Often times, there is a feeling of safety and security experienced when watching a scary movie with someone else. Whether watching a horror film in a big theater on its premiere night with dozens of other thrill-seekers, or from the comfort of one’s own home with a couple of friends, there is comfort in togetherness in the face of fear that makes horror much more bearable.
What happens, then, when the horror genre takes this comfortable setting and destroys it?
Horror movies such as Jaws and The Exorcist do exactly this, bringing monsters into the home setting and allowing them to twist the family dynamic. The relationships between parents and their children are tested and damaged when faced with natural and supernatural forces. Threatening
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the family structure causes a feeling of unsettlement and fear in viewers, granting success to the horror genre in its ability to make the comfortable uncomfortable. Stephen Spielberg’s Jaws is a prime example of a film that infiltrates a family-oriented setting with a gruesome and natural force. Jaws takes place on the fictional Amity Island, a summer tourist location that boasts sandy beaches and a friendly community. However, when a gigantic shark attacks multiple victims on the island’s coast, the town of Amity falls into distress and terror. Spielberg’s film makes a fantastic use of contrast in color, lighting, and atmosphere between scenes to distinguish the comfortable and buoyant ambiance that the leaders of Amity intend to present to society, and the cold and unknown reality taunting the town lying beneath this fabricated surface. When Amity is corrupted by a man-eating great white shark, the family-oriented dynamic of the community certainly shifts.
Jaws focuses a lot of attention on youth and children; the main character has two young sons to look after, and the film’s beach scenes focus considerably on swarms of young kids and teenagers as they rush into the water, to the great dismay of viewers who are aware of the shark’s presence there. The fears of viewers are made valid when Alex Kintner, a young boy, is killed and eaten by the shark during a swim in the ocean (0:16:51). Suddenly, after having grown accustomed to the joyfulness and composure of other families enjoying themselves on the beach and in the town of Amity thus far, audiences are subject to a horrific change in pace; Alex’s death is gruesome and somewhat graphic, and the on-screen murder of a child comes as a shock to viewers. The scene is heartbreaking and distressing to watch, especially as Alex’s mother searches hopelessly for her son amidst a stampede of other terrified families. The Kintner family is dismantled in a matter of seconds, a terrifying yet realistic concept that viewers are made to witness on …show more content…
screen. The tension that is left from the death of Alex remains throughout the remainder of the film.
There is a constant worry that another child will be taken by the shark, perhaps even one of the children of the main character, who so resemble young Alex Kintner. Spielberg creates a feeling of persistent disgust in audiences after having seen a mother lose her son before her very eyes, as this is a legitimate fear faced by practically every parent. Perhaps this is where the true horror of Jaws lies; the film takes a comfortable environment and makes it terrifying by tearing families apart and tapping into the darkest fears of
parents. While Jaws showcases the collapse of the family and the community due to natural forces, William Friedkin’s The Exorcist is an examination of the breakdown of the family structure when confronted by the supernatural. Like Jaws, The Exorcist takes place in a comfortable location, with Chris MacNeil and her daughter, Regan, living in the intimate community of Georgetown in Washington, D.C. The presence of demonic forces, however, disrupts this structure entirely; when Regan, an innocent, twelve-year-old girl, is possessed by the demon Pazuzu, the strain that is placed upon her relationship with her mother is threatening and unsettling. The Exorcist is largely a horror film regarding faith and demons, but it is also effective in creating fear from the idea of a damaged family structure. Regan is the child of divorced parents, living and traveling with her actress mother while rarely seeing her father. Chris’s status as a divorced woman and an independent mother is a startling image in itself; seldom did audiences see a highly successful working and single woman on screen prior to the release of The Exorcist. The events that occur throughout the film, especially the destruction of Regan’s innocence, are possibly a direct consequence of Chris’s failure to meet traditional feminine and parental expectations. Arguably, one of the most horrifying scenes in The Exorcist is the phone conversation between Chris and her ex-husband on Regan’s birthday (0:26:23). Chris’s inflammatory tone and language is almost manic, and everything she says, including several curse words, is overheard by a disappointed Regan down the hallway; Regan’s unsurprised reaction to her mother’s outbursts implies that this occurrence is not an uncommon one. The scene lasts almost a full minute and is uncomfortable to witness. The inclusion of the telephone call in this film builds context for the familial situation present for the MacNeil family, illustrating that their time at home is not always happy. This message is startling to viewers who are unaccustomed to seeing such a brutally honest depiction of a “broken family” on screen. The family structure is further dismantled as the film continues and Regan becomes possessed by the demon Pazuzu. Regan’s transformation from a happy, curious child to the disconcertingly mature girl found at the film’s close represents the fears of any mother; ultimately, the demon is preying on Chris’s desire for Regan to remain an innocent child. Pazuzu causes Regan to perform several disgustingly mature acts and speak violently and sexually, therefore “[tapping] into [Chris]’s fears of losing her daughter’s innocent love” (Krywinsky 254). The film’s use of incredibly intimate settings, including the operating room of a hospital and a child’s bedroom, allow the crumbling family structure to feel very realistic to viewers as they watch a mother struggle to comprehend what disorder has overtaken her daughter, as well as deal with the horrors of watching her child grow up too quickly. Though ruining the innocence of children in different ways, both Jaws and The Exorcist are uncomfortable to watch in any setting, whether it be in a movie theater among strangers or in one’s home among family and friends. These two films completely destroy the idealized concept of the perfect family, making safe places feel unsafe and contorting relationships between parents and their children in an extremely realistic manner. Audiences are made to feel unsettled as they witness the grisly death of a child or the disgustingly rapid maturation of one. Apart from gigantic, animatronic sharks or appallingly inhuman special effects, many of the most prominent horror films, including Jaws and The Exorcist, find true success in discomforting audiences on a deeper and much more personal level.
‘Jaws’ a thriller based on the novel by Peter Benchley, the film was directed by Steven Spielberg. In a beach resort of Amity Island, a young girl named Chrissie is the first victim of the shark’s vicious attack, when it strikes for the second time, the police refuse to put out warning about the shark. It then returns and kills again, the mayor orders the local fishermen to catch the great white shark before it kills even more victims. The fishermen are satisfied when they catch a Tiger shark the mayor reopens the beaches despite the warning from the ichthyologist when he suspects it was from a formidable great white shark. Brody and Hooper and the only fisherman willing to join them to catch the great white set out in the fisherman’s boat only coming face to teeth with the enemy. This film is rated as a 15, and has a running-time of 124 minutes. It was made in the USA, the soundtrack to ‘Jaws’ was a famous two-note piece composed by Czech composer Antonín Dvořák.
Everyday is a challenge and we experience things that we like and we don’t like. There are things we always want to leave behind and move forward; however, we cannot. As humans if we are told not to do something, we want to try it anyway to see the outcome. In the same manner, if we are told about a movie being scary we go out of our comfort zone to experience it and then later be frightened. Stephen T.Asma mentions,“Monsters can stand as symbols of human vulnerability and crisis, and as such they play imaginative foils for thinking about our own responses to mence” (62). When we watch horror movies, we force ourselves to imagine the wrong and undesirable. These thoughts in our head cause us to believe that our own obstacles are likely to cause a threat or danger to ourselves. In the same manner, horror movies can be represented as obstacles in our life that we don’t want to go through and we do it anyway to feel good about our own situations that they are not as bad as others. Stephen King also depicts, “We also go to re-establish our feelings of essential normality; the horror movie is innately conservative, even reactionary.”(King 16). Horror movies may put us in a mindset where we feel safe and more comfortable with our own situations but explore our options in worse situations. It gives us an example of what people did in their fright time and how we should confront each and every
King chooses to compare the minds of a child and an adult to see the different resilience levels when exposed to the horror genre. He describes his findings as a paradox, “Children, who are physically quite weak, lift the weight of unbelief with ease” (PP 118). King assumes because the mind of an adult is mature it can handle the horrific depictions within the horror variety yet children seem too be able to withstand the pressure. King backed his theory by analyzing Walt Disney’s movies and their impact on a child’s imagination. Walt Disney’s movie Bambi is what Stephen King pinpointed when comparing the toll of horrific events in children and adult minds. King questioned adults about what was most terrifying about a movie when they were younger and they stated, “Bambi’s father shot by the hunter, or Bambi and his mother running before the forest fire” (PP 119). Another aspect King unveiled was the Doppler Effect and that, “A part of ‘growing up’ is the fact that everything has a scare potential for the child under eight” (PP 119). The cognitive imagination does not stop developing it just suppresses certain mental functions to draw a line between what is real and what is not. Horror novelist mask the tension with comedy yet with one swift motion it, “Knocks the adult props out from under us and tumbles us back down the slide into childhood” (PP
When you first see the shark leaving the docks, you watch them leave through a pair of shark jaws. When I saw this, I immediately thought that Brody, Hooper and Quinn would encounter the shark, and that it wasn’t going to be an easy trip. Seeing the shark jaws also builds up tension.
Based on Peter Benchley's bestselling novel, 'Jaws' centers around the fictional North Atlantic resort island of Amity, which finds itself terrorized by an enormous great white shark. Our hero is Martin Brody, a New York cop who took the job as Chief of the Amity PD to get his family out of the city and then finds himself in the midst of an unprecedented crisis none of his prior experience has prepared him for. The remains of young Christine Watkins are found on the beach, the apparent victim of a shark attack(Chrissie Watkins' death scene at the opening of the movie is one of the most legendary in the history of film). Chief Brody wants to close the beaches, but is refused permission
Directed by Steven Spielberg, Jaws (1975) figures into one of the most iconic films in the history of Hollywood filmmaking most notably for the visual experience that is created with the creative use of various tools of filmmaking that allow its impact to be felt even now. The classic Amity Island beach scene shown in the clip artfully uses editing techniques like long takes, wipes, split diopter, point of view shots, the zolly, and background score to intensify the suspense ridden impending shark attack without actually showing the shark.
The classic 1975 film, Jaws, takes place in a coastal New England tourist town. After a young woman is killed by a shark the police chief and the mayor have differing opinion on what to do about the shark. The police chief, Martin Brody, wants to close the beaches while the mayor, Larry Vaughn, does not want to lose any tourist revenue and overrules him. After another shark attack a bounty is put out for the shark. While a shark is caught it is not the one who has been terrorizing the community. However, the beaches open once again and there is another attack. Brody, along with oceanographer Matt Hooper and local fisherman Quint set out to find the shark.
In a crucial scene in Jaws, chief Martin Brody must use his mistake as guide for to him complete his goal of saving the town from the antagonistic shark. After catching a tiger shark, the local town fishermen all celebrate their victory together with Brody and the mayor believing they have solved Amity Island’s problem. Soon the mother of the deceased child who was killed by the great shark appears on the boardwalk. Her costume, a solid black dress appropriate for a funeral, contrasts with the bright sunny day on the beach that is represented with high-key lighting. The dress also symbolizes the mother’s multiple feelings of mourning for her child and her anger towards Brody, which again juxtaposes the feelings of success among Brody and the fishermen. Her conversation with the police chief is executed through a shot-reverse shot sequence but she catches Brody’s attention with a smack to his face. She goes on how Brod...
A Film Review on Jaws [IMAGE]"Jaws (Style A)" Movie PosterBased on the novel by Peter Benchley, the film sees New York cop, Martin Brody (played by Schneider is investigating a series of deaths that bear all the blame. evidence of a shark attack. This was originally rated as a PG but when? re-released in a 12. A great opening scene showing Chrissy ‘the stereotypical blonde’. being devoured by the unknown killer, puzzles most reviewers in the question.
Directed by Steven Spielberg, Jaws (Spielberg, 1975) figures into one of the most iconic films in the history of Hollywood filmmaking most notably for the visual experience that is created with the creative use of various tools of filmmaking that allow its impact to be felt even now. The classic Amity Island beach scene shown in the clip artfully uses editing techniques like long takes, wipes, split diopter, point of view shots, the zolly, and background score to intensify the suspense ridden impending shark attack without actually showing the shark.
The camera angle is a big part of the film jaws. Here are some examples of how I think that the camera Angle is a big part about building suspense. One of my example’s from the movie Jaws is when the shark was attacking the boat it felt like you actually had apart with what was going on because the camera was going with the waves. The second example is when when the camera was jumping from the shark's point of view too the person that was getting attacked. The third and final thing that I thought that brought suspense to the film Jaws is the camera showed a lot of first
Horror films are designed to frighten the audience and engage them in their worst fears, while captivating and entertaining at the same time. Horror films often center on the darker side of life, on what is forbidden and strange. These films play with society’s fears, its nightmare’s and vulnerability, the terror of the unknown, the fear of death, the loss of identity, and the fear of sexuality. Horror films are generally set in spooky old mansions, fog-ridden areas, or dark locales with unknown human, supernatural or grotesque creatures lurking about. These creatures can range from vampires, madmen, devils, unfriendly ghosts, monsters, mad scientists, demons, zombies, evil spirits, satanic villains, the possessed, werewolves and freaks to the unseen and even the mere presence of evil.
People are addicted to the synthetic feeling of being terrified. Modern day horror films are very different from the first horror films which date back to the late nineteenth century, but the goal of shocking the audience is still the same. Over the course of its existence, the horror industry has had to innovate new ways to keep its viewers on the edge of their seats. Horror films are frightening films created solely to ignite anxiety and panic within the viewers. Dread and alarm summon deep fears by captivating the audience with a shocking, terrifying, and unpredictable finale that leaves the viewer stunned.
Another technique that the director uses is forcing the viewer to follow all the people on the beach. By applying this technique, the director puts us in Brody’s position as his job is to track all the people on the beach. The scene where we see the boy comes out of the water to ask his mom if he can go back in the water reveals Chief Brody’s several characteristics. Firstly, the scene discloses that Brody has positioned himself at the back of the beach, showing his fear of water. Secondly, the scene unveils how many people are between Chief Brody and the potential shark attack; he is moderately far away from the ocean, which makes him seem hopeless and powerless. The director does not show the death of the dog or that the shark has already arrived; the director symbolizes the dog’s death through the lone floating piece of wood. We can infer that the shark has eaten the dog and will eat someone else next. When the boy is attacked by the shark, a dolly zoom shot is applied on Chief Brody; a dolly shot is put into action to indicate shock on Chief Brody’s face. The director creates a scene of tension where the audience and Chief Brody are on the edge of their seats as we observe the beach scene with a
In Jaws, Steven Spielberg uses reaction shots throughout the movie to raise the tension and emotional impact of the shark attacks, most notably during the beach scene early on in the film where there is a dolly zoom shot of Chief Martin Brody’s expression as he hears the alarming screams of children and quickly realises that there is a shark in the water. Spielberg uses this type of reaction shot in many of his other films, including in Jurassic Park (1993) when the shot focuses on the park rangers’ expressions as they react to seeing an escaped T-Rex, or in War of the Worlds (2005), when Ray freezes in horror as he is blinded by the light of a gigantic alien vehicle towering over him. This expressive use of close-ups of characters reacting to situations off-screen manipulates the audience into feeling the revelatory sensations experienced by the film’s characters, and provides a reflection of the characters’ emotions that cannot be simply explained in