Horror Source of Inspiration: Symbolism

Horror Source of Inspiration: Symbolism

Movies I have looked at:
Friday the 13th
Scream
Halloween
The exorcist
Woman in Black

Symbolism of Masks

'Jason Voorhees' from Friday the 13th

 Masks are used in a large range of horror films, I find them particularly interesting because they effectively give the villain of the film a sense of anonymity and make sure that the audience can't find any sympathy in the threat which increases the terror. They can think of the villain as a thing rather than a person and this heightens the aspect of being against them.

It is also effective as the majority of people want to know who and what is going to kill them and by the villain wearing a mask  the victims are refused this ability. By using the mask the audience and characters aren't aware whether the attacker is a stranger or someone they know and by making the identity unknown it adds a deep element of mystery to the film, dragging the audience in as they want to know who it behind the mask and what their motive is.

'Ghostface' from Scream

A mask also helps by giving the attacker even more power. By hiding their identity this initially means that the victims don't know how to overcome them as they can't see what their strengths and weaknesses are and also can't see their emotions. They also have physical protection in some cases such in as Friday the 13th, where the attacker wears a hockey mask and this can protect him against the majority of threat towards his face. Some masks even give the villain supernatural elements which can stop them from being defeated, also evident in the film Friday the 13th when 'Jason Voorhees' comes back to life.

'Micheal Myers' from Halloween

Masks are also used to psychologically hide ones's true self and this can intensify the fear against the villain as they can put behind any moral feelings which could hinder the attacker from being sadistic so by putting on a mask they can feel as they are someone else and are granted freedom to do as they wish. It can also mean that they are less likely to get repercussions for their bad deeds as their identity is hidden.

Lastly, the majority of masks in horror films are used to evoke terror by their threatening appearance. They usually vary in appearance which changes the reason for their use; the mask used in Halloween seems to mainly be used to hide the identity of the attacker as it looks like a molded human face but it obviously lacks eyes and specific features which by removing emotional empathy can actually evoke fear however the masks used in Scream and Friday the 13th give an incredibly threatening impression. The 'Ghostface' mask firstly is set in a horrifying expression which will reflect terror into the audience and it is also remnant of a supernatural figure of a ghost which  we are naturally inclined to associate with threat. 'Jason Voorhees'  mask is also threatening as it is a mask used in a violent sport and so the audience will be likely to feel as though the character in the mask will have a negative aim.

I think the usage of masks is very successful by immediately singling out the villain in the horror film and evoking terror straight away as without a mask a film has to spend a lot of time building tension around a character for the audience to feel afraid of them. This could be particularly useful in our film opening due to our short time allowance.

Symbolism of Religion and The Crucifix/Cross

Woman in Black

 Religion and most commonly the Cross is also used largely in horror films as it is a very effective way of evoking fear into the audience. Religion is a successful scare device in the horror genre for a number of reasons. Firstly, it has always been used historically to scare children into being good or else they'll go to hell. It is used as much to scare people as it is to comfort due to it's description of the burning fires of hell and also the talk of Satan. In this way, religion has already provided a successfully terrifying villain for use in Horror. Films such as The Exorcist and also The Exorcism of Emily Rose use effectively use Satan as their villain by making a character possessed by the devil, or a demon. This can evoke terrifying fear in an audience because a lot of people can consider them to be real.

The Exorcist

 Religion is also used in Horror films as it backs up and encourages the idea of spirits and demons. By making it feature in a film through the symbolism of a Cross such as in Woman in Black it can show that the characters in the film believe that there is something more to life and this therefore makes them receptive to the belief of the supernatural and myths surrounding this, explaining why the people of the town in Woman in Black believe the myth of the Woman, leading them to lock up their children in terror.

Dracula

It is also used as a scare device through people who are believers who can perform dangerous acts in the name of their faith. This is shown in Carrie, where her mother torments her mentally and even tries to murder her at some points due to her devotion to her faith. It can also be used to scare through God punishing humans such as in The Reaping where a town seems to be suffering from the ten biblical plagues. This is especially terrifying as God is seen to be the all-powerful and so impossible to combat. 

Due to all this, the Cross can be used to simply suggest fear as the audience can see the symbol of the cross used and immediately link it to the idea of terror due to the connections they already have been exposed to. The Crucifix is also used to scare away many villains, such as the vampires in Dracula and so the audience seeing a Crucifix could lead to them associating it with scary antagonists such as vampires and demons. It would be easy and effective to use in our short film opening.