Horror And The Nigerian Film
By Dul Johnson, Ph.D
Published: November 19, 2006
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Definition 

Horror is a genre of “film focusing on the supernatural, the mysterious, or on graphic violence, aiming to frighten or horrify its audiences”.¹ They address both universal and culturally specific fears, dwelling on timeless themes such as death and the beastly nature of the human being, as well as on more topical fears, as in atomic war, radiation effects, the mutation of viruses such as AIDS etc.  Horrors have been categorized into Gothic horror, Monster horror and Psychological thriller.  It is a genre that has been established since the era of silent movies.  Film history puts its date at 1910, with the filming of Mary Shelly’s 1818 novel, Frankenstein.  But, of course, horror stories have been there, even in our folk stories.  It is therefore nothing new – or should be nothing new – to the Nigerian audience.

The film Story

Although I have claimed that the director is the author of a film, it should be made clear that every film starts from a story, and that the type of film we get is determined first and foremost, by the type of story we have chosen or have been given to work with.  But let us make a professional distinction here.  The story is very different from the script, which is in itself an interpretation of the story.  The story is what happened (but which in film is presented as what is happening) while the script is how it happened (or how it is happening).  The script then is like the plan of a house, which may change along the way, but which will still remain the plan upon which the erected structure is based.  It is not the concrete foundation, which must be followed – and indeed, it is never ever followed strictly by any director, no matter how good and tight it is.  The story, on the other hand, remains inviolable, if only in the sense that it precedes the script and that whatever changes are made to it turn into the story being told.  A story mutates.  Therefore, whatever is presented to us within any context, that is its life.

            A movie is what the story says it is.  Thus, there are stories suited for comedies, for romance, for action, for social drama and for horror.  Yes, occasionally you find talents that can turn one kind into another.  It is also possible to find a combination of the elements in one story.  But again, let it be understood that, this is the story.  The scriptwriter merely gives it shape for ease of comprehension by both the filmmaker and his audience.  My claim in this paper then, is that Nigerian films, which have turned out to horrify rather than entertain, end up being so as a result of the conflict between story and script - something we can attribute to both ignorance and incompetence.  But this statement is not in itself a condemnation of the Nigerian movies.  Horror has been with the Nigerian film since the days of the Yoruba traveling theatre, which evolved into the first Nigerian film (and video).  This was long before the appearance of Living in Bondage (1992), which has been erroneously given as the birth of the Nigerian home video. 

 

In the Yoruba films (because of the Yoruba belief system), one often finds a combination of social drama and horror elements working perfectly.  The point to note here is that in watching some of these Yoruba films, audiences were scared to the point of standing on their feet or even outrightly leaving the theatre.  Yet, the films were enjoyed and no one condemned them for blood, witchcraft or violence.  Films like Aiye, Jaiyesinmi, Arelu, Fopomoyo, Oba Koso, Sango and several others display horrifying magical scenes, witchcraft, and horrendous acts such as people’s heads being chopped off or someone spitting fire from the mouth and so on.  Timothy-Asobele (2003:3) affirms this when he says that: Judging from the historical perspectives of most Yoruba films, it is very obvious that the symbolic, the legendary, the ritual, the mythic, the ghoulish, the weird, the cruel, and the vibrant all come to play in creating the numerous masterpieces of the Yoruba cinematography.²

 

No one complains about these or calls for their ban.  No one says these are not our culture.  What makes films like Blood Money, Return to Kazondia and the likes objectionable!  Why are films like, and accepted and enjoyed without criticism?

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