What scares you the most ?

Hi friends. I wanted to know what is the element (mention only one) which scares (or creates more interest) you the most in scary movies?
Is it lot of Blood? killing and cutting (clearly shwoing the cutting of bodies into pieces on the screen etc)? Gore? Great Make up of evil creatures?? Lighting? or anything else.

Dont say story because it is an obvious element

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Lighting, setting, sound. I feel you have to build tension and stress in the atmosphere to effectively and legitimately scare people. It's a little cheesey now but look at the first 2 Resident Evil games, so much was done to build atmosphere that you were crapping yourself before anything came at you.

My problem is I don't find blood/gore scary by itself. I don't find the "What if I was in this situation?" type movies truly scary (Saw, Hostel). These are shallow films and shallow scares (don't get me wrong, I love horror). There is also a trend now of showing everything, all blood, all monster and it can make you jump but it wont stick with you. Think of H.P. Lovecraft, it was your imagination that scared you the most.

I'm not sure if I'm making a point but "what scares you" is something I've often thought about and continue to think about well I work through my own scripts.
 
The unknown. I get on edge more by what I can't see than by what I can. That, and anything in the murky waters that is bigger than me (even if it's docile). The Doom3 game with all of its shadows and eerie music also had me on the edge of my seat.

Case in point, I had a recent encounter with a hammerhead shark while kayak fishing in the Gulf. I hooked it and thought I had a large fish, but once I fought it close enough to my small, 12' kayak to see what it was, all I saw was a flash of a white rectangle (it's head) and teeth less than a foot away from my leg that was dangling off the side, and I was done for the day. Scared the hell out of me. Even though it was only about 3-4 feet long and was probably more scared of me than anything, that's all it took to rattle my nerves. I couldn't cut it loose fast enough. Now if the water had not been murky where I could see it clearly for what it was long before it got next to me, it might have been a very different experience.
 
I don't like Horror Movies with blood. It makes them seem not scary at all, and that the scariest thing is the blood. It's a bad turn off for me.
What makes me scared is the unknown truth. I highly suggest watching the History Channel's documentary "Primal Fear" somewhere around here. It's really good and features the typical fears people fear, and why they fear in the first place: drowning, burning alive, buried alive. Now that's what I call scary! (I mean, the thought that the character is going to be, say, buried alive is spooky, and if you show that well enough- well, you have my hairs standing).
 
For me its all about atmosphere. A slow build up with a sense of dread looming over you (or the character). I think the shinning is the best horror film by far. That moment when you first see those twin girls after all that footage of the kid riding around the hallways, all the time you are expecting something to be there when he rounds a corner but nothing ever is, just when you think there never will be you see those girls, that kinda thing scares me. Its fear of the unknown. Its just two little girls standing there but for me it is much scarier than all of the gore in the saw movies and hostle put together because of the build up to it.

I don't find blood and gore scary at all. The worst thing horror movies do imo is get being scared confused with being startled. This year I was unlucky enough to see The Happening and the sudden loud noises that happen out of nowhere startle you but they dont scare you. Its just lazy and cheap.
 
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The philosophical concept of nothingness, non-existence and void.... death.

See the french horror "The Martyrs" for a brilliant example of this. The first 1/2 is like a really good psychological revenge horror, then it goes kind of torture-porn before sending chills down your spine with a strangely thought-provoking ending.

I think the problem with most horrors is that they don't bother to actually build up the characters who die, and when those deaths could be full of meaning and significance (and thus horrifying) they just end up being Red Shirts.
 
The fact that someone funded the film... :lol: Most horror films are pretty bad, and to think that someone paid -- often times a fairly substantial amount of money -- to make the film is frightening.
 
Dread. You know something's there but you can't see it. Attach this dread to a phobia to kick it up a couple of notches. Force me into facing that situation -- give me no other choice than to face my fear and dread but make the event lack any kind of safety net i.e., I must rely on myself.

filmy
 
Thanks a lot for telling your point of view. I am really thanksful to all of you. The comman thing i found nearly in all the replies was most or all of you like the atmosphere etc and the unseen evil.

Monster as you said

I'm not sure if I'm making a point but "what scares you" is something I've often thought about and continue to think about well I work through my own scripts.

You have certainly made your point. By the way can i know about any script of yours ? If possible?

VPturner thanks for telling about your vies and about DOOM3.

Spatula
As you said

I think the problem with most horrors is that they don't bother to actually build up the characters who die, and when those deaths could be full of meaning and significance (and thus horrifying) they just end up being Red Shirts.

can you explain me when you said undeveloped characters who die. What did you mean by that? I hope you are not talking about charachter development (if yes) please explain me a little more about it. I will be thanksfull to you.

WIll you didnt tell us what you like the most in horror movies (or what scraes you the most)?

FIlm Jumper
Thanks for your reply. As you said

give me no other choice than to face my fear and dread but make the event lack any kind of safety net i.e., I must rely on myself.
can you give me example of some movies which really made you feel like that?

Once again thanks for telling me your views.


Regards


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Sure...

can you give me example of some movies which really made you feel like that?

Not really because I've been watching horror movies since I was 5 and I'm 50 now. Nothing really scares me today.

I can tell you that JAWS touched upon it a bit when it came out... Fear of the unknown (the ocean). I felt a little twitchy but not scared with Buffalo Bill turned off the lights and went after Clarice in the dark in SILENCE OF THE LAMBS.

But I think if you're writing a story for a screenplay and eventual movie, you've got to somehow tap into that dread which I am positive can be done.

filmy

EDIT: Back in 2001, a nice little horror thriller came out called JOY RIDE. I remember a scene when Paul Walker and Steve Zahn were driving along and all of a sudden, Rusty Nail gets on the CB radio and they talk... If I remember correctly, Paul Walker and Steve Zahn explain to Rusty Nail that it was all a joke...

FULLER
Listen, you sick fuck... You pathetic,
lonely walkie-talkie... Freak show
motherfucker, you're not getting
anything from me. Know why? I have
something more powerful than your
psychosis. It's called a volume knob.
And the only thing I need to make
you go away is to turn it counterclockwise.
Got that? You copy that?

RUSTY NAIL
You know, Black Sheep, you really ought to
get that fixed.

FULLER
Get what fixed?

RUSTY NAIL
Your taillight.

--I remember thinking what a great way to catch me off guard because when Rusty Nail says they ought to get that taillight fixed, I do remember feeling just a bit of dread. LOL.

filmy
 
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Spatula
As you said
can you explain me when you said undeveloped characters who die. What did you mean by that? I hope you are not talking about charachter development (if yes) please explain me a little more about it. I will be thanksfull to you.

Well, if you look at the vast majority of horror films, there's usually one or two characters in the cast who are meant to survive, whereas the others are merely fodder for whatever evil force is going around killing people. The problem is, these characters usually tend to be "the rapper", "the fat guy", "the black guy" or any other form of 2-Dimensional character. They don't bother investing the audience's emotions in these characters in any other way than giving them a few good jokes and gags to make us think "oh, he's funny, I hope he doesn't die". I think it's more powerful when a character that has an investment in the story dies...

A good example of this (although I didn't much care for the film) is in Hostel, where the one of the two lead characters is killed halfway through the film, causing the film to pick up the second half with the "unlikely hero".
 
Spatula

Please dont mind my reply...I didnt understand what are you eaxctly trying to say...[:(] i am sorry if you got irritated with my this statment. You mean to say that more characthers should stay alive in the end of the movie???


Regards
 
Spatula

Please dont mind my reply...I didnt understand what are you eaxctly trying to say...[:(] i am sorry if you got irritated with my this statment. You mean to say that more characthers should stay alive in the end of the movie???

Not at all irritated, my friend. I'm just glad someone isn't telling me to shut my piehole and get back to work.

They don't necessarily need to die at the end- but the significance of their deaths should MEAN more. I mean that in a typical movie with 5-8 cast members, there is usually only 1-2 people who "survive" whatever it is they are surviving. The problem is, those 5-6 people who die (most often violently) tend to be under-developed characters or not emotionally invested in the survivor character or the story.

I think a big part of horror is the "shock factor", or in other words, the "unexpected" (which ties into the fear of the unknown)... when people expect something to happen, it's no longer scary, so a big part of horror is doing things that are against what the audience expects... here's some examples:

Event Horizon - good example of the "unexpected" + fantastic Scifi-horror movie. Of the three characters that survive, 2 of them turn out to be the type of "underdeveloped" character I'm talking about (the black guy and the blonde scientist chick). A delightfully unexpected surprise when these characters end up surviving where others do not. Every death in that movie is also emotionally invested in some way, mainly because Lawrence Fishburn's character is such a gung-ho crew-loving captain, and when he blows himself up allowing the two stock characters to survive, it's a great payoff for the film.

I Know What You Did Last Summer - Who gives a shit about any of the characters in this movie anyway? They're a group of dull, 2-D teenage idiots running around as some killer picks them off one by one in a predictable order. Well, there's a lot of movies like this (more "slasher genre"), and they all pretty much end the same... some heroine's ex-boyfriend or secret crush kills her friends, comes after her, but is defeated by the new boyfriend in her life and the killer falls off a cliff into the sea. Then the heroine moves to Baltimore to start a new life and the last shot of the film is her in the shower as the killer pops into frame. Blah. Predictable. Stale. Maybe they intentionally make the characters bland and cliche to stand for what they think people are, but I think people relate more to unique characters... and EVERYONE should be unique in the film, since all people are unique- even the bartender in scene 22, shot b, take 3 who had his finger up his nose during the best take.

13 Ghosts - bad bad movie, but with some pretty horrific effects and an interesting but campy plot... and Matthew Lillard.. - and the problem with this movie was that the only character who could have had an emotional death was Matthew Lillard's, and while I love him in SLC Punk and some other flicks, he isn't the person who I would attach an "emotionally riveting" scene to. And the people who survive are the obvious ones- the "family unit", while the more 2-dimensional characters die off randomly. So while the visuals certainly give a shock factor, the characters who die only serve to show off fancy effects and not advance the story in a way that takes the audience on a horrifying journey. Instead, it's a bit of a camp fest, which I usually enjoy (see Evil Dead 2), but could have been MUCH more terrifying if they actually spent more time developing the characters.


That's all I can manage typing now. I just really like horror films that have unique characters facing unknown danger. That's the best way to put it. Damn it, could have saved me some ranting... next time, Gadget!!! NEEEXXXT TIIIMME!!!
 
Not at all irritated, my friend. I'm just glad someone isn't telling me to shut my piehole and get back to work.

Spatula first of all thanks for not getting irritated. Secondly i am always willing to read and learn anything related to filmmaking. SO i will never say any one to shut his piehole. Infact its me who is always scared that my seniors and teachers (you people) might ask me to shut my piehole, because i ask so many questions. So thanks for it.

And i am again thankdfull that you gave a very detailed reply (which i obviously loved to read) and it was very very knowledgeable. I hope it will help me in my current project and i will be able to create a good story but i might not inspire you with the uncertainity of charachters as i have very few charachters so a sharp minded person (like you) might conclude the results already.

Regards


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I think what is scary is the notion of being out of control. Every horror film, supernatural film, slasher film, suspense film (my personal fav) is about not being able to stop, avoid or control the oncoming threat.

Of course, it has different presentations:
psychopaths: The Strangers
slashers: A Nightmare On Elm Street/Halloween/Friday The 13th
suspense: The Andromeda Strain/Alien/The Bourne Identity

Any zombie movie....:D
Any person tied to a chair or locked in a room, or being pursued. If the person is without the ability to protect or save themselves. That is scary to me.

-- spinner :cool:
 
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