Does a thriller need a weapon

kurtmo

kurtmo

Eats with 2 Fists
I purposely disposed of guns/knives/flame throwers/sharp pointy objects for this fest. I could've used a weapon, but I wanted to see if I could make the psych as ominous without a physical weapon.

Other thoughts?
 
Michael Anthony Horrigan said:
REAR WINDOW


'Nuff said.


I'm fine with weapons in films as long as they are not used as a crutch.

MAH
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Love Rear Window.

I agree about the crutch. If you need it, then sure use it. But if you can't build the tension cinematically or with the story itself...then work harder.

Crutch as a weapon? Long John Silver?
 
Hitchcock - rarely do you see a weapon. It's all about suspense. Except for "Psycho" and that butcher knife, dang...
 
I think, as someone who loves thrillers and scaries, that the most effective monsters and thrillers are the ones you seldom or never actually see. Hitchcock was the master at this - even in Psycho, you never actually saw a knife going into flesh... Everything was implied. The inference was always clear and easy to make, but the viewer had to do the mental work. I think that is more effective and scary almost every time.
 
can you give an example of how a weapon is used as a crutch??

what if there is a weapon, but it's never seen?
 
I agree with Charli- Hitchcock rarely used weapons, and his movies are obviously classic thrillers. I would be interested to see what kind of thriller you can come up with without using weapons.
 
In Sexy Beast, I can't remember if Kingsley's character was armed at all but his sheer psychotic-bullying-domineering persona made him very intimating. It was, IMO, a great example of a character who was over the top without being contrived. I think the key was, and I've seen this in real life, is the barely restrained politeness until you tell him "no" then he just goes off and tries another tactic. Us normal people aren't used to people who act like this and it's disconcerting.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7ymGLcbq8A

Patrick
 
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Huh, you just described me. Is that not normal


Patrick T said:
In Sexy Beast, I can't remember if Kingsley's character was armed at all but his sheer psychotic-bullying-domineering persona made him very intimating. It was, IMO, a great example of a character who was over the top without being contrived. I think the key was, and I've seen this in real life, is the barely restrained politeness until you tell him "no" then he just goes off and tries another tactic. Us normal people aren't used to people who act like this and it's disconcerting.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7ymGLcbq8A

Patrick
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