Tension, anxiety, suspense, mystery - all these are parts of the so-called technology of fear, which is embedded in the film form, answering the question not "what to show'' but "how to show'' to make spectators scared. The presence of the technology of fear distinguishes horror movies from other genres in which there are a lot of murder scenes, ugly creatures, and any other frightening things you can imagine, but only in horror films, all these become a self-sufficient attraction. The way the audience reacts to certain cinematic techniques in such films explains the special interest of their psychoanalytic consideration.

Today we are going to talk about not very popular but in my opinion one of the crucial phenomenon which is known as Uncanny - the feeling of fear which appears unconsciously. In this article you will find out what techniques are used to reinforce this effect on the screen and why it makes the audience experience fear.

Freudianism is often used as a theoretical framework for analyzing films, probably due to the fact that the success of various interpretations comes from the accurate use of quite clearly described by Freud phenomena, such as the repression of desires into the unconscious, the Oedipus complex, castration anxiety, hysteria, etc. (also because filmmakers themselves use these phenomena as schemes for creating their movies).

On the other hand, interpretations of the impact of certain techniques on the viewer's impression, based on Freud's concepts, are of great importance for understanding the nature of the relationship between the viewer and the screen. Stephen Schneider in the book "Horror Film and Psychoanalysis: Freud's Worst Nightmare" writes that, especially for the study of horror films, psychoanalysis turns out to be "a fruitful and provocative interpretative tool".

Usually, in the use of Freudian psychoanalysis in film studies, the form and the narrative are interpreted through the perspective of sexual implications based on unconscious desires and fears. But in his article "The Uncanny" Freud does not focus on aspects of sexuality in analyzing the causes of experiencing the sinister feeling, but considers various other sources of the uncanny, which we will discuss in detail today, so let's get straight into it.

In order to understand the source of the "uncanny" first of all it is necessary to turn to its german origin - unheimlich, the noun which consists of the negative prefix un and the word heimlich, meaning cozy, native. This is important because the uncanny is opposed to something that is known to people. However, Freud writes that not everything unfamiliar causes a feeling of fear, so here it is important to pay attention to the fact that, on the one hand, a negative prefix creates a meaning opposite to the familiar - mysterious, hidden, but on the other hand, the root of the word itself remains in place, as if showing that the uncanny is hidden in something familiar, long time ago being repressed, but has not being disappeared anywhere - the negative prefix un is a kind of a "mark of repression".

And as far as we now know the meaning of the phenomenon we are talking about today, we are all set to move forward and discover what techniques in movies cause the emergence of uncanny. First of all, it is necessary to acknowledge the role of the structure which becomes the basis for the uncanny in films to appear, furthermore, this structure is at the same time the canonical formula for fear in cinema. It's very simple - the movie starts with a very basic story, which is not frightening at all, but on the contrary - very realistic and understandable.In order to understand the source of the "uncanny" first of all it is necessary to turn to its german origin - unheimlich, the noun which consists of the negative prefix un and the word heimlich, meaning cozy, native. This is important because the uncanny is opposed to something that is known to people. However, Freud writes that not everything unfamiliar causes a feeling of fear, so here it is important to pay attention to the fact that, on the one hand, a negative prefix creates a meaning opposite to the familiar - mysterious, hidden, but on the other hand, the root of the word itself remains in place, as if showing that the uncanny is hidden in something familiar, long time ago being repressed, but has not being disappeared anywhere - the negative prefix un is a kind of a "mark of repression".

And only because the script is being so ordinary the "anomaly", something that does not fit into the framework of the film narrative, is able to stand out and be recognized by the audience. And it's extremely interesting that even a small disruption makes us suspect the presence of something supernatural which potentially will lead to the uncanny. Freud writes about structure as an important component, comparing it with fairy tales, in which the presence of something supernatural is essentially normal. This can be projected, for example, on sci-fi movies, where the entire world of the film itself is completely alien to the audience and does not cause a feeling of uncanny.

All these techniques were clearly demonstrated in the video-essay on the topic.

In this case, we see that when the film forms a strong impression that actions take place as if in reality, any deviation, any inconsistencies with it, start to stimulate a disturbing effect. Exactly such feelings we can experience while watching the iconic film "The Shining". The plot is based on the usual simple-minded story of a married couple temporarily moving to a hotel, where the father of the family will be the caretaker during the off-season. Step by step we are shown events that are immediately perceived as supernatural, but they are quickly rationalized, like the fact that Danny's visions are just figments of his fantasy, which appeared when his father Jack broke his arm when he got drunk. But over and over again, with each small event that does not fit into rational life, the border between reality and something that is normally considered as superstitious suddenly becomes blurred and imprecise. That leads to the feeling of "uncanny" as a return to once being overcome and repressed ideas most of which refer to primitive ancient ideas, and they just pop out of unconscious and "coming to life".

Moreover, in this film, we can see another important detail, on the basis of which the feeling of the "uncanny" is kept even after the spectators have already realized that this story is nothing about something ordinary, as we are gradually beginning to accept the "rules of the game" in the plot. Namely, here we are talking about predictions and Danny's ability to telepathy, which in the film is called "the shine" - when someone in a film can see more than others - it immerses the audience in the experiencing uncanny, as it's one of the most known superstition which nonetheless is perceived critically in real life, but we can't help believing it's true because the cinematic form is deeply immersive. By the way, the uncanny effect can not only be increasing gradually as we saw in Kubrick's film, but on the contrary, can become an unexpected discovery. The film "The Sixth Sense" can be a good example here.

TW: SPOILER! In the film, the main character was not a psychotherapist who helped the boy to deal with the dead, whom the boy was able to see, but in fact, he was one of those dead, and this truth is hidden during the whole film and when revealed at the very last moment turns the film upside down and leaves us with uncanny feeling even when everything is over.

As you probably already noticed, Freud considered the uncanny as the feeling that is driven a lot by animism, magic, witchcraft and the omnipotence of thoughts - everything that previously was believed to be something that affects reality, but today is pushed far into fantasies. Thus, the spooky feeling is born where the fantasy aspires to be believed as something real and, of course, where, if not in the movies, that feeling can be manipulated by returning spectators to the creepy superstitions that have already been overcome by generations.

Even so, such an effect is very easy to destroy with a simple tool. I'm talking about irony. A shift in emphasis in experiencing sinister as something invalid and a mockery of what had just claimed to be creepy dispels the horror atmosphere. There are many good examples in cinema, but my personal favorite is "The Dead Don't Die" by Jim Jarmush. Here the irony over zombie movies is created very subtly and artfully, and thanks to that the effect of a story on the screen is immensely good. This works in an interesting way especially in the sense that all zombie movies are driven by fear of the dead. The impression that something dead has the qualities of the living and vice versa is one of the main catalysts for the sensation of the «uncanny» according to Freud. He connects this with the primitive fear of the dead and the empowerment of spirits with incredible force, that breaks out due to lack of scientific knowledge when the belief in the soul's immortality is still strong. This primal fear is ready to break through as soon as something gives it such an opportunity. And cinema is truly fertile ground for it.

Based on the above, one general tendency can be noticed - it is quite obvious that for Freud, the «uncanny» is something once repressed, but now returning, and it does not matter whether it was initially spooky or was accompanied by some other affect. In my opinion, this peculiarity can be detected in one trick, which many directors love to use - the doppelgangers, which Freud also analyzed in this context. The doppelgangers literally illustrate the physical embodiment of the character's repressed self and they bring uncanny just by their very existence.

I hope it was entertaining and at least would arouse interest in the psychoanalytical approach in film studies.