I find the concept of the mother as the horror in film very interesting. It is interesting how frequent the idea of a mother figure being the horror, or connected to the horror is such a common element in horror films. We see it in the movies we watched, but we also see it in Psycho, Friday the 13th, Carrie, and even Coraline if we want to count it. We have such a strong cultural idea of what the role of the mother is within society. We are taught to see the mother as a protective and caring figure. This makes it really easy to push or distort this concept of the mother to make it creepy.
Goodnight Mommy was an extremely creepy movie in my opinion. I think the way the home is shot adds a strange stillness to the house. This makes the home feel unnerving, lonely and isolated. This really heightens the situation with the mother, because it feels like there is no escape. Another part of the film that adds to its tension is how little is actually explained. We never get told conclusively who the mom look alike was, why the mom’s mole was gone, what the accident was, or if the mom really had colored contacts. I think nothing ruins the horror of a horror movie more than getting answers, so I’m glad so much was left up in the air at the end. I think the twist was also really well handled. Like all good twists it contextualize the movie after you know it. The twist is surprising enough to be shocking, but makes perfect sense on reflection.
The Babadook is one of my favorite horror films. I love how the Babadook pays homage to German expressionism films. It gives the movie a very distinct style compared to a lot of over horror films. I also really like how the babadook is not defeated at the end, but is something that they need to learn to live with. The movie to me is about how the grief the mom feels towards the crash and how she blames it on her son as a coping mechanism. The babadook is her repressed emotions, and the film is her coming to terms with them, and learning to live with it.
The brood is a really disturbing horror film. I think mostly due to the brood and not the mother. Even though she is disturbing in her own right. I just think there's something really uneasy about seeing children attack and kill people instead of an adult. I think the worst part about the children is how much of an effect they have on Candice. She really looks scared and traumatized by everything that happened in the movie, and you can see the toll it's having on her. That's what truly makes the movie scary. It’s one thing to see this happen to an adult, it's another to see a child be put through it. I think the movie does a good job showing the effect abuse and trauma can have on someone. It shows how trauma can have a permanent effect on people's lives, and even be continued into the next generation. The film does a good job at depiction the mother as both a victim, and a threat to her daughter.