A cold knowledge.
In the Douban top 100, only four contain thriller labels:
Infernal Affairs, The Silence of the Lambs, Forbidden Island, Deadly ID.
It is also either inclined to suspense or plot.
Thrillers often strive to be scary at a small cost, and they are easy to be simple and rude, and lack connotation.
To put it bluntly: easy to produce bad films.
But there are one IP exceptions.
More than 240,000 people hit the 8.0 ghost film ceiling, and like DC and Marvel, they have their own movie universe -
Wen Ziren's "Conjuring" series.
What's more, it breaks the "curse" that sequels must pounce on.
Following the first "shocking" film in 13 years, "The Conjuring 2" won a 7.9 result again in 16 years.
Fans look forward to the stars and the moon, calling for Wen Shen to come out of the mountain again to send us coolness.
Finally, 5 years later, the third part came -
Conjuring 3
The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It
First of all, I will warmly play the pre-plot summary for the fat friends who have forgotten the plot and have not seen it:
"The Conjuring 1": A couple with five daughters moved to an old house in the suburbs.
The house is big and wide, and there is a large grass outside the door to play the "you come after me" mini-game.
Yet the chase... It's a ghost.
Mothers get bruises for no reason as soon as they sleep, and daughters get scratched when they sleep.
No way, in the midst of the screams, they invited the exorcist Warren and his wife to go to war with the ghosts.
The Conjuring 2: A single mother with three children lives in an old house in disrepair.
The second daughter suddenly "ghosted the upper body", and the furniture often moved for no reason.
Old rule, please Warren and his wife.
To "The Conjuring 3": No need to please, the Warrens went straight to the scene.
This time, they help exorcise a child possessed by a demon.
Unexpectedly, on the way, the child's family broke the rules and made a deal with the devil.
This directly led to the injury of the warren couple's husband, Ed, and he also fell into a coma due to heart disease.
Fortunately, the devil spared the child and has been safe ever since.
It wasn't until Ed woke up that he reminded his wife, Lorraine:
The demon did not go, but lurked on the brother-in-law.
Sure enough, soon the brother-in-law was sentenced to death for stabbing the landlord 22 times to death, and repeatedly attempted suicide.
In order to save this young man, the Warrens acted again...
They reviewed why their brother had provoked the devil and wanted to find a breaking point.
It turned out that on the first day that the family moved into the old house, something strange happened.
When the sister and brother-in-law are nong, the younger brother sneaks into one of the empty rooms and finds an ancient waterbed with a mirror?
Sigh, old stuff... Will play.
But the child can have any bad thoughts, he didn't think much about it, climbed into bed and lay down.
How comfortable, how cool, how fun.
Wait a minute.
Something is wrong.
Under the undercurrent... A face appeared.
When my brother climbed out of bed, the waterbed suddenly broke a hole.
A withered hand came out of the hole and dragged him in...
So, this bed has a story?
The resourceful Warrens soon noticed that the planks under the bed had also shown strange mildew.
Climbing into the basement corresponding to the room, I found that it was not the bed problem, but the house that was cursed by people.
A goat's head.
It's a real hammer, it's a symbol of the devil.
The moment my brother lay on the waterbed, he was cursed.
Yes, the Conjuring Trilogy revolves around old houses, demonic possession, and exorcisms.
Not new.
However, the first two have become classics, and the third part has stopped at 6.5, and even fell.
What's the problem?
- Director.
The third was not directed by Wen Ziren, but was replaced by his apprentice Michael Chavis.
This man has made several horror films before, but none of them have scored 6 points, and this time the "only pass" score has been considered an extraordinary performance.
Okay, let's see where all the "play" is?
Continuing the truth -
Adapted from a paranormal case investigated by the most famous exorcist of the 20th century, the Allens.
Elongate expectations ——
Knowing that the ghost is coming, but hanging you do not appear, are you afraid?
Tribute to the classics ——
These images pay homage to hitchcock's bath scene in Horror:
Jack with a sledgehammer in The Shining:
Emphasize love —
Continue to love the wife.
Don't ask what her husband Ed is doing this time, he is calling out to his wife except for exorcism.
But the above is really not enough to be a teacher.
Many people criticize the chicken soup suspected of "exorcising demons with love".
But Uncle Meat feels that this is not the reason why this achievement is at the bottom of the "universe".
"Love" is the emotional core of the exorcism universe, and with it, "Exorcism" is not only a pure ghost film.
The core problem is, as a horror film —
It's not scary anymore.
I was once addicted to mobile phones in the middle of the way, and I urinated frequently and urinated urgently.
I even suspected that I was fooled after watching it, watching a detective film??? (Willing to be flickered and lame)
How did it break?
One word, urgent.
According to the "below" convention, ghosts are generally "flirting" scary.
First vaguely ambiguous, then suddenly appear, and finally upper body.
But the ghost of "The Conjuring 3" was possessed in front of everyone's eyes as soon as he came up——
Impatiently perform table yoga.
The limbs twist very hard, but there is no foreshadowing or horror atmosphere.
After the audience watched... I'm afraid, and I even want to ask the ghost to ask the yoga teacher's business card for fitness and swimming to understand.
After all, this pose, as early as the classic ghost film "The Exorcist" in 1973, is not to say scary, and even the hunting curiosity can't catch up with the fresh.
And the above exaggerated, the best clip of the whole film suspense, when the male protagonist looks at the mouth of the cave and the audience is adrenaline rushing -
End with a plainly dressed middle-aged woman with a nod of your nose.
...... Be reserved sister!
This year, even if the special effects artist spent 172,800 seconds of horror makeup, it may not be able to scare the audience.
Even worse, that's it??? Even Uncle Meat's random puffing of powder in his face on Halloween last year was no more terrifying.
You don't take the heart out of your mind, how to make the audience walk the kidneys (I'm talking about adrenaline)
Visually, the atmosphere and creativity are not very good.
What about hearing?
I don't know if you fat friends noticed when watching "Conjuring 1 and 2", every time before the ghost made a move, it was always accompanied by nursery rhymes and laughter.
In the eerie atmosphere, these sounds, which originally symbolized beauty, reflected the strange horror effect.
Before the duel with the ghosts, the Warrens and their gang are preparing for the exorcism in the old mansion.
Wen Ziren also deliberately put on a cheerful background music, which is in stark contrast to the fierce exorcism soon after.
But in "The Conjuring 3", before the demon came up, the director also played music -
Noisy and chaotic.
It's a bit like the "high-energy ahead" bullet screen reminder, and it is suddenly revealed.
Let the audience not only feel terrible, but feel particularly irritable.
At the level of psychological fear, compared with the "fright" of "Conjuring 1 and 2", which is reversed and reversed, this time the script only arranges a mediocre "detective".
After the Warrens discovered the horn curse, Lorraine began to open the plug to channel the psychic.
After the soul pierced the scene, Lorraine provided two clues:
The place where the altar is sacrificed is passed by by a train, accompanied by a vibration, possibly a basement.
So they used these two clues to start guessing "which is this?"
Unlike criminal investigation films and television dramas such as "Criminal Minds", puzzles are introduced only from the information in the mouths of blindfolded kidnapped victims.
Even the most unsatisfactory episodes of "Evil Force" do not dare to be so perfunctory.
The whole process relies on intuition and channeling, and the true no surprise series.
Finally, a little bit about the imagination in ghost movies.
Now the audience is well-informed, as a ghost film, you must not have a richer imagination is not it?
However, some of the original horror settings of this film have not left room for the audience to make up for it, and even faintly reveal a bit of criticism.
For example, there is no front and back padding, and it is not within the scope of the curse but suddenly appears fat ghosts.
Even a little cute as he tried to pick up his pace to catch up with Ed.
There is also Ed, who is controlled by magic, and attempts to persecute Lorraine.
How to persecute?
...... Pick up a sledgehammer hammer into your chest.
But the problem was that the hammer seemed heavy and Ed seemed to be unable to carry it.
Thrilling? It doesn't exist anymore.
And such a quaint way of hunting and killing takes place in a horror movie with ghosts...
It can only be said that the aggression is not great, but the insult to the ghost is extremely strong.
People stay up late at work, and the director you finally give the audience this ???
Both the ghost and the audience lost blood.
Therefore, the Soul Summoning Universe is still that universe, and the Warrens are still the original team.
But the director is different, really worse than a little bit.
So, where is Wen Ziren's cow?
The reason why Wen Ziren can shoot ordinary elements out of flowers, become a new upstart in Hollywood horror films, and even become a contemporary horror master by Rainbow Fart.
In terms of audiovisual senses, "warm terror" only "stirs" people.
That is, he never scares you directly with a scream.
Only the details are carefully arranged, so that you are unconsciously enveloped by the atmosphere of horror.
Look at the picture:
Who is gazing at the hostess from the basement? (The Conjuring 1)
composition.
Through the perspective of the characters, distort the perspective, and create a sense of strangeness for the audience.
The protagonist is contrasted in the composition, making people feel helpless and oppressive.
By forced shots:
A voyeuristic perspective that hints at the death gaze of the ghost's momentary existence.
The camera "looks" at the one that will move in, with railings symbolizing that they will be trapped here (The Conjuring 1)
Focus.
In "The Conjuring 1", her mother is in the dark basement, and there are constantly "people" clapping their hands and playing hide-and-seek with her.
With laughter, you think the ghost has come out—
A pair of miserable white hands in my ears!
I can't see the grimace at all! But you're just afraid to get your ass out of your seat.
Again, the focus falls on the doll Annabelle's face, and the narration is that the masters are discussing with the exorcist how to lower it.
Like it's not like... It is eavesdropping on its master's abandonment and betrayal, preparing for revenge.
Look at the process of the second daughter being possessed in "The Conjuring 2":
You can only see the surprised expression of the male protagonist, but with the hoarse male voice, you can vaguely observe in the haze that the size of the girl in the distance has become an adult man.
But you just can't see —"
By focusing on close-up people or objects, the director deliberately creates visual blind spots and leaves blanks for ghosts.
The imagination of self-inflicted brain supplementation is the most frightening.
match colors:
The protagonists of "Conjuring 1 and 2" uniformly wholesale a large number of red dresses and flower clothes, which not only save money, but also let them often be in the dark, with their own horror.
This is why netizens say that a group of little girls walking around the old house in long skirts is itself scary.
You look at this picture:
Children's floral pajamas and wallpaper blend together, coupled with a bright red staircase with no end in sight...
The more beautiful the flower clothes, the more eerie, and the large red color represents:
Blood - danger - fear.
Before the ghost appears, you are already scared to pee.
This is also why netizens are confused when they read 1:
If you think about it, a dog and a bird died in the whole film, how can it be so scary?
Because the audiovisual details are inconspicuous, the concentration of atmospheric horror has exceeded the standard.
In terms of psychological feelings, "warm horror" is like letting you drive a Russian matryoshka doll.
Layer by layer, horror escalates.
For example, when a family moves into an old house, the first person to appear strange is the little sister.
Something grabbed her ankle, but she thought it was her sister's prank and soon fell asleep safely.
Mom and little sister play hide-and-seek, and the little sister is hiding in the next room, but mom crosses the corridor to another room.
"Naughty" clapping applause came from the closet.
The blindfolded mother smiled—
But in the above two scenes, the director of "Chicken Thief" lets our audience know the truth before the characters:
It is not the sister who grabs the ankle, and it is not the little sister who claps the hand-
It's a ghost.
But we can only do it for the protagonist.
Then, as the plot progresses, the sister sees the ghost, and the sister does not believe it.
My sister also saw the ghost, and my mother didn't believe it.
Finally, Mom also saw the ghost, and Dad was screaming in a room of screams:
Can anyone tell me what happened?
The audience prophet, layer by layer, like the devil harassment procedure told by the Warrens in the film:
Horror naturally superimposes.
Then, there's the reversal.
Every time you think this is the truth, but quickly find out how can this Russian matryoshka doll open a layer?
For example, in The Conjuring 1, when a girl feels that something is at her bedside, she suddenly notices that the ghost is under the bed.
But when you sit on the bed with her and look at it upside down, there is nothing under the bed.
I was breathing a sigh of relief, and I found through the narrow visual gap under the bed——
The door "creaked" open, there really was a ghost!
In addition to this small reversal in details, there is also a big reversal in the overall plot.
The mother and child ghosts that first appeared in "The Conjuring 1" are actually victims.
The ghost mother is seduced by the witch's ghost and kills her own child.
The big boss is actually a witch revenant.
In "The Conjuring 2", the second daughter is possessed by the ghost old man, the former owner of the old house.
When it was difficult to figure out that the ghost old man's purpose was to drive them away, the second daughter was filmed possessing a fake video——
The destroyed kitchen scene was smashed by the girl herself.
When you're as full of question marks as the Warrens, the reversal comes:
The ghost old man threatens the girl that if the exorcist does not leave, he will kill the girl's entire family.
So the girl set up a trick, but the ghost possession is not fake.
And the seemingly domineering ghost old man is actually a victim:
He is trapped in the room by the devil as a puppet, and the devil is the initiator.
Plainly.
Wen Ziren and Wen Ziren are two different varieties.
Unlike watching "The Conjuring 3", it is boring to play with mobile phones.
When reliving "The Conjuring 1 and 2", even if Uncle Meat opened the barrage to strengthen his courage, he was still scared enough.
Horror movies want this kind of —
Covering his eyes and being afraid and loving, while worrying about being scared to fly down three thousand feet and die on the spot, while holding on to the effect of not leaving the scene?
Ultimately.
Horror movies have to look like horror movies.
Horror film directors must also have the ability of horror film directors.
Ghost movies are not something that anyone can make.
So --
Wen Shen, don't borrow people everywhere with the golden signboard, you can shoot the ball directly.
Edit: Yi An An