Horror Film Opening Analysis: Drag Me To Hell
The scene starts off with a long shot of the
house, which set in an isolated jungle as it is surrounded with greenery, the
housing looks expensive which shows that the owner is wealthy. We know
that it’s a horror genre as there in low-key lighting to show that there is
some type of spirit.
There is a car driving up to the front of the
house and the female character rushes out of the car, knocking loudly on the
door calling the name of the owner, we can hear the panic and desperation in
her voice that suggests that someone is in danger. The shot turns in a medium
shot, the male character enters the scene carrying the kid in him arms, which
shows that the child is unwell. We can see that the scene is set in another
country as the characters are speaking another language; from the subtitle we
are informed that the child has been hearing voices which keeps getting louder
and something is coming after him as he committed a crime by stealing
a silver necklace from the gypsy wagon. They used a medium shot to fit in
all the character and see their worried expressions, they are worried as their
child is unwell, and the audiences are able to emphasis with the parents. When
told about the stolen necklaces, the lady with the scared expression hurries
the family inside the house, the audience knows that the voices he’s hearing is
going to harm him. The scene cuts into a close up of the unwell boy, we can see
the frightened expression as he’s sweating and shivering his eyes widening then
the audience are shown what the boy is seeing from his perspective. High angle
shot is used to make the shadows of the creature’s hands dominant that makes
the child feel weak and venerable; the boy tries to comfort himself by pulling
on the blanket. This gesture makes the audience engage, as everyone will have
feared something in our childhood and to protect ourselves we would cover
ourselves with a blanket, as we believed that it would shield us from the evil.
The boy is in the center of the shot which means that he’s the main focus and
displays that he’s is an important character for what’s going to occur next. A
hand appears on the boy’s head and his mother grabs his hand to reassure him and
letting him know that he’s safe with them.
The women walks around the room sprinkling holy
water and saying prayers to get rid of any evils lurking room whilst she
preforms this the evil spirit enters the room pushing everything in its way,
the long shot of the room show the damages showing the power of the evil. The
boy runs towards toward the balcony to save himself as the camera follows him
zooming in a canted angle into his screaming facial expression as he reaches
the edge of the balcony. Once the boy is lifted into the air the audience will
have an idea of what going to happen to him then we see the scene from the
women’s perspective of the boy lying flat on the ground suggesting that he
either dead or seriously injured from the fall. The camera cuts into a medium
shot of the women and his parents showing the fear in their faces as they boy
tries to get up. Whilst the boy tries to escape, birdseye view is used so the audiences
are able to see the cracks on the floor that shows that underneath him is hell.
The camera pans towards the women as she watching the boy being pulled by the
large hand, to make it seem sinister the camera moves upwards so the viewer can
only see the shadow. Once he’s pulled in, the camera pans to the lady as she is
only watching which shows that she’s helpless, then the camera moves back to
the boy but we are only able to see a close up of his hand. Whilst this is
happening non-diegetic sound is played in the background, it begins to get
louder but it fades out once the floor closes up. We aren’t able to see the
antagonist, as this is the mystery of the film but at the end of the 2 minutes
opening she say that they’ll will meet again which will make the views curious
about the plot.
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