Blog Task 14
"Who died and made you fucking king of the zombies?" Ed (Nick Frost) How does British zombie film ‘Shaun of the Dead’ follow the codes and conventions of the zombie genre?
Inspired by George Romero’s ‘Dead’ films ‘Shaun of the Dead’ is a contemporary text that is a good example of conveying not only the codes and conventions of the zombie genre but also hybrid texts, inter-textuality and post-modernism. The genre theory categorizes films with similar codes ands conventions and emphasis the similarities between the groups. The zombie genre, or ‘The horror of Armageddon’ [1], was first recognized in the last 60s/early 70s; with the release of Romero’s ‘Night of the Living Dead’ (1968). Horror films during the mid 50s were seen as films aimed at the ‘youth market’ or ‘adolescents of whatever age’ [2] and were less popular amongst the critics. Romero’s film set the mark for the beginning of the zombie genre and the film followed the codes and convention of the horror genre that most zombie films follow. The themes of isolation and the visual iconography of a big remote area, like a house, are common conventions that can also be seen in contemporary texts such as ‘Shaun of the Dead’.
[1] Charles Derry, Dark Dreams: A Psychological History of the Modern Horror Film, London, Thomas Yoseloff, 1977
[2] Cook, Pam; Bernink, Mieke (2003): The Cinema Book. Stephen Street, London: British Film Insistitute.
"Who died and made you fucking king of the zombies?" Ed (Nick Frost) How does British zombie film ‘Shaun of the Dead’ follow the codes and conventions of the zombie genre?
Inspired by George Romero’s ‘Dead’ films ‘Shaun of the Dead’ is a contemporary text that is a good example of conveying not only the codes and conventions of the zombie genre but also hybrid texts, inter-textuality and post-modernism. The genre theory categorizes films with similar codes ands conventions and emphasis the similarities between the groups. The zombie genre, or ‘The horror of Armageddon’ [1], was first recognized in the last 60s/early 70s; with the release of Romero’s ‘Night of the Living Dead’ (1968). Horror films during the mid 50s were seen as films aimed at the ‘youth market’ or ‘adolescents of whatever age’ [2] and were less popular amongst the critics. Romero’s film set the mark for the beginning of the zombie genre and the film followed the codes and convention of the horror genre that most zombie films follow. The themes of isolation and the visual iconography of a big remote area, like a house, are common conventions that can also be seen in contemporary texts such as ‘Shaun of the Dead’.
[1] Charles Derry, Dark Dreams: A Psychological History of the Modern Horror Film, London, Thomas Yoseloff, 1977
[2] Cook, Pam; Bernink, Mieke (2003): The Cinema Book. Stephen Street, London: British Film Insistitute.
posted by Jaskeerat at 11:13 PM
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