My Horrible Idea
(Using Horror Movies to Teach English)
  • How to Use Monsters in the Classroom
    • What Can Monsters Teach Us?
    • Rhetorical Problems of Purpose, Audience, and Genre
    • Doubt: A Parable
  • Literary Stuff
  • Guest Blogs
    • SCARY MARY: A STUDY OF TONE
    • Horror Movie Survey
    • First Dates and Wisecracking Werewolfs
    • Rachel Tucker: A Master Gardener's take on The Purge
    • Janice Cheng: Horror & Logic
    • Zach Butler: Why All the Horror?
  • Movie Lists
    • MEAT IS MURDER: MY TOP FIVE LIST OF CANNIBAL MOVIES
    • CHRISTMAS HORROR MOVIES
    • TRIBUTE TO MR. VINCENT LEONARD PRICE, JR.
  • Archives
    • MONSTER MOVIES >
      • DRACULA (1931)
      • THE MUMMY (1932)
      • KING KONG (1933)
      • THE WOLF MAN (1941)
      • CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON (1954)
      • THEM! (1959)
      • THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES (1959)
      • THE WASP WOMAN (1959)
      • THE DEADLY BEES (1966)
      • PLANET OF THE APES (1968)
      • EMPIRE OF THE ANTS (1977)
      • THE SWARM (1978)
      • THE BEES (1978)
      • ALIEN (1979)
      • THE ATTIC (1980)
      • CUJO (1981)
      • PREDATOR (1987)
      • DEAD ALIVE (1992)
      • CONGO (1995)
      • JAWS (1975)
      • DEVIL DOG: THE HOUND OF HELL (1978)
      • LEGION OF FIRE: KILLER ANTS (1998)
      • DEEP BLUE SEA (1999)
      • OPEN WATER (2003)
      • THE HIVE A LOOK AT LITERARY ENTOMOLOGY (2008)
      • THE REEF (2010)
      • THE GREY (2011)
      • SHARKNADO (2013)
      • WER (2013)
      • THE BABADOOK (2014)
    • HONORED DIRECTORS >
      • SHIVERS (1975)
      • VIDEDROME (1983)
      • THE FLY (1986)
      • DEAD RINGERS (1988)
      • CHRISTINE (1983)
      • THE THING (1982)
      • PRINCE OF DARKNESS (1987)
      • THEY LIVE (1988)
      • IN THE MOUTH OF MADNESS (1994)
      • REPULSION (1965)
      • THE TENANT (1976)
      • THE FEARLESS VAMPIRE KILLERS (1967)
      • ROSEMARY'S BABY (1968)
      • FRANKENSTEIN (1910)
      • THE OLD DARK HOUSE (1932)
      • THE INVISIBLE MAN (1933)
      • BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1935)
      • SALEM'S LOT (1979)
      • THE FUNHOUSE (1981)
      • LIFE FORCE (1985)
      • POLTERGEIST (1982)
      • THE TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE (1974)
      • THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT (1972)
      • THE HILLS HAVE EYES (1977)
      • A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET (1984)
      • SCREAM (1996)
    • KOREAN FLICKS >
      • 조용한 가족 (aka The Quiet Family 1998)
      • 소름 (aka SORUM 2001)
      • 세이 예스 (aka SAY YES 2001)
      • 폰 (aka Phone 2002)
      • 령 aka DEAD FRIEND aka THE GHOST (2004)
      • 거미슾 (aka SPIDER FOREST 2004)
      • 분홍신 aka THE RED SHOES (2005)
      • 레드 아이 (AKA RED EYE 2005)
      • 스승의은혜 (AKA TO SIR, WITH LOVE 2006)
      • 신데렐라 (aka Cinderella 2006)
      • 아파트 (aka APT 2006)
      • 두사람이다 aka VOICES (2007)
      • Alone (2007)
      • 므이 (aka MOUI 2007)
      • 헨젤 과 그레텔 (aka Hansel & Gretel 2007)
      • 추격자 (aka The Chaser 2008)
      • 외톨이 (맘 LONER 2008)
      • 고死: 피의 중간고사 (aka DEATH BELL 2008)
      • 불신지옥 (aka POSSESSED 2009)
      • 요가학완 aka YOGA CLASS (2009)
      • 베스트 세러 (aka BEST SELLER 2010)
      • 악마를 보았다 (aka I SAW THE DEVIL 2010)
      • 고양이: 죽음을보는 두개의눈 (aka THE CAT 2011)
      • 기생령 (aka GHASTLY 2011)
      • 무서운이야기 (AKA HORROR STORIES 2012)
      • 더웹툰 예고살린 (AKA KILLER TOON 2013)
      • 뫼비우스 (aka MOEBIUS 2013)
    • THRILLERS >
      • DEAD OF NIGHT (1945)
      • STRANGERS ON A TRAIN (1951)
      • REAR WINDOW (1954)
      • THE TROUBLE WITH HARRY (1955)
      • NORTH BY NORTHWEST (1959)
      • THE BIRDS (1963)
      • STRIP NUDE FOR YOUR KILLER (1975)
      • BODY HEAT (1981)
      • CAT PEOPLE (1982)
      • JAGGED EDGE (1985)
      • BEDROOM WINDOW (1987)
      • NINE QUEENS (2000)
      • WHAT LIES BENEATH (2000)
      • THE DESCENT (2005)
      • THE EXPERIMENT (2010)
      • YOU'RE NEXT (2011)
      • 의뢰인 (aka The Client 2011)
      • ABRAHAM LINCOLN VAMPIRE HUNTER (2012)
      • TOAD ROAD (2012)
      • FEAR LIVES HERE (2013)
      • 런닝 맨 (AKA RUNNING MAN 2013)
      • GRAND PIANO (2013)
      • HOURS (2013)
      • BLUE RUIN (2013)
      • HOUSE OF GOOD AND EVIL (2013)
      • THE PURGE (2013)
      • 더테러라이브 (aka The Terror Live 2013)
      • THE HUMAN RACE (2013)
      • DAYLIGHT (2013)
      • HOUSEBOUND (2014)
      • THE GUEST (2014)
    • PSYCHOS >
      • DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE (1931)
      • ROPE (1948)
      • 1950's AWESOMENESS >
        • ROCKETSHIP X-M (1950)
        • THE MAN WHO CHEATED HIMSELF (1950)
        • WHAT THE BUTLER SAW (1950)
        • THE FLYING SAUCER (1950)
        • ROBOT MONSTER (1953)
        • PHANTOM FROM SPACE (1953)
        • TARGET EARTH (1954)
        • THE SNOW CREATURE (1954)
        • KILLERS FROM SPACE (1954)
        • IT CONQUERED THE WORLD (1956)
        • THE MOLE PEOPLE (1956)
        • THE GAMMA PEOPLE (1956)
        • THE LAND UNKNOWN (1957)
        • THE BRAIN FROM PLANET AROUS (1957)
        • I WAS A TEENAGE FRANKENSTEIN (1957)
        • THE NIGHT THE WORLD EXPLODED (1957)
        • THE AMAZING COLOSSAL MAN (1957)
        • THE GIANT CLAW (1957)
        • KRONOS (1957)
        • LA CRAVATE (1957)
        • THE THREE FACES OF EVE (1957)
        • THE MONOLITH MONSTERS (1957)
        • I BURY THE LIVING (1958)
        • THE MONSTER OF PIEDRAS BLANCAS (1959)
        • TEENAGERS FROM OUTER SPACE (1959)
        • ATTACK OF THE GIANT LEECHES (1959)
        • BEAST FROM HAUNTED CAVE (1959)
        • I EAT YOUR SKIN (1964)
      • LES DIABOLIQUES (1955)
      • PSYCHO (1960)
      • WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE (1962)
      • TAXI DRIVER (1976)
      • ¿Quien Puede Matar a un Niño? (aka WHO CAN KILL A CHILD? aka THE ISLAND OF THE DAMNED 1976)
      • THE SHINING (1980)
      • FRIDAY THE 13TH (1980)
      • MISERY (1990)
      • CAPE FEAR (1991)
      • THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS (1991)
      • SWOON (1992)
      • DEATH AND THE MAIDEN (1992)
      • RESERVOIR DOGS (1992)
      • SCHINDLER'S LIST (1993)
      • NATURAL BORN KILLERS (1994)
      • THE CELL (2000)
      • SEXY BEAST (2000)
      • ONE HOUR PHOTO (2002)
      • MONSTER (2003)
      • WRONG TURN (2003)
      • WOLF CREEK (2005)
      • SIN CITY (2005)
      • HARD CANDY (2005)
      • THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND (2006)
      • MR. BROOKS (2007)
      • THE DARK KNIGHT (2008)
      • SKYFALL (2012)
    • THE SUPERNATURAL >
      • NOSFERATU (1922)
      • CARNIVAL OF SOULS (1962)
      • LET'S SCARE JESSICA TO DEATH (1971)
      • THE CHANGELING (1980)
      • THE EVIL DEAD (1981)
      • ANGEL HEART (1987)
      • HELLRAISER (1987)
      • CHILD'S PLAY (1988)
      • THE SIXTH SENSE (1999)
      • AUDITION (1999)
      • END OF DAYS (1999)
      • STIGMATA (1999)
      • Richard Matheson Tribute: A STIR OF Memories
      • THE GIFT (2000)
      • THE RING (2002)
      • THE GRUDGE (2004)
      • THE EXORCISM OF EMILY ROSE (2005)
      • THE AMITYVILLE HORROR (2005)
      • DARK WATER (2005)
      • SILENT HILL (2006)
      • PARANORMAL ACTIVITY (2007)
      • LAKE MUNGO (2008)
      • DRAG ME TO HELL (2009)
      • INSIDIOUS (2010)
      • WE ARE WHAT WE ARE (2013)
      • MAMA (2013)
      • CARRIE (2013)
      • OCULUS (2013)
      • THE CONJURING (2013)
      • LATE PHASES (2014)
      • THE TAKING OF DEBORAH LOGAN (2014)
      • JESSABELLE (2014)
      • ANNABELLE (2014)
  • Psycho Hall of Fame
  • Crimson Peak
  • An America Terror
  • The Beat Goes On: Horror Franchises

Rear Window (1954)

7/9/2014

0 Comments

 
Picture
Picture
I can only hope that someday in your life you can just sit back, relax, and enjoy some uninterrupted Alfred Hitchcock movies. They are just so rich. Take for example Rear Window, the setting in this film is everything and it’s only one large set. You may not think a film of a guy in a wheelchair looking out his rear window onto the courtyard of his apartment and its other inhabitants sounds like the fodder for action and suspense, but believe me, in the hands of the master – it’s riveting.


Picture
The setting in this film, like most settings crucial to the narrative, is almost a character in itself. We get so much information in the opening panning shot. Before a word is spoken, we know things about our protagonist like he’s a photographer, he’s been in an accident, he has photographed famous people, and his neighbors all have distinct characters.

Picture
It shouldn’t be surprising then, that the main character played by James Stewart spends his time looking out his window at his neighbors. He’s a photographer…a professional observer. Hitchcock raises this pastime to an almost deviant voyeuristic level. He becomes convinced that his neighbor has killed his wife and manages to convince those around him of the same thing. The voyeurism takes a turn in a scene when the man (played by Raymond Burr) turns his gaze back into Stewart’s apartment. The viewer then becomes the viewed. His wheelchair-bound state makes him vulnerable as he cannot escape his setting.

Picture
Even though there is only on set in the film, it only becomes claustrophobic when the killer arrives. Until then, Hitchcock manages to keep us interested by including moments of the neighbor’s lives. Hitchcock always seems to manage his settings for the greatest effect. From Rope to Lifeboat to Rear Window and to some extent Dial M for Murder, there’s a very limited setting, yet its character is just as much a part of the film as the actors!
Seriously, treat yourself to a Hitchcock film tonight!

Alfred Hitchcock Filmography   

The Silent Years

1925 The Pleasure Garden

1927 The Mountain Eagle

1927 The Lodger

1927 Downhill

1927 Easy Virtue

1927 The Ring

1928 Champagne

1928 The Farmer's Wife

1929 The Manxman
 

The British Classics

1929 Blackmail

1930 Juno and the Paycock

1930 Murder!

1931 The Skin Game

1932 Number Seventeen

1932 Rich and Strange

1934
The Man Who Knew
Too Much


1934 Waltzes From Vienna

1935 The 39 Steps

1936 Sabotage

1936 Secret Agent

1937 Young and Innocent

1938 The Lady Vanishes

1939 Jamaica Inn

1940 Foreign Correspondent

 V
intage Hollywood

1940 Rebecca

1941 Mr. and Mrs. Smith

1941 Suspicion

1942 Saboteur   

1943 Shadow of a Doubt

1944 Lifeboat

1945 Spellbound   

1946 Notorious

1948 The Paradine Case

1948 Rope

1949 Under Capricorn

1950 Stage Fright 


1951 Strangers on a Train

1953 I Confess

1954 Dial "M" for Murder

1954 Rear Window


1955 To Catch a Thief

1955 The Trouble with Harry


 1956 The Man Who Knew
Too Much
(remake)


1956 The Wrong Man

1958 Vertigo

1959 North by Northwest

1960 Psycho

1963 The Birds

1964 Marnie

1966 Torn Curtain

1969 Topaz

1972 Frenzy

1976 Family Plot
 



0 Comments

    SETTING

    A look at how setting influences narrative.

    Archives

    July 2014

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.