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#4 - Rope
Rope has many symbolic meanings, from bondage, flogging, and death (the noose) to a means of escape or survival. In horror, ropes are most often used as a form of bondage. This symbolism has been used since the dawn of horror cinema and retains symbolic importance today.
In the opening of James Whale's Frankenstein (1931), one of the first shots is a pair of hands pulling on a rope; hands lowering a coffin before grave robbers Dr. Frankenstein and his assistant pull it back up in front of a statue of the Grim Reaper. Later in the opening sequence, they cut a condemned man down from the rope of a gallows but are disappointed that they’ll need a different brain as his neck was severed.
#3 Masks
From the Phantom of the Opera to slasher classics, masks are most often used to disguise evil. Masks are devoid of movement, except for the eyes, which makes them unnerving, like doll faces.
In The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Leatherface wears three different masks (made from human skin) that reflect his mood or victim. And who will ever forget hockey-masked Jason or white-faced Michael Myers?
On occasion, the villain behind the mask may be a woman. The Japanese film, Carved: The Slit-Mouthed Woman (2007), is based on an urban legend that claims a suburban town was terrorized by the spirit of a woman whose beautiful face had been horribly disfigured. She would roam the streets wearing a long coat and surgical mask. She would approach her young victims and, while removing the mask, ask them if she was pretty. Their response would inevitably lead to their violent demise. Masks have been over-utilized in horror films so writers should be cautious and inventive in how they disguise their villains if it is important to the story to do so.
