BBC Sherlock Fan Forum - Serving Sherlockians since February 2012 » Horror movies referenced

nakahara · January 16, 2017 10:34 am

Well, since this episode was based on various horror movies rather than any story from Arthur Conan Doyle, let´s guess which ones were referenced here.

I think two spooks which scared Mycroft during the opening scene were - the clown from the movie IT:

and the other one - was it a Chucky doll from "Child´s Play" or something like that?

Speaking with a serial murderer through a glass reminds one of "Silence of the Lambs", of course:

The scary girl dressed in white, connected with a well and with a television screen, possessing some supernatural mental power, was taken straight of "The Ring" trilogy:

The awful quest to get out of the room where a wacky psychopath has entrapped you came from "Saw", I guess:

Can you think of more horror movies which were referenced in an episode?

Also, Mycroft having a blade in his umbrella was a nice touch! I always suspected he was channeling "Avengers" and Mr. Steed and this confirmed it!

Last edited by nakahara (January 16, 2017 8:29 pm)

WhoIWantToBe · January 16, 2017 10:48 am

OMG, nakahara Thank You I am seriously laughing my ass off... for the first time since this aired

Here is my addition:
image upload no size limit

Last edited by WhoIWantToBe (January 16, 2017 10:49 am)

nakahara · January 16, 2017 10:53 am

Oooh, good one!

Whisky · January 16, 2017 11:12 am

Ha! I knew I was missing something. I haven't seen any of these films, sadly. Oh, wait, yes, I saw The Ring! Not my genre, but had I known them, would have laughed at the parallels.
This is cool. (doesn't make me like the episode much more, but it's... funny)

nakahara · January 16, 2017 11:24 am

Glad that you like it!

It occured to me that the boat scene, where Sherlock appears on the boat in the mist, towering over the poor scared crewmen, was taken out of "Nosferatu: Eine Symphonie Des Grauens":

And now we know how Sherlock subdued those sailors...

Yitzock · January 16, 2017 2:23 pm

Haha! Nosferatu! A bit of a stretch for that one, perhaps, but it made me laugh.

I don't watch many horror films, but of course I recognized the Silence of the Lambs-esque bit, though I liked the surprise of there being no glass. Silence of the Lambs is one of the few horror films I have seen, and I don't think it's aged well, but I thought the reference in the episode was OK.

This Is The Phantom Lady · January 16, 2017 2:53 pm

I nearly had a heart attack opening this thread, lol! (I have a severe clown phobia... it was soooo much fun working at a childrens ward at a hospital with that.heh)

But I will just say, these were what I saw too! I did like the horror theme; but then I am a horror fan!

There was also a nod to the slasher 'rules' with Eurus asking Sherlock if he had sex... I think that only strengthened my fear that Sherlock would actually die when he put the gun on himself!!

Liberty · January 16, 2017 3:37 pm

There's a clip in the Behind the Scenes video of Mark doing an Hannibal Lecter impersonation! And of course, Moriarty asks about cannibals.

The bit at the beginning with Mycroft, the "girl" running around the house might be a reminder of The Shining or Don't Look Now (particularly at the end when her face is revealed). I suppose haunted house movies in general, although I can't think of which one. And the ventriloquist dummy reminded me of the film Magic.

rlogcabin83 · January 16, 2017 8:14 pm

Before I saw this post I posted a new topic on a horror film that I thought had a bearing on the episode. 1960s Roger Corman - The Masque of the Red Death w/Vincent Price.

They are moving from room-to-room with different colors as in the Poe story and film. All leading to death.

http://sherlock.boardhost.com/viewtopic.php?id=7300

nakahara · January 16, 2017 8:27 pm

rlogcabin83 wrote:
Before I saw this post I posted a new topic on a horror film that I thought had a bearing on the episode. 1960s Roger Corman - The Masque of the Red Death w/Vincent Price.

They are moving from room-to-room with different colors as in the Poe story and film. All leading to death.

http://sherlock.boardhost.com/viewtopic.php?id=7300

Very good observation!
The Masque of the Red Death is a classic and I would not be surprised if the horror buff like Mark Gatiss used it here deliberately.
Also, Edgar Allan Poe, the father of both the modern horror genre and the detective genre, would be wonderfully fitting for Sherlock show!

athameg · January 16, 2017 9:46 pm

It might be interesting that Poe is mentioned in canon. In "The Resident Patient" (or, in other editions, in "The Cardboard Box"), John tells us about something Sherlock said to him:

"You remember", said he, "that some little time ago, when I read you the passage in one of Poe's sketches, in which a close reasoner follows the unspoken thought of his companion, you were inclined to threat the matter as a mere tour de force of the author."

Punch me in the face · January 16, 2017 10:06 pm

That is really interesting as I don't have much "horror movies" culture, even though I recognised some classics.

I'm pretty sure the "little girl" going upstairs in a rush is a nod to a horror movie too, but I can't put my finger on it... (no, not the exorcist lol)

For some reason, the whole Sherrinford "game" (especially the part with the Garrideb brothers, when Eurus asks them to interract and use their skills, ie John's knowledge of weapons) reminded me a bit of :

in which people with particular skills (mathematician, doctor...) are trapped in a cube full of rooms as an experiment. Each room has traps or puzzles to solve. Each person has a purpose in the cube and they have to share their skills to get out of the cube.

This Is The Phantom Lady · January 16, 2017 10:17 pm

Cube! Thank you! I couldn't remember what it was called! I was reminded of this as well!

WhoIWantToBe · January 17, 2017 12:28 am

The Christmas present Eurus / Moriarty scene where they have 'glass sex' reminded me of this horror scene from "Alien: Resurrection":

image url upload

besleybean · January 17, 2017 6:46 am

See I've not seen any of these, thank god.
Not really my thing.
The Jim- Euros thing seems so much better by comparison.
It worked for me.

Yitzock · January 17, 2017 2:56 pm

Me, too. I don't mind horror inflections in stuff but straight-up horror usually isn't my thing. Really interesting how many possible references everyone could find!

besleybean · January 17, 2017 6:14 pm

Hubby hates horror, too.
But we both sat and watched Mark's history of horror programme and actually really enjoyed it.

Liberty · January 17, 2017 6:44 pm

I've never been into the gory type of horror, but I used to love classic horror, and had a book very like Mark's! TFP with no gore (violent, but nothing too explicit), the psychological aspects, and the lack of the supernatural, was right up my street!

athameg · January 18, 2017 4:42 pm

I do not like horror normally, but it depends on the kind of horror, as it seems. I really liked Moffat's version of Jekyll and Hyde, for example. A good story including horror elements like TFP can be very interesting indeed.

rlogcabin83 · January 18, 2017 5:30 pm

nakahara wrote:
rlogcabin83 wrote:
Before I saw this post I posted a new topic on a horror film that I thought had a bearing on the episode. 1960s Roger Corman - The Masque of the Red Death w/Vincent Price.

They are moving from room-to-room with different colors as in the Poe story and film. All leading to death.

http://sherlock.boardhost.com/viewtopic.php?id=7300
Very good observation!
The Masque of the Red Death is a classic and I would not be surprised if the horror buff like Mark Gatiss used it here deliberately.
Also, Edgar Allan Poe, the father of both the modern horror genre and the detective genre, would be wonderfully fitting for Sherlock show!

To continue attacking the deceased equine: I have watched the episode again. Still, I am struck how the puzzles laid out by Eurus require all of them to move from room-to-room, and I am convinced that this is a Poe story reference as well as the Roger Corman film The Masque of the Red Death. More detail: In the Poe story the rooms are laid out East to West. Analysis of the Poe story by others suggests that the reasoning for this is an allegory of life. I.E. East is the direction of the rising sun and West, the setting sun, and all of the progression of life can be paralleled with that progression of the day - birth to death. East, of course, has everything to do with Eurus and the meaning of her name. The East wind comes from that direction, but blows West, the direction of the rooms in the story.

The first room they enter is painted Red. Mycroft comments on the new paint job. He realizes that something has been prepared for them, even though Sherlock dismisses his comment. But the room is not solidly painted red. It is a hurried spray paint job that only partially covers the walls. In the Poe story, I do not believe that there is a red room. (So, perhaps the room is a threat of death? One they might escape rather than a promise of death?) Poe uses red symbolically as representing both life, in the form of blood, and death. But it is associated with black, the color of the next room that our boys must enter. Black is the color of death in the story and is represented as such in the Corman film. The story has the room lit with ruddy light through red windows. It is the last room and it is where the main character, Prince Prospero, meets death. So, the boys are moving backwards through the progression. Why? I am going to need to think about that. But I can speculate that it is moving towards the reveal of Sherlock's memories about Eurus and Redbeard -- a "birth" or sorts if you like. (Well, I am not entirely satisfied with that. Still thinking.) The next room seems to be gray in color. But, if you squint, you might call it blue or bluish-gray. And depending on your TV screen, color can vary widely. So it might be obviously blue on some monitors, but wasn't on mine. In the story and film, the blue room is the first room and signifies birth. So, why have they skipped to that? Well, it could be just time constraints. But it could be related to my speculation above about the "birthing" of Sherlock's memories. Or perhaps the coming back into the world of Eurus.

Maybe some of this is a stretch, but I know there is a tie-in here.