The Amityville Horror & Insidious

Within Horror movies a lot of the same techniques , music and characters are used to portray different emotions towards the viewer such as increasing volume eerie music used to imply danger is about to happen. The 2010 movie Insidious and the 2005 movie The Amityville horror both show similarities and differences in the way that they portray horror.

Director Andrew Douglas of The Amityville Horror decided to show viewers a gripping portrayal of the movie based on a true story about a family: The Lutz move into an elegant long island house across a lake. However what the family ceased to know is that previous owners were victims of a gruesome mass murder that happened the previous year. The family remain in the house and try to keep the horror in the past. This is until George (Ryan Reynolds) the mother’s boyfriend starts acting weirdly and the daughter starts to see things. The 28 days following their arrival are none other than sheer horror with demonic visions of demonic figures. The nine instalments in the series had a budget of $19 million USD and earned a gross of $108 million USD. However, 5 years later in 2010, saw the release of horror film Insidious with actors and actresses such as Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne, Ty Simpkins and Lin Shaye fulfil the main cast within the movie. The film shows the journey of a family to retrieve their son; Dalton from a mystical place called the further when he falls into a unexpected coma. They ask for help to uncover the truth and rediscover the past in order to save their son once and for all. The film had a budget of $1.5 million USD and earned a gross of $97 million USD.

Both of the films follow Propp's character theory with distinct characters as the hero, the dispatcher etc. Both films have the hero of the movie ; in The Amityville Horror the hero can be seen as Kathy Lutz played by Melissa George due to her saving her family from her husband George played by Ryan Reynolds from repeating history and murdering their family. She also saves her husband from staying evil. In Insidious there is also a hero; Josh Lambert (Patrick Wilson) who enters the paranormal realm of “The further” to retrieve his son from being stuck there for good.However, a significant difference between the two heroes of the movie is their sexes. In The Amityville Horror the hero is not a male protagonist which is typical role for a male in horror movies. The “dispatcher” can be found within both of the movies. In Insidious the position can be argued

that two characters play the dispatcher; Elaine and Father Martin. This is due to Elaine informing the family about the “Further” and telling Josh Lambert how to find his son. Also, the dispatcher role within The Amityville role is Father Callaway because he informs the family of the previous owners of the house and informs then of what happened and what happened in the end to them. The helpers within movies can be a major role such as Harry Potter where the helpers can be argued just as important as the main protagonist. The helper in The Amityville Horror can be interpreted as Billy; the eldest son due to his help to save his younger siblings and even manages to hit the villain and buy time. The helper character is fulfilled by the characters specs and Tucker. They assist Elaine when she communicates with the spirits and help set up equipment and track paranormal activity. Both movies have villains present, in Insidious taking the form of a demon; Lipstick Face. The demon haunts the family and tries to take over Dalton's body so he can interact with the real world. Although there is a villain in The Amityville Horror who takes the form of George Lutz and tries to kill the family. The difference between villains in both movies is that the villain in Insidious takes the form of a poltergeist whereas in The Amityville Horror there are “ghost figures” however the villain is a human being which makes it more realistic and can be argued that it is scarier because it is based on a true story. In both movies there is “a princess” however, misleading due to the fact that both of the roles are filled by male characters and not a “love interest” in a romantic form. In the Amityville Horror the princess can be seen as George Lutz because he is trying to be saved by his wife from acting weirdly and in the end she does save him by taking him away from the house so they can resume their life peacefully. However, in Insidious the princess can be seen as Dalton due to the father trying to save him and although he is not a love interest as in romantic his father possesses love for him. Although, The Amityville Horror doesn’t include a false hero who initially seems like they’re going to be the main protagonist, Insidious does; the false hero can be seen as Renai lambert, the mother of Dalton as at the start of the movie all the attention is on her and how she Is being affected by the ghosts but it shifts to the father; Josh and he plays the role of the hero.

A major similarity within Horror movies is the locations of the film and the Mise-En-Scene are important factors to convey emotions and

attitudes within the specific genre. In both of these movies, it is set in a large, detached house . The significance of the house in The Amityville Horror is that it’s across a lake on its own which shows that they are vulnerable and have no help. Furthermore, Insidious features a large suburban house in a neighbourhood. This makes it seem more realistic and can happen to an average family. The use of a large house makes the characters feel more detached from each other when the horror happens and makes the house seem more daunting. The costumes used in both movies are always normal clothing that would be worn by any person. This is also to signal that they are ordinary people and makes the movie seem more realistic. However, in Insidious, a white dress and long black hair Is used for one of the ghosts. This is a typical costume that women villains wear in horror movies and horror movies have a long history of using these costumes in their genre. Props are a significant in horror movies and have a much higher focal point in comparison to other genres of movies. The props used are to give a feeling of uneasiness. In The Amityville Horror the fridge magnets are used in a scene to create tension and they change without anyone touching them. This creates an uneasy feeling due to the viewers realising there is someone there however the characters don't know about it. Furthermore, the alarm clock used it to emphasize what time it is and throughout both movies, the night and darkness is used to create a negative feeling. The night time is when the majority of the horror takes place and is the same throughout all horror movies. In the dark it leaves characters vulnerable. Furthermore, the sound in horror movies, especially these two are similar; the noises are loud, sharp and intense blasts whenever there is trouble occurring or when tension is rising and the audience know that something is going to happen. In addition, the make-up used to design the villain lipstick face in Insidious is red and has horns. This is a link to the biblical ideology of Hell and Satan.

Not only is it the location or the music that is the same within the genre horror, the way it is filmed using camera angles are the same as well. High and low shots using a boom (jib shot) are used within horror movies especially in Insidious when Renai looks up the staircase and when George looks up at Chelsea in the window in The Amityville Horror. This camera angle is used to make the audience and George feel small, weak and inferior and the camera angle is used for scaling of the house and

shots of the house are really prominent due to further emphasizing how disconnected the characters feel during the events that happen at night making them feel alone and vulnerable.

Also, close ups are used to focus on certain objects and props. This is especially useful when the props are important due to if they weren't emphasized than the audience may miss the subtle details and then the feelings that the director wants to express are not properly portrayed.

Medium close ups are used in Insidious to reveal the story more, the demon hides behind the character to create tension as he is right behind his head. It also shows that he his hiding which shows that the entity is unseen and therefore the characters have not seen him.

Throughout both of the movies the camera is generally steady and tracks

all the characters movements. This is so the viewer can closely see their emotions that are expressed on their face whether it is scared, or whether it is to create tension as the characters do not know any thing is happening but the viewers can see otherwise.

Good compare and contrast of two horror films! To fully achieve all criteria just correct a few SPaG issues. Make sure each new topic you are talking about is in a new paragraph. TG 08/01/18