Genre
- Supernatural thriller with undertones of horror.
- The opening sequence breaks convention in that it isn’t gory and doesn’t contain the classic jump scare.
- Although unconventional it descends into a traditional thriller/horror film it and conforms to the sub-genre.
Film Language
Sound
- Dialogue from found footage identifies a murderer and victims.
- Background noise establishes location.
- Non-diegetic sound suggests the boys attacker is not human .
- Diegetic sound- frantic shouting implies the boy has been killed.
- Dialogue - village scene shows people speaking in Khmer (language of Cambodia).
Editing
- The montage editing of the found footage gives illusion of a lot of contributors in response to the viral video.
- Relatively low cut rate towards end of opening creates tension as we expect something to happen.
- Intercutting between the boy and the woman suggest she is his mother.
- Parallel lines of action show the difference between inside in the dark and outside in the light.
- The colour grading gives the second half of the opening a mysterious tone.
- No use of visual effects throughout opening sequence creates a raw feeling to the scene.
- Titles are not included in this sequence aside from production houses at the beginning.
Mise-en-scene
- Location - shows an area unfamiliar to the majority of the audience
- Limited lighting accentuates the candles and lanterns
- Props - the candles in the boy’s bedroom represent safety, when they are blown out he becomes vulnerable.
- Character blocking - the positioning of the boys mother in relation to him at the end of the scene shows that he is dead and that she is panicked by this.
- Location - the public are uncomfortable in the confines of their home which encourages viewer to be uncomfortable as well.
Camerawork
- Framing of found footage is very central and direct
- The longshots establish the locations, in this case a rural village in Cambodia
- Handicam is restless movement suggests we are viewing from the point if the killer
- The steadicam follows the actions of the person serving food to create an intimacy between the audience and the characters within the diegetic world
- Varying aspect ratios give the found footage a greater urgency
- Panning shots reveal the house, this widens our understanding of the surrounding environment.
Narrative
- Story of young people’s reactions to viral video found on YouTube, some appear to be sceptic of the footage whereas others are fearful and curious of this Hungarian physiology experiment.
- Story of young Cambodian boy Teng living in a rural village in Cambodia, after listening to stories about deaths in a nearby town he goes to bed, his mother later walks in to find him in a paralytic state, unaware that he has been killed.
Representation Ideology
- The clip focuses on Teng’s insecurity and vulnerability, the idea that the antagonist is an unidentified spirit would instil fear in anyone after having heard the story of the spectre who leaves their victims with an expression of unparalleled fear.
- There is binary opposition in that Teng’s mother is the most protective and authoritative figure, in a country where men are considered to be more dominant this is a powerful and progressive concept.
Media Audiences
- The target audience would appear to be ages 15-29 however the concept of the film is open to older audiences also. The 15-29 target audience is characteristic of the horror genre.
- Dominant reading - a man is conducting experiments that are worrying members of the public, which is related to the attacks, by the spirit, on rural villages in Cambodia.
- Negotiated reading - the two incidents are related but the boy died of Sudden Unexpected Nocturnal Death Syndrome [SUNDS]
- Oppositional reading - the two incidents have no correlation
- Aberrant reading - the son was killed by his mother
Institutional context
- Produced by Michael Ohoven (founder of Infinity Media), Dark Hall Productions and Upload Films
- Distributed by independent company Anchor Bay Films
- Filmed in English and dubbed into Spanish for Latin American market
- Original title "The Door"
- Notable cast: Dallas Roberts, Alison Eastwood, Anne Dudek
- No available information of budget and box office revenue as it was released straight to DVD
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