Illuminating the dark side of fairy tales

Abstract

Contemporary cinema has seen the return of horror in fairy tales. Filmmakers employ various cinematic elements such as genre, style, subversion, visual elements, and historical and cultural details to craft captivating narratives. This study seeks to discover and understand the relevance of Horror and Fairy tales in portraying social behaviour, traditional beliefs, and gender roles and their influence on contemporary media and popular culture. Investigating how filmmakers subvert traditional fairy tale narratives, creating new and thought-provoking stories that challenge genre narrative conventions. This thesis focuses on select post-90s films that feature young protagonists in their narratives. This research identifies key themes, motives, and symbols in both genres and examines how they intersect and inform one another. Utilising a postmodern, psychoanalytic lens, the research delves into unconscious desires and fears represented through symbolism and archetypes in horror and fairy tale narratives. Furthermore, historical and cultural contexts are examined to comprehend their significance and relevance to contemporary social issues.