Morality;
Shown in: Psycho (1960), Halloween (1978) & Scream (1996)
A convention manipulated in the movies Psycho, Halloween and Scream is Morality. We are shown constantly that people who partake in things that are morally wrong will come to a grim ending.
In Psycho directed by Alfred Hitchcock, the lead character Marion steals $40,000. She is seen in her underwear in the first few minutes of the film and is sleeping with a married man. She is also seen close to naked in the infamous shower scene, right before she is brutally stabbed to death.
In Halloween, John Carpenter's 1978 film, Laurie's friends are constantly seen 'breaking the rules'. They drink, smoke, take drugs and have sex. Annie gives her babysitting job to faithful friend Laurie so she can go off and fool around with her boyfriend. She is seen in nothing but a shirt and underwear minutes before she is killed. Lynda, Laurie's other friend, has also just had sex in someone else's house and is drunk when she is killed, along with her boyfriend Bob. Laurie remains alive as she is not distracted by these other 'immoral' things.
Scream by Wes Craven consciously alerts the characters as they commit obscene acts, referring to the 'Rules of Horror Films', as is with the other two films; alcohol, drugs, sex and promiscuity lead to a cruel death.
Morality was used in these three films to reflect the ideas of society at the time, all the iniquitous acts carried out by the characters are things that were (and maybe still are) seen as extremely wrong by the people of that era.
This convention changed across the three films as the generation and the target audience changed. The scene in Psycho with Marion in lingerie was racy and scandalous at the time it was released, but our culture has got used to it as current broadcasting standards allow us to see more than that on the evening news. Halloween and Scream were also more directed towards a teenage audience with young adult leads that people could relate to. This meant that the crimes had to be worse and more shocking to appeal to the younger generation.
A convention manipulated in the movies Psycho, Halloween and Scream is Morality. We are shown constantly that people who partake in things that are morally wrong will come to a grim ending.
In Psycho directed by Alfred Hitchcock, the lead character Marion steals $40,000. She is seen in her underwear in the first few minutes of the film and is sleeping with a married man. She is also seen close to naked in the infamous shower scene, right before she is brutally stabbed to death.
In Halloween, John Carpenter's 1978 film, Laurie's friends are constantly seen 'breaking the rules'. They drink, smoke, take drugs and have sex. Annie gives her babysitting job to faithful friend Laurie so she can go off and fool around with her boyfriend. She is seen in nothing but a shirt and underwear minutes before she is killed. Lynda, Laurie's other friend, has also just had sex in someone else's house and is drunk when she is killed, along with her boyfriend Bob. Laurie remains alive as she is not distracted by these other 'immoral' things.
Scream by Wes Craven consciously alerts the characters as they commit obscene acts, referring to the 'Rules of Horror Films', as is with the other two films; alcohol, drugs, sex and promiscuity lead to a cruel death.
Morality was used in these three films to reflect the ideas of society at the time, all the iniquitous acts carried out by the characters are things that were (and maybe still are) seen as extremely wrong by the people of that era.
This convention changed across the three films as the generation and the target audience changed. The scene in Psycho with Marion in lingerie was racy and scandalous at the time it was released, but our culture has got used to it as current broadcasting standards allow us to see more than that on the evening news. Halloween and Scream were also more directed towards a teenage audience with young adult leads that people could relate to. This meant that the crimes had to be worse and more shocking to appeal to the younger generation.
