Analysing Horror Genre Opening Sequences - 'Carrie'

The final opening sequence from the horror genre I am going to analyse comes from 'Carrie' directed by Brian DePalma.

The film opens with a high angle shot (almost a bird's-eye-view) of girls playing volleyball. The angle is typical of films from the horror genre and is commonly used to suggest a character's vulnerability. Here, it also suggests that Carrie, the film's central protagonist, but also its 'monster', may not be in control of her powers; powers that she doesn't fully understand or know how to harness. 

The camera slowly zooms/dollies-in towards Carrie, the slow camerawork typical of films from the genre, isolating her from the other girls and marking her out as different. This is a common theme in horror films, with the 'monster' character type often becoming evil as a result of being ignored, ridiculed or shunned by society, and taking revenge on those that have slighted them.

As the director cuts inside into the girl's locker room, contrapuntal soft, almost romantic, non-diegetic music plays over the slow pan of the camera around the locker room as the girl's change. There are two ways that this part of the scene is typical of films from the genre, particularly those made during the 1970s. Firstly, the use of voyeuristic camerawork which sexualises the female characters (many of whom are semi-naked, dressed only in their underwear), with the slow camera movement almost lingering on their bodies, is typical of the ways in which women are often represented in the horror genre as sex objects. Secondly, horror films frequently use contrapuntal music which seems too uplifting or clashes with the action audiences would associate with the horror genre, which is often violent, sinister and threatening. Horror directors often use contrapuntal music to unsettle the audience, or to lull them into a false sense of security before a brutal reveal or jump scare. Here, this music subverts audience expectations and establishes a sense of equilibrium at the beginning of the film, something which is often established at the beginning of horror films to trick the audience, relaxing them to maximise the effect when something shocking happens.

The slow camera movement almost mirrors someone watching the girls (it is the audience that is the voyeur here, however, and not a male predator as is often the case in the genre) as it shows the girls throwing their clothes in the air and laughing. The lighting here is very soft which further continues the false sense of security and disarms the audience, contrasting with the more typical lighting aesthetic found in horror films where scenes are dominated by low-key lighting, backlighting and side lighting.

The camera continues to zoom in until it fixes on Carrie in the shower, again isolated from the rest of the group. The shots of Carrie all conform to the typical way women are represented in horror films; sexualised and vulnerable. The music continues to be serene and almost relaxing, continuing to create audience expectation that nothing bad or sinister is going to happen, whilst also adding to the objectification of the girl, reinforced with a series of close ups of her washing her face and body. These shots eroticise the girl, in a way that was very common in horror films from the 1970s. 

The music then abruptly stops as the girl starts to look increasingly more scared and distressed (shown through close ups of the girl's face and extreme close ups of her eyes), disrupting the equilibrium established earlier in the scene. Disrupting the equilibrium very early in the narrative is a key feature of films from the horror genre, intended to unsettle and scare the audience by subverting their expectations. It is not immediately revealed to the audience why she is so frightened, creating enigma and tension as they do not know what the active threat is. The diegetic sounds of the girls in the locker room chattering and screaming turns incredibly sinister as the camera fixes on Carrie, further isolating her and creating a sense of confusion and fear for both the audience and the protagonist.

The scene ends with a distressed Carrie running through the locker room and the other girls, in a series of tightly framed medium close ups, taunting her. 

As they throw tampons and sanitary towels at Carrie she is shot from a high angle, and angle common in horror films to emphasise a character's vulnerability; yo reinforce this, unlike the groups of girls, Carrie is loosely framed.