MEDIA STUDIES A2

1. Horror Film Analysis
Introduction to the Analysis
For this particular analysis, I have decided to analyse a full length film instead of a film trailer. I have
strongly felt that I was being limited here as the trailer has a very cut down display and presentation
of the conventions and iconography that are used for a horror film in relation with mise -en-scene,
camera shots and angles, sound, etc.
The film I have selected to analyse is City of the Living Dead, directed by Lucio Fulci (who I performed
a case study upon) and released in 1980. The plot is centred upon around reporter and a psychic
who must race to close a Hell Gate after the suicide of a village priest caused them to open, giving
rise to a series of mysterious deaths and sightings of decomposing apparitions that now plague the
small town. If the Hell Gate isn’t closed by All Saints Day, the dead will fully rise to take over the
world of the living.
Introduction to the Film
City of the Living Dead begins with institutional information being displayed, showcasing those who
were involved in the production of the film. This is presented in bold white lettering against a black
background. After the block of text disappears with a cut, a scream is suddenly heard. The
audience’s tension will suddenly rise, despite being only a few seconds into the film, and would want
to find out what is going on and find the source and reason behind the sudden screaming, although
all they are presented with is the black background. This also will set the tone off for the film, being
that of a dark and dangerous nature. Once the bloodcurdling cry for help begins to die down, the
title of the film appears, followed by non-diegetic coming in as a sudden jump to bring more
attention to the already clear title, laid across the screen as the largest piece of text on there. The
non-diegetic music’s sudden introduction and eerie melody will help to suggest the genre of the film,
that being suited definitely towards the horror theme.
Film Analysis: Extract From Beginning
During a séance in a New York apartment block, Mary, one of the main protagonists and ‘final girl’ of
the film starts to develop a traumatic experience after having the vision of a priest committing
suicide in his village’s cemetery. When it’s too much for her to bear, Mary is suddenly overwhelmed
by the disturbing vision and collapses in front of everyone at the séance, appearing to have died of
fright.
Panning 360 degree angle shots and medium close-ups are used to show who is attending the
séance, along with the troubling expressions on their faces while looking at Mary, showcasing a
sense of fear and a mild amount of distress to the audience. Heavy breathing can be heard to
emphasise upon Mary’s heart rate and tension building up as she continues to experience her
visions of the priest’s suicide. When her vision is being shown to the audience, establishing shots are
used to exhibit the scene unfolding at the cemetery. The cemetery’s appearance is foggy and
unnerving, showcasing supernatural horror conventions for having a setting to take place within a
graveyard, along with the usage of psychics and séances. Ambient lighting that has been filtered by
the mist rolling across the graveyard gives the setting its spooky and mysterious feel.

2. Film Analysis: Extract From Middle
As All Saints Day approaches, the malicious paranormal activity begins to escalate further. In one
scene, John-John, a young boy who is inescapably caught up in the drama, finds it hard to get to
sleep after hearing mysterious noises coming from outside. The noises get louder until he sees his
dead sister suddenly appear outside in front of his bedroom window, scaring him away to his parents
in the other room.
The scene begins with a slow establishing panning shot of outside the house. It’s dark, windy and
various animal noises are heard in order to give the setting a feel of unpleasantness and create a
enigmatic atmosphere. The panning stops once the house’s doors be come centred within the
frame. This is to suggest that something is going to happen here, and as with most horror films, the
action normally unfolds during the night and in an isolated suburban setting. The camera then
zooms in to focus on a window which then cuts to a close up of John-John looking worried on his bed
in his nightwear. Audiences will now know that this scene will be centred on him and what
eventually takes place within his bedroom. Children are often associated with horror films for being
innocent and vulnerable. The shot of John-John zooms out to focus upon a rocking chair that is
seemingly moving by itself, made even scarier by the eerie non-diegetic music that is now heard to
be playing. This cuts to a point-of-view shot of someone walking around the window while peering
at John-John from outside the house. Heavily distorted breathing is heard to indicate that this
unseen being is not exactly human and will give the audience the confirmation that this is one of the
attacking ghosts. The camera stops moving around once the being finds an open window that leads
into the bedroom, where John-John is in full view. Tensions will start to build as the disturbing
breathing begins to be heard by John-John as he looks back at the window in a close-up from a cut.
The following cuts show John-John getting up to investigate the mysterious sound in a series of
point-of-view shots. He stares out of the window baffled, with the camera being positioned in front
of the window from the outside. This cuts to a close up of the window from the inside, where John-
John is standing. His dead sister suddenly appears in front of him and zooms into her face in the
form of a jump scare. A mysterious non-diegetic sound is played to emphasise on her sudden
appearance. This cuts back to John-John in a similar shot set up who screams in terror for his mother
to help him, running away as, finally, the scene cuts back to the shot of the ghostly apparition who
then suddenly disappears.

3. Film Analysis: Extract From Ending
Father Thomas (film’s antagonist), who appears in front of the last remaining protagonists, once
again begins to use his powerful and mesmerizing stare making Mary's eyeballs bleed (mirroring a
scene earlier in the film where this power was showcased killing a young woman). Before his stare
can turn Mary inside out, Gerry grabs a large, rotting, wooden cross and disembowels Father
Thomas, who in turn, catches fire along with the rest of the rising corpses which seals the Hell Gate
and saves the day.
This scene starts off with a medium long shot of the priest’s ghost suddenly materializing in front of
Mary and Gerry inside the buried grotto that is full of cobwebs, tombstones and lingering look of
death, while the same non-diegetic sound that was used to introduce the apparition of John-John’s
dead sister is played. The makeup used has given him pale skin to suggest that the life has been
sucked out of him and the lighting from below has been used in order to give him an even more
horrible look. A close up of Mary’s face showcases the horror in her eyes as she looks on with Gerry
in fright. This shot goes out of focus from Mary as she looks behind her, revealing an awoken corpse
staggering slowly towards the protagonists, giving the suggestion that there is little hope for Gerry
and Mary. The same shot goes out of focus again to re-centre upon Mary as she looks back at the
hellish clergyman. This cuts to a slow zoom into the priest’s face as he turns to look at Mary who
then starts to bleed from her eyes in another zoom in cut that focuses upon her eyes. This cuts again
to the priest’s eyes, signalling to the audience that he is the cause of what is happening with Emily.
Gerry looks at her in a medium-close up and looks again at the priest. In the same shot the camera
follows his movement as he looks around and finds a wooden cross, knowing that stopping the
priest will stop Mary from dying, along with of course realising that this will stop the dead from
rising out into the world. This cuts to low angle shot of Gerry piercing the cross into the priest, the
use of low angle to show that Gerry now has control of the situation, zooming into the stab wound
as decomposing guts begin to fall out with the cross. This then cuts to Mary now safe from harm,
looking away from the gore as Gerry peers on, now determined to see the fate of the priest. The
spectre moans in pain as the wound along with himself begins to catch alight in a series of close ups.
Lighter tone non-diegetic music fades in to play, suggesting the theme of victory over the dead and
sealing of hell. The fire lights up the antagonists faces as they look on in a medium close up,
sweating with relief as their victory becomes clear for them. The next series of cuts display the other
ghost corpses now on fire as they fall down into the Earth, the non-diegetic now in full volume.

4. Conclusion on the Film
Although the ending sequence was poorly produced for when Gerry and Mary arise out of the tomb
victorious, that alone does not undermine how good the film was for me. With the evident use of a
good plotline to work with, decent acting skills and realistic special effects despite the small budget,
Lucio Fulci has done an excellent job to create a high quality horror film for the audiences to watch.