La casa (ostinato crescendo)

Horror films rely on just a few tried-and-tested elements to establish the right atmosphere. Sound—or more specifically music—is of key importance, with short, recurring musical motifs pumping up the heartbeat and adrenaline levels. This swelling ostinato informs audiences that danger is lurking just around the corner. In addition to music, architecture plays an important role. Films in the horror genre are much more likely to be set in creepy, dilapidated mansions than in light and airy suburban houses or modernist apartments.

Giovanni Giaretta brings these two elements together and magnifies them by looping a series of stereotypical film locations: from the derelict building with a shed, to the Victorian house, to the dollhouse. The camera circles around them and occasionally conceals itself behind a bush, before cutting to the next location. Our attention is focused exclusively on the setting, meaning that what’s usually just an atmospheric backdrop now has the starring role. Suggestion replaces action, which is perhaps more terrifying than any occult massacre could ever be.