It is possible to be scared by something you never see?

[ReservoirAngel]

So I'm currently beginning the writing of a student film I've been meaning to get started on for a while.

Question is, what with a student budget being what it is, I can't afford a REALISTIC 'monster' outfit at all. So instead I'm pretty much depending on the actions and emotions of the main (and only character) and the cinematography, as well as a slight psychological edge to it, to create the large portion of the 'horror' feeling.

Thing is, you always here from the 'masters of horror/suspense' that the less you see of something, the scarier it becomes. But...in the works they produce, you always do see the threat, even if it's just glimpses, and you always see it properly at the end. I'm looking at YOU Spielburg. You are your mechanical shark monster! You too Carpenter, with ur blank-faced knife murderer!

So my question is this: do you think it's possible to be scared of something that you NEVER see given a proper form. My ideal plan for this is for the final shot of the film to be a darkened room with just the shadow of the monster cast over the floor from the doorway, but you never see it physically.

 

[zfactor]

Yes.

Fuck yes.

As you said, you never see the moster in the start, but see it at the end. But the first time you watched the movie, were you scared at the monster part? You nver saw it before, so the "not seeing strategy" worked. You are scared of it for the whole movie and you never see it.

I'd show a silhouette or half lit body. Shadows are overused...

 

[Daystar Clarion]

Your imagination can scare the shit out of you far more than you think.

Remember Alien? Remember how you only saw brief glances of the thing shanking people?

The unknown can be scary as hell.

 

[Demonicdan]

If you do it right that could actually make the film better, half glimpsing an arm or shadow could add much more suspense than a monster killing everyone in plain sight.

 

[Ironic Pirate]

Yes.

It's the implication that there might monsters that scare people, not the monster. Once you see the monster, you say "Ah-fucking ha, I god damn called it!" and proceed to fight the thing. To corrupt a popular phrase, not knowing is half the horror.

So yeah. Make it ambiguous as to whether it's a monster, or nothing at all. Make the character think it is a monster, and have them blame all their incompetence on said invisible/non-existent monster. Then your movie has deeper meaning, and everybody loves that.

 

[Plurralbles]

um... you don't watch Extra Credits do you?

Holy crap you need to watch them because you wouldn't have had to make the thread because you'd already know of an example where it works from this very site. They talked in one episode about how the unknown was specfically scary. I'm pretty sure Amnesia: TDD does it.

 

[Mechsoap]

A monster you cant identify, or know for sure is there, is the scariest kind of monster

 

[Voxgizer]

A monster you cant identify, or know for sure is there, is the scariest kind of monster

This pretty much sums up my opinion on it.

I enjoyed Cloverfield...until I saw the monster.

 

[McGuinty1]

Here is another example of "less is more, and it's not even from a horror movie: Scarface. Remember the chainsaw scene near the beginning of the movie? Pretty gory right? Except you never see anything besides a bit of stage blood being sprayed onto Steven Bauer's face and Al Pacino's reaction. That's it. Apparently they had a fake severed arm prepped to film hanging from the shower curtain rail, but they never used it.

 

[DuctTapeJedi]

"The fear lies not in the bang, but in the anticipation of it."

-Alfred Hitchcock

 

[TheRightToArmBears]

You can scare the crap out of people more effectively without even showing them the monster. It's all about fear of the unknown, which is why the Slender Man is so pant-stainingly creepy.

 

[plexicon]

The film Paranormal Activity does this really well. You never see the monster thing, just its effect on the environment, and it is truly scary.

 

[Mondai Randy]

Yes you can , like previously said , the imagination can makes you think of many horrors whatever is scaring you could be.

 

[pilouuuu]

well, I'm afraid of unemployment and you can't see that. Honestly the most scary thing for us humans is the unknown.

 

[Hero in a half shell]

The Blair Witch Project did it without any monster at all, it is all about drawing your audience in enough into the story and mystery of what is happening so they do not realise, oh, there is no reveal because the budget didn't cover it.
Just focus on the basics of horror psychology. What is fightening? why?- A common fear of people, something which unsettles them, maybe not even a physical thing but an experience or something: being alone, buried alive, drowning, how can you ramp it up to 11 without getting cheesy or unbelieveable.

 

[Bugerion]

Play Amnesia and see for yourself

 

[G1eet]

Yes. It's the essence of horror. Your brain is infinitely more imaginative than you may give it credit for.

 

[^=ash=^]

*Points to 'The Scary Thread'* *Hides from 'The Scary Thread'*

 

[badgersprite]

Absolutely. Using just shadow and sound is WAY more terrifying than Industrial Lights and Magic breaking out a Hollywood monster. One of the scariest movies I ever saw was a movie from the Black and White era. I think it was called The Haunting Of Hill House or The Haunting. The remake is crap on a stick but the original is kind of like a Paranormal Activity; it's so effective because you never see anything! You see things happen, sure, but there's no monster that jumbos out at you in order to scare you, and it's way better for that,

 

[hazabaza1]

Play Amnesia and see for yourself

This.
Make some noises, give slight glimpses, only see portions at most, you got yerself some scares.