Idea of the Hand

The idea of the hand on the windows came from a few different places. I've seen a few horror films that use this technique to shock and scare the audience, especially when the hand slams against the window after quiet music, possibly making the audience jump. The hand at the window shows that something is there, something is to fear, but you don't know who or what because you don't see their face. Fear of the unknown is common, solike my mask research shows, people are scared of things or people when they don't know their identity.

The film 'When a Stranger Calls' does this as they have someone phoning up and talking to the main character, but don't show his identity apart from shadows until later into the film.