REAR WINDOW (1954)

    Director: Alfred Hitchcock         Genre: Thriller/Horror

Brief Plot Outline: A wheelchair bound photographer spies on his neighbors from his apartment window and becomes convinced one of them has committed a murder.

Two scenes that impressed me during this film were first of all the scene where Lisa (a blonde female) slid the note written by Jefferson under the possible murderer’s door as she is challenging character stereotypes, this is also very brave of her considering the historical context of the film. I was also impressed with the scene featuring the re-occurring detective, as I was expecting something exciting to happen or some new information to be revealed, but he just acted as a suspense mechanism to add to the suspense of the film keeping the audience on the edge of their seat.

Watching this film has helped me understand this genre of film making (thriller/horror) because it included the majority of the popular genre conventions, which are used in horror today. This is surprising as Read Window was made in 1954 before horror as a genre really boomed, also this film was made 6 years before Psycho which helped start the rise of horror films.

Some of the conventions which included in this film are close-ups these are used when Lisa creeps up on Scotty to surprise him so you can see her facial expressions clearly but this could also link to Laura Mulvey’s Male Gaze Theory as the close-ups could have been used to focus on her beauty. Restricted narration is used in the scenes where the murder takes place, no body horror and very little violence is on screen as Hitchcock was still working under the Hays’ Code. Low-key lighting a lot, particularly during the scenes when Scotty is spying on his neighbors with binoculars as he doesn’t want to be spotted, this also gives the scenes a creepier feel. All of these conventions are still popular in horrors today especially the psychological kind.

Aspects from this film which I would like to include when making my own trailer would be the stylish mise-en-scene as even though the film is considered a horror it was still visually stimulating. I would also like to create carefully crafted suspense that keeps the spectator at the edge of their seat, perhaps something similar to the scene when Lisa and Stella go over to find some evidence at the murderer’s apartment. I would also like to include the theme of voyeurism as this was an important aspect that run through ‘Rear Window’ (1954) as personally I found it enjoyable and makes you feel more immersed in the film, for example in the scene when get POV shot from Jefferson looking through the windows of the ballet dancer, the newly-wed couple and also the piano player.

However I would perhaps avoid including as much romance as this film within my horror trailer, even though I think the relationship between Lisa and Jefferson add tension in some of the scenes where Lisa took risks and Jefferson would be unable to do anything as he was in a wheelchair.

The best aspect for me, was the ending of the film and finding out that the neighbour was a killer all along, as throughout the film it could have gone either way; for example the detective dismissing any of Jefferson’s observations. An enjoyable part was seeing Lisa and Stella taking action in investigating and taking risks, being female heroes.

Rear Window (1954) shows the influence of its auteur – Alfred Hitchcock. Firstly by building suspense, and this film proves why Hitchcock was nicknamed the “Master of Suspense”. In a scene such as the one when Lisa delivers the note written by Jefferson to the suspected killer’s apartment there is very little dialogue in the scene, this probably because Hitchcock loved silent cinema and Soviet montage (such as Battleship Potemkin) which are films from the 1920’s. We are also watching from a voyeuristic perspective which is a key theme that runs through Rear Window and also aspects of voyeurism have played a part in other famous Hitchcock films such as Psycho (1960). This is because in reality Alfred Hitchcock was a voyeur obsessed by blonde women, so it is no coincidence that the leading female Lisa (played by Grace Kelly) is in fact blonde as many other female protagonists in his films were.