Masked Killer
Halloween
Scream
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The idea of a masked killer is used in both the films Halloween (Michael Myers) and Scream (Ghostface). I think having the killer dress up in a frightening outfit makes the movie more scary for the viewer because it gives it that much more mystery. In Halloween, Micheal Myers was one of Doctor Loomis' patients so Dr Loomis believes Michael is psycho. I think this links with the killer in Scream because the killer is Billy Loomis and Sidneys boyfriend Stu dressed up in the frightening outfit. Billy and Stu are psycho and go crazy in this film sending them to do things like stab each other to cover up for all their murders. The killers are also linked because Billy Loomis and Doctor Loomis have the same last name, they aren't related but it makes the two films look that much more connected. In the film scream there is a big party where the teenagers watch the movie Halloween and Jamie Lee Curtis' scream is focused on in an intense part of the movie. The masked killer in Scream is masked because there is a elaborate plot and the killers are trying to frame Sidney's dad. In Halloween the killer dresses up because it is halloween. The killer in scream wears a ghost mask adapted from the scream painting and a black cloak. The murders are brutal and disgusting, in the beginning of scream we see two people gutted.
This convention is used in the films to add mystery to the plot and makes the viewer think the killer is someone when it someone else for example, in halloween we see Michael Myers boots are the same as the police man's which draws a parallel between them. When we see an example like that,as the audience, it throws us off our original guess of who the killer is. Commercially both films were a huge success, Halloween was produced on a budget of $320,000 and earned $47.3 million at the box office in the United States, and $60 million worldwide. Scream , earned $173 million worldwide. The audiences response to this film was that they bought tickets to watch the film and they enjoyed it. The films subverted/changed the audiences because it played with their mind. The choices for the actors and actress' were made because people wanted to be in a film and didnt mind about the money so much, this was an advantage to the film producers because the actors didnt need to be paid as much as they would have originally so they saved more money making the film.
The film impacted the audience,at first in the media when people saw the advert, the picture of a masked person would make them start thinking and want to watch the film to see who the person behind the mask is. The convention also effected the audience in the way that during watching the film they could use their own mind to have guesses of who the murderer could be and other parts of the film threw them off. Comercially, I think this convention changed people opinions because the idea of the murderer being hidden behind a disguise attracts the public to the film.
Before writing the film Scream, Wilkinson had a childhood of loving horror movies such as Halloween which made him passionate about writing this film. In Halloween the masked killer symbolizes teenagers rebelling will cause them to end up dead. The female lead behaves herself and doesn't rebel which leaves her alive but having to see all her friends deaths. This added to the commercial success because, although this film wasn't advertised very often, it attracted the public because it shows teenagers punished for doing wrong. The killer in scream is a stereotype who messes with the victim before killing them. This idea leaves the audience thinking they know where the film is going but then they are thrown off track, eg. when they guess who the killer is they are wrong because it is so unexpected.
