Horror Conventions: Opening Kill

In this blog post I look at one of the key stereotypes and conventions in horror: the opening kill. It's something that we want to replicate in our film opening since it helps us anchor the film as a horror in the first minutes of the film. I will be looking directly at the kill part of the film opening and how it was done in different slasher sub-genres.

Scream (1996)

Genre: Slasher, however it satirizes the cliches of the slasher genre

This opening sequence is lengthier than most, coming to be 13 minutes long, however, it has all the necessary elements: a girl home alone being stalked by her killer. Casey Becker, played by an A-list celebrity (Drew Barrymore) is your stereotypical Scream queen. The dynamic between the killer, Ghostface, is unique with their back and forth arguing and Casey striking back. 

This film opening play with the concept of a struggling victim well, with Casey striking Ghostface with the phone which he call her on. We don't see the final kill in the opening and it is masked with an ellipses and a slashing audio bridge which carries over. Something we would want to replicate in our film opening.

The final shot we see is a bloody dagger and a black glove of the killer.

Haloween (1978)

Genre: Slasher

The Halloween opening with it's iconic plot twist, tells the story from the pint of view of the antagonist, the killer. It uses a popular technique in horror, using the POV shot, showing the scene through the killer's eyes. 

Michael uses a kitchen knife to stab the half naked teen girl. We never actually see the stab in graphic detail, just glimpses of the the knife and the girl screaming in agony. Something we would want to replicate in our film. 

Ready or Not (2019)

Ready or Not comes from horror film collective Radio Silence, who would go on to work on Scream (2022) and Scream VI, and is one of the more intriguing horror-comedies of the 2010s. While simultaneously a movie about the dysfunctions of a huge family and about the perils of cults, Ready or Not manages to be a lot more than any of that thematic mumbo jumbo. 

Take its opening scene, for example. You see a groom running around a huge Victorian manor trying to escape someone or something, only to come face to face with a young boy. He pleads to the child to not say anything to those chasing the man before the child pulls out a gun and kills the man. Everything you need to know about the film is set up in that opening kill, even though we don't quite know that yet. It's a fascinating way of starting a film like Ready or Not, considering so much of the film's charm only comes in the second and third acts. Regardless, it has a first kill that makes a huge impression and sets the rest of the film in motion.

The scene is effective with its floating tracking shots of the two children, contrasting this pure childlike naivety with a grusome act. 

Psycho (1960)

Is there a first kill that is more iconic or well-known than that of Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho? It's a classic bit of intentional misdirect, as the audience has been led to believe that Janet Leigh is going to be the main protagonist for the entire film, only for her to be murdered off in the first 30 minutes of the film. Psycho's first kill was not only groundbreaking for how it flipped an entire concept on its head and ushered in the proto-genre of slashers, but it also served to set up a legendary film for greatness. Not only all of that, but it also served as direct inspiration for the opening kill of Scream and helped to break down barriers in terms of censorship laws in films. Psycho changed a lot more than just expectations of where it's second act would go.

It (2017)

2017's reboot of Stephen King's IT was one for the history books. It made a lot of money and introduced a lot of people to the horrific gaze of Pennywise, mostly due to the opening scene of the film. When young Georgie goes out to let his paper boat sail in the overflowing sewer drains, his boat ends up falling into one of the drains. While looking for the boat, he comes face to face with a clown in the drain: Pennywise the Dancing Clown. Some creepy banter and scary implications happen and then, as Georgie is reaching into the drain to retrieve his boat, his arm is ripped off by Pennywise, and then he is dragged into the drain, never to be seen again. It's a confident, horrific way to start your film, but it really sets the tone of the film perfectly. There is a lot of narrative enigma around Georgie's death leading the viewer to imagine it in the most grusome way.

Character Archetypes in Slasher

There are several popular and overused tropes in the horror genre, from jump scares, to characters who aren’t believed, to swelling music in scary moments. The most popular trend is that of the final girl, scream queen and jock. In this blogpost I cover the different character archetypes in horror.

The Final Girl:

The term was invented in 1992 by author Carol J. Clover for her book Men, Women, and Chainsaws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film. She defines it as "The Final Girl is a female who is the sole survivor of the group of people being chased by a villain, and who gets a final confrontation with the villain, and who has such a "privilege" because of her implied moral superiority." She is typically a brunette, being the binary opposition of The Scream Queen. She has no interest in sex, drugs and partying. The term refers to a horror film where the last person standing is the usually virginal heroine with moral standards who outlasts her friends and kills the villain in the end.

Examples of Final Girl in Horror:

The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) - Sally Hardesty

Halloween (1978) - Laurie Strode 

The Cabin in the Woods (2011) - Dana Polk

The Scream Queen:

Stereotypically she is busty, blond, dumb, attractive, open about her sexuality and almost always white. 

In her essay, "Refusing To Refuse To Look", Brigid Cherry writes "one participant (in the study) described her feelings about characters she referred to as "the stereotypical bimbo": "I tend to find that I don't mind these women being victims- they deserve to be killed off!"" The Scream Queens are brutally killed off, for audience pleasure rather than plot. Sally Hardesty from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is considered as one of the first Scream Queens. 

Examples of Final Girl in Horror:

Scream (1996) - Casey Becker

Psycho (1959) - Marion Crane

Scary Movie (2000) - Drew Decker

The Jock:

Conventionally, through out horror, ''The Jock'' has been presented as strong, tough and popular. At times the character of the Jock serves the purpose of comedic relief. In horror the Jock is also know as the Scream King. Similarly to the Scream Queen, his death is often a punishment for immoral behaviour. 
Jocks are usually a secondary antagonist, typically embodying the common bully and meathead. You know the type; big, masculine, visually appealing, cool and athletic. Not all jocks are made up of negative traits. A good few players on this list possess some of the most endearing qualities strengthened by their dedicated athleticism.

Jocks have been a fun, quintessential trope used in a variety of horrors through the ages. Sometimes their character serve the purpose of comedic relief. While our survivor (Final Girl) rely on their brain to make it through, jocks rely on their biceps and ground tactics to take out the villains. It is, of course, a stereotype that has since been blurred by way of characterization, yet one we still see from time to time in the films we love.

Examples of Jocks in Horror:

The Cabin in The Woods (2001) – Curt Vaughan

The Final Girls (2015) – Kurt

Scream (1996) - Steven 

The Killer:

The anonymous killer is usually a man wearing all black, black leather boots, holding props such as knives, hammers, chainsaws or axes etc... The killer's face won't usually be shown, making them anonymous. The use of a mask, is especially common in franchises; e.g. Ghostface in Scream (1996), Micheal Myers in Halloween (1978) and the baby mask in Happy Death Day (2017). Another element in creating a character is having a distinct weapon, such as Leatherface's chainsaw in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974).Although, some slasher films do show the killer's face or reveal who the killer is at the END of the film. In some cases the killer may be female e.g. in Jennifer's body, it is also known to the audience throughout the film that Jennifer is the killer. 

Sometimes The Killer is seen as superhuman, and impossible to defeat. They are usually serial killers with a revenge plan and choose their victims carefully, sadistically stalking and torturing for their own pleasure. The motive is usually split; either its a psychopathic killer with a will to murder, or a killer with a revenge plan. The revenge trope is often used with female rape victims turned killers, like Jennifer in Jennifers Body (2009) or Lora Lee Sherman in Cherry Falls (2000). 

Slasher films often show the villains development and backstory, for example Micheal Myers' childhood bloodlust, or Friday the 13th (1980) Jason Voorhees' bullying. Another trope is a connection to the protagonist, such as Ghostface and Sidney Prescott in Scream, or Lora Lee Sherman and Jody Marken in Cherry Falls. 

The use of a backstory creates further fear with the killers motives, making the killings more believable rather than a two dimensional character.

Examples of The Killer in Horror:

Halloween (1978) - Michael Myers

Scream (1996) - Ghostface

ANALYSING FILMS: Scream

 Film Analysis: Scream (1996)

Director: Wes Craven

BBFC 18  MPAA R 

Opening Length: 12 minutes

Budget: $15 m 

Box Office: $173 m

Theatrical Distribution: Worldwide

Production Company: Woods Entertainment

Distributor: Dimension Films

Starring: Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, Drew Barrymore and David Arquette.

Synopsis:  A year after the murder of her mother, a teenage girl is terrorised by a new killer, who targets the girl and her friends by using horror films as part of a deadly game. (IMDB)

LINKS: wikipedia , IMDB , Box Office Mojo , the numbers

Trailer:

Key features of the opening:

• Only one ident shown, on screen for 9 seconds, which is unconventional and fast for being the only ident. Due to the time of the film being made, it was common to only have one production company, and therefore only one ident. 
• The opening shot is of a telephone, which is heard ringing through an audiobridge over the title. This is unconventional to have the close-up of an object, as a typical opening shot is an ELS. This denotes the object as a signifier, and could be relevant later in the film. 
• The titles start out expanded, then zoom in to reveal the name in white. A red border appears around the title, then turning it red. The title zooms into the letters and the screen turns red. The sans-serif font and same case connotes humour, but the spacing of the letters creates a sense of unease for the viewer. 
• The audience is introduced to the protagonist, a conventionally attractive, blonde, teenage girl. The blonde hair is a common signifier of a scream queen. 
• The shots are fluid, and track her movements. These long shots are unconventional for horror, as it typically uses shorter shots (Barthes' action codes) to create suspense. 
• A dutch angle is used here, to denote something is wrong. Following the rule of thirds, the scream queen is in the right third of the frame, with the window/door on the left third. This creates a vulnerability for the protagonist, also due to the high angle of the camera.
• The shot of the trees is used to show the dark and nighttime, as well as connote the supernatural or horror. 
• Becker’s tone of voice changes throughout each of the anonymous phone calls, at first her voice is soft and friendly then progresses to flirtatious then when Becker realises she is being watched she turns frantic and the caller turns malice.
• At first the camera pans from the phone ringing to Becker lifting to her ear then holds on a mid-close up of her throughout the conversation this is used to focus the audience on the dialog. The phone itself is an important prop in the film it’s what starts the next set of events off. The close up of her locking the door shows the audience that she doesn’t feel safe this also happens when she runs through the hallway locking the doors and windows as she goes. While the camera tracks Becker around the house when she is flirting with the caller this is giving the call a false sense of security making it seem normal and she isn’t taking to a stranger. The use of the POV shot while she is looking out the front door window, is slightly shaky giving the feel of frantic urgency like the audience is in Becker’s position.
• Roland Barthes’ narrative codes include enigma codes meaning things that raise questions for the audience. This applies to film by making the audience first question ‘who is calling?’ with the help of the diegetic sounds of the phone rings. Also towards the end of the scene the loud doorbell makes Becker jump leading the audience to mimic the action. The tension also is helped built by the use of non-diegetic sound for example when the caller says ‘can you handled that, blondie’ there’s a beat that replicates the sound of loud footsteps like Becker is being followed and also the use of camera linking as well that the camera is tracking her as she’s running giving the audience the feeling that they’re chasing her. The ELS of the exterior of the house shows the isolation of the character. The use of windows along the sides denotes vulnerability, and voyeurism. 
• The titles include screams, and an audiobridge of a phone ringing. This is a clear genre signifier for horror. The protagonist is heard speaking to the caller, who is heard replying. When showing exterior shots, the foley sounds of crickets and leaves are heard, further creating suspense and isolation. The protagonist puts popcorn on a stove, which is heard popping until it bursts. There are sounds of slashing when she picks up a knife, which is another genre signifier. A non-diegetic piano chord is heard, which builds up and becomes a series of drawn out chords, increasing tension and audience heart rate. 
• The opening credits uses non-diegetic sound effect of a knife slash and a scream linking with title to the film and the rest of the films narrative.