Scream Review

Film review

Scream (1996)

Director: Wes Craven.

Genre: Action horror

Plot:

When a girl is killed, a small town is sent into fear. A killer known as ‘Ghost face’ beings to reign terror on teenagers. The group of teenagers contemplate the "Rules" and “conventions’ of horror films as they find themselves living one.

Two scenes that impressed me were:

The opening scene really impressed me, with it's use of slow to fast montage. This keeps you on the edge if your seat. For example the slow montage of the girl on the phone, pacing with long takes and setting the scene. To the fast paced action of quicker takes and music when the killer says that they are in the house.

The ending is also a very strong scene. It fits the horror convention of having a stereotypical final girl in Sidney, who stops the killer and gets out alive. But also it has an open ending, as it cuts to a news reporter outside the house. This doesn't give us closure on events in the film, a classic convention of the horror genre. However, I feel they did this because they wanted to leave the franchise open to allow sequels. Something that is very common in the genre.

Gere checklist:

The film use conventions of the genre really well, because it main focus is the horror genre.

Mise-en-scene; the film hits the entire checklist because again it is a film that focus on the rules of horror. However it does serve twists. For example the final girl preforms one of the sin of the horror movies (relations) but still survives, which is against the stereotype. Both body horror (Camera-man getting his neck slit open) and restricted narration (Tatum getting crushed by garage) is used. Its interesting to see a blend in the death scenes during the films. But, this movie deliveries it scares more through montage rather than body horror. The creepy location only makes an appearance in the last 40 minutes of the film with the farm house finale, but it sense of isolation delivers to a stunning finale for the film. Also low key lighting is used a lot on Billy who is the killer. Just this little touch of lighting keeps the audiences guessing about the true nature of him through the whole film, giving it another layer of enjoyment. They use parallel music during the movie, the best example would be the music used when the killer is chasing Sidney through her house. With fast paced music reflects the action on screen.

Editing; Collision cutting is used really well in places too deliver jumps. The best example would be the moment in the first scene where we see the girl frozen by fear sitting in the corner. It is silence, but then a chair coming smashing through the window. This moment of slow to fast montage sets a un-ease feel for the quiet moments in the rest of the film. Close up are used really well especially to show emotion. When Sidney is on the phone the close up really shows her shock and horror when she finds out who is really on the other end of the phone. P.O.V shots work well in the action scene. In the car crash scene we get to see the car hit the tree through the eyes of the driver. This scares the audience as they can’t look away and do anything about this incident that will likely cause violent death. Also handheld camera is used well in action with chase scenes that put us into the eyes of the victim. This helps us feel emotional attached to the character, and see the struggle that they are going through.

Themes; Sex and taboo both feature in the film, especially through the relationship of Sidney and Billy. Billy is trying to push Sidney into having sex with him. Sidney is a virgin and is nervous of the idea of it. They talk about this is her bedroom when Billy says their relationship is "dull". Violence is other theme that features a lot. The killer kills and tortures these innocence people like they are in a film, why also taking a sadistic pleasure from it. The cameraman gets killed by ‘ghost face’ and he isn’t even a target, he just gets caught up in the crossfire. His death really shows the sadistic pleasure that the killer gets from taking a life. Loneliness is also a key theme. The killer Billy tells us in his final monologue, that his mother left home because she discovered about an affair on going between Sidney’s mum and Billy’s dad. He feels alone because his mother left him and blames Sidney and her father for the fact he has been left by her and no longer has her around.

Narrative; Like most horror the ending was open. We see the killer get shot so he is clearly dead. But after that we never discover what happens to Sidney. Is she in trouble with the law?  We never find out. I feel this was done so if the film was successful, there was the option for sequels. This eventually did happen.

Ideologies; The main ideology from the film was feeling outside the CDI. The killers talk about how they planned all the killing from watching horror movies, people don’t watch horror for tips, they watch it for enjoyment. Stuart: “watch a few movies, take a few notes. It was fun!”         

Aspects I would include in my own trailer:

I really enjoyed the stereotypical characters. Because they knew their stereotypes, and didn’t try to be different. However they all had their own twist. The final girl had sex-(Sidney). The stoner was behind it (Stu). The female victim never show any flesh (Tatum). The cop is dim, but has his moments of brilliance and bravery (Dewy).

Also the use of montage and collision cutting was superb. It had me on the edge of my seat and build suspence well when it all went quite.

Aspects I would avoid in my own trailer:

However I feel they never delivered any big jump. So they didn't use collision cutting to its best ability. The moments from slow to fast montage were not sudden enough. And I only jumped a few times, because of the brief pause between that change happening. The best example of this was the first time Sidney ran into ‘Ghost face’. They had all the build-up, slowed it right down. But then cut to a short over Sidney shoulder which allowed us to see were the killer was coming from. I feel it would of worked better if he jumped out more sudden and closer to her. Rather than letting us see where the killer was coming from.

My favourite aspects of the film:

I really enjoyed the playing/questioning of the genre convention as a whole. It’s cool to hear character talking about ‘rules’ and mentioning different horror movies, it makes the movie different. The stereotypes are trying to avoid the stereotypical. However I don’t want to recreate this in my horror. Scream worked well because it was a one off, can’t remake/re-do it. It a really cool idea, but I cannot put it in my trailer as people will just say I'm ripping off Scream. I need to focus on scaring my audience without being ironic.   

Historical context; The historical context of the film reflects the killing of the ‘The Gainesville Ripper’ who preyed on students during the 90’s. Using this real life event by the film creator was very smart. It was a good idea to use a real killer who targeted the target audience as a villain. This is a perfect example of Janet Staiger ‘audience studies’. The audience of the time would react to ‘Ghost face’ more because the Gainesville Ripper was in the news around the date of the film release. It the same effect that Ed Gein has on Psycho audience when it was first released

Institutional context; the horror genre was dying. The genre has been filled with direct to video films that weren’t very good. But, then in 1996 Scream was released. It was a slasher movie that knew the rules. But wasn’t affair to change them. They twisted characters and locations, but kept the killing and terror very conventional. A great example of the twist of conventions is again found in the opening scene. You have all the classic stereotypes. Low key lighting of the house shows how it is isolated from the rest of town. The male gaze (Laura mulvey) of Casey is introduced- played by Drew Barrymore. Which was very strange, because she was killed off within the first  minutes of the film. It was like Psycho with the death of the blonde haired victim Marion played by Janet Leigh. This death showed the audience that this horror movie was going to be differnet to the others. It pays great respect to the classics like; Friday the 13^th and Nightmare on Elm Street. While still standing on its own. Screamed caused the resurrection of the genre, while also redefining it. It was exactly what the genre needed at the time of its released. Without Scream the genre could of died out, at least with the bigger, more mainstream audiences.   

Final Destination 5 Review

Film review

Final Destination 5 (2011)

Director: Steve Quale.

Genre: Body horror

Plot:

Sam is on his way to a company retreat with. While crossing a Bridge under construction work, Sam has a vision that the bridge will collapse, killing everyone including himself. Worried by his vision, he urges his girlfriend Molly and his friends to leave the bridge before it collapses. FBI agent Jim Block doesn't believe that Sam was responsible for the bridge collapse, but promises to keep his eye on him. Following the memorial service, local coroner William Bludworth mysteriously warns the survivors that they cheated Death. Believing this to be just some nonsense, they ignore his warnings and move on. But as each survivor is killed off, the other feel death is coming back around.

 

Two scenes that impressed me were:

The bridge scene really impressed me because it was one big collision cut. It starts with long drawn out shots of the bridge, the workers and the character. But as the scene moves on, we are shown quick shots of how unsafe the bridge is. Then we are lead into 5 minutes of quick cuts, fast paced music and body horror. These editing techniques work really well in making the two juxtapositions states look even more extreme then they actual are.

The ending of the film uses montage very well to deliver the conventional un-happy ending. It turns out that the film is set before the events of Final Destination (2000). So in the finale on the plane, it uses collision cutting from Sam and Molly relaxing on the plane, to the moments when the plane beginnings to crash.  This is also a nice touch for fans of the franchise, with films overlapping and characters meeting. Also it is an example of Schatz’s genre theory, with it carefully following the generic convention of a horrific ending, even though everything looked to have been resolved.

 

Throughout the film I can see a number of features that appear on the genre checklist:

Mise-en-scene; the film used more body horror than restricted narration. We can see all the violent deaths because it is the highlight of the film. Also, because there isn’t a physical villain chasing the down the character, the audience needs to see the deaths. The long, drawn montage before each death makes the payoff that much better for the audience. Creepy, enclosed locations are made out of seemingly everyday situations. The best example would be the doctor surgery. The silence and lack of colour, with the low key lighting gives a sense of entrapment within the office. You feel uneasy in a place where you should feel safe. The film uses parallel music well to match the action on screen. I feel without the use of parallel music, the first scene wouldn’t have the same emotional impact on the audience.

 

Editing; the film use of fast to slow montage creates successful collision cutting. All of the death scenes are collision cuts, without this editing the film would suffer. An example of this would be the first death of the gymnastics. The scene first uses slow montage, with long takes of her using the equipment at the gym. However we get quick cuts to items of danger, like the nail on the bar. Then towards the end of scene when the tension has reached the high point, the quick montage happens and we see her death unfold in front of us. The use of collision cutting is what make these scenes so tense for the audience, and cause the jump scare for the audience.

Character & Representation; the film has a clear male hero through Sam. We see this through his actions on scene. For example he saves the group in the first place by convincing them to get off the bus. Also he is more relatable through his job. We see how his boss doesn’t take a shine to him, even though he tries his hardest. This would relate to the target audience of teenagers who don’t feel they get enough credit for their work, making Sam a much more realistic character. Also he survives right until the end; the only thing that stops him is bad luck, rather than the killer. He is a stereotypical good looking man who gets the girl, all the conventions of the male hero.    

Theme; the theme of violence is constantly running through Final Destination 5. The really gorey, violent death suffered by the character shows how they fear death. The whole reason these events begins, is because Sam has a fear of dying in his vision. The violence connotes death saying, “you can’t escape me, if you miss me the first time, I will come back stronger and more deadly”. This would scare a wide audience because a common fear  that all people share, is the fear of death. So to show these violent deaths on screen would create reliability between the characters and the audience.       

 

    

Historical context; The set up for Final Destination 5 is by using a fear that has become much larger in the last 10 years with the rise of disasters, especially with the uproar natural disasters related to global warming. People already feel uneasy about events like this, so what better way than to tap into that fear by showing a natural disaster which horrific results.  

Aspects I would include in my own trailer:

I feel a good aspect of the film was the characters. They were very strong, the audience grow an emotional connection to all of them in some way. For example Peter loses his girlfriend near the start of the film. He spends the rest of the film affected by this incident, and it pushes him over the edge at the end of the film. The gore in the film is one of the best I have seen in a horror movie. It really shows off how the genre has developed with the use of CGI and the easing of censorship. The best effect without doubt is the gym accident, in which a girl is basically snapped in half. All the bones come out and it just looks exactly how you would expect. The body horror is often what makes the horrors memorable, and this movie certainly deliveries.

Aspects I would avoid in my own trailer:

However, towards the end of the film it got rather predictable, this is something I want to avoid when making my trailer.  This is highlighted at the end of the film where you see the only other survivor sitting in a bar. You know that any moment the piece of the plane will crush him. And before you know it, the debris comes straight through the roof of the bar. The idea of this shock is good, but the audience could all see it coming.  

My favourite aspects of the film:

The best aspects of the film are the cast of unknown actors. They played their parts really well and were really likable, and easy to associate with. It achieves the all-important emotional connection between audience and character. If you can make the audience feel pain and sorrow for the characters then the horror movie will be much more successful.

 

 

Also, the gore was simply incredible. It’s without doubt the best I have seen in a horror lately and really deliveries the scares in the movie. I can’t recreate anything like this because of the budget that they have. However I do want to have gore within my horror trailer. So I will have a more simplified gore in my trailer, but will go all out on one big moment in the trailer to shock the audience.  

Dawn of the Dead (2004): Image analysis 3

This scene from DOTD shows how there are still changes in the horror genre to keep it fresh, but how there will always be some generic convention included in the films. This is the final shot of the movie and we can see that some of the group have escaped. This includes Ana, who is the archetypal final girl of the movie. What is different about her is that she has blonde hair which is normally stereotypical of the female victim. However her hair is up in a ponytail. This connotes an almost ‘tomboy’ feel to the character. And apart from the hair she has all the characteristics of a final girl. The best example of how she isn’t a victim is when she is the one that discovers that it is the bites that cause the zombie infection, even before the two male heroes. Also she is a nurse, which is a very stereotypical female job. However this makes her quite powerful yet caring character. This allows her to saves people life while also keeping their hopes you and not letting them panic and losing their heads.

 Modern horror movies recently seem to be very pro America since the 9/11 attacks. Characters seem to be strong American characters that defeat evil/deformed characters. Also the flag is appearing in many horror movies and connotes America. We can see it on the left of Ana flapping in the wind, showing an American victory. Also this is in a scene from The Hills Have Eyes in which the character kills a giant infected man with an American flag. This has been done a lot more to show that America isn’t weak since the recent crisis both at home at in the Middle East.

Ending of horror movies are very stereotypical, and it is the same in DOTD. This final shot shows the character getting away and thinking it is a happy ending, However in a post credit scene we see the boats reaching an island only to have zombies on it. We never fully know what happens. This is a perfect example of Schatz’s genre theory. The director Zack Snyder is keeping the genre conventions but is keeping enough variety to maintain interest. Without twists in the genre then the audiences would lose interest in the genre and wouldn’t come and see films, as they would know everything that is going to happen.           

Dawn of the Dead (2004): Image analysis 2

This scene from DOTD uses collision cutting well to make sounds and setting feel more extreme. Before this moment in the elevator we see the group running from zombies. There is loud shouting and groans from the zombies as they run through the mall. Then when the group get to the safety of the elevator, the door closes and real mellow music is being played. This is an example of contrapuntal music where the music doesn’t fit the actions on screen. Another example of contrapuntal music would be the ear cutting scene from Reservoir Dogs. Where Mr.Blonde is torturing a police officer, but as he is doing it he is listening to K-Billy's Super Sounds of the 70's. This makes the audiences feel awkward and uncomfortable. As we are given this catchy song that makes you want to dance playing over a poor man having his ear cut off, it makes the scene so much more uncomfortable for the audiences. 

After this scene it cuts back to the group running from the zombies. This effects makes the juxtaposition between quite->loud seem far more extreme than they are, an effect used in basically every horror movie.  This is like Hitchcock use of collision cutting in Psycho. But with Hitchcock he uses longer drawn out takes to make the switch seem extreme, DOTD is more sudden change between the two juxtaposition elements.

The arrangement of the characters in the mise-en-scene also shows who is strong within the group. Ana is centre frame and showed to be the focal point of the group, the one who is holding it all together. It is interesting the comparison between Monica and Ana. Monica has her blonde hair down. Also she has had sex with Steve earlier on in the film. This makes her the stereotypical female victim. This is a complete juxtaposition to Ana who is more of a ‘tom boy’, who is very strong and doesn’t need saving. Also the characters clothes are very different. Ana has this tank top and looks like she is ready to get hands on with the action. However Monica is wearing a cardigan which connotes a more fashionable approach of her image. Also the cardigan seems to tell you that she will be taking more of a back seat in the escape where with Ana she will be the one leading the team forward.          

Dawn of the Dead (2004): Image analysis 1

This title screen from Dawn of the Dead (2004) shows perfectly how Zack Snyder is using the historical context and zeitgeist to scare the modern day horror fan. With the film being realised in 2004 it shows how Snyder is using the tension in the Middle East to show the world crumbling. The film is set just 3 years after 9/11, where the attacks on the Twin Towers in New York shocked the whole world. So the audience’s greatest fear at the time would be threat of an attack from an Islamic terrorist group. So they use the iconography of the Muslim religion showed the audiences that these are where the threat is coming from. Using the historical context worked very well for Snyder has this is what now scares people the most. Also blending that with a ‘virus’, which has become a fear since the rise of swine flu, bird flu etc. Also the biblical fear of ‘Armageddon’ generates the scares for the modern audiences. This is a perfect example of Janet staiger theory of Audience Studies (from her book Interpreting Films). This is when the movie uses the context to shock the audiences. Another example of this is Hitchcock uses of Ed Gein’s characteristics in his character Norman Bates in Psycho. Ed Gein was the first really serial killer case to be shown on tv. America was all in shocked over the same event at one single time. Everybody knew about it, everybody talked about it. Ed Gein was arrested in 1957, 3 years before Psycho. So when Bates had all the characteristics of Gein audiences were much more scared of him. They whole of America had one shared fear, Hitchcock brought that alive on screen. Just like Snyder did the more it relates to real issues of the time, the more of a scare it will deliver.   

Dawn of the Dead (1978): Image analysis 3

This is the character Francine in DOTD. She is an example of how Romero uses his auteur status to this classical character stereotype. As we can see she is blonde, and in the horror genre is stereotypical of the female victim. She starts off as a character that doesn’t do a great deal.  Standing by as Flyboy fights for his life at the hangar, and can’t deal with one zombie in the mall. You assume that she is going die. However she doesn’t and becomes a very strong character. She learns to fly the helicopter and becomes a good shot as we can see in the car park scene with her cover fire for Roger. Also he does this twist on the male hero. With Stephen the character who is fighting the zombie. He should be this incredible guy who saves the day for everybody. However he is a really bad fighter and is nearly beaten by the zombies. Also his position in the mise-en-scene and expression angles he is shown to be very small, this connotes his weakness.

Romero never has Francine scream, and- not once does she enter a sheer state of panic towards her situation. She also she survives to the end of the film. The blonde surviving a horror was, - something rarely done before.  Romero loves to battle the Genre Theory (Thomas Schatz concept from the Hollywood Genres). Schatz writes about how audiences expect certain things when going to see a genre and while Romero keeps many things from the genre, his Auteur (Sarris) side twists things. For example he hates sexism. So he creates these strong final girls. This can be seen through Francine (DOTD 1979). Also with Sarah Bowman, who survives Day of the Dead (1985).  This shows how Romero would use his own ideologies and soul and out them into his films. If he had an opinion on it he would talk about it through his characters and events on screen. 

Dawn of the Dead (1978): Image analysis 2

This scene from DOTD (1979) is an example of body horror. Romero used gore to its best effect to deliver scares in DOTD. He hired Tom Savini to work on the special effects for the movie. Savini, before DOTD was in Vietnam as a photographer. He saw death all around him. He witnessed limbs of bodies, people bleeding out and was surrounded by the constant fear of dying. He took pictures of these events, but, - the lens was his shield and made the horrible sights feel less real. Savini then went to use this to create this realistic body horror through his real life experience and the horror he had been through. This is what made DOTD the most realistic body horror at the time of its release

 DOTD within the institutional context was huge. It shaped the body horror sub-genre. Nobody had done anything like this before with these shocks on screen. However it came at a price. The film was very controversial. The scenes were deemed to shocking; the film did not receive a rating and couldn’t advertise in the USA. For any other film this would be hell. However due to the success of Night if the Living Dead and Romero name the film still went on to make a lot at the box office. We can see this through the figures of the movie. It only had a small budget of $1.5 million, which for a Hollywood film is nothing. However the film went on to make $40 million worldwide. It just shows the power of the auteur and they popularity they generate.  

Dawn of the Dead (1978): Image analysis 1

This scene from Dawn of the Dead (DOTD 1979) shows how George A Romero as an auteur by putting his soul into the film. This also reflects of the historical context of the 1970’s. This was the decade of when ‘malls’ were introduced in the USA. The ‘mall’ were big retail outlets with all different shops within. It shows off consumerism, where people become obsessed with buying and owning stuff. Romero hated the malls. So he used the zombies in such a way to make them mirror society.

 In this scene the zombies are obsessed with the mall, and they always wanting a way in throughout the film. This final montage shows this off. It has many shots of the zombies aimlessly wondering the mall. The zombies represent society. Romero wanted to talk about how people were becoming these zombies, with wondering the mall buying stuff they don’t really need, losing track of time and becoming emotionless.

 This is example of Auteur theory (as written by Andrew Sarris in ‘Notes on the Auteur theory in 1962’) where the director (Romero) puts his soul and ideologies into the film. We can also see this in another Romero film Night of the Living Dead. This portrays his hatred towards racism. He shows this in the final scene where our black hero (a big thing back then in the 60’s) has survived the night, only to be shot by white hillbillies. Although it is seen as bad, it is Romero’s way of saying that racism shouldn’t be around anymore. Killing off the hero not with zombies but by another race was the perfect way to portray it.    

Psycho: Image analysis 3

In this scene from PSYCHO, we see horror stereotypes being formed. Marion (Janet Leigh) is the first female victim in cinema. We know this through convention of her character. First off is her blonde hair. Blondes are “stereotypical” bimbo who aren’t smart, this makes them easier to fool and easier to pick off. Also earlier on in the film she is seen having sexual relations with a man outside out marriage, which is a sin. This makes her again a target because she is doing things that are supposedly wrong.

The weather outside is raining, which is a Pathetic fallacy where the rain is reflecting the emotion of Marion, which is sadness and guilt over her actions to steal the forty thousand dollars. We see these through the use close ups of Marion faces. These shots allow us to get us close with the character and make the scene very emotional driven.

The way this scene is filmed gives an illustration of Mulvey’s “Male gaze” (visual pleasure and narrative cinema”). We get to voyeuristically watch a female character, even seeing into thoughts. This gives pleasure to the male-dominated cultural dominant ideology of the time, as we almost “spy” on this beautiful woman, also supports Andrew Sarris “Auteur theory”. This is where we see Hitchcock’s’ soul being put into his films. Hitchcock seemed to have a great pleasure in casting blonde haired women, and seemed to have this great pleasure over controlling these beautiful women. This can also be seen in THE BIRDS. In which Hitchcock put breadcrumbs in Tippi Hedren hair causing the birds to peck harder and caused her to bleed on set. This represent Hitchcock strange ideology towards women. 

Psycho: Image analysis 2

This scene From PSYCHO is without doubt the most famous in the movie. It works so well because it uses editing and cinematography so well to create it suspense, panic and shock

 Hitchcock uses editing really well to build the tension. The scene starts with slow montage with long takes to drag out the scene and beginning to builds the tension. He does this with Marion getting undress and packing up her suitcase ready to return to Phoenix,  activities that really have no real significant in the film. But as the killer strikes the use of quick montage kicks in to cause a jump of the scene. This is an example of collision cutting which Hitchcock uses well to exaggerate the juxtaposition setting in the scene (slow->fast). Hitchcock as an auteur really comes through with his use of montage comes from his great passion for Russian montage film. An example of this technique is in the movie Battleship Potemkin (1925) with the Odessa Steps scene. The film director only had music and visual to create emotion, and they did it so well. So Hitchcock wanted to deliver the same kind of effect with his movies.

 Hitchcock also uses all different shots to create the scene. Close ups of the knife to Marion shows the violence of the death. Point of view shots shows the kill through both Marion’s eyes, but also the killer’s. Thus was something rarely done before. 

With Hitchcock he uses all the tools to create the scares. And we can see it works with how the scene is still remembered today as a reflection of Hitchcock as an “auteur.”      

Psycho: Image analysis 1

This scene from PSYCHO first shows Norman Bates in a more sinister way, especially the use of the mise-en-scene.  Hitchcock use of Low key lighting connotes mystery and darkness of this character. Hitchcock wants to hint that there is something much more to Norman then the seemingly friendly character we see on the surface. Also the use of an Expressionist angle shows the power he has over Marion during the conversation.

 The stereotypical creepy location adds a lot to the scene. While the room surrounded by stuffed birds adding to the sense of entrapment. Also the iconographic of an owl as a “Bird of prey”. which is almost mirroring Norman action throughout the film. The owl mirrors Norman in the sense that he kills off people that come to his ‘nest’ and disturb his mother. Also the female victim Marion has the surname of ‘Crane’, which of cause is a type of bird. The clever link is Norman hobby. Norman kills and stuff birds. This is an early signifier that Norman will want to add another bird to his collection.

This scene works so well because it uses the mise-en-scene really cleverly to create an atmosphere that would make people feel awkward and uncomfortable. It is also any example of Thomas Schatz’s “Genre theory”. Hitchcock uses clear genre expectation of horror creates suspense and tell us something about both characters in this scene.