Horror

Drag Me To Hell Analysis

Straight away in this trailer we are shown an establishing shot of this mansion filled with glassed windows. This is effective as the audience is immediately introduced to the setting and they are aware that whatever is about to take place will take place in this gloomy mansion.  This also follows the conventions of a horror as they are known to be set in mansions, basements etc. Then there is non-diegetic sound to create tension and adds spookiness to the setting. As the camera moves down from the house it views the driveway which a van is pulling up in. The music is high pitched and sounds like a girl singing. It is quite slow and stays at this constant slow rhythm as nothing dramatic has happened, yet. This is repetitive and comes across as very creepy giving the audience a clearer understanding that this is a horror film.

As the shot moves onto the characters the singing in the background carries on, continuing to make the audience feel freaked.  Then diegetic sound has begun to be added, for example when the mother is banging on the lady’s door. This is a medium shot because it allows you to see the whole entrance and the mother rush up and down the stairs in a hurry to see this lady. The lady rushes out looking worried, she comes across as panicky and demanding showing that what you are about to hear is very serious. The lady is standing on the stairs so she is looking down on the parents representing that she has got more power in this situation. With the boy curled up in his father’s arms the story is told about him stealing this silver necklace from a gypsy. After this the lady pulls out the necklace from the boys blanket, diegetic sound is added when a fly flies out buzzing around the lady’s head before she swats the fly away. As soon as the necklace is shown the music in the background goes deep and low pitched. You are then shown a close-up of the lady’s face, from her facial expression you can tell what he has done has got him into big trouble and using an imperative ‘bring him inside’ shows that there is no time to waste. This starts to worry the audience and adds enigmas such as what is so bad about stealing from a gypsy and why has this led him to hearing voices?

When they enter the house you are shown a high angle shot of the young boy. He is wrapped in a blanket shivering a shaking looking up at something. You are then shown a low angle shot of the glass ceiling. Hands with sharp nails/claws are shadowed over it and you hear the noises that they are making. This glass ceiling is the only focus in this shot as everywhere around it is pitch black. The camera then swirls around on a high angle shot of the boy. This is effective as it is a different camera technique and makes the audience follow the camera, keeping their eyes on the boy at all times. You are then shown a long shot of the lady trying to clear the ‘spirits’ which is another convention for a horror. The lady starts to talk to the spirits and a medium shot of her is shown. This is due to the next shot, in this shot you can see the double doors behind her just to make the audience aware that they are there for when they slam open. The lady is pushed forwards by the force and a close up of the boy screaming is shown. Shots start to move much faster as the camera goes from long shot to medium shot to close ups. You can hear the spirits but cannot see them. They attack the mother and the father. With the boy lost and confused he runs out of the room screaming.

The boy is at the top of the stairs and the camera follows him from behind. As he turns around he starts shouting at the camera who is representing this spirit. This is effective as the spirits stay unknown but the camera puts you in the spirits position and you can start to feel the boy’s emotions. The boy is lifted in the air and thrown over the stairs. It is a low angle shot so you can see the boy falling. You hear the bang but you don’t see him land until you are shown a high angle shot of the boy lying there. The floor starts the split and orange light shines through. The next shot I think is quite powerful. It is a close up of the boy screaming at what he has just saw making the audience anxious to find out what it is, with the lady In the background stunned and hopeless at this time. From this you could say that these are the 2 main characters in the film.

A black hand rises from the underground and grabs the boy, he is taken underground and with his hand last to be seen the floor is sealed up and he is gone, You are shown an extreme close up of the woman and with anger and determination in her face she says ‘we will meet again’. This starts to add more enigmas. Will she save the boy and how?

Finally the title is shown at the very end; having it at the end makes the audience want to watch the whole trailer to find out what this film is called. It is white writing on black background making it obvious that this movie is quite recent. It is all in capital letters and the biggest words are ‘drag’ and ‘hell’. This is because they are the most effective words and need to stand out.