SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE, BUILDING AND DESIGN

THE DESIGN SCHOOL

FOUNDATION IN NATURAL BUILD ENVIRONMENT

NAME: LEE KAI YUNG

STUDENT ID NO: 0318314

FILMS SELECTED: HORROR FILMS

WORD COUNT: 742

ENGLISH 2 (ELG 30605)

WRITTEN ASSIGNMENT 1: COMPARE – CONTRAST ESSAY

LECTURER: CASSANDRA WIJESURIA

SUBMISSION DATE: 5TH DECEMBER 2014

Horror movies are one of my favorite genre of movie. The movie “Oculus” and “Annabelle” fall under the horror movie genre, and they are both great movies. By comparing these two movies, I found that they are different from each other, the story and the elements of the movie.

The movie “Oculus” takes place in two different times, the present and the past 11 years, the two plotlines are told in parallel through flashback. This movie is about a sibling, Tim and Kaylie, the sister try to protect or exonerate her brother, who was convicted of murder, by providing the crime was committed by a supernatural phenomenon. The film takes place in two different times, the present and the past 11 years, the two plotlines are told in parallel through flashback.

In the past, the siblings’ father, Alan, bought a mirror to decorate his office, the mirror was supernatural and malevolent and induces hallucinations. As time passes, the siblings’ parents became psychotic because of the mirror reflected something weird which make them go crazy. One day, the parents are out of control and tried to kill their children and Tim shot his father to death and caught by the police and take him into the custody. After 11 years, the present time, Tim released from custody. He united with his sister and try to find out the back story of the supernatural mirror. They set a few cameras to observe the mirror and they found out the mirror induced them to rearrange the contents of the room without their knowledge. Now they believe the mirror does have some diabolical power and they attempt to escape the house but keep drawing back by the mirror’s influence. They try to call the police for help but influenced by the mirror. Tim has a hallucinate and experience everyone killed by the mirror, then he activated the switch to destroy the mirror and causing the anchor to descend and impale Kaylie. In the same time, police arrive and arrest Tim again.

In the other hand, the movie “Annabelle” is also a terrifying supernatural horror movie. This movie is talking about a couple own a doll called Annabelle which is haunted, and they experience terrifying supernatural occurrences involving the doll after their house is invaded by satanic cultists. The doll is causing trouble everywhere and passed down generation by generation.

In 1967, John and Mia are expecting their first child and John gives Mia a doll, she just keep it with the rest of her doll collection. At night, Mia hears a murder occur in neighbour, when she called the police, she is attacked by a women holding a doll and a man accomplice, John and the police arrived and killed the man and the women with the doll kills herself. Then Mia was told and thrown away the doll. Time passed, Mia gives birth to a baby girl named Leah and move into their new apartment. Mia then find the doll which they had though discarded. Strange activity plagues Mia and her baby. Mia went to a bookstore run by Evelyn and was told the presence of the doll hunting her wants her baby’s soul. The couple take the doll to the priest, but the ghost of

Annabelle attack the priest with a demonic looking creature, and during the attack, Mia saw a demon holding Annabelle in the air, implying the doll itself has no power but is being controlled by a demon. The demon then taunt Mia and take her baby, Mia attempts to kills Annabelle, failed and was saved by John. Evelyn talks hold Annabelle and make sacrifice, she jumps out of the window and shown dead at the bottom of the apartment, Leah is then found safe in her crib.

As a conclusion, this two horror movies may sound the same but they are definitely different from each other. From the movie “Oculus”, there was no demons appear in the movie and only the mirror causing hallucination and make people go crazy and end up become psychotic. But as for the movie “Annabelle”, The demon does appear and that is no a hallucination because the priest was attacked and Evelyn feels the pressure of the demon, which mean the demon does exist, this is the differences between the story of this two movies.