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What makes a good horror film?
What is good horror?
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How do you make a horror film effective?
- The creation of dread and tension. Two core elements that make up any good horror are dread and tension, Dr Daniel explained over email. “Dread to me is one of the most powerful emotions horror can create.
- Blurring of reality and unreality. There’s a reason the found footage genre has become so popular in horror and it’s all to do with that blurring of the lines between what is fact and fiction.
- What is left unseen. Sometimes a scary movie doesn’t need to show us the monster to incite fear. “Horror film, as a genre, has a long history of manipulating the viewer through the unseen (although sometimes heard) presence of the monster.”
- Strong identification with the protagonist(s) You can have all the jump scares in the world but a horror film is worthless unless you actually care about a character’s survival.
- Show, Don't Tell
- Making What's "Safe" Scary
- Showing A Bit of The Creature Or Monster
- It Seems Like The Story Really Could Occur
- Characters Fans Can Invest in
- Perfect Music
- The Movie Has An Important Message
- Explaining The Rules of The Monster
- Not Too Much Gore
- No Expected Cliches
The idea of "show, don't tell" is common writing advice and it applies to horror movies particularly well. Audiences want to see the action, not hear about it from characters talking to one another. There are many elements that matter here, from pacing and plot points to a general sense of tension and good dialogue. One Redditor thinks that a great...
For Redditor methodcomic, an excellent horror movie "takes an element of our lives that feels safe and shows us how quickly it can be unsafe" like Laurie Strode and her friends babysitting in Halloween. When Laurie and her friends Annie Brackett and Lynda Van der Klok walk home from school and get ready to go to their babysitting jobs, it's scary b...
Filmmakers know the exact right time to show audiences a creature, monster, demon, or evil spirit. There has to be a build-up of tension before this point so it's as terrifying as possible. If a monster popped up at the very beginning of the movie, it might still be creepy, but it wouldn't make audiences want to keep watching. Reddit caseyfoor wrot...
Some horror movies are more in the science-fiction realm and others feature realistic characters in small towns or cities, going about their regular lives and coming across a killer, villain, or creepy situation. One Redditor likes the latter, writing that a great horror movie is "(semi)believable and relateable. Something you see and think 'that c...
Redditor liminalsoupposted that "I have to care about the characters" in order for a horror movie to be great. It's true that well-crafted characters separate an incredible, impressive film from a boring or corny one that doesn't need to be watched again. In Us for example, audiences are invested in Adelaide Wilson's story and her ties to Red, and ...
For Redditor Burtmaclin2, a scary film needs good music. The fan wrote, "A great score can make or break a horror movie. The score sets the tone of the entire movie." Whether a movie uses a memorable, popular song or a score was written specifically for the film, it definitely makes a difference. Fans of the genre love John Carpenter's Halloweensco...
Redditor Yaohur likes when horror movies are "about something," adding, "The Exorcist was great because it was a movie about faith and doubt" and noted that "Get OutI think will become a modern classic" because it has something to say. The fan wrote that the best horror films have a "raw, uncensored examination of the human condition." Even the bes...
There's nothing worse than a horror movie that doesn't explain the rules of the monster, creature, or terrifying situation at hand. Audiences want to be able to enter this world immediately and understand exactly what's going on. A film without rules feels distracting as it can be hard to focus on the main story and characters when there are so man...
Kill counts are of course high in slashers, and sometimes supernatural films have a lot of gore as well. For Redditor Lightalife, it's best when a horror movie doesn't have very bloody scenes. The fan wrote, "Gore should be used to enhance an action or scene." While the nature of the slasher genre means that audiences are going to see some gruesome...
Horror fans are used to many cliches, from characters saying "I'll be right back" and then rushing right into the killer's atmosphere to a character falling while running. It can be tough to see these being used time and time again. Redditor burritoburglar appreciates Sinister as an "original story with very spooky aspects and a lot of very suspens...
Jul 23, 2021 · Ever wonder what makes good horror movies or books scary? This article (shortlisted for the 2020 Shadow Awards Best Non-Fiction) breaks down how the best horror plays on common fears to terrify, shock, and fill us with dread.
Oct 13, 2016 · The key to making your horror film effective in a moment to moment basis is not by withholding information, but rather by giving the audience enough information to terrify themselves with...
Oct 26, 2011 · Neal Bell, a Duke professor of theater studies, says the best horror movies are thought-provoking and suspenseful. With Halloween approaching, horror movie fans are gearing up for another onslaught of ghosts, goblins and gruesome, disfigured, back-from-the-dead-again serial killers.
Oct 16, 2022 · What really makes a good horror movie stand out? Horror movies — love them, hate them — all have one common goal: to scare the person watching the movie. Writer Stephen King states it best in his novel Dense Macabre: “if movies are the dreams of the mass culture… horror movies are the nightmares.”
Oct 6, 2021 · For Jason Blum, horror films work best when the audience is tricked into gently "relaxing" with the film's setting and characters before the makers pull the rug to unleash the proverbial monster. By: PTI. Mumbai | October 6, 2021 12:43 IST. 5 min read.
