Spring 2004 Courses

English 260: Film Studies: The Horror Film (Fried)

Nosferatu. Frankenstein. The Birds. The Exorcist. Alien. Scream. The horror film is one of the most successful and resilient genres in film history. Just when you think the genre is dead, it creeps back to life with a new spin on the zombie flick or slasher film or haunted house tale. But what exactly defines the horror film and the horror genre? It's not simply the experience of being scared. This course will look at a variety of classic and contemporary horror films in order to consider the horror genre as a cinematic discourse with specific formal, thematic and textual elements. In addition, the course will consider horror films as texts to be read in terms of cultural and historical anxieties. How can we read horror films, for instance, as allegories reflecting tensions on issues such as gender, sexuality, the family, class and race? Over the course of the semester, students will read a variety of different texts, including reviews, critical essays, screenplays, novels excerpts and short stories, as well as theoretical texts relating to the film's subject matter. Students will be expected to master the language of film analysis. Films screened will include (many of the films mentioned above as well as) The Shining, Rosemary's Baby, Halloween, and other classics. Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the classroom....

Spring 2004 Course Listings