"The Texas chainsaw massacre" (Tobe Harper, 1974)

CF
Conventions and techniques:

• The opening is comprised of a number of shots which all have very little if any lighting, this is very common in horror movies, and adds creates sense of fright, as dark is often linked to 'the fear of the unknown'.
• Some of the opening shots do show a light source, which is fire, which is known for being dangerous and being able to cause pain, injury or even death, this immediately lets the audience know that the film they are about to watch may comply with this theme.
• One of the shots show a piece of land with nothing on but a simple mechanical device that shows the direction of the wind, this creates an impression that the film may be set in a secluded environment, which complies with the title which shows that the movie may well be set in Texas, which is known for it's size and the large amount of unnoccupied land, which again creates an impression that the film is set in a secluded environment which throughout the movie, would make the audience feel more scared for the characters as they are far away from any sort of help or safe-haven, this is a recurring theme in horror movies.
• There are a number of handycam shots for the shots that show 'gritty' images such as a dead Elk being dragged by what appears to be a hunter, the handycam effect emphasizes the recurring theme of graphic images and death, which is clearly a large part of the movie as conveyed by the title.
• Alot of the shots show aged photographs of small children, the children generally create a sense of sympathy from the audience to what you can infer may be victims (either the children themselves or parents of these children), the fact that these photographs are aged creates a sense of nostalgia, which again, amplifies the audience's sympathy for what the audience can infer to be victims.
• One of the shots shows a man wearing a cloth mask over his face, he is clearly hiding his identity from his victims, this generally creates an impression that he is almost invincible as no one knows who he is, and can therefore not indentify him to catch him, this is a recurring theme in a lot of horror movies, most notably "Saw" (James Wan, 2004).
• The fire which burns a number of items, including newspaper clippings and extracts from letters, may suggest that the culpret of the murders or crimes to come, is preventing himself from being caught be destroying evidence, which again implies he is almost invincible.