Screenwriting help- Horror/Torutre-How far is to far?

[J.R. Hudson]

Se7en comes to mind on that one.

The contrast between Mill's and John Doe's worlds worked greatly. Throwing the innocence of Gwyneth's character into that fold and it just got scary.

A film like Hostel or Saw does nothing for me while Rob Zombie's The Devil's Rejects I found completely disturbing; knowing that everyone, including the Reject's were all real people.

 

[brianluce]

I only stated a fact, neither meant as judgmental or derisive. I only said it since "Horrorwriter" may only be interested in the more exploitative-level of cinema, rather than the "erudite" (TM) tradition brianluce seems to imply he should follow.
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That's not what I'm saying.

 

[Horrorwriter]

Either you show the implement but not its use.
Or you have the detectives or someone working on the case say it, either in breifing another officer or being briefed, or speaking of it personally because they're horrified by it too.

In other words, just don't show the act itself. If you feel you have to show something, cut away soon.

7 is often thought of as an incredibly violent movie. But there's almost no actual violence in it. Its always the aftermath.

One character in 7 is made to wear a knife as as phallus and have sex with people against his will. They don't show it. You don't hear it. You hear about it in a visceral and traumatic way in that characters interrogation. Maybe the show the apparatus but can't remember.

Of course the only way this won't work is if in your true life events the cops didn't discover any of the bodies or find any of the evidence until it was all done and over.

As a litmus test. Ask if the act itself furthers the story or changes someone's character development or is it the aftermath of the act.

If a character is raped and is there after afraid of sex, there's no reason to show the rape. Her terror before hand and traumatization afterward will do.

If there is a moment in the act itself that say, changes the killer, its the moment he realizes he has to hunt down red heads named suzie because of the way his current victim screams or something, then maybe you need to show it.

Porn, musicals, and action movies all suffer from the same structural challenge. By in large the plot is there just to prop up the musical numbers, sex scenes, or action sequences. So if you are machinating in the plot to create a horrific torture scene then you are probably making Gorno, or Torture Porn. But if you have to have a torture scene to fascillitate the story moving forward then probably not and you also probably don't have to show much.

You can create dread a lot of ways other than explicitness.

Thanks to everyone for all your responses! It's great to see that most people here are willing to lend their support and ideas. I definitely have a lot of things to consider when writing my screenplay now.

I hadn't even considered Se7en but I’ll definitely take a look at to refresh my memory and see how it's done.

I am certainly not trying to say I'm intending to create the next Casablanca here. Some people don't like this kind of genre and that's completely understandable. I said in my initial post that I did not intend to write a torture porn film. Although I do enjoy them, I do find them to be a bit over the top and there is far too many of them lately.

To Jack Daniel Stanley: You've given me a wealth of great ideas so thank you. Unfortunately, the police didn't find the crime scene until after the man was caught. So it'd be difficult to do what you are suggesting. I am considered incorporating some different timelines and things like that into my story though so hopefully that will strengthen the story without having to show too much of the actual crimes.

I was thinking of having the story follow the survivor of this guy's attacks because it's pretty fascinating. Although Se7en is definitely an excellent reference I was thinking more along the lines of Wolf Creek, where the bulk of the movie takes place in one day (or in my story's case 3 days). The story would follow her capture, the crimes committed against her and then her escape. I'd also like to incorporate the capture and a brief overvirew of the trial of the murderer because that's another fascinating story in and of itself, but I’ll have to see how the writing goes.

I think horror movies are very tricky in that you walk a fine line between an intriguing film and an over-the-top blood fest. I'd certainly like the steer clear of the latter. Hence why I came to all of you with input on and you all have given me far more then I expected, so thanks once again!

 

[brianluce]

To Jack Daniel Stanley: You've given me a wealth of great ideas so thank you. Unfortunately, the police didn't find the crime scene until after the man was caught. So it'd be difficult to do what you are suggesting. goes.

These kind of comments always puzzle me. Unless you're doing a documentary I don't see why you'd care about adhering the facts of the real event. Who cares? That's why it's fun to be a writer. I don't think there are any integrity issues here either. Dramatic license. You know, make stuff up.