Andrew Tudor (1974) defines the horror film in terms of its aesthetic effect, “the style itself is capable of infecting almost any subject matter with its eerie tone, the sense of mystery, of lurkers in the shadows, and these are the constant factors”. Horror films embody rigid, simplistic conventions which deprive it of the resonances that inform and deepen. The horror movie represents a medium in which the underside of the “normal” world makes its appearance in a play of fantasy and ritual.
The Psychological Thriller
Charles Derry (1977) distinguished a new sub-generic category of modern horror film. “The horror of personality”, inaugurated by “Psycho” where the monster is now seen to be “man” himself. Our film relates to the Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde scenes from the 40’s, the thriller that has contributed to the generic realisation of the popular obsession of psychological horrors. Such a source of horror requires a psychological explanation and represents a response to the escalation of violence in society. The recent resurgence of modern horror in terms of throwbacks manifested in political behaviour all point to an obsession with the horror of the split personality, and thus monstrous humans. In post-Psycho movies the monster is not a foreign phenomenon but a supposedly normal human, unconscious of their horrific menace. Therefore this is clearly the sub-genre of our film.
Shrooms
After storyboarding our trailer, we recognised its resemblance to a recent psychological thriller, “Shrooms”, which contained the idea that the female protagonist was out of control with her body and its actions, which resulted in the murder of her closest friends. The theme of Psychological isolation and betrayal are also explored in our media product and “Shrooms”. The eerie setting of a deserted dark forest is also a similar feature apparent in both films. Director of “Shrooms”, Paddy Breathnach stated, “
A friend of mine coined the phrase ‘It’s more dread than red. Originally it was a little more comedic and a bit more slasher film, but myself and the producers felt that the idea of Shrooms had the possibility for a lot of psychological uncertainty and the angst, fear and dread that comes with a psychological thriller or horror. So we went much more in that direction, we lost the more slasher side of it and pushed it into a different terrain.”Therefore like our film trailer the movie Shrooms’ had plenty of spine-chilling moments, as expected of any horror - but these came from a well thought out storyline, rather than relying on guts and gore. The shock, confusion and controversy of our storyline means it is taken above a gory horror and leads it to a level of psychological and emotional uncertainty, resulting in a terrified audience.
The Female Protagonist
Our film challenges the conventions of the female victim, as psychological thrillers reduce the gap between woman and monster and eliminate that flash of sympathetic recognition. Our film not only reduces but completely destroys this gap as the female is the monster. In the modern psychological thriller we are asked to believe “that the woman is both victim and monster” for “she is responsible for the horror that destroys her.” This aspect is where “Sleep Tight” differs to modern psychological thrillers as our “monster” receives sympathy from the audience throughout through her youth and confusion.
Our trailer has a Code of Enigma as the reason behind the female protagonist’s evil isn’t explained; it also contains the ultimate taboo at the end as it results in suicide.
The protagonist could represent a number of current issues in society, such as:-
• Schizophrenia
• Hidden threats in society
• Threat to the patriarchal power
• Female liberation
The Repertoire of Elements
There are 8 key elements of genre. They are listed below with specific reference to the elements in our film.
1.Iconography (the noose, hanging feet, screams)
2.Style (darkness, use of black and white in dream sequences, screams)
3.Setting (forest- conventional isolation, house- normality, Psychiatric ward-contemporary)
4.Narrative
5.Characters (monster= female/victim, mother, friends, newsreader)
6.Themes (isolation, threat, nightmares, pursuit, split personality, family, violence, danger)
7.Audience Response (emotional pleasures, visceral pleasures and intellectual pleasures are explored)
8.Target Audience (teenage, male or female- counter cultural attraction)
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