Horror and the Horrific

The End of Horror?

2010-05-21T10:21:00.000-07:00

"Horror and the Horrific" has drawn to a close, and at this time, I would like to finish off this blog (which will no longer be updated, but will remain available in archive form) with a series of acknowledgments.

First of all, I would like to thank Drew Beard. He worked really hard and he didn't make one thin dime, but if even one person got seriously creeped out by the films or came away with something to think about from one of the talks, then it was all worth it.

Second, my thanks to Carter Soles for his role in producing the posters for the series, as well as acting as the face and voice of "Horror and the Horrific."

Third, Sarah Prindle who provided invaluable assistance in publicizing the series and getting us such fantastic mentions in the local media.

Last, but not least, I give my most sincere thanks to our presenters and our audience. As I said a year ago at the end of the "Directed by Steven Spielberg" series, a film series is only as good as its presenters and its audience. For all your thoughtful work, attendance, and questions, I thank you.

Thursday, May 20: Drew Beard, Patti Prenger, and Kelly-Jane Rosenblatt on "Alice in Wonderland"

2010-05-17T06:52:00.000-07:00

Please join us on Thursday, May 20 for the final "Horror and the Horrific" screening, the 1951 version of "Alice in Wonderland," preceded by "Horrific Disney," a panel featuring Drew Beard, Patti Prenger, and Kelly-Jane Rosenblatt. A Q&A session will follow the screening. This event takes place at 6 p.m. in Willamette 110 at the University of Oregon.

The Neverending Party

2010-05-12T20:39:00.001-07:00

In preparation for tomorrow night's showing of "The Neverending Story," at 6 p.m. in Willamette 110 and preceded by a short talk by Jeong Chang.

Thursday, May 13: "The Neverending Story"

2010-05-09T09:44:00.000-07:00

Please join us on Thursday, May 13 for "The Neverending Story." The screening will be preceded by "It's Like The Nothing Never Was: The Horrors and Dreams of Late Capital in The Neverending Story," a short talk by Jeong Chang. A Q&A session will follow the screening. This event takes place at 6 p.m. in Willamette 110 at the University of Oregon.

All screenings will be held at the University of Oregon in Willamette 110 at 6 p.m. on the dates listed. Be aware that these are horror films featuring graphic subject matter and while the film series is free and open to the public, the films may not be suitable for children.

Thursday, May 6: Emily West Afanador on "Hard Candy"

2010-05-01T15:06:00.000-07:00

Please join us on Thursday, May 6 for "Hard Candy." The screening will be preceded by “Cinema’s Unruly Nymphets: Red Riding Hood’s Lineage and Variations,” a short talk by Emily West Afanador. A Q&A session will follow the screening. This event takes place at 6 p.m. in Willamette 110 at the University of Oregon.

All screenings will be held at the University of Oregon in Willamette 110 at 6 p.m. on the dates listed. Be aware that these are horror films featuring graphic subject matter and while the film series is free and open to the public, the films may not be suitable for children.

Thursday, April 29: Brenna Wardell on "The Company of Wolves"

2010-04-25T14:42:00.000-07:00

Please join us on Thursday, April 29 for "The Company of Wolves." The screening will be preceded by "'What's in Your Basket, Little Girl?’: Fairy Tales, Gender, and The Company of Wolves," a short talk by Brenna Wardell. A Q&A session will follow the screening. This event takes place at 6 p.m. in Willamette 110 at the University of Oregon.

All screenings will be held at the University of Oregon in Willamette 110 at 6 p.m. on the dates listed. Be aware that these are horror films featuring graphic subject matter and while the film series is free and open to the public, the films may not be suitable for children.

Thursday, April 22: Robert Voelker-Morris on "Deathwatch"

2010-04-18T13:07:00.000-07:00

Please join us on Thursday, April 22 for "Deathwatch." The screening will be preceded by "Dualities of Pleasure and Horror: The Horror and the War Hybrid Film," a short talk by Robert Voelker-Morris. A Q&A session will follow the screening. This event takes place at 6 p.m. in Willamette 110 at the University of Oregon.

In addition to "Deathwatch," spring quarter offerings include "The Company of Wolves" (April 29), "Hard Candy" (May 6), "The Neverending Story" (May 13), and "Alice in Wonderland" (May 20).

All screenings will be held at the University of Oregon in Willamette 110 at 6 p.m. on the dates listed. Be aware that these are horror films featuring graphic subject matter and while the film series is free and open to the public, the films may not be suitable for children.

Summer Course in Horror Film at UO

2010-04-10T12:02:00.001-07:00

Summer course on horror and family, offered through the Women's and Gender Studies department at University of Oregon. Looks like a good class. And I am teaching it. Sign up or pass the word along to interested parties. Here's a tentative version of the syllabus.

WGS 410: Horror Begins at Home: Fear and Family in the Horror Film
Instructor: Drew Beard
4 credits, Summer 2010
MTWR 1-2:50 pm, Peterson 102
June 21-July 15

This course examines how fear and family have intersected in the horror film over the past seventy years. Screenings of key films and readings and the discussion of influential film and gender criticism will highlight the function of such psychoanalytical concepts as repression and displacement within the specific genre of the horror film as it engages with the family and issues of genders, sexuality, race, feminism, and reproduction. The fluidity of this function, both exposing and concealing anxieties associated with the American family and the roles played by its members, will form the central question underlying this course. How has the family been imagined within these films, and to what political, cultural, and ideological ends? What “cultural work” has this film genre done with regards to the family, and what does it continue to do? Asking these questions and having these discussions will help us to consider what family has meant, what it means to each of us now, and what we wish it to signify in the future.

Required Materials:

The Dread of Difference: Gender and the Horror Film. Ed. Barry Keith Grant. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press, 1996.

The text will be available in the UO Bookstore. All other readings for the class will be available through Blackboard. Films will be on course reserve at Knight Library and most of them are easily obtained through video rental outlets or Netflix.

Graded Assignments:

Reading Responses 15%
Screening Responses 15%
Presentation 20%
Final Research Paper 35%
Participation/Attendance 15%

Class Schedule

Monday, June 21
Introduction: Why Horror and Why Family?

Unit 1: The Monster Takes a Mate: Courting a New Generation of Gods and Monsters

Tuesday, June 22
Readings: Tony Williams, “Classical Shapes of Rage: Universal and Beyond” (Blackboard); Elizabeth Young, “Here Comes the Bride: Wedding Gender and Race in Bride of Frankenstein” (309-337)
Screening: Bride of Frankenstein (James Whale, 1935)
Optional Screenings: Frankenstein (James Whale, 1931); Dracula (Tod Browning, 1931)

Wednesday, June 23
Come to class having watched Cat People (Jacques Tourneur, 1942)
Readings: Barbara Creed, “Horror and the Monstrous-Feminine: An Imaginary Abjection” (35-65); Karen Hollinger, “The Monster as Woman: Two Generations of Cat People” (296-308)
Optional Screenings: The Curse of the Cat People (Gunther von Fritsch and Robert Wise, 1944); Cat People (Paul Schrader, 1982)
Presentation #1

Unit 2: What Ever Happened to Norma Bates?: Psychoanalysis and the Family Horror Film

Thursday, June 24
Come to class having watched Psycho (Alfred Hitchcock, 1960)
Readings: Harry M. Benshoff, “The Monster and the Homosexual” (Blackboard); Sigmund Freud, “The Uncanny” (Blackboard)
Optional Screenings: What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (Robert Aldrich, 1962); The Night of the Hunter (Charles Laughton, 1955)
Presentation #2

Unit 3: “I Didn’t Want to Miss Baby Night”: Family Horror and Reproduction

Monday, June 28
Screening: Rosemary’s Baby (Roman Polanski, 1968)
Optional Screenings: The Omen (Richard Donner, 1976); It’s Alive! (Lawrence Cohen, 1974)

Tuesday, June 29
Readings: Lucy Fischer, “Birth Traumas: Parturition and Horror in Rosemary’s Baby” (412-431); Robin Wood, “The American Nightmare: Horror in the 70s” (Blackboard)
Presentation #3

Unit 4: Skeletons in the Swimming Pool: Family Values and the Haunted House of Reaganism

Wednesday, June 30
Come to class having watched The Amityville Horror (Stuart Rosenberg, 1979)
Readings: Douglas Kellner, “Poltergeists, Gender, and Class in the Age of Reagan and Bush” (Blackboard); Tony Williams, “Trying to Survive on the Darker Side: 1980s Family Horror” (164-180)
Presentation #4

Thursday, July 1
Screening: Poltergeist (Steven Spielberg, 1982)
Optional Screenings: Burnt Offerings (Dan Curtis, 1976); Amityville II: The Possession (Damiano Damiani, 1982)

Unit 5: The Possessed Patriarch: Fathers, Fear, and Family Horror

Monday, July 5
Screening: The Shining (Stanley Kubrick, 1980)
Optional Screenings: The Stepfather (Joseph Ruben, 1987); Fanny and Alexander (Ingmar Bergman, 1982)
Presentation #5

Tuesday, July 6
Readings: Patricia Brett Erens, “The Stepfather: Father as Monster in the Contemporary Horror Film” (352-363); Vivian Sobchack, “Bringing It All Back Home: Family Economy and Generic Exchange” (143-163)
Presentation #6

Unit 6: Learning to Scream: The Final Girl’s Place in Family Horror

Wednesday, July 7
Screening: Scream (Wes Craven, 1996)
Optional Screenings: Halloween (John Carpenter, 1978); A Nightmare on Elm Street (Wes Craven, 1984)

Thursday, July 8
Readings: Carol J. Clover, “Her Body, Himself: Gender in the Slasher Film” (66-116); Kathleen Karlyn, “Scream, Popular Culture, and Feminism’s Third Wave: ‘I’m Not My Mother’” (Blackboard)
Presentation #7

Unit 7: Your Children Hate You: Planting Bad Seeds and Raising Cain

Monday, July 12
Screening: Joshua (George Ratliff, 2007)
Optional Screenings: The Bad Seed (Mervyn LeRoy, 1956); The Orphanage (Juan Antonio Baya, 2007)

Tuesday, July 13
Readings: TBA
Presentation #8

Unit 8: “Based on True Events”: The Reality of Family Horror

Wednesday, July 14
Screening: Selected episodes of "A Haunting," "Paranormal State," and "Psychic Kids"
Optional Screenings: The Haunting in Connecticut (Peter Cornwell, 2009), The Exorcism of Emily Rose (Scott Derrickson, 2005)

Unit 9: Queer Fear

Thursday, July 15
Screening: You Belong to Me (Sam Zalutsky, 2007)
Optional Screenings: TBA

Monday, July 19
Final paper due in my office (PLC 23) by 5 p.m.

Spring Quarter Offerings

2010-03-22T09:39:00.000-07:00

As a film series, “Horror and the Horrific” highlights student-selected films and presents research drawing upon the horror genre, often crossing over into other genres as well. Horror has been defined as “a painful emotion compounded by loathing and fear; a shuddering with terror and repugnance; strong aversion mingled with dread.” At the same time, the horrific has been understood as that which produced a sense of horror. Despite being self evident, this distinction underlies “Horror and the Horrific,” which will interrogate the multiplicity of ways in which cinematic horror has been achieved through experimentation with narrative, style, technology, and genre, among others. Rather than viewing the horror genre in monolithic terms, “Horror and the Horrific” will explore how the medium of film has been fashioned and re-fashioned to elicit horror from audiences.

Spring quarter offerings are "Deathwatch" (April 22), "The Company of Wolves" (April 29), "Hard Candy" (May 6), "The Neverending Story" (May 13), and "Alice in Wonderland" (May 20). All screenings will be held at the University of Oregon in Willamette 110 at 6 p.m. on the dates listed. Be aware that these are horror films featuring graphic subject matter and while the film series is free and open to the public, the films may not be suitable for children.

"Happily-Ever-After-Horror"

2010-03-16T09:42:00.000-07:00

I'll post the schedule for spring quarter next week, but until then, I will tell you that the theme is "fairy tale horror" (plus one special presentation on the war film) and in fact, I came up with an even better title for the quarter, "Happily-Ever-After-Horror." This commercial, advertising the 1971 opening of Walt Disney World, pretty much sums up where we'll be going with this in the upcoming films and presentations.

This is one of the most nightmarish commercials I have ever seen. Why does Peter Pan's voice have to reverberate in such a spooky way? And why is he blond all of a sudden? And is that Dumbo menacing her at the end? Given the dark tone of this thing, it's a wonder anyone ever went to the Magic Kingdom at all.

"The Scare-ening" on Blog Talk Radio

2010-03-10T22:57:00.000-08:00

I've already linked to the Final Girl blog on here somewhere, but I am very pleased to say that its founder, Miss Stacie Ponder, now has a blog radio show, "The Scare-ening," along with Heidi Martinuzzi of Pretty-Scary.net (who I should also get a link to on this site, if I know what's good for me, because it's dedicated to women in horror, and after seeing some of the fanboy homophobe crap that often dominates horror blogdom, both of their sites are a breath of fresh air; fresh to me because I just found them in the last few years, they've been doing this for awhile). Their first episode aired tonight and is now available for listening at the link below, and all I can say is listen to it NOW. They talk about bangs, and the Oscars, and Lauren Bacall. They take phone calls. They rock. Go enjoy them now.

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/thescare-ening

Horror Tribute on the Academy Awards

2010-03-08T19:31:00.001-08:00

Myself, I don't watch the Oscars. The Oscars aren't much for the horror, which is pretty much the only kind of film that I will go to see in the theater. The kinds of movies that get nominated are the kinds of movies that I would rather jab myself in the eye with a stick than watch. I don't like seeing movies where everyone wanders out pondering the significance and magnificence of what they saw. You know what they are really pondering? How significant and magnificent they are for sitting through crap like "Out of Africa."

I much prefer movies where people leave feeling creeped out and glad that they snuck those mini-bottles of wine in with them (maybe that is just me). Anyhow, for this reason, I don't watch the Oscars because I don't know the nominations and I get bored and it all goes downhill from there. Nevertheless, I have it on good authority that some sort of horror film tribute aired and I wished to see it. Thus, I went to Youtube and while they have everything else on there, they don't seem to have the tribute I wish to see (or they have it, but in extremely poor quality, filmed off a TV screen, the way I used to make "best of" videos before I figured how to use RCA cables and before, well, before analog became something to be hissed between one's teeth). What I did find was a large number of videos by fans complaining about the tribute and what was included. The most egregious inclusion for these people is "Twilight: New Moon," and while I am entirely supportive of that, I have to wonder at the inclusion of "Beetlejuice" and the musical remake of "Little Shop of Horrors" (because if we're going that route, where the hell was "Ghostbusters," which was actually scary?). And where was "Pet Sematary," which remains chilling to me more than twenty years after I first saw it?

This dissension/criticism over what is excluded/included in the conceptualization of horror cinema is what has more or less informed this film series, from a variety of perspectives, from the beginning. Given the energy expended on deciding what is/what isn't horror, one has to consider what is at stake. For that matter, why did the Oscars, which has with few exceptions ignored horror (bestowing awards only on films that sold themselves as horror only selectively, preferring to be considered within the more upscale categories of "thrillers" or "suspense"), suddenly feel the need to do a retrospective on horror? This isn't a question I can answer, but it says quite a bit about how flexible this genre has been and as a consequence, why it has lasted so long. At the same time, this flexibility in genre may suggest why so many remain so uncomfortable with horror (while our audience has been smaller this year, in comparison to the Spielberg series last year, those in attendance have been much more knowledgeable and familiar with the genre and each quarter's offerings).

First, the retrospective itself (preceded by a genuinely funny parody of "Paranormal Activity" and truly mind-numbing introduction by the children from "Twilight"). Next, a deconstruction taken from YouTube. I don't know who this guy is, but I wish he could be one of our presenters.

Thursday, February 25: Larissa Ennis on "THX 1138"

2010-02-19T10:52:00.000-08:00

Please join us on Thursday, February 25 for "THX 1138." The screening will be preceded by "Thex and Luh, a Love Story: Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Etracene," a short talk by Larissa Ennis. This event takes place at 6 p.m. in Willamette 110 at the University of Oregon.

Thursday, February 11: Marcus Hensel on "Shivers"

2010-02-05T11:00:00.000-08:00

Please join us on Thursday, February 11 for David Cronenberg's "Shivers." The screening will be preceded by "'Disease is the Love of Two Alien Kinds of Creatures': Desire as Pathogen in David Cronenberg's Shivers," a short talk by Marcus Hensel. This event takes place at 6 p.m. in Willamette 110 at the University of Oregon.

Thursday, February 4: Shane Billings on "Videodrome"

2010-01-29T10:31:00.000-08:00

Please join us on Thursday, February 4 for David Cronenberg's "Videodrome." The screening will be preceded by "Governing the New Flesh: Biopolitics and the Mutations of Genre in Videodrome," a short talk by Shane Billings. This event takes place at 6 p.m. in Willamette 110 at the University of Oregon.

Thursday, January 28: Stephen Rust on "Pink Floyd's The Wall"

2010-01-25T10:27:00.000-08:00

Please join us on Thursday, January 28 for "Pink Floyd's The Wall." The screening will be preceded by "Comfortably Numb: Youth Dysculture and Horrific Hyperindividualism," a short talk by Stephen Rust. This event takes place at 6 p.m. in Willamette 110 at the University of Oregon.

Call for Spring Quarter Proposals

2010-01-22T11:11:00.000-08:00

We welcome papers that bend the idea of “Horror and the Horrific” in unique and unexpected ways, but we are asking for abstracts that concretely define how each presentation will substantively address the theme of the series as a whole. Submissions relating to more “traditional” horror fare are easy to plug into the series and are therefore especially welcome.

PRESENTATION FORMAT
The screenings in the “Horror and the Horrific”series will assume a slightly different format from the Steven Spielberg screenings of last year: for this year’s series, a 15-20 minute talk precedes a screening of a film of the presenter's choice, followed by a Q & A session with the featured speaker after the film. Last year’s Spielberg series did not feature post-film Q & A’s, somewhat to the detriment of the series.)

TERM-BY-TERM SCHEDULE THUS FAR

Spring term 2010 will feature films that examine the “horrific” in fairy tales, children’s films, and other unexpected genres.

SUBMISSION DEADLINE
Since the winter-term schedule is already set, we have decided to extend the deadline for written proposals to March 1, 2010. This gives everybody else time to choose an appropriate film, come up with a presentation title, and write a 300-500 word abstract describing their approach to the film.

If you are interested in presenting in this series, please submit a proposal via email to Carter Soles AND Drew Beard Your proposal must include a suggested film, the title of your talk, and a 300- to 500-word abstract describing the focus of your talk. We will accept written submissions for the series until March 1, 2010. In the interim, please contact myself or Drew if you have any questions about the series or these application processes.

Thursday, January 21: Drew Beard on "Jaws 3-D"

2010-01-12T12:33:00.000-08:00

I'm posting the theatrical trailer for "Jaws 3-D," which manages to be both effective and disappointing (just in that it shows nothing from the actual movie, although some would advance that as a good thing). According to reports, this trailer was running in theaters some nine months before the film's release in the summer of 1983. As a bonus, I am including the trailer for 1982's "Friday the 13th Part 3 3-D," which I had considered showing for the series, but the 35-foot great white shark rampaging through Sea World won out. Nevertheless, "F13-3" also figures pretty heavily in my talk next week, so it is worth including despite its exclusion. Even if you haven't seen it, the trailer pretty much tells you everything you need to know about the film ("it will scare you... count on it") although sadly, it doesn't really feature the comic relief hippies.

Thursday, January 21: Drew Beard on "Jaws 3-D"

2010-01-04T14:25:00.000-08:00

"Horror and the Horrific" returns on Thursday, January 21, with "Jaws 3-D." A screening of the dreadful but oddly illuminating second sequel (in good old-fashioned 2-D, sadly) will be preceded by "The Shark is No Longer Working: Horror and 3-D's Failed Intervention," a short talk by Drew Beard, considering the film from perspectives of both genre and industry. This event takes place at 6 p.m. in Willamette 110 at the University of Oregon.

Until then, enjoy this lengthy but engaging review from the highly recommended Jabootu's Bad Movie Dimension.

Winter Quarter Offerings

2009-12-26T12:43:00.000-08:00

As a film series, “Horror and the Horrific” highlights student-selected films and presents research drawing upon the horror genre, often crossing over into other genres as well. Horror has been defined as “a painful emotion compounded by loathing and fear; a shuddering with terror and repugnance; strong aversion mingled with dread.” At the same time, the horrific has been understood as that which produced a sense of horror. Despite being self evident, this distinction underlies “Horror and the Horrific,” which will interrogate the multiplicity of ways in which cinematic horror has been achieved through experimentation with narrative, style, technology, and genre, among others. Rather than viewing the horror genre in monolithic terms, “Horror and the Horrific” will explore how the medium of film has been fashioned and re-fashioned to elicit horror from audiences.

Winter quarter offerings are "Jaws 3-D" (January 21), "Pink Floyd’s The Wall" (January 28), "Videodrome" (February 4), “Shivers” (February 11), and "THX 1138" (February 25). All screenings will be held at the University of Oregon in Willamette 110 at 6 p.m. on the dates listed. Be aware that these are horror films featuring graphic subject matter and while the film series is free and open to the public, the films may not be suitable for children.

"The 25 Scariest Moments in Non-Horror Movies"

2009-11-15T14:05:00.000-08:00

An article that I came across this morning at IFC, one that connects to "Horror and the Horrific": "The 25 Scariest Moments in Non-Horror Movies." Reference is made to such films as "Safe," "Deliver Us From Evil," and "Fanny and Alexander" (which receives my emphatic nomination as the most frightening non-horror film as I have ever seen, although the sequence referred to in the article is nothing compared to some other things present in Bergman's film).

"The Night of the Hunter" at filmtank.org

2009-11-10T16:18:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, I had an email from Steven Brence, who recently screened The Night of the Hunter for his "Philosophy of Film" course here at the University of Oregon. He informed me of a conversation in which his students are taking part, concerning the film, at filmtank.org. The forum contains pre-viewing and post-viewing questions and Steven encourages interested individuals to join in the discussion of Charles Laughton's haunting film. The threads are definitely worth checking out in terms of interpretations of the film and the story that it tells.

Thursday, November 12: "The Night of the Hunter"

2009-11-08T09:40:00.000-08:00

"Horror and the Horrific" continues on Thursday, November 12 with a screening of The Night of the Hunter (1955), which will be introduced by Patricia Oman and her talk entitled "The Region of Sin: Cultural Geography of The Night of the Hunter." A short Q&A session will be held after the film.

The screening will be held at 6 p.m. in Prince Lucien Hall (PLC) 180. "Horror and the Horrific" is free and open to the public.

"The American Nightmare"

2009-11-02T09:55:00.000-08:00

There will be no screening for "Horror and the Horrific" this week (the next screening will be held on Thursday, November 12), but below is a documentary, originally aired on the Independent Film Channel in 2000, concerned with the development of the horror film in the U.S. "The American Nightmare" features commentary by horror film directors such as George A. Romero and Wes Craven and critics Tom Gunning and Carol J. Clover.

Happy Halloween

2009-10-31T09:40:00.001-07:00

The most horrific day of them all.

Thursday, October 29: "Land of the Dead"

2009-10-24T09:33:00.000-07:00

"Horror and the Horrific" continues on Thursday, October 29 with a screening of "Land of the Dead" (2005), which will be introduced by Anthony Hayt and his talk entitled "The Dead Reckoning, or, The Zombie Politics of George A. Romero." A short Q&A session will be held after the film.

The screening will be held at 6 p.m. in Prince Lucien Hall (PLC) 180. "Horror and the Horrific" is free and open to the public.

Thursday, October 22: "Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer"

2009-10-17T10:30:00.000-07:00

"Horror and the Horrific" continues on Thursday, October 22 with a screening of "Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer" (1986), which will be introduced by Carter Soles and his talk entitled "Serial Killers, Cinematic Voyeurism, and American Stardom." A short Q&A session will be held after the film.

The screening will be held at 6 p.m. in Prince Lucien Hall (PLC) 180. "Horror and the Horrific" is free and open to the public.

Interview with John Carpenter on "Halloween"

2009-10-13T20:41:00.000-07:00

Here is a three-part interview with director John Carpenter, dating from 1999, giving an overview of the horror of "Halloween," which screens this Thursday evening as part of the University of Oregon's "Horror and the Horrific" film series, at 6 p.m. in Prince Lucien Campbell Hall (PLC) 180.

Thursday, October 15: "Halloween"

2009-10-07T19:59:00.000-07:00

The "Horror and the Horrific" film series begins on Thursday, October 15, with a free screening of John Carpenter's "Halloween." The film will be introduced by graduate students Drew Beard and Anthony Hayt, and will be followed by a short Q&A session.

The screening will be held at 6 p.m. in Prince Lucien Hall (PLC) 180. "Horror and the Horrific" is free and open to the public.

Call for Winter Quarter Screening Proposals

2009-10-06T09:27:00.000-07:00

We welcome papers that bend the idea of “Horror and the Horrific” in unique and unexpected ways, but we are asking for abstracts that concretely define how each presentation will substantively address the theme of the series as a whole. Submissions relating to more “traditional” horror fare are easy to plug into the series and are therefore especially welcome.

PRESENTATION FORMAT
The screenings in the “Horror and the Horrific”series will assume a slightly different format from the Steven Spielberg screenings of last year: for this year’s series, a 15-20 minute talk precedes a screening of a film of the presenter's choice, followed by a Q & A session with the featured speaker after the film. Last year’s Spielberg series did not feature post-film Q & A’s, somewhat to the detriment of the series.)

TERM-BY-TERM SCHEDULE THUS FAR
The Fall term slate is already filled and includes films that are firmly within the horror genre or are widely accepted as being thematically horrific, including "Halloween," "Henry: Portrait Of A Serial Killer," "Land Of The Dead," and "The Night Of The Hunter."

As previously announced, we are planning to theme the Winter term presentations under the broad rubric of "Horrific Visions," emphasizing apocalyptic / dystopic horror narratives such as Videodrome, and horrific films that use/define “vision” in interesting ways such as "Jaws 3-D" and "Pink Floyd: The Wall."

Spring term 2010 will feature films that examine the “horrific” in fairy tales, children’s films, and other unexpected genres.

SUBMISSION DEADLINE
Since the fall-term schedule is already set, we have decided to extend the deadline for written proposals to November 1st, 2009. This gives everybody else more time to choose an appropriate film, come up with a presentation title, and write a 300-500 word abstract describing their approach to the film.

If you are interested in presenting in this series, please submit a proposal via email to Carter Soles AND Drew Beard Your proposal must include a suggested film, the title of your talk, and a 300- to 500-word abstract describing the focus of your talk. We will accept written submissions for the series until November 1, 2009. In the interim, please contact myself or Drew if you have any questions about the series or these application processes.

Theatrical trailer for "Halloween" (1978)

2009-09-29T16:27:00.000-07:00

John Carpenter's "Halloween" (1978) opens the "Horror and the Horrific" film series at the University of Oregon on Thursday, October 15. Following an introduction to this year's film series by organizers Drew Beard and Carter Soles, film graduate student Anthony Hayt will introduce "Halloween."

The screening will be held at 6 p.m. in Prince Lucien Hall (PLC) 180. "Horror and the Horrific" is free and open to the public.

Introduction

2009-09-23T10:41:00.000-07:00

This year’s film series concerns “Horror and the Horrific,” presenting student-selected films and criticism drawing upon the horror genre and often crossing over into other genres as well. Horror has been defined as “a painful emotion compounded by loathing and fear; a shuddering with terror and repugnance; strong aversion mingled with dread.” At the same time, the horrific has been understood as that which produced a sense of horror. Despite being self evident, this distinction underlies “Horror and the Horrific,” which will interrogate the multiplicity of ways in which cinematic horror has been achieved through experimentation with narrative, style, technology, and genre, among others. Rather than viewing the horror genre in monolithic terms, “Horror and the Horrific” will explore how the medium of film has been fashioned and re-fashioned to elicit horror from audiences.

Fall quarter offerings are "Halloween" (October 15), "Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer" (October 22), "Land of the Dead" (October 29), and "The Night of the Hunter" (November 12). All screenings will be held at the University of Oregon in Prince Lucien Campbell Hall (PLC) 180 at 6 p.m. on the dates listed. Be aware that these are horror films featuring graphic subject matter and while the film series is free and open to the public, the films may not be suitable for children.

Please check back as we add further information on the series as well as supplementary film criticism and other materials.

Drew