What Makes A Horror Film Entertaining
In horror films, there is always one scene that opens up the perceived realm of normality to that of fear and confusion. Directors and authors alike use these scenes to show the change in the pace of the film. In both the movie Psycho (1960) and Carrie (1976), shower scenes are used to mark this epic turning point with sexuality, blood and voyeurism; the most important ingredients to horror.The idea of sneaking around and peering into forbidden places gives just about everyone a thrill. Voyeurism is used strongly in both Psycho and Carrie due to its ability to entice thrill in the viewer. In Carrie, we start the scene by looking into a girls' high school locker room; scantily clad or naked girls moving in slow-motion in front of the camera give the thrill of both trespassing and the chance of being caught. The camera gradually slides across the locker room floor, slowly so as to allow us to look at the changing girls. We stop at the last row and are slowly walked into the steamy row of showers where we find a naked Carrie White (Sissy Spacek). In Psycho, after Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins) leaves Marion Crane (Janet Leigh) to her room, he goes back to his office for a reason we're not quite clear about yet. H
Carrie then begins to from studentcentral. The blood in Carrie symbolizes not just a change in the tempo of the film, but a physical change in her body. We are then given an extreme close-up of Norman's eye, staring wide into the room; the view we have gives us the thrill of actually being there, watching Marion undress. He puts his eye up to the hole and we are graced - 1 -with the view of Marion in just a black bra and slip, the color hinting to the illicitness of the moment. Carrie is also highly sexualized, more so given the fact that more nudity was allowed with the changing times. We are allowed only collarbone-up shots of her in the shower, only hints to her nakedness. Sexuality also adds a great deal of tension to the two scenes. In Carrie, the bliss ends after we se blood running down her leg. Finally he looks at the wall and removes a painting, a painting depicting the Rape of Lucretia, and reveals a peephole into Marion's hotel room. As we gaze at the different close-up camera shots of her body, we watch as she reaches for the soap. Once in the shower, we are given a point-of-view shot of the showerhead, a huge showerhead covering her entire body with clean, warm water, cleansing her of her sins in an almost baptismal way. We see an extreme close-up of her hand as she tilts it and blood runs through her fingers. Thrill only encourages us to watch the movie more intently, on the edge of our seats. She falls forward and half of her rests outside the tub.
Common topics in this essay:
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Carrie Psycho,
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Recipe Horror,
Janet Leigh,
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Anthony Perkins,
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Acceptance Essays
