Textual Analysis – ‘The Evil Dead’ remake

Introduction

The opening shot of the film here shows a sequence of visible light appearing from a dark background. This implies the ‘light at the end of the tunnel’ effectively as it represents Todorov’s narrative theory and Levi-Strauss’ binary opposites theory. The light versus dark can relate to good versus evil that represents the horror genre.

Opening the Film

The film starts with an introduction to the company on a black background with red typography. The black background successfully connotes the idea of darkness whilst the red typography implies blood linking to the horror genre.

Location

This shot conveys the idea of darkness with light surrounding the horror genre. It conveys the frantic and dark scene with the point of view shot of ‘the evil’ conveyed with the unstable camera movements. The trees surrounding the location show there is no way out and signifies evil.

Dominance

This shot conveys the horror genre because of the isolation in the woods elicits a deliberate response from the audience. This long shot signifies a power shift with the human on the floor signifying the disequilibrium and Propp’s character types of hero and villain.

Conclusion

The director has maintained the opening sequence to convey the horror genre fully. The typography with the introduction relates to blood and theme of darkness and evil as the light on the dark background shows disequilibrium. The characters are shown to be isolated in the woods and the camera shots convey this giving off the impression that the woods are a never ending sequence of evil. This opening sequence deliberately shows the horror genre with the difference between good and evil and Propp’s character types are represented with evil having more power initially.