The Hills Have Eyes - Horror trailer analysis.

I will be analysing the horror trailer for ‘The Hills Have Eyes’ to discuss typical paradigms that are used so to create meaning within the film that is apparent to the viewers. Typical paradigms that are used within a horror film would be weapons such as knives or bats because these are very personal weapons as the killer has to get close to the victim in order to kill or inflict pain. This creates a sexual nature to the film as the killer is inserting the weapon they are holding into the victim. An isolated location such as a house in the woods is also a typical paradigm in horror films because the victim will not be heard or seen by anyone to save them.

Prop paradigms:

An axe is a conventionally generic prop paradigm because it is a very personal weapon to use. Killers within horror films are shown using prop paradigms such as this because the penetration of the axe creates sexual connotation and gives the sense that the killer is gaining sexual pleasure from this. However, in the trailer the victims are the ones holding the axe and tossing it around in a defensive manner. Towards the end of the trailer a baseball bat is shown on top of a chest that a man is trapped in. Baseball bats normally give a completely different meaning because they are used for sports, normally a fun game for most people, whereas in this trailer, it has most likely been used as a weapon, again, another personal weapon. A gas mask is used as a way of hiding the identity of the villain so the victims are unable to know who their attacker really is. The fact it is a gas mask brings to light a hidden fear of everyone’s. This is because a gas mask relates to war which everyone fears will happen again, even if it is not in their conscious.

Setting:

Isolated locations are conventional setting paradigms for horror films because no one can hear or see you. In ‘The Hills Have Eyes’ trailer, the desert of New Mexico, a very hostile environment, is used which again represents a fear of everyone’s-not being able to find a way out and away from contact. A cave is used as another location because it is dark, making it hard for the victims to see around them and if anything or anyone is hiding. The usual fear or the dark is shown here because the audience are also unable to see what is happening, which positions the viewers as a masochistic voyeur. An abandoned house is used to show what life was like before the family that lived there obviously moved out. Mise-en-scene such as wooden racks with hanging clothes, curtains at windows and other belongings are still there but there are no people living there. For a family to get up and leave without taking their belongings suggests something is not right.

Character:

Promiscuous girls are normally the first to die in a horror film as they are shown having sex or wearing short, tight clothing, which is not very innocent like. In ‘The Hills Have Eyes’ trailer, the promiscuous girl is shown to be blonde, a common hair colour for a promiscuous girl within a horror film, and wearing a revealing bikini, which represents her as the victim. However, this challenges Carol Clover’s final girl theory because she is the only person shown at the very end of the trailer, which gives the impression that she is the final girl. The brown haired man is represented as the hero because he tries to seek help within a cave, also placing him as the victim as he is targeted by something that himself and the audience cannot work out as only a silhouette is shown running past. The family of a mother, father and their children are represented as the typical happy family. However, this is contradicted as horrendous events unravel when the unknown villains begin to take hostage of the victims. This leads the victims to begin a fight for survival, such as handling weapons like the axe previously mentioned.

Sound:

At the beginning non-diegetic sound of air raid sirens are heard making the atmosphere tense, because people know that air raid sirens are a warning that something terrible is going to happen. Diegetic sound of explosions are used suggesting that a disaster is probably going to happen as these are what explosions cause. In contrast with this, the sound changes to non-diegetic of the song ‘California dreaming’; this is very upbeat compared to the long and dreary sound of the sirens and explosions. As the events begin to occur, non-diegetic sound of fast paced string instruments are played. The feel of something coming is created through this and when it abruptly stops it creates the sense that whatever was coming is now there with the victim. The non-diegetic sound of a drum makes the sound of a heartbeat, showing a relation between the sound and the frightened characters. Industrial sounds create scream-like noises, while quick drum beats along with editing of quick camera cuts of the characters seems like gunshots and as if the characters in the cuts are the ones being targeted. By the end of the trailer, the pitch of the non-diegetic sound increases which builds tension because the audience know that at the highest point of the sound something will happen.

Editing:

The range of editing and camera shots lets the viewers piece together parts of the story so to make a little sense of what is happening. For example at the beginning of the trailer a birds eye view of a bomb dropping from above the clouds lets the viewers know that disaster will strike whatever that will hit, with a wide angle shot of the explosion and house being blown apart showing the destruction it has caused. Along with this are medium shots of a deformed baby with cuts to a newspaper article stating ‘Minors refuse to abandon their lands’ whilst showing the colours of the images being inverted. With this appearing straight after the explosions it creates a link between the two making it obvious that these deformities are the problems that have occurred from this. The camera then fades into an establishing shot of a desert with a car and trailer driving along the road with it starting in black and white then fading into colour. This presents the idea that the disasters that happened are now in the past as black and white represents an earlier time period with colour bringing the audience to the present day. The two shot of the man and gas man shows the window rolling up as if to suggest that the family are about to shut away all safety and contact with the only people in that area. As this happens an effect is used of a film reel being changed to another scene giving the idea that the events are about to change for the worse. This is shown more clearly through the quick cuts that occur next when things start to go wrong. As the pace of the trailer increases effects are used to make the family seem as if they are being watched, for instance in the two shot of the man and woman the obvious lines on a TV has been overlaid as if someone is sat in front of a TV watching them. A low angle shot of the girl holding an axe gives the sense that she has power, therefore making the audience feel vulnerable. This low angle shot is used again of the girl aiming the axe at the floor, however with quick cuts from this shot to a high angle shot of the same girl on the floor it makes it seem as if she is about to kill herself. Perhaps this is to show that she is somehow putting herself in a position where she is going to get killed anyway. At the end of the trailer an extreme close up of the girls eye and someone’s hand against her face allows the viewers to see the fear in her eyes due to them being so wide. This obvious sense of fear from her makes her seem vulnerable leaving the audience to feel worried for her, proving they are a masochistic audience.

From this analysis, it is clear that paradigms have been used successfully to create meaning that is apparent to the audience. Personal weapons are used such as axes and baseball bats, with which the axe is used to penetrate the skin creating a sexual nature to the trailer and gives the sense of rape and sexual pleasure for the villain. Sounds creates tension within the trailer because it shows representations of war through the air raid sirens, while the high pitch string instruments builds up to something horrific and frightening. Without the use of paradigms such as props, settings, sound and more to build tension, representations of horror cannot be conveyed successfully in order for the audience to understand what is happening.