Horror opening scene analysis



Drag Me To Hell opening scene analysis.

 During the opening scene of Drag Me To Hell, the audience are faced with the opening establishing shot, the shot is of a huge, extragavent house with expensive cars in the driveway which connotes that whoever lives here is evry successful and rich. In the bottom right corner the audience are shown small text as to where and when the scene is set, 'Pasadena, California 1969'. Straight away the audience's first enigma is answered. The non diegetic sound is of almost a ghostly and female voice, the high pictch sound builds tension and makes the audience feel quite uncomfortable, this is a general convention of a horror film as the tension will keep the audience on the edges of their seats as they are unknowing of what will happen next. The audience are shown in the background a dusty, old, worn out truck driving into the driveway, the audience would find this unsual as it doesn't fit with all the extravagent scenery around them, connoting that these people do not belong in this area. 

As the truck stops our next shot is a long shot of the back of the truck, where we see a woman holding a young child wrapped in a blanket, as the male driver runs out of the car we understand that these two adults are parents. The shot moves along to the right, showing another long shot of the woman shouting and running up to the front door asking for help, the audience are given the enigma as to why they are in such a panic and what they want from the owner of such a rich and beautiful house. The use of subtitles from the characters connote that they are not going to be important characters throughout film and that they will only be in it for a short time as the audience would not be prepared to watch subtitles for the whole film.

The next shot is a medium shot of all the characters crowding around the child who looks very ill and the scene explains that the young the boy stole a necklace from a gypsy woman and is now cursed because of it, this can be a general convention of a horror film as in most horror films the child is possessed or deserevs to die. Straight away the way the characters are staged shows the division of power and weakness, the rich, successul lady is standing on a few higher steps looking down at the family, this can connote that she has a lot more power compared to the poor family, who are at the bottom of the stairs looking up which can connote that they are weak and inferior to the woman they are begging for help. As the shots are moving back and forth from the family to the rich woman to connote a converstaion, the expressions on the rich woman's face connote that this situation is very extreme and important, her eyes are fixed onto the boy as if she is looking at something much deeper, which gives the audience the idea that something is wrong and that she is somewhat scared of what she is being told.

We are next shown a close up of the gypsy necklace and the non diegtic sound becomes a lot deeper and louder, connoting that this necklace is important but also the deeper nosie suggets that is very evil and unwanted. the audience are put off as we hear the digetic sound of a fly which breaks the tension for a split second, as the rich women pushes the fly out of the frame, her eyes are still fixed at the boy.

As she allows the family inside we are quickly shown a close up of the sweaty ill boys face wrapped up in a blanket. the experssion on his face connotes that he is terrfied and in a state of shock. As he looks above the camera shows a moving long shot of the ceiling and the audience see shows of abnormal hands stretching across the ceilign becoming larger, this conntoed that only the boy can see this. the abnormal shadows of the hands match the convention of a horror film as it is a dark, unsual picture that looks quite scary and unreal which would build he suspense for the audience.

As the woman starts her chanting and calling out, which the audience would see as a spell, the audience are suddenly shocked with a loud scream and the doors opening wide with wind rushing through, which the audience see over the shoulder of rich woman. The sound becomes loud with diegtic screams and the audience would be scared as it would create a sudden shock which they didnt see coming, this is a convention of a horror film as the suspense build up and suddenly they are scared with unexpected action. One by one the rich woman and the parents are thrown and hit by what the audience would think it a possessed demon, the scene around them is chaotic and would connote panic and terror. The young boy is left to fend for himself and while trying to run to safety, the camera moves quickly towards the boy from a long shot all the way to a close up, connoting that the camera was showing the movements of the demon. The boy is suddenly thrown over the second floor and hits the ground. As the boy is falling, the loud screams and non diegetic sound become silent and all the audience are left to hear is the boys scream and sudden landing on the floor below. As this happens, the camera is fixed on a long shot of the second floor, which builds tenison and an enigma as for a few seconds the audience can't see what has happened to the boy.

The next shot is an over the shoulder shot of the rich women running towards the balcony looking down at the boy on the first floor as the camera turns to face the woman from a low angle shot, it can connote power again as the boy is lower down compared to the rich woman who is safe, it can connote that the boy is weak, defencless and inferior to everything around him. As the rich woman is looking down is can also connote that she is looking down at hell as the boy has been cursed and is wanted by a demon.

While the parents are screaming in panic and running down to rescue their son, the flor starts to split and break up. The diegtic sound of screams are now present again. As the audience see the boy struggle to find safety from a high angle shot, the floor suddenly rips open and we get a glimpse of what can be described as hell. We are shown close up shots of the rich woman whos expression connotes panic and terror, but at the same time she is defenceless and cannot change what is about to happen. The next shot is a close up of the boy who is screaming with his mouth wide open which can connote devastation and terror on a much wider scale. The terror and panic from all the characters are all conventions of a horror genre as they are all powerless and cannot change the next events which are about to take place, as they are all inferior to the antagonist.

The non diegtic sound becomes alot more powerful and conquering as the next shot is the shadow on the wall of the boy being dragged to hell, the shot leans up to a close up of the rich womans face who still fixed on the boy and her expressions show that she is in a state of shock as she knows she can't physically do anything that will be able to save the boy. The final few shots is a close up of the boys hand struggling to stay on earth but as all the audience can tell, the hand dissapear under the floor and the cracks have vanished.

The final shot is a close up of the rich woman still staring at the floor, the diegetic and non diegtic sound becomes silent as we hear the last few lines of the opening scene which says, 'we will meet again'. The characters face shows determinationa and suddenly the shot shows the opening credits of the films title, Drag Me To Hell. The writing is white on a black background which is also a general convention which most horror films use nowadays to conntoe darkness and terror.

Overall the opening film is very good at showing all the genral conventions of a horror film straight away, as well as building tension and suspense for the audience which will keep them on the jumping onto the edges of their seats throughout the film.