After re-watching ‘Salt’, I definitely had a few new thoughts on the piece. I also looked at how it fits into the horror genre according to my prior research. I also looked into how the idea came about, though that was already touched on in my last post.
So the film is classified as horror, and it certainly includes many horror conventions. The mother and daughter – though together on the bed, showing that they are close – are extremely socially isolated from anyone else. When the mother realises she has no more meds in the girls’ room, she does not call someone for help. She must go down by herself. The house is also a mess, and there’s no (featured) photos on the walls of friends/family/happier times – so you know that they’re alone to fight both the demon and the girls illness. Isolation is certainly a common convention in horror movies, because it makes it more terrifying for the main character.
As far as setting goes, there’s also some really crazy things in the background… which I just found to be a distraction. It does, however, make for lots of nooks and crannies you can search in. It also gives the impression that the house is not cared for, which adds another dimension – this has been going on a long time and/or the house has been abandoned and not looked after.
The footage is also very dark and tinted in blue – it is difficult to see what is happening in the background. That said, the demon mostly comes in with jump scares, so the potential for it to be watching and waiting is unused.
The villain in the short is something that is ‘relateable’ in the sense that it could attack anyone. I remember being about ten and watching ‘Supernatural’ (the series started airing when I was six), and not being scared for one reason: the demons only persued people who had done something wrong. Which, as a ten year old, I was able to identify ‘I have not killed anyone/stashed a dead body somewhere/done some really awful things, therefore ____ will not come after me’. But in ‘Salt’, the demon is perusing this otherwise seemingly innocent person – though, admittedly, you don’t ever find out if the mother has done something really bad.
On that – the mother goes down to protect the daughter – which is something all people can relate to. The love of a mother. The audience relating to the mother’s intention allows the audiences to relate to the mother, and see themselves in her position. They’re afraid, because in the same position, they would do the same thing.
That’s not to say that the short is perfect, of course. It has it’s inherent issues. But the reason it can pack to much punch into such a short duration is because it conforms to the genre and settles the audience straight away. You can have more thoughtful pieces, but in such a short time, the familiarity helps the audience find their place, sets them into a familiar place.
There are still questions… if the mother knows what happens with the demon, why not just keep the meds all upstairs? How does the demon get to the little girl on the bed surrounded by salt? The mother seemed to know how to trap the demon, but was then surprised when it got out… given it isn’t trapped at the start, surely she would know it can manipulate the environment in order to escape?
I think the thing with many of the questions above… either they are already known to the filmmaker and therefore not quite demonstrated clearly enough for the audience. Some others might just not need to be considered in such a short film, and might not be noticed until the second or third critical watch.
