Dominic Dadiego
Ms. Barklow
Monsters & Misfits
10 January 2019
Annotated Bibliography
“1408 Film Review” *
This article focuses mainly on how well the director, Mikael Hafstrom uses key visual and auditory elements to produce an extremely compelling film, and how the cynicism of Mike Enslin was his ultimate downfall. It is stated in the review that, “While Hafstrom eventually turns 1408 into a frozen tomb that cracks and shifts like an arctic ice shelf, it’s the smaller details that the creepiness escalates: The close-up of the old-fashioned lock mechanism as Mike inserts the key, the room itself having refused any security improvements is a little gem of tension-building” (Anderson 36). This quote illustrates how Hafstrom has used his directing skills to enhance the cinematic value of the movie. I am using this source because it helps me improve upon my point of the cinematic masterpiece that is 1408.
“Hill, Annette. Paranormal Media: Audiences, Spirits, and Magic in Popular Culture” *
This article focuses on how speculation and curiosity is a concept that we will always have, because we are constantly seeking to know more, and learn more about the paranormal and something we can’t see. It talks about faiths, and how we all could have had a supernatural experience at some point in our lives, despite not even knowing it. It says,
“Without an audience, there would be no show. There would be no point. Transubstantiation, if one is a Catholic, is the belief that the bread and wine before us at the Mass becomes the body and blood of Christ. This is, in essence, magical. The difference is, however, that transubstantiation would still occur whether or not there were an audience. Without his audience, Derren Brown would have neither a reason to perform his show, nor anyone to whom to perform, nor--important here--an income stream. It is his audience who makes his show” (Hill 163).
This quote is important because it supports my statement that, although not relating to horror, it shows that society is impressed by a concept that isn’t quite known to man, such as magic, or, in my case, the paranormal. Without the audience, however, there would be much less need for the unknown to be explored, but we use it as a source of entertainment because it intrigues, and enraptures the mind.
“Film & Music: Film: reviews: 1408: 4/5: Director: Mikael Hafstrom With: John Cusack, Samuel L Jackson Mary McCormack, Jasmine Anthony 94 mins, cert 15”
This film review simply illustrates and highlights the right and wrongs that the movie 1408 did, and its relation to the psychological horror genre. It critiques it well, and will help me in creating my adaptation of the source material by knowing what to avoid and what to do right, for example, “The movie is sharp, funny, and - whisper it - pretty scary, simply because it has learned a basic lesson un-learned by countless lesser examples: don't start with something scary. Start with 20 minutes or half an hour of something boring and ordinary and un-scary, and build up to the horror. Unpretentious and effective” (Bradshaw 14).
Ms. Barklow
Monsters & Misfits
10 January 2019
Annotated Bibliography
“1408 Film Review” *
This article focuses mainly on how well the director, Mikael Hafstrom uses key visual and auditory elements to produce an extremely compelling film, and how the cynicism of Mike Enslin was his ultimate downfall. It is stated in the review that, “While Hafstrom eventually turns 1408 into a frozen tomb that cracks and shifts like an arctic ice shelf, it’s the smaller details that the creepiness escalates: The close-up of the old-fashioned lock mechanism as Mike inserts the key, the room itself having refused any security improvements is a little gem of tension-building” (Anderson 36). This quote illustrates how Hafstrom has used his directing skills to enhance the cinematic value of the movie. I am using this source because it helps me improve upon my point of the cinematic masterpiece that is 1408.
“Hill, Annette. Paranormal Media: Audiences, Spirits, and Magic in Popular Culture” *
This article focuses on how speculation and curiosity is a concept that we will always have, because we are constantly seeking to know more, and learn more about the paranormal and something we can’t see. It talks about faiths, and how we all could have had a supernatural experience at some point in our lives, despite not even knowing it. It says,
“Without an audience, there would be no show. There would be no point. Transubstantiation, if one is a Catholic, is the belief that the bread and wine before us at the Mass becomes the body and blood of Christ. This is, in essence, magical. The difference is, however, that transubstantiation would still occur whether or not there were an audience. Without his audience, Derren Brown would have neither a reason to perform his show, nor anyone to whom to perform, nor--important here--an income stream. It is his audience who makes his show” (Hill 163).
This quote is important because it supports my statement that, although not relating to horror, it shows that society is impressed by a concept that isn’t quite known to man, such as magic, or, in my case, the paranormal. Without the audience, however, there would be much less need for the unknown to be explored, but we use it as a source of entertainment because it intrigues, and enraptures the mind.
“Film & Music: Film: reviews: 1408: 4/5: Director: Mikael Hafstrom With: John Cusack, Samuel L Jackson Mary McCormack, Jasmine Anthony 94 mins, cert 15”
This film review simply illustrates and highlights the right and wrongs that the movie 1408 did, and its relation to the psychological horror genre. It critiques it well, and will help me in creating my adaptation of the source material by knowing what to avoid and what to do right, for example, “The movie is sharp, funny, and - whisper it - pretty scary, simply because it has learned a basic lesson un-learned by countless lesser examples: don't start with something scary. Start with 20 minutes or half an hour of something boring and ordinary and un-scary, and build up to the horror. Unpretentious and effective” (Bradshaw 14).