Analysis of horror films - Drag Me To Hell

This film has a very simple story line, it is based around the classic story of somebody being cursed and their life then being a series of unfortunate events. In this film the character goes to a physic who tells her she will be taken to burn in hell in a few days time, with the help of the physic she desperately tries to rid herself of the demon.

Although this film has a simple storyline it wouldn't be suitable for my final project because it is very high budget, the estimated budget being 30 million. It also works on many jumpy moments, but uses expensive special effects to scare the audience.


However, the opening of this film is very simple and just sets the story. This would be a good opening for our final project as it doesn't include any special effects, but it is a good idea as it sets the storyline and immediately makes the audience aware that something is going to happen, it intrigues them.




Analysis of opening 2 minutes


The film starts with an establishing shot of a city - setting the scene for the film. We then see an Ariel shot of a busy road and the camera gradually zooms into it. The shot then switches onto a close up of a radio, an example of match on action. Whilst, this is happening an English speaking tape is playing over the top. The shot of the radio reverse zooms and we see the back of a lady's head who is driving which then switches to a shot of her face. This makes the audience wonder who she is and why she is listening to this tape. We then see her drive into an underground car park with a long shot, this again makes the audience question where she is. Next we see a mid shot of her looking through a cake shop window, this makes her a relatable character to the audience. Next we see her walking into a bank, all of these locations are making the audience watch on and discover who this lady is. We then see a shot / reverse shot of her sitting at a desk and realise she works at the bank. Next we See a long shot of an empty desk and then a close up of an 'assistant manager' sign this shows the audience that she could want this job. We then see an over the shoulder shot of her talking to whom we can assume is her boss about the job.

This isn't a very effective horror opening as it is slow to get started and doesn't show the audience that this a horror film. It does show one horror cliche though as the pretty blonde girl is always first to die, and in this opening it is based around her so the audience can assume she is the protagonist. I wouldn't do an opening like this for my final project if I was to do a horror film because it isn't a very interesting opening and doesn't captivate the audience as it doesn't even give an indication of what the audience can expect later on in the film.