EDEN LAKE (2008)

Directed: James Watkins


How are Jenny and Steve represented?
How is this contrasted with the representation of the other characters?
How important is the issue of social class?
How are young people represented?

• Youths act like animals, predatory instinct that go in groups, appear threatening with a pitbull, protective barrier. Territorial to Eden Lake.
• Violence in the nighttime, most vunerable beign a stranger ina  place you dont know.
• Jenny and Steve are shown as a happy couple, middle class couple on a holiday.
• Male violence against women. Women seen to be primarily sexual objects, both Jenny and the female in the gang.
• Negative representation of youth, involved in violence, replicating horror.
• Shift in music as the youths are introduced causing a change in mood into something more sinister.
• Satnav 'turn around'
• Jenny and Steve are seen helpless without weapons, highly vunerable situation against the youths. Knives are seen, shows the use of househol items items rather than ability to access guns.
• Rural district where the scene is set hints a poverty aspects without access to education, the youths shown not to be in school, if in summer, they also have nothing better to do than to terrorise the public.

Robin Wood - basic formula of the horror film is 'normality is threatened by the monster. I use "normality" here to mean simply "conformity tot he dominant social norms"'.

Horror provides a more realistic fear than such old ideals for the genre; vampires, sci-fi and aliens. The negative representation of youth creates fear, as it is a possible outcome for people to be involved in violence caused by this social age.