Abstract

This paper focused on analyzing the differences between western and eastern horror films concerning with different themes, different narrative techniques, and different visual elements. Since horror films were attractive all over the world, the hidden reasons were investigated by lots of experts who pointed out that those different kinds of horror films in west and east possessed their particular enchantment to create the horror atmosphere. This paper mainly focused on three aspects to compare western and eastern horror films—themes, narrative techniques, and visual elements. In the first part, it expounded four main categories of horror films, in which western horror films paid more attention to themes of monsters, alienation, abnormality, and psychoanalysis, and eastern horror films more liked themes of phantom and ghost. In the second part, it explained the different narrative techniques that gradually became mixed. In the west, horror films always began with images and ended up with open close. However, in the east, films sought for tales of the grudge and the soothing beautiful horror. The third part dealt with different visual techniques which may directly perceive the sense of horror. Aesthetics of violence in western horror films and Aesthetics of terror in eastern ones were the most important difference in visual techniques. Besides, the choice between familiar places and strange places was another difference. What’s more, this paper also expatiated on what restricts of horror films in China, and how to develop this genre of films considering actual conditions in China.

Key words: western and eastern horror films, themes, narrative techniques, visual elements

摘要

本文着重从放映主题，叙事手法，视觉元素设计三方面的不同来分析东西方恐怖片的差异。自从恐怖片在全球范围内都刮起热潮，众多专家学者指出东西方不同类型的恐怖片在营造恐怖氛围上都具有其独特的魅力。本文主要从三个方面比较东西方恐怖电影的差别，包括不同的主题、不同的叙事手法、不同的视觉元素设计。第一部分阐述了恐怖电影的四种主要主题，在西方注重妖神鬼怪、异化变态和精神分析，而东方则注重生死悬学方面。第二部分阐述其不同的叙事手法，尽管这已日益变得混相混合而不好分辨。西方往往以一个个恐怖的景象开始影片，再以一个开放式的结尾终了，而东方则寻求咒怨的传说和唯美舒缓的恐惧。第三部分就讨论令人更加直接从电影中感受到恐惧的视觉效果的不同。暴力美学和恐怖美学是东西方在视觉元素设计上最大的区别，除此之外还有陌生场景和熟悉场景的选择也是另一个差别。另外，本文还提出了恐怖电影在中的限制，提出一些建议和意见。

关键词：东西方恐怖电影，主题，叙事手法，视觉元素