1)  Think of horror as presenting archetypal narratives and/or monsters in fictional form.  These could, for example, be stories or monsters centered on anxieties about childhood, the debilitating pain of grief and loss, fears of supernatural evil in the world, sexuality, racial difference—a range of uncanny fears and suffering at once familiar and repressed.  Think also of the way the particular presentation of these archetypal fears and monsters are shaped by precise cultural and historical circumstances—structures within the film industry, changing conceptions of the family, economic and political shifts, cultural heritage, and more.  Explain how three horror movies take a single kind of archetypal fear or monster and change it over time or simply across various films.

• The movies should spread across a period of at least 20 years.
• In most cases, at least two of the movies should be from our syllabus, but if you have a reason to work with two or three films that we haven’t screened, I’m open to the possibility. Only take this route after a conversation with me.
• While I’m not going to require that you cite any of the readings for the class, in many cases working with them will be obviously helpful to your argument and probably make it more sophisticated.
• Don’t write about a movie that you’ve already written about at length.
• The work should be 8-10 pages long and is due December 14.

I am, of course, happy to talk to any of you about your ongoing work.

2)  I’m happy to entertain the possibility of a production-based project if a group of students wants to undertake it, but there would have to be a decidedly critical element to it rather than simply the reproduction of a scene.  You could, for instance, try to put together a new scene that seeks to evoke the horror of an existing one in a different context.  This doesn’t mean simply changing a detail, but coming up with something fundamentally different that seeks to capture the feeling of the original.  As with the earlier reproduction, production values aren’t the point here as much as figuring out how to time, frame, edit and stage a scene.  In other words, don’t worry about high-end equipment.

This work must include a  brief written component explaining the horror evoked by the original, how it creates its feeling of dread, and how the new scene seeks to capture a similar emotional experience in a different way.  he group could probably do this in a single, collectively written 2-page paper.  The scene itself should be absolutely no longer than 2-3 minutes.

Fair warning:  For a variety of reasons, this project might be more complicated than it sounds, and it would truly be a group rather than an individual effort.  I can see where it might also be a rewarding way to reflect on how horror movies work.  If you choose to take this path, you’ll need to be in touch with me and start organizing very, very soon.  I’ll expect this to be thoughtful, reflective, critical work that is intelligently aware of how horror works.  Nothing ventured, nothing gained?

All work should be submitted by December 14, 4pm–via email if it’s written, or as a video file or online if it’s a video.