Analysis of Three Horror Movies

The Omen

I chose to analysis The Omen because of the many similar horror conventions to our own trailer idea; such as the theme of religion, a young child becoming possessed and the break down of a family due to evil events. The trailer follows a very common film structure called Todarov's CHN by opening with setting a perfect equilibrium describing how happy the parents are. Then there is a shift in music to represent the disequilibrium as the voiceover tells us that when Damien turned five he started showing very evil behaviour. As the trailer goes on we see more horrific acts that the child is responsible for with a series of quick shots and music full of suspense to create a fast paced feel and it makes the viewer feel a bit disorientated as the shots don't go in a story order so it doesn't make sense. The reason for this is to give the viewer a taste of what is to come when they watch the film. The trailer doesn't show us how the characters plan to solve the disequilibrium but it does give us a series of questions which makes us want to watch the film so that we know the answers to them. A new equilibrium also isn't shown at the end of the trailer and this is common of film trailers from every genre because if the viewer knows the ending or can easily predict the ending it will put them off going to watch it.

The Exorcist

This trailer also has the same similar themes to ours; religion, a young girl becoming possessed and a evil events causing family breakdown. This trailer opens with a religious chant and straight away showing us the villain (a demon) and then the victim (a young girl) with the idea that they are looking into each others eyes, this gives the viewer an idea that the demon is perhaps something to do with the devil or antichrist and the girl is going to suffer. One thing I particularly liked was the depiction of the demon because, when not possessing the girl, we only ever see its face surrounded by a black background which gives the impression that it is in a different world from the rest of the characters. I found this very effective as it shows how it needs the girl in order to access the human world. The girl screams "its burning" as her body is shaking on her bed, then her eyes change colour to represent the demon possessing her body. She then looks nervous or worried at the arrival of the exorcist. Creepy music is played (the sound of broken piano keys) as "help me" is shown on the girl's torso as if written on the inside. We see two pastors attempt an exorcist which doesn't seem to greatly affect the demon, making the viewer question whether they will be able to save the little girl or not. We then see a series of shots from inside the room of the girl acceding power over the two men with a repeated clip of the bedroom from outside the house breaking them up. I like this technique of breaking up action with a repeated shot and will try to incorporate it in my own trailer.

Sinister

I chose to analyse this trailer because when I watched it I genuinely felt scared, my heart rate increased and it made me jump, this is exactly what a horror trailer should be able to achieve and therefore it is very successful and gives me an idea of what I should be aiming for with my own trailer. The key themes that are similar to my trailer idea are; possessed children, creepy drawings of evil acts happening to the family and the sense of disruption caused by an outside force. The trailer opens with a sense of unease as we see the front of the house at night with fog (common conventions of the horror genre) with a news reporter reading and flashes of shots which together explain a horrific murder of a family. Then we see "9 Months Later" followed by the house at daytime with a moving truck outside. This stark contrast makes the viewer feel worried for the family that are moving in. We learn from a family contrast that they didn't want to move but couldn't afford their old house and the father is feeling optimistic about the new book he is writing. The mood dramatically changes with a shot of one single box in the attic and some ominous music. We see footage of the previous family and their horrific murder. The father seems to be fixed on finding out what happened, he explains to us that the films are linked by a symbol, which we find out represents "a pagan deity that consumes the soles of human children". We see this deity followed by a series of shots of it in the films which is broken up by two text pages; "Once you see him" "nothing can save you" which creates a sense of terror and forebodes something inevitable happening. Two of the children sees the deity and becomes influenced by it to paint pictures of the murdered girl and perform weird behaviours. The music becomes so jumpy and fast paced and there are numerous quick shots and jump scares which makes the viewer feel very unease and scared, causing their heart rate increase. The family try to escape but there are hints that this cannot happen. The trailer is full of quick shots of horrific images (e.g. a girl dragging an axe, a grown man terrified on the floor, and doors slamming shut) and jump scares which brilliantly create suspense and unease. I want to incorporate many of these ideas into my trailer.