How is the genre of horror established in the opening sequence of the lost boys

How is the genre of horror established in the opening sequence of the

lost boys?

A horror film is one that attempts to make the viewer feel frightened

or nervous. One way of doing this that is often used is to make normal

things seem strange or fearful. This is done using lighting, camera

shots, music and sound effects. They often use Juxtaposition, which is

putting two contrasting ideas next to one another, to make the

separate ideas seem more extreme. For example, a shot of a peaceful

day with a very relaxed tone would cut away to some people being

tortured. Another convention of horror films is the use of iconography

to signify certain things. An example of how iconography could be used

in horror is if a garden is growing well and is full of colour and

plants at one point, and when they return to it the garden is dead and

all a dull colour such as brown. Colour is used in horror films as

well. Black is often used to represent evil and white to represent

good.

The title ‘The Lost Boys’ has a double meaning. Its literal meaning is

boys who are lost and that also has two significant meanings as lost

can mean that they do not know where they are or could mean that they

have lost their way in life. The second way the title can be

interpreted is an intertextual reference to ‘Peter Pan’, in which a

gang of boys ‘The Lost Boys’ are searching to find a mother.

The actors and director of the film give a clue to what the film could

be about. The type of role that they play can also be guessed from

what they have worked on before. Joel Schumacher, the director, has

tended to direct gothic horror films in the past such as ‘Batman

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...trange people it makes the viewer

think that they will probably not appear again as they are all put

together in rapid succession. As they drive up to the house there are

a lot of strange things hanging up such as strange dead animals and

wind chimes. The camera does not focus in on these separately as they

are not too important but their presence makes the viewer think that

the old man could be a fun character before they have even seen him.

It also builds up the spooky atmosphere of the place and makes it seem

as though nowhere there is normal.

The director in this film has used many techniques to establish that

‘The Lost Boys’ is a horror film. These include the use of lighting,

mise-en-scene and music. These and many more devices help to develop

the genre of horror in the opening sequence of ‘The Lost Boys’.