Wednesday, March 26, 2014

I f*cking hate kids

Will Mennie
In Alfred Hitchcocks The Shining, the use of a false sense of innocence played a large role in the scariness of the film. from the beginning, we see a happy family moving into a hotel, all getting along, caring for, and loving one another - one would never expect these individuals to turn on one another. This magnifies the  as soon as the hotel grasps  Along with the family connection, Danny himself looks like the furthest thing from evil - with an adorable face and huge head of hair - yet he is (to an extent) possessed. Children are the prime form in which a false sense innocence is projected,  These factors combined psychologically trick the audience, so that when we see Jack and Danny turn on their loved ones over nothing, it seems 100x scarier than just your average insane person attacking them. Point is, had this been a movie about a killer who hid out in the hotel, it would not have been nearly as frightening. As well as Danny, we have those two twin girls who appear occasionally earlier in the movie. Without a doubt, these are the scariest characters/plot devices in the whole film, simply because they appear so innocent while they are clearly the opposite. People are more vulnerable to children, as we would generally assume a child has done nothing wrong. This way, It comes as a little more of a shock when see them haunting Danny and turning into dismembered limbs.

1 comment:

  1. You're completely right about the fact that innocent kids may be the most terrifying thing to ever be put in a horror movie. In fact everything in The Shining appears somewhat innocent and harmless at first. The Hotel is picturesque, Danny is a timid easy going kid, and Jack seems somewhat down to Earth (at first). Everything, and everyone that seemingly had our trust at first then turns into pure evil. I believe that since we are somewhat attached to these characters when they end up scaring the living crap out of us is what makes this movie scary.

    Good post buddy

    ReplyDelete