01:20 thomas brown

  • The film uses a mix of genres. It is mainly a thriller, but uses horror elements to heighten the thrills. When the main character is knocked out and kidnapped, the scene preceding this part is tense, as we see the person laying in the middle of the road. The tension builds as he exits the car, and is then knocked out. As the film is set at night, the darkness and absence of people makes the main characters plight even more desperate. There is a regular structure to the film, it opens introducing the main character, an electrician, on a late night call. However, he thinks it will burn itself out, and leaves. When the film ends, he is back where he started, next to the power cables. However, after his ordeal he has gasoline on him, and the sparks from the cables he didn't fix blow out and set him alight, although you don't actually see it. Through all his troubles, the audience is shocked by such a sudden and tragic ending.
  • A good use of a horror convention is when the murderers kill the police with their hatchets. Rather than show the audience the brutal and bloody confrontation, we see the man's reaction in the trunk, and we hear the sounds of the men killing the policemen outside. In this way, the killings are made more disturbing, as the bloodiness is left to the imagination through the use of sounds. This is a good way to retain shock impact, without having to unelash funds on fake blood, limbs etc. It works much like a off-screen diegetic noise, in that it presents threat, but doesn't show it. Its equally and if not more effective than showing the audience everything.
  • There is a good use of music during Joy Ride. It opens with a melodic piano, as the electrican assesses the power cables. It is soft, but not comforting. However, when he is eventually locked in the trunk, and trying to free his bonds, there is fast paced music. The mix of the spark from the disconnected tail-light, the gasoline spilling on him, and his urgent need to break free of his bonds creates a tense excitement, which the music does well to accompany and keep flowing. Likewise at the end, when he is rescued by police, the piano kicks in again, but this time is more relieved than anything.
  • The twist at the end is very sudden and unexpected. The audience is expecting relief, but this is quickly shot down. The best thing about it is that it actually works. Its not a tist that is just stuck on the end to add an effect it didn't really need, It is so unexpected, yet because he dies by his own hand by not fixing the cables, there is irony, which is almost humorous.

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