Use of cults within horror

Use of cults within horrors

A cult is primarily a group of antagonists within a horror movie that is out to get the main protagonist or his/hers family, therefore creating a binary opposition between them. The following films present the use of cults: 

Paranormal Activity 3

• The cult within Paranormal Activity 3 consisted of the grandmother and her friends which subverts the idea of the antagonist being a strong, young male. 
• The use of a family member being part of the cult provides corruption within the family as well as the story line. It also provides the storyline with context and a historical background as having a grandmother in a cult is very strange. 
• The use of the cult within this film most definitely highlights on the use of binary opposition and a clear group of antagonists, although this may have appeared vague at the beginning of the film as the grandmother is not usually used as an antagonist due to age. Therefore the conventions of a protagonist is subverted.
• Within this particular film the Grandmother and her cult makes a pact to Toby (Djinn) so they were permitted to be financially stable but in return the Grandmother was to sacrifice her first born son, however she was unable to do so and so she was now dependant on her granddaughters to do so as her own daughter refused to do so.

The Master

• The cult within "The Master" is referred to as "The Cause" and is portrayed as being inviting towards the main protagonist after he finds himself lost and uncertain with his life after arriving home from war.
• In contrast to the cult within Paranormal Activity, "the cause" is illustrated as more of a spiritual cult that seems to offer the main protagonist support and guidance in his life as he is firstly shown as having no sense in life as an outcome of mental scarring from war.
• Although "The Master" is not a horror film, as it focuses mainly on scientology it illustrates a cult in a positive way, rather than a group of antagonists out to get the protagonist.

Scarface 

• Scarface is a hit crime film that incorporates the idea of a cult. It follows the main character, who is set up in a refugee camp but soon let free by on a "green card" in exchange for killing the former Cuban  government official at the request of a drug dealer. However, once free, the main character too, becomes caught up in the world of drug dealing.
• In Scarface, the use of a cult may not be prominent but as the film is developed it builds a cult status, possibly within the audience and characters in the film itself.
• As the film is based on the use of drugs and drug dealing, this may also be a way of building its cult status as only a minority of the audience may be able to relate direct to the plot.
• Unlike, the other examples i have chosen Scarface builds up a cult due to the storyline so the use of a cult within the film is very scarce. 

Overall, the use of cults within a horror film is primarily used to create a group of clear antagonists. However, the director may wish to subvert the idea of the cult being illustrated as the antagonists just like the cult in "The Master". The use of cults provide a binary opposition too between the protagonist and antagonist and allows the audience to feel even more sympathetic for the protagonist when he/she is in danger as there is more than one person out to get them. Through this, the director can achieve a bigger climax from a horror film than they would if they were to use just one antagonist.

 On the other hand, i did not only focus on the use of cults within horrors, i also focused on the use of cults within other genres as they are illustrated in a different light, such as "The Master"; the cult used highlights the goodness and stability it was able to offer to someones life after war. However, in "Scarface" the cult isn't prominent within the movie and in a sense this film can be classed an as Urban film as it's set in one location and uses crime as its main issue, and this would allow a cult status for it to develop as it focuses primarily on the use of drugs and drug dealing.