After reading Mr. O'connor's last blog post, "Kid Stuff" I was interested with some of the comments classmates, or blogmates were writing about the post. Somehow, Mr. O'connor's post was tangentially connected to something quite interesting;  how in horror films children are used to "sing rhymes and give a creepy effect." Criticize me for blogging about a comment, but it deserved a post of its own. A young child singing a nursery rhyme. Right? What's so scary about that? My response mentioned a horror flick that uses this technique to scare the audience in my response. I hate to quote myself, but this was the heart of my argument, "One particular horror flick, "Nightmare On Elm Street", starring Johnny Depp, utilizes this technique to leave the audience with nightmares of their own for days to come. In the movie, Freddy Krueger kills those that are asleep

...the children, who sing the following version of in hopes of protecting themselves from the killer. "One, two, Freddy's coming for you. Three, four, better lock your door. Five, six, grab your crucifix. Seven, eight, better stay up late. Nine, ten, never sleep again. The unusual mixture of children and their singing voices, which suggest innocence, and peace, is juxtaposed by the lyrics in which they sing. These lyrics convey a theme of death, and evil. Its especially effective as the children's song is an altered version of the famous nursery rhyme "1, 2, Buckle My Shoe".

Sticking to the theme of horror flicks, why do audiences scream for mercy when a girl doll's eyes roll? Is the notion of something be possessed, that frightening, or is the doll- a small figurine of a young girl (a child), impacting our perception of something we otherwise wouldn't conceive as being so scary. Could it be that because the doll is symbolic of a child, and knowing that it is lifeless, the eyes moving suggests its controlled by an evil spirit? It seems silly to think about, as there really isn't anything too scary about a doll moving its eyes. Yeah, its kinda freaky, but its just a doll, not scream! 

Why do you think directors use the doll to scare their audiences? What secret messages are conveyed by using objects other than children and dolls in film?