In one of the most infamous horror film scenes from Silence of the Lambs (1991, dir. Jonathan Demme), FBI agent Clarice Starling played by actress Jodie Foster staggers shaking and gasping for air as she tries to escape serial killer Buffalo Bill’s (actor ted levine) basement in the pitch darkness. The audience sees and follows Clarice through Bill’s night vision goggles. Placing the viewer in Bill’s perspective gives the popular human fear of being watched in the dark a terrifying realness. Filmmakers use perspective, lighting, and time to create a serial killer character and target the audiences fear of the uncertainty of darkness.
Whether you enjoy watching horror films or not, they are a unique part of our past and present film culture. …show more content…
This is due to the fact that serial killers are not fictional creations, but represent real people in society who suffer from severe psychological disturbance. While there is no legal definition of a serial killer, the most reoccurring states that a serial killer is a person who murders three or more people, usually in the service of abnormal psychological gratification, with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant break (a "cooling off period") between them. In other definitions the number of murders and the cooling off period length differ. When a serial killer makes the news, society asks themselves: Are serial killers made or born? The answer is unknown, but the portrayal of serial killers in film points to both. In horror films, such as Silence of the Lambs the serial killer committs his acts of violence in the dark or at night. The film American Psycho (2000, dir. Mary Harron) contradicts Silence of the Lambs by having Patrick Bateman played by Christian Bale murder in harsh brightness. The belief that a person is safe from a serial killer in the presence of light and is in more danger in the darkness is a belief supported by the majority of horror film, but is proven false in American
Whether you enjoy watching horror films or not, they are a unique part of our past and present film culture. …show more content…
This is due to the fact that serial killers are not fictional creations, but represent real people in society who suffer from severe psychological disturbance. While there is no legal definition of a serial killer, the most reoccurring states that a serial killer is a person who murders three or more people, usually in the service of abnormal psychological gratification, with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant break (a "cooling off period") between them. In other definitions the number of murders and the cooling off period length differ. When a serial killer makes the news, society asks themselves: Are serial killers made or born? The answer is unknown, but the portrayal of serial killers in film points to both. In horror films, such as Silence of the Lambs the serial killer committs his acts of violence in the dark or at night. The film American Psycho (2000, dir. Mary Harron) contradicts Silence of the Lambs by having Patrick Bateman played by Christian Bale murder in harsh brightness. The belief that a person is safe from a serial killer in the presence of light and is in more danger in the darkness is a belief supported by the majority of horror film, but is proven false in American