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 must 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.
2AM: The Smiling Man - short film
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