"Evil Eyes Look Back: Exploring the Returned Gaze in Horror Cinema"
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What happens when a horror monster looks or appears to look at you, the viewer? What does this look do to the filmic fiction? It is often the case in the horror film where the monster is framed looking at the camera. Despite its prevalence in the genre, the returned gaze is often dismissed or forgotten. By adopting a cognitive methodology that draws on both narratological and psychological theories, I argue that, when the gaze is returned in horror, affects of unease are produced. As they do this, they do not rupture the cinematic illusion or our emotional engagement because cinema is not an illusion to begin with. Ultimately, the returned gaze is a formal choice in horror that is rooted in certain innate human behaviours. I analyse various instances of the returned gaze inHalloween(1978) andThe Shining(1980) to demonstrate how this phenomenon in horror engages us.
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Copyright © 2019 the author(s). Theses may be used for non-commercial research, educational, or related academic purposes only. Such uses include personal study, research, scholarship, and teaching. Theses may only be shared by linking to Carleton University Institutional Repository and no part may be used without proper attribution to the author. No part may be used for commercial purposes directly or indirectly via a for-profit platform; no adaptation or derivative works are permitted without consent from the copyright owner.
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- 2019
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mackey-evileyeslookbackexploringthereturnedgazein.pdf | 2023-05-05 | Public | Download |