For this October, FACETS Cinema has selected eight films, under the banner of A Symphony of Horrors: The Old, the New, & the Unexpected. 

One reason we consume horror is to experience stimulation, as fear is one of the most basic and important human emotions. To intensify feelings of fear in the audience, film artists use sound, lighting, timing, motion, and other stylistic devices. Among the wide range of film genres, horror movies aim to trigger a physiological and psychological response of dread and anxiety in the audience. Within the genre, horror films differ widely from each other based on their time period, genre, and regional differences, including religious and cultural motifs. There are also as many different ways of investigating how horror movies accomplish their terrifying and horrifying effect on audiences, for example, via an analysis of plots, characters, and dialogue.  

The films in this program consists of such horror classic fare as Cat People (1942) and Eyes Without a Face (1960), which use the power of suggestion to create a mood of fear. It Comes at Night (2017) and Under the Skin (2013), use the environment of the nocturnal to cause discomfort and uneasiness. Keane (2004) and Audition (1999) examine the qualms induced by the desperate preservation of the family structure. The Descent (2005) and Train to Busan (2016), have zombies, the always fascinating and reliable undead who have been used by filmmakers as a metaphor for many deeper fears: racial sublimation, atomic destruction, and mass contagion.  We close out the series with vampires, featuring the perfectly paced Swedish horror Let the Right One In (2004).

Now it is time to activate those biochemicals inside our bodies, trigger the release of adrenaline, and embrace out need to consume horror, which is a great way to bond and connect with our friends and family. 

All titles programmed and written by FACETS Film Program Director Charles Coleman.