Research into Similar Films - Part 1

Similar Films:

Audition (1999) 
This is a Japanese horror film, that in October 2003 was named 'Sickest Film' by a combination of film review magazines. The elements that gave it this role were it's twisted scenes of torture but because we begin the film on quite a positive note for a psychological horror in which creates the feeling of 'safety' which we do not tend to have in this genre of film. This makes it a lot more interesting and this is an element something which a 'conventional horror' would not have. This is an element that have been considering for our story line as it a different feature that could be extremely effective by creating an alternative atmosphere.





Synopsis:
A middle aged man who has been widowed for 7 years is told by his 17 year old son that he thinks that he should start to move on and maybe look for another wife. His friend who is a film maker then has the idea to hold a makeshift audition for a 'film' to see if he can help find him a potential wife from the women who come to audition. He becomes obsessed with a woman who auditioned, who at first seems the 'perfect bride' but slowly through the film we find out that she is nothing like he thought she was, in the slightest. All the links from the woman's resume turn out to be dead ends, literally all are either dead or missing. Whilst he is out the woman makes her way into the widowers home, finding pictures of his dead wife and becomes seized by a jealous rage, drugging his alcohol. When he finally arrives home and takes a drink he soon passes out from the drugs. In the last 15 minutes we finally get to realise who this woman really is.

Characters/Unique Selling Point:
There are only ever 2 main characters and one supporting role. The fact that there aren't a lot of main characters makes us focus into story more which is an element to at least look at or incorporate. Because the story line is the main element to a psychological horror this helps you as an audience member to get more involved in the story.
The 2 sub heading 'character' and 'unique selling point' are together because I believe that the unique selling point of the story is the characters. It is the way we get to know each character slowly and the factor of 'slow reveal' about the characters personalities and what they're really like keeps the audience on edge and gives it the 'edge of the seat' atmosphere to it. This also aids the way that psychological horrors like to give you as little as possible to work with and then slowly reveal small and sometimes ambiguous clues that leave it up to you to make the links. Until ultimately, like in the final 15 minutes of 'Audition' the real nature of the female protagonist is revealed.

Reviews:

http://www.empireonline.com/reviews/reviewcomplete.asp?FID=6662

This is a relevant review as it is done by an official site that also has other media resources that make it famous for their reviews and articles on film as it is their speciality. 
I have chosen to use this review as it picks up on the fact that I previously mentioned about the 'safety' feeling that lures you in to the beginning of the film, and creates the safe illusion and then shifts into an unsettling nature due to the haunting sequences of torture. This is quite relevent to our story as we are going to try and add some sinister elements into an everyday story to create a sense of insecurity in safe environents, which is an affective way to add to the element of a psychological horror.


http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/audition_1999/

This is a review from a reviewing website called 'Rotten Tomatoes', which is notoriously known for giving strict reviews and crutinising each film. 
This review has a star rating out of 5 and also it has other quotes and ratings from other critics such as The Guardian and the New York Times. Near enough all of the reviews talk about the elements of the film that we are considering for ours. These are the twisted story and the way the film stays with you. This would be a great selling point for a film for it to stick with you for a long time after you've watched it as you wouldn't want to create something that is easily forgettable and is like many other films of the same genre/sub-genre, you want it to stand out.

Links:

This is a YouTube video which is the 'controversial' final scene from the film Audition. This is the most infamous scene in the entire film as, practically, the entire film leads up to this. I think this is a relevant scene to look into because, as the film has quite a slow build up, you consider in your mind all of the possibilities of where the film is going to go, which is a good element in a film to have as you get the audience completely involved in the film and emersed  into the story line, and then hit them with something that they weren't at all expecting. 

This is a YouTube video of a countdown from a television channel Bravo, in which other directors from other iconic horror films are interviewed about the countdown choices and given their opinion on the films. I think this is a great source to look into how effective the films and their elements were because you get to see the way that they had an impact on other directors of the same type of genre, as opposed to just usually the audience reaction. There are also critics views in there which is a good thing to have as you get to see it from a professional point of view also.