References for the short film

-Lip Rouge Anguished

XXX HOLIC (EPISODE 8)

XXX Holic is a manga/anime series about supernatural things. There was a new challenge every episode, based on an urban legend or myth which made it seem more worthwhile, because it was not some completely made up mumbo jumbo. This episode 8 caught my eye specifically for this project’s research because it was scary, was based on a well-known myth, and the plot was “karma”.

The episode starts out with something like a warehouse full of strange objects (things that move and have curses on them). A girl discovers a strange antique object, she is warned about the dangers that come with it, but she takes it with her anyways. The ancient object was a monkey’s paw. Now the monkey’s paw actually has a myth, that it grants wishes but with it comes a form of punishment. So the myth is shown in this episode, that with every wish made, a bad thing happens to fulfill that wish. And the person most of the time does not know what he/she is getting into, then the curse takes over the person’s conscience and make them do things against their will/their knowledge. It may end up in deaths even, death of people around or involved with the monkey’s paw wish.

The teaching here is that people are more likely to do something when they are forbidden, and when they cross that line there is no telling what else they are capable of doing to get what it is they want, the things that a person wishes for often reveal more about them than they would like. (Mizushima, 2006-2008)

 

INSIDIOUS

Insidious is a horror movie which challenges the viewer’s believes. It makes things look realistic and very plausible, makes us take a second look around us to make sure we are not facing anything supernatural.

The movie starts off with a family who just moved into a new house, but then one of the young boy slips into coma suddenly, and the doctors could not explain it. Only it was not a coma, there were some darker and stronger forces working there. The young boy’s soul had wandered off into another dimension, he had become a doorway for spirits. To bring their son back, the parents call an expert in the field of paranormal activity. It shows how strong love is and how much far a parent can go to save their child from danger, because the father willingly goes into the other dimension to find his son.

Now the takeaway from this movie plot is the details, for example- there is an alternate dimension for spirits, how spirits interact, or what jump scares or scenes can actually scare the audience. For instance, something suddenly moving, a spirit taking over the body, the background music, the screams, the little unexpected twist at the end, all of these together makes the movie a true horror movie. (Wan, 2011)

 

References

CLAMP (Director). (2003). XXX holic episode 8 [Motion Picture].

Wan, J. (Director). (2011). Incidious [Motion Picture].