Deconstruction of Killer's lair

Deconstruction of Killer's lair in Creep

Creep was a 2005 UK film and is a horror with a sub-genre of slasher and psychological. It is set in the London undergrounds at night when a woman falls asleep and gets trapped, discovering experiments have been done down there on new born babies, the killer now living in the experiment room.

There is a scene where the protagonist enters the killer's lair, which is in one of the underground tunnels.

Before they enter the room we get a sense of danger and horror as we see the feet of a dangling body with blood dripping own their leg, showing someone has been hanged there. The body dangling has also been made to look aged to make it seem like it has been there for a long time, signalling to the audience that where they are about to venture is close to where the killer my lie as well as the killer having been causing death for a long time before. This use of mis-en-scene with the dripping blood links with the idea of a slasher.

The first clue we see of discovering it is a experimenting room is the close up of the door as it swings open saying 'Medical personnel only''Surgery site 12' linking to the killer's obsession with these experiments as his 'hide out' is where the events happened in a medical room.

As the characters are exploring the room, we see a glimpse of the area around them but not in too much detail as the main focus is on the character's. This is due to the help of lighting as the detail in the background is faded in a yellow wash, whilst the characters are in a deep blue showing our focus is meant to be on them. It also leaves the audience in suspense as they want to see what the characters are seeing to discover the mystery behind the killer.

The first close up detail shot we see is a crib with a name on it. Unfolding the shocking story as the audience discover this is an experimenting room on babies.

One of the characters knocks over a box of medical equipment which clatters to the floor. This is a nice piece of sound as it breaks the silence, and worries the audience as we wonder whether the killer heard or not and if he is going to catch them or not. We see from the mise-en-scene of the medical equipment that the items are rusty and not in use, but are also out ready to be used on a tray. This shows the killer is still using them despite not being in the best condition, leading us to wonder what he is using them for.

The camera then goes into a close up of babies in jars. This is clearly showing the obsession of the killer with the experiments on the babies as he has collected them for display in his lair. This obsession is



From this deconstruction I learnt that use of mise-en-scene is important when creating a lair as well as giving lots of close-up shots in order to reveal information about the killer and the meaning's behind their actions but still leaves a mystery as we don't see everything. The killer's lair must also link to the genre of the film (in this case a slasher/psychological horror)