How Horror Movies use Symbolism to Reflect the Social and Moral World

Pan’s Labyrinth

This allegorical fantasy horror film is set in Spain in 1944, at which point the Civil War had come to an end. It was directed by Guillermo Del Torro, and it uses narrative and genre theory in a clever and intricate way, allowing it to be interpreted psychologically, politically, and sociologically.

The Esoteric Interpretation

The word “esoteric” is defined as an adjective which describes something to be “intended for or likely to be understood by only a small number of people with a specialised knowledge or interest.” In the case of Pan’s Labyrinth, this group of people would include those informed about occult mysteries, as these are referenced repeatedly. Occult mysteries are repeatedly referenced during the movie through various uses of symbolism.

Sight

Firstly, the use of eye/sight symbolism is used from the very beginning of the movie, particularly in the scene where the main character, Ofelia, discovers the eye of a faun statue. The eye is used repeatedly in occult mysteries to symbolise the ‘Sight’ which allows a person to see things both real and unreal, true and false. With this, Ofelia can see the creatures she could not before, and this is used to create juxtaposition to the villain, Captain Vidal, who is a fascist and does not believe in anything he cannot physically see.

This use of the eye refers to an ancient Egyptian myth of Thoth restoring Horus’ eye. This myth stated that Thoth was the god of the moon, and Horus was set to become the ruler of Egypt after the death of Osiris, who then became the God of the Underworld. Horus loses an eye, but it is restored to him by Thoth – effectively giving him an ‘inner eye’.

This conforms to conventions of the supernatural/fantasy genre as the idea of children being able to see ghosts is a common stereotype, used based on the presumption that children represent innocence, and so can more easily embrace that which adults can not

The Evil Step Father/ Dictator

Following this, Ofelia then meets her step father, Captain Vidal, who is used as a plot device to represent Fascist Spain. As with other films directed by Del Torro, this character is obsessed with the death of his father, hence conforming to conventions of reflecting how fascism is patriarchal.

However, this character also uses the “Cronus Complex” with Cronus being a mythological Greek representation of death, harvesting and time. Vidal represents the Cronus Complex by illustrating how, due to the oppressive nature of the materialistic world, people are forced to conform it’s conventions without question or thought, hence preventing them from being able to reach full self-actualisation in life.

The idea of this character representing Cronus is further anchored through the use of iconography, particularly as the character appears to have an obsession with time, constantly referring to and maintaining his watch. This is used to show the audience that time is acts as a major limitation in the material world.

The Labyrinth

In many ancient cults, mazes and labyrinths were used as places of initiation. This is because they symbolise man’s search for the truth, often including ideas of the lower world through which man has to travel.

Religion

Religion is a narrative theme that is conventionally used in horror movies, and in the ending of Pan’s Labyrinth there is a distinctive religious reference in the fact that Ofelia’s reward for passing the final test is her access to a throne alongside her mother and father. This scene has connotations which clearly link to the story told by the Bible of Jesus trying to return to God.

The consistent reference to fantasy and the mythological illustrates to the audience how Ofelia uses an imaginary world to escape from the dehumanising and repressive reality. This is a psychological phenomenon known to happen often with children in the world, showing how fantasy is generally used as a coping mechanism.

This film uses the theory of binary opposition most prominently, using various themes such as good vs evil, and fiction vs real life.

Evaluation

We could use this symbolism in our own coursework, adapting themes of religion and Propp's Spheres of Action in order to convey attitudes and beliefs held in today's society. This would allow us to exploit contemporary fears in today's society in an entertaining way, which will enable us to engage our audience.
However, if we do use these themes, we will have to adapt them to conform to the conventions of our chosen genre.