By

Leigh Singer

Published on/by

Little White Lies

Accompanying text

In the lead up to Halloween we’ve been thinking about some of our favourite horror movies and the effect they have on us – specifically, the psychology of voyeurism and what happens when filmmakers ask us to relate not with the victim but the aggressor.

In this chilling new video essay, Leigh Singer explores the evolution of the first-person POV shot in horror cinema, beginning with Michael Powell’s 1960 thriller Peeping Tom before surveying such genre touchstones as Jaws, Halloween and The Evil Dead.

He considers the different stylistic techniques directors and cinematographers use in bringing us closer to the action, sometimes even putting us in the killer’s shoes. Ultimately, Singer asks the question: why do we watch?