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| Blood splattered on the wall |
There are a couple of icons in this opening which makes the film's genre easy to identify. For mis en scene one prop being used is the usual murder weapon (in this case a bloody knife). From this the audience can recognise that this was likely to be used by the antagonist towards the protagonist or a stock character. As well as this a long shot of a gun is shown, this intensifies the situation that has happened as it makes the audience wonder whether it was used as well. In addition to this some blood is shown that has been splattered on the wall. This is quite a typical icon as with horror, blood is almost definitely always involved. The fact that the blood is splattered gives the impression the antagonist has had pleasure in killing someone and has done it in a messy, violent way.
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| Suburban house in the day |
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| More rural house at night |
The location is also quite a typical code for the horror genre. During the introduction many long shots of houses are shown that fade in and out from a black screen and are panning along as if the camera is in a car driving. As the clips go along the setting gets darker and appears to become more remote and rural and out of the busier suburban area. It is likely the person driving is the protagonist(s) as near the start it is mentioned how after the couple got engaged they went to a summer house, which is likely to be in a rural area. The scene getting darker is a usual convention as generally in horror films the bad situations happen in the dark as it is more mysterious and the idea of the unknown can really creep out the audience. It also gives the impression that the couple have driven a long way to get to the summer house (as it was the day but now it's night time) meaning that if they are in trouble it will take a longer time for help to come for them.
There is no iconic costume in this opening as only some stock characters are shown that aren't that relevant to the film.
The sound is quite iconic and typical of the genre. Incidental, non-diegetic music is used throughout which gives off a tense atmosphere and already allows the audience to predict and anticipate something bad happening. A non-diegetic, voice over of a low, serious voice is also used and as it is low and serious it makes what he is saying more believable. Turning information that is likely to be made up for the horror film into believable information is an iconic thing to do and adds a good element to the film as the audience become immersed in it. In addition to this the usual 911 call recording is played. This is used in quite a few horror films and is iconic as it is a thing that sometimes regular people have to do so it makes them connect with the situation more and become more worried for the person in trouble on the 911 call.
Themes of the Genre
Just from the opening of the film you can't exactly tell what the theme of it will be. However, if I was to infer myself then I would say it is likely to be a hybrid of themes. These themes being; unknown, unfolding terror, overwhelming gore explosion and the serial kill fest. I believe that one of the themes is unknown, unfolding terror as it is possible that the protagonist who is harassed throughout the movie will not exactly know who is harassing her and will become more scared as the unknown unfolds itself. In addition to this as I've said before blood splattered on the walls is shown in this opening which makes me immediately connect it to the overwhelming gore explosion theme as later on in the film it's likely the audience will be shown the killing that has taken place. This brings me to my final theme, the serial kill fest. I'm not so sure about this film as I don't know whether a mass of people are killed however it is evident that at least one person is killed and someone else is being harassed which makes me think it could be possible that others are involved.
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