The Uncanny Spectrum

The term "uncanny" has various definitions depending on the source. Freud attempts to decipher exactly what uncanny means in his essay "The Uncanny." He determines that the uncanny is related to negative aesthetics; more specifically, he notes "the uncanny is that class of the frightening which leads back to what is known of old and long familiar" (Freud). Freud gives many examples and variations on how the uncanny correlates with the frightening. Spadoni applies only two of these classifications (the misconception that an inanimate object is alive and vice versa, as well as the word "unheimlich" referring to something that ought to have remained hidden) to the emergence of sound and the horror film in Uncanny Bodies (Spadoni 6). Though Spadoni's selectiveness serves the argument made in Uncanny Bodies, it fails to explain the relationship between uncanny, anxiety and fear. For this paper, the uncanny will be evaluated on Freud's terms according to its relationship with anxiety and fear and applied to James Whale's film The Invisible Man.

Freud was puzzled by the concept of the uncanny and sought to unravel the term in his essay "The Uncanny." He ruminates, "[The subject of the 'uncanny'] is undoubtedly related to what is frightening - to what arouses dread and horror; equally certainly, too, the word is not always used in a clearly definable sense, so that it tends to coincide with what excites fear in general" (Freud). Freud pondered the reason uncanny had many definitions but was certain it was related to fear. He gives example after example explaining the correlation between the uncanny and fear, but where does that leave anxiety? The uncanny, anxiety and fear are linked together in a continuous cycle that can be represented by a bell curve. The uncanny, considered in these terms to be something that is "off," begins the slope up the curve. Through this "off" act, the person starts to feel anxiety. This person will anxiously pivot at the peak of the bell curve until fear comes; the only release that can come from anxiety is through fear. Once the act that the person is anxious about comes to terms, the person can no longer be anxious. Fear takes over and when it is gone the person is at the other side of the bell curve. Although it may seem as if the play on emotions is complete, the cycle can start all over again or get stuck at the peak of the curve at any moment. After fear another uncanny act can occur which will start the person up the slope. At the top of the slope, in the height of anxiety, the uncanny act could present itself again starting another slope upward and even more for the person to be anxious about. In either case fear is still the only release. In any case the uncanny is undoubtedly linked to anxiety and fear.

An example of the uncanny spectrum can be seen in James Whale's The Invisible Man. While Griffin, the invisible man, is bandaged and a visual part of the scene his voice is like any other. When the bandages are off, and the invisible man can no longer be pin-pointed, the sound seems to emanate from "nowhere" and everywhere. The existence of this encompassing sound is uncanny, for it is uncanny for a voice to exist without a clear source of where it is coming from, and therefore the viewer begins the upward slope towards anxiety. In several scenes throughout the film the characters are placed within the frame as if another invisible character is standing next to them. The dialogue alludes to this by repeating the idea that the invisible man could be in the room, standing next to the character, in any scene. Just as the audience of the Halloween series reacts to Michael Myers hovering off screen, the viewer is anxious about the extra space in the scene - the killer could be lurking around the corner or he could be somewhere else, since he cannot be seen there is no way of knowing so the anxiety continues. The release comes with the booming voice of Claude Rains. His large, echoing voice alerts the viewer to his presence and the anxiety of whether or not he is there disappears. The fear the viewer has been dreading has arrived, they dealt with it and now it is gone leaving the viewer free to experience the uncanny and, subsequently, the upward slope of the spectrum all over again.

Through the application of the uncanny spectrum, an audience caught up in the film and not in the technology can see that The Invisible Man is a movie that utilizes the uncanny. However, audience perception plays a vital role in what is uncanny and what is not. In Uncanny Bodies, Spadoni focuses his view of the uncanny on the audience's response to sound. He takes the "common assumption" about the uncanny as it is related to sound, which is the events on screen were enhanced by the "sounds of voices and other noises," and ties it with the horror films Dracula and Frankenstein, arguing that both used sound in a way that made the collective audience of the day feel the uncanny (Spadoni 6). Spadoni discusses the way sound came out of a single speaker behind the screen and how critics at first were scared by the noise but later felt it enhanced the viewing experience. Through this concept, the audience of The Invisible Man would not feel as discombobulated as those watching Dracula or Frankenstein. Because they recognized the detachment between sound and image, having sound with no visual image would have been easier to accept then having characters on screen talking. Spadoni explains that the audience viewed uncanny as "something [that] seemed to be wrong with the status of the human figure on sound film. This figure could seem ghostly - or uncanny..." (Spadoni 6). In this respect, the audience would probably feel the uncanny lie not with the invisible man but with the other actors who had a visual image and soundtrack that were supposed to be in sync. In order for The Invisible Man to be a contender in Uncanny Bodies, the invisible man would have to have a visible presence the viewer could identify with. A shiny orb or hovering lips would appear more uncanny to the audience Spadoni is considering. With the attitudes of the audience, the absence of a person paired with the presence of a voice did not give them the uncanny push up the bell curve that is needed. Audiences less aware of the technology and more into the film would find The Invisible Man a prime example of the uncanny spectrum.

Freud puzzled the concept of the uncanny and its relation to fear but did not mention the idea of anxiety. Without anxiety, the uncanny and fear are closely related but not a part of a continuous cycle as they are with the addition of anxiety. In The Invisible Man it is the anxiety that lasts throughout most of the film. The voice is uncanny and the appearance of the voice is fear but the absence of the voice, every scene that does not involve the invisible man, is the anxiety which links the spectrum together. For an audience that is not fully aware of the change in technology occurring before their eyes, as Spadoni argues the audience at the time of release was, The Invisible Man is a prime example of the uncanny spectrum.

Works Cited

Spadoni, Robert. Uncanny Bodies: The Coming of Sound Film and the Origins of the Horror Genre. Berkeley: University of California Press. 2007.

The Invisible Man. Dirs. James Whale. Perfs. Claude Rains, Gloria Stuart. Universal Pictures, 1933.