How to make a brilliant horror movie.

[Rook]

I actually had this discussion very recently and we both agreed that the peak of horror is suspense. But constant suspense. I don't mean just from start to finish, allow yourself time for a storyline that people can become interested in, but suspense that builds and builds, and then just keeps going. No resolution, nothing to kill the atmosphere. It doesn't get all wrapped up, there's no big boss fight at the end, it just keeps going. Much past the actual end of the movie. I think a film that achieved that could easily be classified as the most horrifying movie EVER.

I implore all to watch Stalker(1979), and yes, it is kind of like the game. I'm pretty sure it inspired the game, although I don't think it was ever officially clarified. But that film shows the utmost best application of employing strong suspense to its film to keep the audience absolutely shitting themselves, to put it frankly. Talk about making walking through a field on of the most tense ordeals I've ever seen. There is a clip on youtube dubbed as a trailer that shows the beginning of the field scene, but let me tell you: THAT IS NOTHING!

 

[Yopaz]

There's no recipe to creating something good in the entertainment industry.

While leaving things up to someone's imagination might work for some there are some people who are more frightened by what they see than what they're unable to imagine. It's also about doing it right. If you go on to make a horror film by using tricks then you're doing it all wrong.

 

[Diddy_Mao]

It really depends on the manner of horror you're going for. The rules for a good Supernatural haunting film are different than a slasher flick. But I think there's some generalities that you should always keep in mind for good horror.


#1. Know the rules:

Not in that insufferable "Scream" way, I mean establish and stick to the rules surrounding your movie. Is your antagonist just a crazy fucker in a mask? If yes then avoid supernatural chicanery. Is it a haunting film? Why is this person, house, family haunted and how the the manifestation work? Remember that these rules don't have to be part of the plot but it helps keep consistency and "because the plot says so" moments.

#2. Characters not victims:

Establish your characters beyond a small handful of cartoonish personality traits. Not only does this mean I actually care when Steve gets his ass killed but keeps me from getting bored just waiting for the body count to rise.
Also killing off a memorable character means I'm more likely to remember the monster/killer a little more.

#3. Don't be afraid of your rating.

I've seen a lot of good PG13 horror movies and I've seed good R rated horror movies. But all too frequently I see movies that clearly wanted to be R rated but aimed for a PG 13 and that shit doesn't work.

 

[Warachia]

Isn't that exactly what I was just saying? The film is a goofy, and rather gross, fun house ride. No, it doesn't probe the depths of the character's psyche, but it doesn't want to. The movie doesn't try to be anything it's not, instead choosing to stick to a certain set of guns and using them to the best of their ability. Complexity =/= depth!

I don't need a film to be complex, but a horror film at some point needs to be scary, when they are nothing but goofy or disgusting they certainly aren't scary, they can get away with this somewhat if they are a horror comedy, but Drag Me to Hell certainly wasn't.
I was also a little pissed off in how it ended, mainly because the movie cheats, unless they seriously want to tell me her boyfriend had an identical button inside an identical envelope for no reason.

 

[lacktheknack]

Crush a small child onscreen, maybe applying the chunky salsa rule to their legs. That ought to get the audience recoiling.

Beyond a cheap grab tactic? There's no one recipe for a good movie. Disney tried to use one, and they gave us the Lone Ranger. You need to choose what your movie's subject is and what style of horror it's going to be, and then you can iron out the details.

 

[Professor Idle]

By not trying. The best horror movies are those that do not try to be horror movies.

I'm curious, can you give me an example?

 

[ItouKaiji]

By not trying. The best horror movies are those that do not try to be horror movies.

I'm curious, can you give me an example?

Jacob's Ladder is a psychological drama that works as a pretty damn effective horror movie due to his hallucinations throughout the movie. But it's not really a horror movie as much as about this former soldier's struggles. It manages to be creepy without being over as a lot of the imagery is symbolic and means more than just ooooh look isn't this freaky. Plus the movie has maybe one jump scare but it's a good one that has build up. The movie was actually the inspiration for the Silent Hill game series, but those are obviously overtly horror but they took the good psychological elements then built a survival horror game around it. At least the early games were that.

As for me if I were to make a horror movie that's what I'd do. It'd be very slow burn and for the first half of the movie would be a normal drama that develops the characters. Maybe a little less than a third on the way in you'd start to notice things were off, but it would be little things, like the shadows just don't seem right or things are slightly moved out of place. Not enough to confirm something is going on but enough to give the audience an uneasy feeling. And it would slowly build from there until it became impossible for the characters not to notice and that's when things would start to more quickly get out of control, but it would never be an overt monster or even obvious that it's not in the characters heads, until much later. I think that would make for an interesting kind of horror kind of horror, something that builds up a slow burning atmosphere. It looks like a normal world, people have normal interactions but everything is ever so slightly off and a lot of the time you can't even put your finger on exactly what it is that's wrong, which makes you feel uncomfortable but you don't even know quite why.

 

[Professor Idle]

By not trying. The best horror movies are those that do not try to be horror movies.

I'm curious, can you give me an example?

Jacob's Ladder is a psychological drama that works as a pretty damn effective horror movie due to his hallucinations throughout the movie. But it's not really a horror movie as much as about this former soldier's struggles. It manages to be creepy without being over as a lot of the imagery is symbolic and means more than just ooooh look isn't this freaky. Plus the movie has maybe one jump scare but it's a good one that has build up. The movie was actually the inspiration for the Silent Hill game series, but those are obviously overtly horror but they took the good psychological elements then built a survival horror game around it. At least the early games were that.

As for me if I were to make a horror movie that's what I'd do. It'd be very slow burn and for the first half of the movie would be a normal drama that develops the characters. Maybe a little less than a third on the way in you'd start to notice things were off, but it would be little things, like the shadows just don't seem right or things are slightly moved out of place. Not enough to confirm something is going on but enough to give the audience an uneasy feeling. And it would slowly build from there until it became impossible for the characters not to notice and that's when things would start to more quickly get out of control, but it would never be an overt monster or even obvious that it's not in the characters heads, until much later. I think that would make for an interesting kind of horror kind of horror, something that builds up a slow burning atmosphere. It looks like a normal world, people have normal interactions but everything is ever so slightly off and a lot of the time you can't even put your finger on exactly what it is that's wrong, which makes you feel uncomfortable but you don't even know quite why.

I asked and I received, thank you very much!

 

[bug_of_war]

A good way to tell the difference is comparing a movie like "The Thing (1982)" with "The Thing(2012)". In the 1982 film you were constantly paranoid because of what they weren't showing you. Who did the dog assimilate first? Who walked past that guys door when the power went out? Who contaminated the blood? How was that guy infected? The beauty was that you were never shown everything, there was always mystery, but when you did see something it was nearly always unexpected. For example, WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT DOG TURNING INTO? HOLY CRAP DID THAT DUDES STOMACH JUST SPLIT OPEN AND EAT HIS ARMS? CHRIST HIS HEAD IS NOW GROWING LEGS!?

Now, compare this to the remake, where you see almost EVERYTHING happen, PLUS it's a prequel which means we've already seen it's methods. Okay, so we see the creature bust out of the ice for a jump scare, then it nonchalantly grabs a dude and pulls him in. Um...okay that was different from it's methodical method in the original. Then we have the helicopter crash, but instead of leaving it a mystery of how it crashes we see one dude "Thing out" and attack, which means when survivors come back we're not so paranoid about them because they were nowhere near the dude who was the thing.

Basically, you show to much, you loose the fear.

 

[NihilSinLulz]

Have a guy with no eyebrows show up and mess with your protagonist. Changing your name to David Lynch also helps.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZowK0NAvig

PS. On a serious note, engage the audience on a primal level first, then tap into the cerebral if psychological is what your going for.

 

[Warachia]

Snip

When the horror film is attempting to emulate the spook house ride at the carnival or an old Universal monster movie, I'd say an old fashioned 'BOO!' paired with blood, gore, and other goo, is about as appropriate as it gets. 'Drag me to Hell' isn't necessarily interested in being creepy, it's interested in provided a raw thrill; it's the exact same appeal of going on haunted house rides. Different people find different things scary for different reasons, there's no objective rule when it comes to making scary movies, and one should NEVER try to appeal to everyone.

Also, when did you last watch the movie? Don't you remember Justin Long's character having a rare quarter in a similar envelope and the envelopes get mixed up at one point?

Oh, so that's what they were going for, I wish I knew that before I watched it, then I would have known it's not my thing.

It's been a long while, but I don't remember that quarter plot at all, I swear it never happened, maybe it's because I saw it on that Max Movies on demand thing and not on a dvd or in a theatre? I've seen other movies that have things changed between versions, and I can remember almost everything else about that movie (like how she just gets cursed to begin with for doing her job).

I also remember rewinding and looking at the envelope because I was sure they were going to do what I thought they were going to do (switch it with something else), unless that quarter was smaller than a regular quarter and had four holes in it, they cheated, but I might be remembering it wrong.

 

[LAGG]

Have a low budget.

There's nothing much else to say really. The lower the budget the better the movie.
Watch some experimental horror and read some horror comics and manga. Independent asian (not only japanese) horror media.

But mostly, have a low budget.

I'd also say avoid lame jump-scares. It seems movies can get away with that cheap stuff while games are promptly bashed if they do so. But still, trying to do better doesn't hurt.

 

[Vausch]

Don't rely on gore unless you have good reason.

Don't show the monster/killer much and if you must keep it hidden in the shadows.

Keep people in the dark and asking questions, but don't skimp on answers by the end. SHOW, DON'T TELL.

Atmosphere is everything. Make people uncomfortable without being in in their faces.

Jump scares are a no no unless done sparingly and made so they're not obvious. Don't go for a few seconds of silence before "BOWWEEEN!" music comes up with a quick jolt and loud noise.

Torture porn is not horror. It's wanking material for the sadistic.

Make us like the characters. I would love you if you avoided an opening kill of a random character that will never be referenced again.

Recommendations to watch:

Halloween (Breaks "Show, don't tell" but does it very well).

The Thing (1982): Breaks gore but the practical effects make it that much scarier.

Jacob's Ladder: It inspired Silent Hill. Need I say more?

 

[Thaluikhain]

By not trying. The best horror movies are those that do not try to be horror movies.

Actually, now that I think of it, yeah.

I'd also say be internally consistent, and have the characters act like actual people.

 

[Angie7F]

For me it has to have zero guts, zero zombies.
I prefer ones that are pure psychological horror