I've noticed, over my many years of horror movie viewing, that there is a recurring theme in every good horror film... the cat scare.
What is the cat scare? It is a suspense technique used to give the audience a thrill, followed by a sense of relief, and typically followed by somebody getting killed or chased by a killer. Still unclear? This is how a typical cat scare will go.
Enter victim to dark room, stage left mostly.
Victim: "Hello? Is anybody in here?"
a noise in the corner startles him/her
V: "Is that you, Brad? This isn't funny!"
a noise from the closet prompts him/her to investigate
V: "Brad your such a jerk, if your trying to scare me I'm going to kill you."
he/she timidly opens the closet door (suspenseful music plays)
cat dives out of the closet
Cat: RRRRRAAARRRR!
V: "HOLY SHIT!!!! Whiskers! You scared me!"
Boo mutherfuckers!
At this point the audience is kicking themselves for being such pussies (no pun intended) and jumping at a damn cat flying out of the closet.
After the initial thrill is over and just about the time the audience is feeling safe again, the killer emerges and makes everyone shit their pants.
inevitable doom
There are, however, some instanes where the cat scare is overused.
The first "Alien" movie uses three cat scares in a matter of five minutes. Seriously? It's a big strech to use two in an entire movie. But three in five minutes? Lets get real Ridley Scott.
1 comment:
I think the cat scare is incredible. Especially when it comes in a movie where there is no actual chance that a cat would be there at that time.
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