The film then changes to a scene at a rock gig, to lighten the mood, however, the fire on the stage could be there to remind us during this scene of the genre of the film, and to warn us perhaps of the forthcoming action sequence. The band is playing and Michael for the first time lays eyes on Star. Michael is dressed typically for his age at the time; he has no abstract features, which makes us believe him as normal, and does not therefore provoke us into thinking he is a "baddie".
Michael follows Star, and by the look on his face and the quick changing camera movements, we know that she will lead him towards something bad, which is when he bumps into David, leader of the vampires. David is dressed differently to the average person at the time, he has long blond hair and fang like teeth, and he and his followers adopt a very punk-like image, making them look tough and scary. The low camera angle views on David make him appear to be big and dominating, this provokes us into believing he is the villain, although he is not. With the contrast between Michael and David, we can determine who the hero is and who the villain is.
The introduction to Sleepy Hollow however, is that of a traditional Gothic Horror, the scene is set with more of the traditional Gothic Horror cues, such as fire burning and low light. At the start of the film, there is a piece of writing, the text is written in a gothic font, telling us that the characters are probably based around the beginning of the nineteenth century, and relates to the scary, medieval era. Dripping onto the paper is red wax; this could be symbolic of the blood soon to be shed. The music in the film is very much different to that of The Lost Boys, it has high pitched choir like singing in it, possibly relating to the idea of church and religion. We are again reminded of the medieval stereotype, as the horse and carriage is racing through a misty abandoned forest at night. This scene is at a fast pace, as we see the fear kick into the horse as it towers through the misty forest, and the rhythm is undetermined, so the audience is always unsure of what is going to happen next The music gets louder and the thunder bellows overhead. Subconsciously we are absorbing this setting, and this builds up suspense and tension within the audience. The Headless Horseman arrives, and the texture of the music gets thicker and the amplitude is increased, making us conscious and aware that something is about to happen. The sound of the Horseman's sword tells us that the horseman driving the carriage that Dr Dirk Van Garret is riding in, is about to be decapitated, we don’t see this, as we don’t see gore in the Lost Boys; this allows out imagination to experiment. Dirk jumps out of the carriage and runs through the fields of corn, bestowing the idea of claustrophobia upon us, with the difficulty in orientation in the corn; this is similar to the carnival in The Lost Boys, as it acts as a background that implies busyness and congestion. The introductions are the same to the extent that they provide us with a good background knowledge, and introduction to the characters, and setting, however, Sleepy Hollow is different because it is a traditional gothic horror, it introduces ideas of witchcraft and blood early on in the film, whereas Lost Boys only informs us of this when Michael is "initiated" into the gang of Vampires. The intended audience is different for the two as well; this could possibly be why there is less gore early on in Lost Boys.
The use of special effects are important in a horror film, In Sleepy Hollow, we see Dirk Van Garret's head be hacked from his body, Joel Schumacher did not have the available effect and facilities to do such things as this, however, a good effect was used when David's hand entered the daylight, and the ultra violet rays ignited his arm. Again, the intended audience is for younger people, unlike Sleepy Hollow. Not much blood and gore is shown in a macabre way, such as in Sleepy Hollow when Crane is examining the body and is covered from head to toe in blood, the blood is usually shown in a humorous way. However, this is made up for by the specific camera angles and shots, portrayal of the characters and brilliant acting from Jason Patric (Michael), Corey Haim (Sam), Keither Sutherland (David) and Edward Herrmann (Max.) Such examples of these are low angle camera shots to portray the person in a dominant position, and make them seem overpowering, usually used on the villain. A particular favourite of mine in The Lost Boys, is when the high angle, camera shot is used, as the Vampires draw closer too the couple in the car. As we can not see what is happening, again, this allows us to experiment with our imagination. Furthermore, it again links to the idea of the younger audience, for you can not see any gruesome blood parts, or murder taking place. Moreover, other camera angles consist of panoramic; too get full view of a setting or to create an atmosphere, two shot; where a conversation, argument or fight scene could take place, close up; to receive a full view of a persons expression, whilst still incorporating the background, big close up; in which the audience can see whole face and expression, and extreme close up, for example, where only one characteristic can be see, such as mouth or eyes, can give the expression a greater emphasis. The Lost Boys very much relies on camera angles, more so than Sleepy Hollow, because more special effects were used in this.
As well as camera angles and special effects, character portrayal is important; the way we judge things is due to how they are portrayed, such as, in Sleepy Hollow, Ichbod Crane is dressed in all black, has black hair and has a typical "hero" face, no abstract features and a clear voice. Lady Van Garret is dressed in white, giving the contrast between Ichbod's all black, normally we perceive "good" as white and "bad" as black, but director Tim Burton likes to subvert genres things around to create interest and to stimulate the audience's imaginations. Also, Crane rides upon a black stallion, and Lady Van Garret rides upon a white horse, again Burton uses contrast. The main characters in The Lost Boys are that of a typical young boy living in Santa Carla at the time. Michael is one of these. He again has no abstract features, except maybe for high cheek bones but this makes him appear strong and 'cool.' However, the gang of Vampires are dressed in a very punky-grungy way, showing they are different from the ordinary people in the town, and the tacky clothes the wear give the impression that they don’t care what people think of them, and subsequently don’t care what they do, possibly adopting a criminal image. Although, these were very popular in the USA in 1980's
The ending of The Lost Boys has a twist to it, the heroes, the Frog brothers are led to believe that once the head vampire is killed, all will return to normal. However when they eventually kill David, nothing happens. This is when we realise that Max, Michael and Sam's mother's boyfriend is the head Vampire. Once Max is killed, in true fairy tale style, they all live happily ever after. Tim Burton, as in most of his films is deeply concerned with the subversion of the genre of fairy tale, This can be compared to Sleepy Hollow having a happy ending too, When the final fight sequence is over, typically to lighten the mood, the Granddad replies, "The one thing I couldn’t stomach about living in Santa Carla is all the damn Vampires" which adds to the comedy of the film to the extent that after all the pain and blood that had been shed, he knew of the troubles all along. Alike the beginning, the Sleepy Hollow ending contains a twist alike in the Lost Boys; it is a twist that we now discover that Lady Van Garret is the possessor of the Headless Horseman, in a way, like Max possessing the "Lost Boys." And Lady Van Garret's last victim is Katrina Anne Van Tassel, as the Horseman approaches her, her love Ichbod, obstructs the Horseman, and finally gives him his skull back; the headless horseman takes revenge on Lady Van Garret, snatching her through the tree and all is ended.
In conclusion, after I have looked at the two types of Gothic Horror, Traditional and Contemporary, and have established that the structure of the films Sleepy Hollow and The Lost Boys are much the same, even though they have different directors, were constructed in different times and appeal to different audiences. Being a traditional Gothic Horror film, Sleepy Hollow is darker, scarier and in general, fits the definition of Gothic Horror more than The Lost Boys. However, we need to remember that The Lost Boys is a contemporary Gothic Horror film, and is intended for a younger audience, meaning less gore, and more comedy.
I prefer The Lost Boys to Sleepy Hollow. For it contains comedy, and is applicable to my age group.
Mike Phelan
