Buzz
Movie enthusiasts, especially hardcore fans of horror films, are no strangers to iconic items like the Annabelle doll, the 'summoning' toilet, or eerie haunted mirrors.
Let's explore memorable items that bridge the living and terrifying souls on screen.
Dolls
In cinema, dolls hold various symbolic meanings. In horror films, resembling humans, dolls convey the supernatural, often serving as vessels for trapped souls, unable to escape. These dolls also symbolize control and manipulation...
Chucky (from the Child's Play series), Annabelle (from The Conjuring horror universe), Billy (from Dead Silence), or Bill/Jigsaw (from Saw)... are legendary dolls that have startled many movie buffs.
Especially, the Annabelle doll with its piercing gaze, sinister smile in vibrant makeup, inspired by a controversial real-life object, has become a new icon in the horror genre after the success of The Conjuring horror universe. In the film Annabelle: Creation released in 2017, it delves into the origin of this terrifying object. A girl following a cult named Annabelle Higgins, murders her parents then commits suicide with the doll in her hand, and from then on her soul resides within that doll.
Mirrors
Oculus - Mirror of Evil (2013), Mirrors (2008), or Into the Mirror (2003) are films that might make many audiences avoid looking into mirrors for a long time. Mirrors are a familiar yet frightening image because: when characters look into the mirror, they see unusual reflections, or even witness a sinister world behind that glass.
Classic, prominent, and most well-known in the past decade is perhaps the film Oculus, or Mirror ghost, by director Mike Flanagan. The film follows two siblings Kaylie and Timmy, who witnessed the horrifying death of their parents related to the hanging mirror in the office. Kaylie believes there's a supernatural event connected to her family tragedy and tries to investigate the ancient mirror. The siblings investigate together. But once again, both are plagued by demonic forces destroying their lives.
Red Doors
When mentioning the famous horror film series Insidious created by masters Leigh Whannell and James Wan, one immediately thinks of the iconic red door.
The Insidious series has released a total of 5 installments. The first 2 revolve around the Lambert family with their son Dalton Lambert who has the ability to astral project into The Further and gets attacked by entities there, captured by the Lipstick-Face demon, causing real-life comatose. Dalton's grandmother, Lorraine, decides to seek help from her friend, the psychic Elise. Parts 3 and 4 are prequels, focusing on Elise years before meeting the Lambert family. Part 5, titled Insidious: The Red Door, released in 2023 follows a grown-up Dalton. Old dreams and memories begin haunting him. The red door unleashes ancient demons once more.
The red door serves as the gateway to the abode of the terrifying and haunting Red-Faced Demon in the first installment. Although sealed, audiences wonder if there are other doors leading to this demon? Do different doors lead to different malevolent forces?
Mysterious Hand
This August, alongside dolls, mirrors, or haunted doors, another 'item' will join the list of the most chilling obsessions for horror fans. It's the mysterious hand in the blockbuster Talk To Me, which will become the guiding symbol for audiences to explore the spiritual world.
The film revolves around a group of friends who discover a mystical hand that allows them to summon and communicate with mysterious spirits. They are gradually drawn into a game without knowing that one of them has gone too far and unleashed terrifying dark forces. By simply grasping the hand and uttering the simple incantation: Talk to me, the friends will experience the sensation of their bodies being possessed by random souls. Through this, horrifying secrets will be revealed one by one. The boundaries of human morality are pushed to the limit. Beyond delving into the supernatural world, the film is an exploration of the subconscious power within each of us.
Talk To Me, or Gọi Hồn Quỷ Dữ, is a masterpiece from the film studio A24, a formidable force rising in Hollywood with extremely high-quality films, receiving countless praises from cinephiles such as The Witch, Hereditary, and Midsommar, and most recently the Oscar-sweeping hit of 2023 - Everything Everywhere All At Once.
Currently, Talk To Me boasts a fresh tomato rating of 95% based on 212 reviews from critics on Rotten Tomatoes, making it the highest-rated horror film of 2023.
TALK TO ME - Original Title: TALK TO ME - Now playing in theaters.
