The opening scene from "Drag me to hell” begins with an establishing shot of a house, which represents the importance of it and implies a key event is going to occur. Furthermore, mise en scène is used to indicate Drag Me To Hell is a horror film because it uses low-key lighting suggesting there is some type of evil spirit. Likewise, the setting of the opening scene is in an isolated place that is a typical convection in a horror movie.
Despite that, a pickup truck pulls up at the house, the location and date are shown to present the setting and time era. This gives the audience a chance to adapt to surroundings of the situation in the opening scene.
Shortly after, a female character rushes out the truck and knocks desperately at the door screaming the owner's name for help. The panic in the women’s voice suggests that someone is in danger or at risk. Once the owner appears medium shots is used to introduce the character, which represents her importance, due to the fact the medium shot is only used on her.
As the parents of the boy reveal the silver necklace he’d stolen from a gyps wagon a fly appears. The fly connotes death, as it swirls around the boy, indicating he is going to dye.
From the opening scene, there are negative representations of two cultures Gypsies and Mexicans. The Mexican family is shown as not well off due to the clothing they are wearing; the truck they arrived in looks tacky suggesting they are poor. In addition to this gypsy's are portrayed as evil, sinister and some who is able to do black magic/witchcraft. This is because the stolen necklace was from a traveler’s wagon. The gypsy lady refused to take the necklace back and instead punished the boy by casting a curse on him.
Close up shot is used to show emotions such as fear, afraid and frightened. As the voices in the boy’s head get louder he uses the blanket to comfort himself using it as protection. Furthermore, the boy is in the middle of the shot. This tells the audience whatever appears in the next scene will involve him.
Fast- paced editing is used to show the chaos in the scene, caused by the evil spirit, that pushes the boy off the balcony. This is effective as it causes the audience to feel anxious and concerned for the boy.
Non-diegetic sounds like a single suspended note can be heard. The effect this has on the audience is that it creates tension and mystery.
When the boy gets dragged into hell the audience is unable to see the antagonist face. However, we do see his hands making the audience curious about the plot because the scene ends with “they’ll meet again.”
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