ABSTRACT
In Nosferatu, among the first horror films ever made, the vampire Count Orlok is a creature of light and shadows, born of cinematic magic. Horror films may aim at producing gut-level reactions such as fear, revulsion, anxiety, or disgust, but they also stimulate more complex emotional and intellectual responses. Horror films like Frenzy or Repulsion depict male violence against women so as to condemn it and make plain its monstrosity. Monsters in horror are, like Count Orlok, made of light and shadow, creatures born of film. There are recurring allusions in horror films to the nature of our very fascination with horror—allusions to the processes of cinematic depiction, to the pleasures of spectacle, and to traditions of symbolic representations of evil and monsters. The allure of horror is that such monsters come out of their box to entertain, perplex, disturb, and provoke us, as they confront us with a multitude of visions of evil.
