How to make a scary movie
So there's this genre of movie out there that a lot of people don't like. It's not like people have seen one and then decided it wasn't to their liking. A lot of people have never seen one. Or, they've seen a movie that has made a mockery of the entire genre, and made their decision based on that. I'm talking of course about scary movies. And not piddly little 'supposed to be scary' movies like Texas Chainsaw Massacre, which wasn't really scary but was at least fairly gorey. Anyways, I've decided to make a list of things necessary for a really scary movie. And when I mean a really scary movie, I don't mean The Ring. I mean scary. Possible slight spoilers ahead.
1.) Lots of darkness. Probably the two scariest movies I've seen are The Grudge and The Descent. And no, a scary movie doesn't need to have 'The' in the title. Anyways, there is a lot of darkness in these movies. The Descent takes place in a freaking cave. However, if a movie is just dark, that's not enough. Take Dark Water, a movie I hoped would be scary. It was just stupid. And there was a lot of darkness in it. Also, personally, I think a movie is even scarier if you can make it scary while it's still light out. Like in the Grudge when SMG sees the reflection of the creepy ghost lady in the bus window. It's great because you feel less safe even though it's light.
2.) Some semblance of a plot. This is where Dark Water missed the mark. The story just blew. But in the Descent, they were in a cave, trying to get out. Really this one is pretty general. It's not too hard to have any semblance of a plot in a scary movie. And the plot could be the dumbest thing you've ever heard and you could still have a pretty scary movie. If it's scary enough, it doesn't matter what the plot is. But if it's not scary enough, the plot can make you hate it.
3.) Someone dies at the beginning. You absolutely need a death in the first scene of the movie. That usually sets the tone for the rest of the movie, either learning about that death, dealing with that death, whatever.
4.) More than one scary thing. Now, I'll say at this point, The Ring was a fairly scary movie. I'll get to why I didn't think it was scary in a second. But when I say more than one scary thing, I mean you need to have things jumping out so you jump when you see it, you need to be creeped out of your pants at other parts, and you need to be grossed out. If you aren't creeped out of your pants then it's just not as fun. It should be psychologically scary as much as it is physically scary. If craziness enters into the mix, it's even better.
5.) A reasonably scary monster/thing to kill. Sweet crap this is where the Descent excelled. You need to have something that's gross, but not so gross that it just looks stupid. It has to gross the hell out of you so much that you are uncomfortable about the prospect of seeing it again. But if it looks too gross, then you'll just be like 'well that's dumb' or you'll laugh. I would say Pizza the Hut was gross, but laughably so. Also, Spaceballs wasn't scary, so maybe that's a good gauge for how gross to make a monster. In addition, this thing isn't quite human. Maybe it can talk like a human, or if it resembles a human, it's even better. But it's just not entirely human.
6.) The monster/thing to kill doesn't just look gross, but it does gross/scary things. This is where I thought The Ring really turned from a scary movie into a 'why did I think that was scary?' movie. In the end, you can't be questioning the outcome of your encounters with the monster thing. In The Ring the girl comes out of the TV, not really scary. In The Grudge, the girl coming down the stairs looks so freaking creepy, the way she's moving awkwardly, her eyes, that noise. Speaking of the noise, in The Descent the albino human monster things made kind of a similar noise. Such a creepy noise. But I digress. Anyways, in The Grudge, she makes that noise, but then she crawls up, looks in your eyes, and then you never see what happens. That's another part where the Ring missed the mark. It would have been scarier if they'd left whatever happened up to interpretation instead of trying to tie all the loose ends up.
7.) Have scary things happen in places that would normally be considered safe. For instance, daylight. Or, another example, also in the Grudge, in bed. You're not supposed to die in your own bed. It's best to never feel safe.
8.) No fucking happy endings. At first, I didn't like the ending in The Grudge because it didn't tie everything together. Then I liked it the more I thought about it, because it was so creepy. Then I saw the Descent and I loved how it ended. And really, happy endings are for chick flicks or comedies. Another movie I wouldn't really consider scary, but was fairly disturbing was Silent Hill. If you can leave me feeling unsure about myself and pretty disturbed about what I just witnessed, you've got a winner.
It should be pointed out that this is just for the Horror (I guess) type of movies, not slasher or thriller or any of those 'scary' movies. Also, The Descent was a fucking awesome movie. I can't wait for Grudge 2 or Grudge 3 (there better be a Grudge 3, they're making Ju-On 3). And dare I wish for a The Descent 2?
1.) Lots of darkness. Probably the two scariest movies I've seen are The Grudge and The Descent. And no, a scary movie doesn't need to have 'The' in the title. Anyways, there is a lot of darkness in these movies. The Descent takes place in a freaking cave. However, if a movie is just dark, that's not enough. Take Dark Water, a movie I hoped would be scary. It was just stupid. And there was a lot of darkness in it. Also, personally, I think a movie is even scarier if you can make it scary while it's still light out. Like in the Grudge when SMG sees the reflection of the creepy ghost lady in the bus window. It's great because you feel less safe even though it's light.
2.) Some semblance of a plot. This is where Dark Water missed the mark. The story just blew. But in the Descent, they were in a cave, trying to get out. Really this one is pretty general. It's not too hard to have any semblance of a plot in a scary movie. And the plot could be the dumbest thing you've ever heard and you could still have a pretty scary movie. If it's scary enough, it doesn't matter what the plot is. But if it's not scary enough, the plot can make you hate it.
3.) Someone dies at the beginning. You absolutely need a death in the first scene of the movie. That usually sets the tone for the rest of the movie, either learning about that death, dealing with that death, whatever.
4.) More than one scary thing. Now, I'll say at this point, The Ring was a fairly scary movie. I'll get to why I didn't think it was scary in a second. But when I say more than one scary thing, I mean you need to have things jumping out so you jump when you see it, you need to be creeped out of your pants at other parts, and you need to be grossed out. If you aren't creeped out of your pants then it's just not as fun. It should be psychologically scary as much as it is physically scary. If craziness enters into the mix, it's even better.
5.) A reasonably scary monster/thing to kill. Sweet crap this is where the Descent excelled. You need to have something that's gross, but not so gross that it just looks stupid. It has to gross the hell out of you so much that you are uncomfortable about the prospect of seeing it again. But if it looks too gross, then you'll just be like 'well that's dumb' or you'll laugh. I would say Pizza the Hut was gross, but laughably so. Also, Spaceballs wasn't scary, so maybe that's a good gauge for how gross to make a monster. In addition, this thing isn't quite human. Maybe it can talk like a human, or if it resembles a human, it's even better. But it's just not entirely human.
6.) The monster/thing to kill doesn't just look gross, but it does gross/scary things. This is where I thought The Ring really turned from a scary movie into a 'why did I think that was scary?' movie. In the end, you can't be questioning the outcome of your encounters with the monster thing. In The Ring the girl comes out of the TV, not really scary. In The Grudge, the girl coming down the stairs looks so freaking creepy, the way she's moving awkwardly, her eyes, that noise. Speaking of the noise, in The Descent the albino human monster things made kind of a similar noise. Such a creepy noise. But I digress. Anyways, in The Grudge, she makes that noise, but then she crawls up, looks in your eyes, and then you never see what happens. That's another part where the Ring missed the mark. It would have been scarier if they'd left whatever happened up to interpretation instead of trying to tie all the loose ends up.
7.) Have scary things happen in places that would normally be considered safe. For instance, daylight. Or, another example, also in the Grudge, in bed. You're not supposed to die in your own bed. It's best to never feel safe.
8.) No fucking happy endings. At first, I didn't like the ending in The Grudge because it didn't tie everything together. Then I liked it the more I thought about it, because it was so creepy. Then I saw the Descent and I loved how it ended. And really, happy endings are for chick flicks or comedies. Another movie I wouldn't really consider scary, but was fairly disturbing was Silent Hill. If you can leave me feeling unsure about myself and pretty disturbed about what I just witnessed, you've got a winner.
It should be pointed out that this is just for the Horror (I guess) type of movies, not slasher or thriller or any of those 'scary' movies. Also, The Descent was a fucking awesome movie. I can't wait for Grudge 2 or Grudge 3 (there better be a Grudge 3, they're making Ju-On 3). And dare I wish for a The Descent 2?
posted by Jtrouble at 10:04 AM
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