Task 3 research into the drama -Christian Metz model of genre

This task consisted of identifying films in the horror drama and using Christian Metz's model of development.
Introducing Metz theory

Christian  Metz in his book Language and cinema(1974)explored the development of genre film and suggested that genres pass through four phases of existence these being :

1)The experimental

2)The classic

3)The parody (spoof)

4)The deconstruction

Explanation of the four phases-

1) By the experimental  stage we mean the phase of early films that explored and experimented with the horror genre themes in it's narratives.These films included Nosferatu (1922),The Cabinet of Dr Caligari(1919). This is because they helped to formalize the narrative conventions of the horror films in it's earliest phase.                                                                                                                Christian Metz     

2)By Classic we mean the phase of films established from the narrative convention of horror. It is the most successful defining period for the genre horror. These include the Hollywood films Dracula (1931) , Frankenstein (1931).All these films were made by universal.

3)Parody means films that have mimicked the horror genre in some type of comical way. Films in this category include Carry on screaming (1969),Scary movie (1999). These films were also created by universal studios it seems as time progressed universal looked for a different type of horror to be incorporated with there classic horrors they had already produced.

4)By deconstruction we mean films which have taken the genetic element of the horror genre and integrated them into varying sub genres.Such films that fall into this category are Seven(1999) which has a sub genre of thriller , The sixth sense (1999) which has a sub genre of supernatural/thriller, The Blair witch project (1998) which has a sub genre of documentary and Scream ( 1996) which has a sub genre of teen horror.

Some argue there is a second period of Classic films which appeared in the 1970's this is when a new age of horror emerged with films appearing such as Friday the 13th and Halloween.This films were re imagined and now contained more gore and graphic images.

Along with the Hollywood horror films introduced to us early on the British film makers also latched on to the German expressionism. Such films usually included the famous actors Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee who starred along each other in many horror films the Dracula saga being one of many.