The Lottery

Shirley Jackson's notorious horror classic "The Lottery" is among the most famous and iconic works in all of 20th century American literature, and this brief adaptation nails the story's disturbing and tense mood. The cinematic platform adds quite a bit to the story's overall horror, and this version takes full advantage of this. It is not gory in any way, and instead it provokes horror from an unsettling and gritty atmosphere in the vein of "The Texas Chain Saw Massacre". The soundtrack and design remain uneasy, the characters are mundane yet there is obviously something off about them, and every shot does not at all looked planned out, instead it feels as if it were filmed by some random spectator capturing the action. The atmosphere is that of a cinema verite style documentary film thanks to the unorganized structure of shots, uneasy camera-work, gritty cinematography, and highly natural, realistic setting.