. HALLOWEEN (1978)

FILM REVIEW

I really didn’t enjoy this film, I feel like it lacked something. It wasn't as scary as I expected and therefore I didn't really enjoy it. I don't believe it should have been as successful as it was, even though it did make me jump every now and then I wouldn't class it as a great 'slasher'. If I’m honest I’d class it one of the worst horror films I've watched recently. Even though it had a masked villain (which did add a small level of fear) the story line overall wasn't scary enough for me. It was pretty predictable, other than the first scene which was scar because it was full of anticipation and fear during the murder of Judith (Michael Myers' sister who he stabbed with a kitchen knife). 

The character of Michael Myers was well presented with the use of a mask, no dialogue and extremely violent behaviour. I just though the acting was really bad, if the acting isn’t believable there is no way the way the film feels realistic. The character of Laurie wasn’t relatable enough so therefore I lacked empathy when she was being followed and on the occasion she was attached by Michael I was waiting for something more exciting to happen.

I have to say I did enjoy the level of mystery added to the villain due to the fact that he wore a mask. The use of voyeurism and the heavy breathing of the villain was frightening at parts especially when he hid behind objects to watch the young women in the film. This was extremely effective as this is every young woman's fear, to be followed by a mentally unstable, capable-of-anything type of murderer. 

. EXAMPLE OF THE MALE GAZE

 The Transformer films franchise is regularly viewed by males, their target audience is clear by the level of violence and action their films consist of. Many of their films have been known to include women who are treated as sexual objects through the use of the Male gaze. Transformers(2007) and Transformers : Revenge of the Fallen (2009) features the actress 'Megan Fox' awarded Worlds Sexiest Woman in 2013. She is seen fixing a motorbike, an unconventional activity for a young woman but with this it becomes a seductive activity due to the angle the camera is at. Even performing other daily activities,are all portrayed in a sexualised way. In every scene the model can be found wearing revealing clothes to showcase cleavage and other body parts.When Fox is on screen she is always the main focus point but again, this has little to do with the actual film.This ties in with my previous post concerning the ‘male gaze’ and in the advert listed below we are able to find strong elements of it throughout.

. MALE GAZE/FEMALE GAZE

. CARRIE (1976)

The 1976 version of Carrie is an American supernatural horror film based on Stephen King's 1974 novel of the same name. The film was directed by Brian De Palma and written by Lawrence D. Cohen. 

The opening scene, is filmed with a tracking shot categorised as the male gaze. The male gaze occurs when the camera puts the audience into the perspective of a heterosexual man. It may linger over the curves of a woman's body, for instance. The woman is usually displayed on two different levels: as an erotic object for both the characters within the film, as well as for the spectator who is watching the film. The woman is passive to the active gaze from the man. 

This first scenes pretty irregular for a horror film because of it's use of the male gaze, we observe a large group of young women in two lights presented from a heterosexual males point of view- as sexual objects but also as bestial creatures, acting mean and pack like. Due to the fact that the opening scene is filmed using the male gaze, we can interpret that the representation of the menstrual cycles start for young girls and  menstrual blood is seen as horrendous, this however is a typical male view. The character of Carrie White appears pure, and this is emphasised by the activity of 'washing' herself in a sexual manner which also feeds into the heterosexual males obsession. The over sexualisation of this female character then contrasted by her fear of menstrual blood could show us, as the audience the loss of purity of females in society due to them becoming a woman - as Carrie then becomes strong, angrier, she learn about her powers and uses them for self defence but also evil and therefore become just like the other girls in her class. She become malicious, angry, and evil.

The opening scene correlates with the revenge scene because of the use of blood. However the revenge scene used pigs blood - this is seen as just as dirty as menstrual blood in some religions and this is important because of the religious theme in the film. The use of the rich red blood connotes evil, and death - which reminds us that Carrie is not the heroin of the film, and much like the other girls in the film she is just as evil. Her character contrasts extremely with her last name 'White' as it connotes purity and an angelic nature and with Carrie denouncing her faith she begins to loses all of her purity. The loss of her purity relates to the use of blood seeping down her leg during the shower scene and in the prom scene also, as with the loss of purity being smudged by blood a darker side of Carrie is revealed.

"Horror is what you might feel if you went, for example, into a jungle, or a place where you had lost all your bearings where you are no longer sure of anything" - Nigel Kneale 

. ED GEIN = LEATHERFACE VS NORMAN BATES

. COMPARING TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE TO PSYCHO