1) Mark Gatiss, the host, states that “after the Great War, German cinema

Discussion Questions:

 

1)    Mark Gatiss, the host, states that “after the Great War, German cinema had something to prove. It wasn’t just entertainment.” Why do you think the German film industry, and the horror genre in particular, became so popular? What was it about the movies and their monsters that the public found so appealing?

 

2)    The “moral gray area” is something French cinema celebrated. Why might this theme have resonated with them? Why makes it so terrifying that it continues to be popular in films and other cultural mediums today?

 

 

3)    According to Spanish director Narciso Ibáñez Serrador, the typical movie monsters are so “fantastical that the public don’t believe they can exist. But if something innocent can be a monster, that has more impact.” Why might he believe this to be the case? Do you agree or disagree with his statement? Why?

4)    Many of the films discussed in this documentary are rooted in politics. In what ways do political currents and situations lend themselves to the horror genre regardless of setting or country of origin?

 

 

The Two comment that you should reply to them : 

 

When a monster is unrealistic, or “fantastical”, it is not as easy to be frightened by it because it makes us feel that we could never encounter something like that in real life. However, if something innocent is portrayed as a monster, it is much more frightening. I agree with Serrador’s statement. Take children, for example, as shown in the video. Children are made out to be innocent people of society; we don’t usually associate them with monstrous or evil like behavior. Therefore, when a film makes a child become the monster, it gives us a sense of fear that something realistic in our society, especially that is supposed to be seen as harmless, has the ability to commit horrible actions or become a monstrous being.

 

 

The second comment:

 

I can understand why often times scary movie film makers make children for example, the monster or the villianbecause the audience never expects an innocent child to be a monster. Typically in most all societies, children are seenas innocent, loving and carefree… they are almost the backbone of society. We can always count on children to be stress free and happy so when a movie producer introduces the idea of a child becoming a monster it is almost as if the whole structure of society is crumbling and that is perhaps the most freightening. I agree that the public may want to view children being monsters as “a fantastical” or unrealistic idea just because they are so afriad it might actually be true.