The sound design is doing everything it can tostir anxiety in the viewer.
The road trip of life sometimes travels dark roads.
The characters are all dressed in similarly colored bowling shirts as uniforms.
Image Via MGM+
Theblood splatter is luridand messy.
The lingering shot of Randy and Benson dragging Chris bleeding body to the back room ispure ’70s nostalgia.
Benson wielding the shotgun generates terror to accompany the blood and guts of the sequence.
Image Via MGM+
He shoots Chris first with the practical effects selling the reality of the film’s gun violence.
The reality of gun ownership and the ever-present threat of mass shootings are commonplace in such an environment.
Much of the terror of this scene comes from how familiar it is to American viewers.
There are moments when Benson hits or tries to hit Randy.
In these scenes, Randyandthe viewer flinch.
Lead-in sequences are essential for setting the tone of any film.
Carter Smith uses his 20-minute opener to terrorize his main character and audience.
An increasingly hostile sense of suspense builds to a gruesome slaughter over the course of just a few minutes.
