Creating horror that's 'real'

Semiazas

Semiazas

I'm just wondering what kind of stuff or plots can be done or used in order to create horror that's real and is very much rooted in reality as I always thought that realistic horror, especially if well executed, could be quite terrifying.
I'm also wondering what lifelike, realistic horror films are out there. Apart from serial killer ones cause I know about them anyway.
 
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I am scared of my own shadow, but that's just me. IT is totally right, if you wanna be realistic, go for what's real. I would give you examples if I had any, but as you can probably guess, I'm not the horror movie type.
I can tell you things that are scary though. Heights. The dark. When semi's overtake you on a two lane 100 k an hour highway. The ocean. Snakes. When planes make any sort of mechanical noise at any point after take off. Being lost by yourself. Having your car break down at night when you're by yourself. Level crossings. Crowds.
Well, those all terrify me, but like I said, I'm scared of everything :/
 
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As a Lovecraft fan, I'll throw a couple of other horror aspects out there. Not "realistic" per say, but don't HAVE to be supernaturally based.

Insanity, there are things that could be worse than death or pain, like having your concept of reality, your mind, ripped apart.

The thing to fear is not the thing that bears you ill will, but the thing that either just "does what it does" (like a predator in nature), or to whom you are totally insignificant, an ant that is crushed without even noticing it.
 
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I'm a lovecraft fan too. I'd like to use lovecraftian themes like insanity but it's one of those things that requires a really powerful script and I'm not sure what kind of plot I'd use.
Any suggestions?
 
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As Lovecraft wrote:

"The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown"
— H.P. Lovecraft

More at
http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/9494.H_P_Lovecraft

* The thought of chopping my wife's head off with an ax (Here's Johnny!!) puts a pit in my stomach (go figure!) so I wrote a short script about it. My mind can go into some rather dark and deep places. Fortunately, I am not wired to act upon those instincts. But as we all know, some folks "go there". The stories about people coming home to find their brother/sister/friend whacked out on PCP and cooking their own toes in a frying pan totally freak me out. Some guy high on PCP shaved his face off with broken glass. This is why I fear any sort of hallucinogenic drug. I'm absolutely terrified of what I might do. Gulp.
 
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I think there have been a lot of writers who set out to write about 'the fear of the unknown' but don't managed.

The fact of the matter is that 'fear of the unknown' manifests itself in several, more tangible, ways. The first is a fear of death and in that way any movie where the characters fear for their lives, is a movie about 'fear of the unknown'. The second is fear of the dark which is almost a prerequisite for horror films, the tension is built by it being in the dark. Very few horror films don't explore these two themes (do any not?) and in doing so they are addressing the fear of the unknown.

But I would challenge you to depict fear of the unkown on screen without resorting to these staple fears.
 
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Flicker Pictures said:
As Lovecraft wrote:

"The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown"
— H.P. Lovecraft
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I completely agree with this. I would go one step further, or maybe one step to the right or left is a better way to put it. What I find to be really terrifying is lack of control. Some of the moments in movies that have effected me the most have been of situations where the person in the scene hads no control over the outcome of the situation. Or that theire best efforts to change/stop the situation were completely for naught. I remember a scene from some ole BW movie, nothing special, where the villian begins fighting with a woman in the movie. She tries to attack him with a knife. He takes the knife. Then while she's still fighting against him he stabs her to death. I don't remember the movie or whoo was in it, or anything else about the movie. But that one little scene left its mark because of the hopeless nature of her fight. I hope that makes some kind of sense???:)
 
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well off the top of my head theres movies like the humancentipede which isnt really serial killerish because the "horror is derived from scientifical yuckyness ( yes that is the politically correct term ) and CABIN FEVER which is a disease movie if you were looking for something more everyday ( as if sewing humans together to form one digestive track wasnt average enough for you ) you could try to get horror out of things like jail or child/spousal abuse but i think itd be mighty challenging to make it a bona fide horror film
 
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Grand Upper said:
Imply instead of show.
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Indeed! Take this as far as you can before revealing because once the genie is out of the bottle, chances are, he's not going back in. The only thing left is to ratchet up the reveal even more and more, and that can get old, or stale, pretty fast. It's a tricky balance. The audience is forever wanting to know. Better to hold back.... until the time is just right...
 
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In many circumstances it's better to never show. I'm obviously not talking about things that we want revealed to have a satisfying ending; more individual events in the film.

The mind can imagine things far more visceral than anything we can show on screen, which is the key to creating realistic horror.
 
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