The movie “Fallen” is a supernatural horror/crime mystery thriller from 1998 staring Denzel Washington as a successful and competent inner-city detective. The trailer indicates that the film opens with Washington’s character visiting a death row inmate, one that he put behind bars, on the day of the man’s execution. This would seem to be a peculiar starting point for a crime drama, and thus it is here where the supernatural horror components come into play. In the trailer we see the convict executed, the words “The case is closed” flash white on the screen against a black background, and then they are followed shortly by the words, “but evil doesn’t die easy”. We learn, via narrative exposition, that the spirit of the killer is able to transfer itself from one person to another (essentially possessing them) simply through physical contact. The rest of the trailer hints that the movie is something of a supernatural mystery thriller, with Washington’s character seeking a way to destroy the evil spirit while it taunts and toys with him.
But what specifically does any of this have to do with Gothic conventions? Here I will elucidate, but I intend to focus solely on the uncanny, as the trailer and really the premise behind the film itself make such good use of it.
Chiefly, there is this idea of possession. The sense of the uncanny that comes from this is exceedingly pervasive. So much so that it will remain with you the very next time you walk down the street, as any of the strangers you pass may not be just another stranger, but rather any one of them could be a murderous, demonic spirit in disguise. Crowds only worsen the effect, as the constant jostling would mean that the spirit could pass from person to person more easily, and you could even become easily possessed yourself. Thus, it takes some very normal, very everyday human social interactions and it alters them, or rather one’s perception of them, drastically. It creates something perverted and deeply unsettling which still retains at least a semblance of its normal, comfortable appearance and to do so is the essence of the uncanny.
But the trailer is uncanny in a broader sense as well, perhaps not in so threatening a manner, but in a way that still defies ones expectations by delivering something different and a little disturbing in a familiar package. In a way, I am speaking here of the genre of the film. We can see in it a sort of meta-uncanniness. The film takes the crime drama blueprint and distorts it at its core. It retains all the trappings of a crime drama and a mystery thriller, and even retains their basic formula to a degree, but it also adds an element of horror and the supernatural. What I find most intriguing about this is the idea that a meta level uncanniness might just slip past a viewer the first time they see the movie, but I wonder if it would affect them even if they didn’t expressly notice it.
In addition to all of this, I would like to make a note on the apparent theme of this work. The ability of the malign spirit to inhabit and possess persons at will and to continue to exist even if the possessed vessel is destroyed gives rise to an interesting and, I believe, supremely Gothic theme. That is, evil can be found in anyone and evil itself can never truly be destroyed. Not that everyone actually contains an evil spirit (or even “evil” itself in the abstract sense) but rather that everyone has the capacity for evil, and as a result evil will exist so long as mankind continues to exist.
The 1998 film “Fallen” makes a brilliant use of the Gothic convention of the uncanny. And with a little close analysis, it even gives rise to quite a profound theme, or perhaps it would be better said that it makes a profound commentary, on human nature itself.
Works Cited
“Fallen (1998) Theatrical Trailer” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VO-jGkLzRgM [Online]
Available 4/28/15