Historical Text Review

For my research I will be watching 3 classic horror films and review them.

The Blair Witch Project (1999)

Horror films that reach into our instinctive fears that have been hard-wired into us, make watching a film like 'The Blair Watch Project' that much suspenseful. Within this film, we go along with the characters yet instead of them being filmed by an ordinary studio camera the whole time there are snippets of footage as we watch their experience in the forest, making it that more realistic.

 This film did not use special effects or digital supernatural creatures, it showed characters getting lost within the woods. This is a convention of a horror film which would be recognisable to the audience watching. However, instead of just a guy in a ski mask following the characters around we see them get lost and undergo a series of suspicious noises in the night and frightening figures hanging from the trees. As they start to lose their minds while their imagination runs wild with all the conspiracies within the woods, they lose food and their smokers making the audience feel even more scared.

The creators used a very original strategy of presenting the film in the form of a real life documentary. As it is learnt from the start (opening titles) that in 1994 three teenage filmmakers enter the woods hoping to find the 'legendary' witch and it also says "A year later, their footage was found". By making it look like an actual documentary in intrigues the audience and the film is even more fearful to to realistic elements.

Once they get into the woods, the situation gradually turns ominous. They walk in circles. Something happens to their map. Nature itself begins to seem oppressive and dead. They find ominous signs. Bundles of twigs. Unsettling stick figures. These crude objects are scarier than more elaborate effects; they look like they were created by a being who haunts the woods, not by someone playing a practical joke. Much has been said about the realistic cinematography--how every shot looks like it was taken by a hand-held camera in the woods (as it was). But the visuals are not just a technique. By shooting in a chill season, by dampening the color palette, the movie makes the woods look unfriendly and desolate; nature is seen as a hiding place for dread secrets.

  

The Others (2001)

 'The Others' is a mystery set inside a haunted house. This film is filled with many of the generic conventions a horror film in a haunted house would have, for example the violent shocks, dark eerie atmosphere and doors that suddenly shut. Throughout the film it is tense and dark yet quiet. It is also a waiting game as the characters unfold the mystery of the what and who is within the house, maybe a little bit too slow. 

This film is located in an isolated house on the island of Jersey, in a house that Grace (Nicole Kidman) and her son and daughter live in, the boy Nicholas (james Bentley) and the girl Anne (Alakina Mann). One day three servats appear who 'responded' to Grace's plee for new servants when her previous ones left without saying goodbye. 

The house must always be dark and each 50 doors must be locked before another may open, this is due to Anne and Nicholas (her children) being allergic to sunlight and could possibly die if to come in contact with the sun. This means that throughout the film there there is low-key lighting which creates an atmosphere within the film, with the only source of light being the candles.

What impresses me most each time I watch ‘The Others’ is that the style and substance complement each other creating a visually beautiful movie with enough substance to merit repeated viewings.  Studying the film shot by shot, I discovered a master in control of every frame. Each scene is part of a whole and every shot is there for a reason. Allow me to point out examples in the film to support my gutsy statement.

‘The Others’ is full of such expressionistic shots. The most famous scene in the film is when Anne wearing a new white dress plays with her puppets. Grace having left her daughter in that room, later returns where Anne still wearing the dress continues to play with her puppet. Only this time she is an old woman. The scene is both unsettling and disturbing yet there is more to it than meets the eye. We later learn that the old woman is a medium who was at one point possessed unintentionally by Anne. This is why Anne takes on the form of the old woman earlier in the picture.  Now look at this shot, which takes place before the viewer discovers any of this