Reviews – Cumnock Media

June 25, 2014

Cabin in the Woods

Horror film clichés evident in The Cabin in the Woods

Five college students pile into a van and drive deep into the woods for a weekend in a borrowed cabin. Their last stop is of course a decrepit gas station populated by a demented creep who giggles at the fate in store for them.

This is no ordinary cabin in the woods, but actually a set for a diabolical experiment. Beneath the cabin is a basement, and beneath that is a vast modern laboratory headed by technology geeks who turn dials, adjust levers and monitor every second on a bank of TV monitors. Their scheme is to offer the five guinea pigs a series of choices, which will reveal — something. There is some possibility that this expensive experiment is involved with security, and we get scenes showing similar victims in scenarios around the world.

The script was apparently written in only three days. It explores some issues about horror:
* why horror is so potent
* what awful human need is being fed by seeing attractive young people in states of semi-undress who are suddenly, brutally slaughtered, almost as if they are being punished for being young and sexy
* why does the genre adhere so closely to the belief that young people in jeopardy have to be picked off singly, leaving that one character who had initially appeared to be so vulnerable and unworldly, but in whom the situation has uncovered extraordinary reserves of heroism and grit

Character stereotypes teens
“The brain” – mature and thoughtful
“The jock” – action hero
The “easy blonde” – bad girl
“The joker” – “The wiseman” – comic relief
“The divergent” – virginal good girl who will get away after suffering

Character stereotypes middle aged
The balding, bespectacled guy who resignedly shoots the breeze
The middle aged friend who has made a mistake
White coated science/technician types surrounded by screens, dials, buttons and metal fixtures
The woman who is the “brains” while the men are the bosses

Situation stereotypes
Remote location
Creepy old man who gives out warnings to be ignored
Religion as a counterpoint to evil – Latin, bible quotations
Slasher
Zombie
Artefacts which wreak havoc
Dark key-lighting – almost impossible to see at various points
Screams
Gore
Dead animals
Morbid humour

Nods to other film classics in horror genre include:
Hellraiser
The Ring (originally from Japan)
The Shining (elevator)

Could there be some anthropological answer to the ritualist behaviour in horror?

Underlying theme – we’re all being controlled by sinister forces and those in Government are willing to sacrifice a few citizens in order to keep equilibrium for everyone else.

April 25, 2013

Film geekery – Olympus Has Fallen

Just because I can’t help myself! You don’t need to learn this but it shows you how you can use your skills now to analyse any movie.

Narrative structure

Equilibrium – Protagonist is lead Secret Service security for the President of the United States. Following an accident he is relegated to a less important job.

Disequilibrium – The White House (Olympus) is taken over by North Korean terrorists and the President and several important government officials are taken hostage.

Resolution – Protagonist takes on a huge number of terrorists virtually single-handedly and one by one kills them off while keeping in touch with his wife, rescuing the President’s son and updating the security services and the acting President about what is going on.

New Equilibrium – order is restored, protagonist is returned to job he loves.

Sound effects – surround sound for movement of helicopter, non-diegetic sound (music) to make the audience feel proud, scared, triumphant, sad used throughout the movie.

Camera angles and shots – establishing shots used to show place (Washington DC), White House, etc

Full body shots and low camera angles to show Gerard Butler striding across a corridor, like a man who means business

Close up shots with dimmed lighting – to show Gerard Butler’s human side when he is talking to his wife during the attempted rescue, also to show emotion of Morgan Freeman and others round the table as various terrible things happen to others.

Special effects – choreographed fight sequences with apparent stabbings, shootings, explosions with blood, sound and CGI all used to create different effects to help tell the story. Buildings explode and fall down, weapons fire and light strafes across the screen to imitate gunfire and all of this is computer generated.

Target audience – Americans + fans of action films – they might cheer when Gerard Butler kills an enemy.

People who might not like the film – Koreans as they are the bad guys, people who do not like America – they might cheer when American buildings explode! The elderly would be put off by the swearing.

Need to make a profit – used only two major stars and many lesser known ones and a lot of CGI to cut down on the budget. This film cost less than the Hunger Games to make and Lionsgate was involved in it as well.

Use of stars – Gerard Butler is a man’s man – the kind who appears to do what is right. Good looking enough so that a female audience might be persuaded to go along with their boyfriend/husband even although it’s not their favourite kind of film. A stereotypical hero. The women who were crying when captured are the sterotypical helpless females. Morgan Freeman is a well liked older actor who has played the President of America in other films. He has gravitas – he is a believable character that people cede authority to so when he argues with the head of the armed forces we believe he is powerful, for example.

Dialogue was a bit cheesy. “Let’s play a game of…You first!” for example.

A 15 because of strong sustained violence and strong language. Not a film to take your granny to.