Don’t be afraid of the dark. The representation of fear on the big screen and its relationship with society

Journal title SOCIOLOGIA DELLA COMUNICAZIONE
Author/s Stefania Antonioni
Publishing Year 2018 Issue 2017/54 Language Italian
Pages 22 P. 80-101 File size 101 KB
DOI 10.3280/SC2017-054006
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This paper tries to connect the representation of fear and terror on the big screen with their common spreading out and framing in society. This kind of analysis follows, from one side, the history of cinema and of its genres, and from the another side the evolution of society and its fears and paranoia. In fact we will see that there are tight connections between those two spheres and their evolution in time, exemplified also with the analysis of the three different film adaptations of the novel I am legend: Last man on earth (1964), The omega man (1971) and I am legend (1997).

Keywords: Horror film; film genre; horror history; film theory; social representation.

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Stefania Antonioni, Don’t be afraid of the dark. La rappresentazione della paura sul grande schermo e il suo rapporto con la società in "SOCIOLOGIA DELLA COMUNICAZIONE " 54/2017, pp 80-101, DOI: 10.3280/SC2017-054006