Genre criticism is a method within rhetorical criticism for analysing speeches and writing according to the symbolic artifacts they contain. In rhetoric, the theory of genre provides a means to classify and compare artifacts of communication and to assess their effectiveness and/or contribution to a community. By grouping artifacts with others of similar formal features or rhetorical exigencies, rhetorical critics can shed light on how authors use or flout conventions in order to meet their needs. Genre criticism has thus become one of the main methodologies within rhetorical criticism.
(courtesy of: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genre_criticism)
The Story:
 |
| courtesy of: http://www.containsmoderateperil.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/grave-encounters-Smaller.jpg |
The film begins with the producer of Grave Encounters explaining to the public as to why "Grave Encounters", a famous tv show, suddenly got cancelled, via found video footage. The footage shows the crew of Grave Encounters — composed of Lance Preston, occult specialist Sasha Parker, technical expert Matt White, cameraman T. C. Gibson, and guest-starring psychic medium Houston Grey - preparing to investigate the abandoned Collingwood Psychiatric Hospital where unexplained phenomena has been reported for years. They receive a tour of Collingwood and its underground tunnels and also learn about Collingwood's history, including a physician named Arthur Friedkin, who performed unethical experiments and lobotomies on the hospital patients before being killed by escaped patients; Friedkin was never arrested for his actions due to lack of evidence of the accusations. The crew voluntarily lock themselves inside Collingwood for the night (The caretaker chains the main entrance from the outside) and begin their investigation, setting up camp in the hospital lobby near the entrance. Lance and his crew try to establish contact with the unseen entities responsible, and although they are initially unsuccessful, they are eventually tormented by hauntings, which become increasingly hostile.
With half an hour left before the hospital caretaker comes to unlock the front doors, the crew starts packing. Matt goes to retrieve the cameras, but disappears. The others spend the next several hours looking for Matt, with the caretaker not arriving. Desperate, they knock down the front doors to escape, only to discover it leads to another corridor, as do several other "exit" doors they find. They notice that it is still night outside when it should be daylight. They spend the day sleeping, and find that their food is infested with fully grown maggots. After searching for more exits and trying to escape to the roof, the stairwell mysteriously ends with a solid wall blocking the entrance to the top floor. They hear screaming and run towards it, thinking it is Matt. They enter a room with a metal bed frame, which moves and then levitates. Soon after, they document Sasha's back, which now has a disturbing message carved into it saying "hello." The crew continues searching for both Matt and an exit when they encounter a girl whose face contorts demonically. The crew flees in fear, but Houston is separated from the others and later violently assaulted by an unseen force, killing him. While resting, the others find hospital tags bearing their names on their wrists. They eventually find Matt, who is wearing a hospital gown and has been driven insane, mumbling nonsense about his apparent psychological disorder, and explaining that the only way for them to escape is for them to "get better" at the hands of the hospital's unseen residents.
The crew continues to be chased through the hospital by several apparitions. T. C. is pulled into a bathtub filled with blood by a ghost while trying to save Matt and disappears, while Matt kills himself by jumping off an elevator shaft to his death as Lance and Sasha are attacked by a tongueless demon. Lance and Sasha enter the tunnels in search of another exit where Sasha, who has become violently ill, disappears in a mist that appears while she and Lance sleep. Terrified and insane, Lance continues through the tunnels alone, surviving by killing and eating rats, until he finds a door leading to Friedkin's operating room that contains an altar and pentagram for a demonic ritual, showing that Friedkin had used black magic for medical practice. He turns to see the apparitions of Friedkin and several nurses, who drag a screaming Lance onto their operating table. The camera blanks out for a moment before showing a lobotomized Lance, who says he is now "better" and allowed to go home, and gives a few parting words to the audience before the screen cuts to blue.
(courtesy of: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grave_Encounters)
The Criticism:
"Grave Encouters" can be classified as a horror movie if we are going to review it based on the definition of a horror movie and the definition of genre criticism. A horror movie needs to be scary and atmospheric, and must induce negative reactions of fear and disgust among its audience, For these reasons, "Grave Encounters" can be classified as a horror movie because the setting is superb, the atmosphere is very heavy, scares both suspenseful and startling are aplenty, and fearful reactions are definitely induced. In cases like this, genre criticism is very useful in determining the effectiveness of pieces to watch or books to read depending on what genre they are categorized.
No comments:
Post a Comment