Horror film openings: A close analysis

By Abbie Lloyd

1. Alfred Hitchcock's 'Psycho'.• Plot: After stealing $40,000 from her employer in order to run away with her boyfriend, Marion Crane (Janet Leigh) is overcome with

exhaustion during a great thunderstorm and decides to stay the night at an old motel where she meets the polite but highly strung proprietor Norman Bates.

• Action (this can include dialogue, imagery/iconography etc...) The opening of Psycho was put together by the legendary designer, Saul Bass. It uses a variety of monochromatic, black and white, lines and sharp long shapes that move in a fast paced fashion across the screen however I find that they were not in time with the music. I find that the fast moving sharp lines almost symbolize a stabbing motion (possibly an action made by the killer in the film).

• Print styles (font type, colours, how the credits appear etc...) I found that with almost all the beginning credits/text, all of them appeared onto the screen in separate lines or parts (as shown in the image below). Also the main title, psycho, appeared on the screen in the form of separate bars, making at harder to read for the viewer. I feel that this is symbolic of how it is hard to put ourselves into the mind set of a killer/a psycho. Also It may link to how it takes a while for us to understand the characters and what they are like (e.g.. At first, the character of Normal Bates in the film may not seem like a killer, but as the plot unravels, things finally become clear and this idea is mimicked in the opening titles.)

• Music/sound the music used in the opening titles of the film is very fast paced and it jumps between a range of high and low pitched, contrasting sounds. I feel that this jumping of pitch, almost mimic's the jump scares that are associated with the horror genre. It keeps the viewer on the edge of their seat, and it puts them straight into tense action. I also found the music was not in time with the way the credits appeared. This could possibly link with the idea of the confusion that the audience share with the victim at this point in the film as the music forces us to ask questions like “what is happening” etc.

2. Alien 3• Plot: Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) is the only survivor when she crash lands on Fiorina 161, a bleak wasteland

inhabited by former inmates of the planet's maximum security prison. Once again, Ripley must face skepticism and the alien as it hunts down the prisoners and guards. Without weapons or modern technology of any kind, Ripley leads the men into battle against the terrifying creature

• Action (this can include dialogue, imagery/iconography etc...) In the first few minutes of the film, we are put straight into the action (shown in the images below). There are lots of shots of very futuristic looking technology. We also get glimpses of what appears to be the alien. we see from the end of the opening scene that the alien poses a threat to human life, causing the main characters to have to detach from the rest of the air craft. Like psycho, here we are introduced straight into the action.

• Print styles (font type, colours, how the credits appear etc...) the name of the film is the first bit of text that appears on the screen. It fades onto the screen on a background of what appears to be a galaxy. This instantly gives us a clear indication that it is a sci-fi themed horror film.

• Music/sound the sound effects in particular like the loud siren sounds exaggerate how the aliens in the film pose a serious threat to human life. They indicate that there is a serious problem in the scene. Also the general background music for the opening is very slow and eerie sounding. The sound effect as the title appears on the screen sounds like the noises made by spacecraft's. Again, this shows us that there is a sci-fi theme running through the entire film.

3. Evil Dead• Plot: Mia (Jane Levy), a drug addict, is determined to kick the habit. To that end, she asks her brother, his girlfriend, and

their friends to accompany her to their family's remote forest cabin to help her through withdrawal. Eric finds a mysterious Book of the Dead at the cabin and reads aloud from it, awakening an ancient demon. All hell breaks loose when the malevolent entity possesses Mia.

• Action (this can include dialogue, imagery/iconography etc...) in the opening scene, the first thing we are able to see as the audience is an eerie image of a blurred figure limping towards us in the woods. This instantly builds an eerie tension for the viewer as we have no idea who the person is, or why they are coming for us. This build up of tension is very common in horror movies. We soon find out that this girl is covered in blood implying that she is injured or that she has killed someone. We are exposed to a jump scare in the way that two men tie her up and knock her unconscious. This jump scare is very common for the horror genre of films. Like the other films I have looked at, films of this genre seem to expose the viewer to the main issue/problem/action in the film straight away to draw them in.

• Print styles (font type, colours, how the credits appear etc...) the first bits of text that were shown on the screen were written in red on a black backdrop. They faded onto the screen as if they were written in blood which gives the viewer the idea that people will be/have been killed. The font type is also

• Music/sound the music in the opening is very soft and it builds up tension. The girls heavy breathing is the only other sound effect. I find that it shows just how scared the character is.