The Lottery

If I were going to turn one short story into a movie I would pick The Lottery, because if it went deeper into the history of the lottery and the impacts on the town it could be a great horror movie. The story never goes into the details of the Lottery, is it a sacrifice to some village deity or just a tradition for fun? The Movie could go deeper into these details, explaining why the lottery was started, and the implications of the slow decline of their traditions, from the decay of the black box to their neighboring villages doing away with it altogether.

I thought that the story had some excellent southern gothic themes, and if I made it into a movie I would emphasize those themes of violence, isolation, and tradition. Most southern gothic movies use the church or religion as antagonists, but since there is no church or religion mentioned in the story, the town could be drawn to seem like a cult/commune, which would work well with the small rural village aspect. Keeping with the genre, I Would include southern gothic music as the soundtrack, such as Bilgewater (Brown Bird), Apple Tree (Marika Hackman), Wind and Rain (Crooked Still), and Old Time Religion (Parker Millsap). I think southern gothic songs would work well in a movie like this because they possess elements of sorrow and fear, emphasizing the creepiness of the story. 

Comments

  1. UnknownMay 25, 2020 at 3:32 PM

    I agree that "The Lottery" could be developed into a really great full-length horror movie. (Smita's post also showed how such an adaptation could go very wrong. :-D) (The Stepford Wives and Midsommar are two horror movies that come to mind with some thematic and structural similarities.) Interesting choices for the soundtrack, and good point about using Southern Gothic conventions to frame the film adaptation. The lottery does seem to be rooted in superstition or fertility rituals, which feel somewhat akin to religion, though you're right in suggesting that those elements feel distinct from organized religion. I'd love to see this film be made! -Ms. O'Brien

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