013). "Paramount, Scott Rudin land 'Annihilation', First Installment of Southern Reach Trilogy". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved January 11, 2022.
- ^ "The horror? How Suspiria leads the way for arthouse scares". the Guardian. 2018-10-24. Retrieved 2021-12-20.
- ^ Roxborough, Scott (2018-11-02). "AFM: The Horror Genre Emerges as Indie Industry's Unlikely Savior". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2021-12-20.
- ^ a b Producer, MICKAYLA MILLER | Website. "From 'Midsommar' to 'The Possessor': 10 modern arthouse horror movies to watch before Halloween [column]". LancasterOnline. Retrieved 2021-12-16.
- ^ Frater, Patrick (2020-11-04). "Malaysia Sends Art House Horror Film 'Soul' to the Oscars". Variety. Retrieved 2021-11-22.
- ^ a b "Indonesia Picks Upmarket Horror Film 'Impetigore' for Oscars Contention". uk.finance.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2021-11-22.
- ^ Hannon, Melissa (2021-07-30). "REVIEW: 'FRIEND OF THE WORLD' (2020) IS A BIZARRE APOCALYPTIC FILM". Horror Geek Life. Retrieved 2022-03-09.
- ^ Greenwood, Douglas (2021-03-03). "10 exciting arthouse movies coming in 2021". i-D. Retrieved 2021-12-20.
- ^ "New A24 Horror Movie Lamb Could be the Craziest Film of the Fall". July 28, 2021.
- ^ "Sex Drive: 'Titane' and the Meaning of Horror". December 30, 2021.
- ^ Abel Ferrara interview: Driller Killer, Bad Lieutenant, Body Snatchers|Den of Geek
- ^ Antichrist|Austin Film Society
- ^ "12 Arthouse Horror Directors Who Are Reinventing The Genre". theplaylist.net. Retrieved 2021-12-16.
- ^ Evangelista, Chris (2020-10-01). "Criterion Channel '70s Horror Trailer". SlashFilm.com. Retrieved 2021-12-16.
- ^ The Emergent Trend of Mainstream vs. Art-House Horror Films | Medium.com
- ^ Kuipers, Richard (2012-10-15). "Modus Anomali". Variety. Retrieved 2021-12-16.
Further reading
- Hawkins, J. (2000) Cutting Edge: Art-Horror and the Horrific Avant-Garde, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press
- Hanscomb, S. (2010) "Existentialism and Art-Horror", Sartre Studies International 16:1, pp. 1–23