Horror being the most disturbing genre in movies; I say this
because; audiences find a thrill out of watching helpless victims [of course
mostly girls] die in gruesome ways or get stuck in a horrific places... it is
without a doubt the most exciting genre to create and watch other than action of course!
With everything that comes with the horror genre; isolated settings, thriller
music, you can almost feel the tension in the air and feel the suspense whilst
your editing. I looked at some openings of horror movies that are
unforgettable. Firstly, what I must say from my knowledge of horror films:
Scream, directed by Wes Craven, has an astounding opening; with the basic
characters needed in a film, put into the opening to basically make a film in
its self. It starts with the girl
picking up a crank call or wrong number which ended up being a person knowing
everything about her wanting to play a game; which ended with her and her
boyfriend dyeing at the end. It still summarises what basically happens in the
film; the girl 'Casey' was flirting with a guy who she didn't know and talking
about horror movies and we later find out that she has a boyfriend. It almost
foreshadows what will happen in the film, she was flirting with someone she
hasn't even seen when she has a boyfriend [which could be seen as cheating] and
in return I guess she died. However, despite the fact that the beginning kind
of gave away what the film was about and what the victims and most definitely
what the villain will look like, it still makes you want to watch more. It was
so cleverly edited, with the sound, even the silence are placed at the right
moment and not replaced with some clichéd tensed music that go along the line
of 'DUN, DUN, DUN!!' For instance, when the caller says " I want to know
who I’m looking at you would expect some tensing music but because of the
silence it is unbelievable that there is someone there watching her. The shots
also signinifies that this girl is home alone in the middle of nowhere and in
far reach of help. Lastly, mise-en-scene: it had everything you need in a
normal household but how the director made her play with the knife makes the
audience think how ironic it is that she's playing with it like it's harmless
but we as the audience know the great danger it can cause and at the end she
gets killed by a knife. Just with the opening scene, you know the rest of the
film will be the same quality as the opening.
