Horror films that don't rely on Gore.

Oh, I definitely would love to have people sleep with the light on :) I think, and what I'm reading seems to go to that, is it takes a lot more work to do a goreless horror movie and still scare the willies out of people *L*

I forgot about exorcist and What happened to Baby Jane- two very different horror movies, but both creeped me out! Have to watch them again.

Nice to see so much contribution to the thread and the ideas, not just for movies, but suggestions of how to make the movie.

I said in another thread I watched Texas Chainsaw Massacre again today, and found it interesting what they accomplished on a limited budget and no gore(alot of implication though, and that was enough :)). Also managed to make the "killer" a sympathetic character while keeping it scary-impressive.

Some great suggestions!
 
God, I've always had a love/hate relationship with gorey films.
SAW is probably the only series of gorey films that I can tolerate.

I'd look-up Japanese films, some of which have already been listed above.
 
a couple of the most recent films i would have a look at would be 'the orphanage' and 'rec', both spanish but two of the best horror films recently, especially the orphanage.
 
Really good suggestions, now trying to find the time in my life to catch some of them *L* There seem to be quite a few out there that can be done with minimal gore and still be effective.

I'm starting to come up with an outline now of what I'd like to do, and I've got an idea for an antagonist, I just want to give them a reason for what they do. Got to get a good story, otherwise it becomes a "mindless slasher flick"*L*
 
Actually, THE EXORCIST has a fair amount of Dick Smith ugly face, vomiting, head turning, crotch stabbing gore, which is probably why it wasn't mentioned. :lol: It is one of the scariest movies ever. though. As some people have mentioned - gore by itself can be less scary and more shocking and repulsive, so perhaps you should think about "what is scary", period. Remember that movies like THE EYE were shot bloodless, then the studio stepped in with bloody reshoots to spice it up. Don't force yourself to lose scares by being too conservative.

A couple with gore, but worth studying:

JAWS (some gore, but it was all about the P.0.V. shots!)
THE GRUDGE (some gore, but mostly shocks)



I have to second a lot of what was already mentioned (relatively bloodless)

THE SIXTH SENSE
ROSEMARY'S BABY
SESSION 9
THE CHANGELING
WAIT UNTIL DARK

Some more:

HALLOWEEN was relatively bloodless. Study that!
INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS (paranoia)
WHEN A STRANGER CALLS
THE DEVIL'S BACKBONE
THE VANISHING
DON'T LOOK NOW
MOTHMAN PROPHECIES
ARACHNOPHOBIA
AMITYVILLE HORROR
SIGNS
SALEM'S LOT
THE BIRDS
VILLAGE OF THE DAMNED
OPEN WATER


Totally agree about THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE, but it and PSYCHO are older movies. It is interesting to look at any old horror film, to see how they handled a rough scene. THE THING (the original) is an interesting example, as is the movie that inspired ALIEN, IT! THE TERROR FROM BEYOND SPACE.

FRANKENSTEIN, THE WOLFMAN, THE MUMMY are all fairly interesting. THE WOLFMAN's metamorphosis was scary to me, because that meant he was going to become a beast and do something bad! The slow metamorphosis of Jeff Goldblum into THE FLY was very unnerving.

Scary things:

Noises - scrapes, breaths, bumps, screams, growls.
Music - John Carpenter made the term "Stinger" famous - a shocking, stinging sound, often used for "false scares".
The night - howls in the darkness, something outside your window.
Obscured visuals - use of light, shadow, darkness and fog.
Insects - spiders, scorpions, centipedes, tarantulas.
Beasts - sharks, crocodiles, snakes, bears.
People - large men, little children, cloaked figures.
Water - oceans, murky swamps, lakes.
Big houses/buildings - nothing scarier than the hospital ward scene in EXORCIST 3: LEGION.
Precipices - cliff sides, deep dark wells, elevator shafts.
Bondage - being tied to a pole, a chair, in a basement.
Basements/attics - dark, dusty places.
Caves - I refer you to THE DESCENT.
Staircases/stairwells
Parking garages
Unbalanced people - happy one minute, manaical the next.
Sharp objects - knives, stakes, razors (the mere presence of which can be suggestive).
Solitude - alone and far from people or help.
Smothering/trapped - buried alive in THE SERPENT AND THE RAINBOW.
Dead return to life
Apocalypse/end of the world - This whole "2012" (not just the movie) intrigue is off the map.
Revelations - THE OMEN
Someone behind you - even worse when you can see it, but the main characer can't.
Clowns - yes, clowns, dolls and puppets.
Dreams/nightmares - Ever see A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET?
Hell - demons, Satan, fire.
Burning
Drowning - stuck in a sinking car, with a small pocket of air.
Disease
Religious cults
Cannibal rednecks
Stalker boy/girlfriends - FATAL ATTRACTION, anybody?
Organ stealers
Laboratories


That's a start. Now, start combining some of those, like bonded in a burning lab, with a razor wielding stalker girlfriend, who is a clown?! :D
 
VPTurner said:
Event Horizon is one such movie that "got to me".
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Yeah, I completely agree, Event Horizon is the only movie that truely freaked me out. I could actually feel the evil while watching the movie, but it was a brialliant film if you ask me. Not much bothers or scares me, so anything that scares the crap out of me like that earns my respect! It had a little gore, but it wasn't gratuitous IMO, it was in perspective and in context, matter of fact I remember the one scene they intentionally left very short, unless you rewound the scene, you just caught glimpses of the images, but the message was definately there. I had to rewind it just to make sure I saw what I thought I saw. Those of you who have seen the movie know the scene I'm referring to- it was the digital recording message left behind by the previous crew. Ack! Gross! and Ouch, that's just not right!
 
EvsFX08 said:
Yeah, I completely agree, Event Horizon is the only movie that truely freaked me out. I could actually feel the evil while watching the movie, but it was a brialliant film if you ask me. Not much bothers or scares me, so anything that scares the crap out of me like that earns my respect! It had a little gore, but it wasn't gratuitous IMO, it was in perspective and in context, matter of fact I remember the one scene they intentionally left very short, unless you rewound the scene, you just caught glimpses of the images, but the message was definately there. I had to rewind it just to make sure I saw what I thought I saw. Those of you who have seen the movie know the scene I'm referring to- it was the digital recording message left behind by the previous crew. Ack! Gross! and Ouch, that's just not right!
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You know why it most likely freaked you out?

Because you couldn't see what was doing this to all of them. There was nothing there. The scariest thing in the world, is what you don't actually get a chance to see.

It taps into the same reason you are scared as a child -- you think something is in the closet, you think something is under the bed, you think you hear something out in the hall. But do you ever see any of it? No, of course not, because it's not real. *But you sure think it is*.

I'm more scared of what *might* be in the dark closet, than the monster in front of me. At least then the wait is over, and I can run or fight.
 
yeah that's true, between the unknown and being forced to do painful things to yourself or other human beings is always scary, I think that's why I like the Saw movies, it's not really so much of a slasher movie, but more of a psychological thriller as well. All the victims have to make a choice, and the violence actually has a reason behind it, not just some guy in a hockey mask pissed of at the world. Sorry, guys, I could never get into the Friday the 13th thing, but for some reason I love the Nightmare on Elm Street movies, maybe the Jason series was more real and "could" actually happen, I don't know.
 
While I hesitate to mention my favorite "horror" flicks of all time because they are well-known and famed for their gore, but while the franchise continues to build it's principle box office money making ability on out-doing itself in the gore department with each new film, the first SAW movie was one of the best story lines I've ever seen in a horror flick. If you take away the gore, it is an excellence movie and story and would have become just as big a hit in my opinion. Too bad they continue frame the franchise around the gore and not the complex story it had going for it in the beginning.
 
They kind of try to keep the complex story going, but like the traps themselves the whole thing just comes off as a forced exercise.

I do like Tobin Bell, who's one of the only new horror stars to emerge in the last decade.
 
They kind of try to keep the complex story going, but like the traps themselves the whole thing just comes off as a forced exercise.

I do like Tobin Bell, who's one of the only new horror stars to emerge in the last decade.
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lol. I'm probably one of the most loyal and biggest fans of the SAW franchine and even I admit that the 4th movie was a complete mind job. It was confusing. There was absolutely no continuity. The other films were confusing all the way up to the end when they wrapped everything up and you understood, but the fourth one's ending just made me even more confused than the rest of the film. lol.

As for Tobin Bell, I never really thought about it, but you're right. They aren't NEW horror characters. The characters in The Ring and The Grudge have no where near the character development Jigsaw has. Jigsaw has become one of those iconic horror film characters like Jason, Freddy, Micheal, etc. I can't even remember what the baddies in The Grudge and The Ring look like!

Maybe that's the key to writing a good horror film. Character development.

Tinalera, SAW is a perfect example of this. Regardless of gore level, a good horror film has a well thought out INTELLIGENT story with good (if quick and simple sometimes, doesn't have to be super complicated) character development.
 
Oh yeah... and everything Scoopicman said too. Sounds, weird angles, grainy film look all add to the "atmosphere" of the movie and set the mood and tone to put the audience in an already uncalm state.
 
Although it does have some gore (some of which is cheesey), one of the best psychological horror films I've ever seen is "High Tension."
 
Kimberlee said:
"High Tension."
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Fantastic film, for sure.

Loved the lighting, especially. Scary as all getout.
smiley_mono.gif
 
I know it's been mentioned already, but Rosemary's Baby is the first film that came to mind here. It's really quite frightening, and all the scary stuff is imagined (well except for the satan rape scene!). You never see the baby, but by looking at the faces of everyone else who is you are absolutely horrified. The film also plays cleverly with the notion of paranoia... fantastically done.

Also, I wish to echo everyone's comments Event Horizon being kick-ass.

I personally find gore a little too cheap. Some of the creepiest moments for me are achieved with unusual sound effects, or an arresting/unusually disturbing visual. I'm thinking in the first instance of the awful animal noises used in the Exorcist or the crunching bones sound used when the ghost descends the staircase in The Grudge. The part of the Ring remake when the horses go crazy on the boat sounds fantastically awful. There's definitely an art to it, but if you get it right these moments will stick with people...
 
Does psychological horror count?

How about Dead Ringers--one of my favorite disturbing horror-esk films of all time. There is very little gore...well...there is some, but the movie doesn't rely on it.
 
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