pre-2000s horror + subjective pov

October truly flew by, which is slightly disappointing. I used to have a habit where, during the month of October, I would only let myself watch horror-related movies or shows. However, I find myself nearly out of time for the month and have yet to watch anything with how busy I've been. The week of Halloween really made me think about horror movies and how I used to watch entire movie series. The thing is I would watch a lot of old horror movies, the pre-2000s era of horror movies. Essentially, it's so poorly done that it's painfully obvious and even kind of laughable. That being said, I still loved them dearly regarding the cinematography, although they didn't create subjective POV, they're the genre that utilizes that method of POV shots the most.

That specific era of horror movies is considered so ridiculous at times because it's completely obvious how fake some of the scenes are, it's almost as if there was no attempt to make it realistic. That being said I still highly enjoy them, they're horror, but I consider them "horror," I would classify the pre-2000s era of horror as a satirical horror. I first started watching these when I watched the original 1978 production of Halloween by John Carpenter when I was about 10 or 11 years old. I watched more of the rest of the series, and then I watched the 1984 production of Nightmare on Elm Street, and willingly chose to forget about the second one. My favorite 'satirical horror' movie has to be the 1996 iconic Scream, although they weren't all great, they never get old, especially the first and fourth. The fifth and sixth are objectively good, but nothing can compare to Wes Craven and his approach to them, not to mention the minimal appearance of Neve Campbell, which made them very different. That being said, only the first and the second movies from the series are from before the year 2000, however I think Wes Craven never really got out of the habit of how to approach filming horror movies so much to the point the third and fourth are still vaguely similar in the sense where I tend to forget the fourth one was actually filmed in 2011.

Scream (1996)

Another part of horror movies, whether they're pre- or post-2000s, is the iconic POV shot of first-person, also called the subjective POV. It has to be one of my favorite aspects because it allows the watcher to truly feel more involved in a film and as if they're experiencing it themselves. Subjective POV is arguably a fantastic method to engage the audience in a different perspective that horror movies take advantage of. It builds to the suspense of the movie, whether you're in the POV of the killer or of the potential victim. You are truthfully in the eyes of the beholder, you feel attached, like you yourself are a character, so much so that you forget you're actually just watching a movie, at least that's how it is for me. I could just be obsessing over a POV shot that no one else finds fascinating, or it actually isn't that captivating to the audience whatsoever. But I feel like it's a fresh perspective that the audience doesn't always get to see when watching movies or shows. We just feel like an outsider, watching from the outside, a third person out of body, just observing, rather than being apart of it, truth be told that's probably why I love it so much when characters break the fourth wall. The subjective POV shot allows for an unease in the audience due to a sense of voyeurism, typically because it is from hidden spots in horror movies, like bushes, backseats/trunks of cars, through window blinds, and so much more.

The most obvious example I can think of in terms of subjective POV in horror movies is in the first Halloween movie, in the opening scene specifically, you're in Michael Myers' perspective, wearing a mask limiting your view, hearing the heavy breathing, and wandering around the house, then essentially experiencing the beginnings of Michael Myers firsthand. In addition to that, the Halloween series consists of a large number of subjective POV shots, typically from the perspective of Michael Myers. There are plenty of other horror movies that use this shot, The Silence of the Lambs (1991), Friday the 13th (1980), Maniac (2012), and so many other examples.

opening shot of Halloween (1978)

Now, before I finish this, I do want to add that subjective POV isn't only shown in horror movies. It's also incredibly common in thrillers and slashers and is seen in other genres as well. In fact, one of the earliest, most notable movies that uses subjective POV is Lady in the Lake from 1947, where the genre is mystery, and you, as the audience, are placed in the perspective of the detective.

Alfred Hitchcock is also a large fan of using this, most notably in Rear Window from 1954, which highlights voyeurism, and also in Psycho from 1960 with the iconic shower scene. Another example of a thriller that uses subjective POV, however with a little bit of a twist is Shutter Island from 2010, this movie however highlights more of an unreliable narrator, but the audience is placed in the perspective of the protagonist, so they truly don't know any better, allowing for a shocking plot twist, which I won't spoil just in case. So, although not entirely the common versions of subjective POV that I've been specifically referencing, it's still an interesting approach.

What I've noticed over time with horror, thriller, or slasher movies, and even most movies in general, is that there has been less usage of the subjective POV shot. I don't know if that's because maybe I just haven't paid attention or been watching the right movies that use it, but I would be intrigued for directors to start using it again. I think that could revamp cinema and movies as a generality, mainly due to the fact that I think subjective POV connects the audience to another level.

So I may joke about how ridiculous pre-2000s horror movies are, but the truth is, I think we can learn something from them. Sure, the bloody, gory shots were so poorly done, but they knew how to attract an audience at the time due to the limits cinema had for those types of shots, but I think a large factor of the appeal was also subjective POV. I may always have something to say about pre-2000s horror and how they're a little bit laughable and incredibly unserious, but I rewatch them every October just because of the usage of subjective POV. I have a terrible attention span. With this POV, I feel as though it's so much easier to focus on a movie and feel like you're actually interested in it. But that's all I have to say for now about how much I love subjective POV and why I still rewatch pre-2000s horror and kind of secretly love it.

Happy Halloween,

AC