In Doubt of Reality
Haitham Bayazeed
One of my favorite films is a horror film called Oculus (2013) that is both diverse in tone and maddening to watch. It is a psychological horror film starring Karen Gillan, Brenton Thwaites and is directed by Mike Flanagan.
Psychological horror you say?
Well it is a term used to classify horror films of the type that makes the audience unsure of whether what they are seeing on screen is indeed the true plot of the work or a representation of the characters’ psyches. As a result, the mind starts playing tricks on the viewer, as does doubt. A psychological film -whether horror or non-horror, but let us focus on the former- is a film that relies on the characters’ fears and emotional instability to build tension. In the case of Oculus, the protagonists’ fear of the past, specifically of their abusive
father, is depended upon.
As kids, they were desperate and did not want to accept the fact that their family was being torn apart by infidelity, abuse and distrust. Therefore, they created an illusion in the form of an evil, possessed mirror for which they blame their father’s late-age madness. Hence, as adults, they try to prove to the world and to themselves especially that the mirror is the true monster, not their late-father.
However, throughout the whole film, the narrative is doubtable and plot holed; is the mirror really haunted, or are all the events just in their heads? This sense of doubt is what psychological horror is meant to create, but that is not completely it. Psychological horror can be much scarier than demonic possessions or alien abductions, or even a mad man in a mask with a chainsaw; it is much more than that. It could be more grounded in real life problems, such as abuse, the descent into madness, aging, and stalking.
Another example that I need to offer is 2AM: The Smiling Man (2011), a short psychological thriller that is about a young man walking the streets alone at night and being followed by a stranger with a sinister smile. A question begs to be answered: what are the intentions of that stranger? I showed the film to a couple of people; my friend thought it was intriguing and a bit eerie, and another thought it was ridiculous and pretty unfrightening. However, I thought it was horrifying; imagine being stalked in the middle of the night by a stranger who does not appear to be dangerous but not harmless either. It is the unknown intentions that disturb the viewer.
My friend commented: “The music is what makes it scarier” and I replied that is all done for cinematic effects and to appeal to a wider demographic. The movie already has a divided audience -the 2+milion views on YouTube- into people who seem to like it and others who find it interesting but a bit silly, and so the music makes the work more attractive to mainstream audiences.
Regardless, imagine the situation in real life: there is no music in the background. Anyone would be scared to death if they spot someone following them through dark streets in the middle of the night, but would be just as frantic if the same scenario was in fact a figment of their imagination.