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A Woman in her early twenties is first seen running down a ‘hospital- like’ corridor; she looks unstable and deranged, clearly suffering with psychological problems. We see the lights fade and suddenly black out whilst still being able to hear the woman's harsh breathing. During the blackout, we hear disturbing noises of a baby crying out in terror and the woman shouting “it’s better this way, hush baby”. Sounds of gasping and screaming will also be heard over the babies cry. The next scene in the production shows the Mother cradling her dead baby and walking through the woods, again looking totally psychotic. The Woman reaches down to place her lifeless baby into a ditch when the scene switches to a black and white flashback. A clear contrast to the other scenes, we see the Mother looking marginally saner however still distraught and talking to her therapist. Little does the woman know that her ‘therapist’ is actually manipulating her into killing her own baby and then taking her own life in punishment. The therapist is seen as an angelic figure to the Mother but clearly a sinister character to the audience. The end scene is where the audience witnesses the woman hanging herself from a tree whilst still being able to see the dead baby on the floor of the forest; as the picture fades, we see the chilling figure of the therapist walking away from the dangling body further into the trees.
The theme of the film being ‘young-motherhood’ means that it will mostly appeal to elder teenagers and young adults; some of the images in the production would be unsuitable viewing for younger people and although the theme would be upsetting to most viewers, older people and mothers in general could find the film disturbing. The main target audience for the film would be young adults as it will give them the insight of what could happen to a young mother if she is not ready for the responsibility of a child. Although the plot of the film see’s a thrilling figure manipulating a young mother, the audience will still see the traumas caused by thoughtless motherhood. In general, all ages above 15 would find the film interesting but females in particular would mostly relate to the film due to the experiences within it. Younger viewers would definitely find the production upsetting due to the disturbing themes; also, they would find it hard to understand the plot due to the mature themes within it.
‘Purgatory’ can be compared with Tom Shankland’s British horror ‘The Children’. It also contains psychotic themes and parent-children relationships ‘gone-wrong’. This production see’s the children in family turning on their parents and brutally murdering them due to an ‘unknown’ illness. Although the actual plot is different to ‘Purgatory’, the themes and ideas within the production are very similar. Whilst the ideas are similar, it is clear that this production is more gruesome than ‘Purgatory’ and seemingly unrealistic. ‘Baby Blues’, a 2008 US horror film, is another production that shares the psychotic children-parent theme. The plot of this film see’s a Mother not being able to cope with all of her children due to psychological problems and in turn, she ends up murdering each one of them brutally until there are none left. Again, this film is a lot more gruesome than ‘Purgatory’, however, it still shares the ideas of young mothers not being able to cope, resulting in murder of the children.
There are many typical codes and conventions used to establish horror movies; some are more obvious than others. • Screaming, Silence, Knocking, Scratching, Beating & Eerie Music. • Blood, Gore, Violence & Abuse. • Hospitals, Schools, Forests, Corridors & Derelict Buildings. • Flickering Lights, Darkness, Shaky/Uncertain camera work, Flashbacks & Cutbacks. • Children (use in general), Teenage couples, Psychopaths, Dolls & Cannibals. • Mirrors, Knives, Chainsaws, Axes, Rope, Water & Masks.
Scene one Sarah is seen running uncontrollably down an ongoing corridor, she is clearly in a psychologically unstable state. Sarah: (Harsh Screaming)NO NO NO!Rasped BreathingPanting Scene two The picture blacks out from the corridor. Baby: Hysterically screamingSarah: It’s better this way! Hush baby! Baby: Crying, Screaming (Crashing, gasps of breath)Silence. Scene three Sarah is seen cradling her lifeless baby walking through the woods. She bends down to bury the corpse.(Crying, heavy breathing) Scene four We see a black and white flashback of Sarah talking to her therapist- a stern looking woman. Dr: If you can’t handle your baby, you know what you have to do. Sarah, it is up to you to deal with the situation, help yourself, help your baby. Scene five Only Sarah's feet are seen hanging lifeless from a tree. Silence (Footsteps on leaves) We see the figure of the Dr. walking away into the trees. Sarah- Rosie Therapist- Aimee Camera- Beka/Beth
