Stephen King on writing horror...

Ming said:
Oh come on.. :banned:


I've read quite a few SK books and I've always enjoyed them. The movies don't always translate well but The Shining is Stanley Kubrick at his most anal already, what's not to like. I say this all with a smile on my face.. I understand there may be younger people who just don't get it, read as "don't get off on it" if that's less crotchety. Citizen Kane is boring to me I'll admit and its from a previous generation- but I wouldn't say I don't like it, just that its not something I'd make time in my schedule to watch.
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The Shining was interesting as a character study, and for its new cinematic techniques, but it wasn't frightening at all. Kubrick was a revolutionary director, but as stories, his films really don't cut it. They were new for their time, but looked at from a technical aspect these days, they are nothing special.

Full Metal Jacket is good, and A Clockwork Orange is fantastic. Other than that, Kubrick's films are fairly milquetoast by today's standards.

Citizen Kane has characters that Kubrick's films lack. Good, strong characters are what make films stand the test of time, not interesting cinematic technique.
 
agcohn said:
The Shining


Full Metal Jacket is good, and A Clockwork Orange is fantastic. Other than that, Kubrick's films are fairly milquetoast by today's standards.

Citizen Kane has characters that Kubrick's films lack. Good, strong characters are what make films stand the test of time, not interesting cinematic technique.
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Except that some critics consider Strangelove the greatest flim ever made.
 
Hey 10's -I'd definitely make a new thread for that question- and it sounds like a great topic.
 
agcohn said:
The Shining was interesting as a character study, and for its new cinematic techniques, but it wasn't frightening at all. Kubrick was a revolutionary director, but as stories, his films really don't cut it. They were new for their time, but looked at from a technical aspect these days, they are nothing special.

Full Metal Jacket is good, and A Clockwork Orange is fantastic. Other than that, Kubrick's films are fairly milquetoast by today's standards.

Citizen Kane has characters that Kubrick's films lack. Good, strong characters are what make films stand the test of time, not interesting cinematic technique.
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The Shining is probably the creepiest and most deeply unnerving films i've ever seen. Plus A Clockwork Orange, Full Metal Jacket, The Shining, and many of his earlier films are all deep character studies. 2001 was his only truly character-less film, and yet it managed to be one of the greatest movies of all time. Dr. Strangelove is by far one of the greatest comedies, though it would have failed if left in the hands of a less-capable director. If anything, Kubrick's films shine better in this day and age more than they did in their initial release. He represents everything that is perfect with art and film.

This biggest misconception about horror films these days is that they have to be "frightening". How do directors frighten their audience? nowadays, they serve up cheep scares and with quick-cutting and loud noises. these films are scary, they're dumb. the shining had something deeper and darker that compelled it, and made it much more effective.
 
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cubitfox said:
The Shining is probably the creepiest and most deeply unnerving films i've ever seen. Plus A Clockwork Orange, Full Metal Jacket, The Shining, and many of his earlier films are all deep character studies. 2001 was his only truly character-less film, and yet it managed to be one of the greatest movies of all time. Dr. Strangelove is by far one of the greatest comedies, though it would have failed if left in the hands of a less-capable director. If anything, Kubrick's films shine better in this day and age more than they did in their initial release. He represents everything that is perfect with art and film.

This biggest misconception about horror films these days is that they have to be "frightening". How do directors frighten their audience? nowadays, they serve up cheep scares and with quick-cutting and loud noises. these films are scary, they're dumb. the shining had something deeper and darker that compelled it, and made it much more effective.
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Horror films shouldn't frighten the audience? I'm sorry, I normally try to avoid insulting other peoples' opinions, but that has got to be one of the dumbest things I've ever read. Ever.

Most current horror film directors are not making scary films they are making shocking films. There is a big difference. Horror films have become the arena of cheap filmmaking... shlock. They don't know what it takes to frighten an audience, so they try and make the audience cringe. That is not scary. It takes a great director to make a truly scary film, a director like Alfred Hitchcock.


The Shining is creepy, but it is a one trick pony. Nicholson gives a great performance, but the story isn't dynamic at all. It falls flat in the end. It's creepy without purpose for the entire length of the film.
 
By putting frighten in quotations, i'm not referring to true fright from situation and character endangerment, but quick easy fright when a nameless villain pops around a corner. I can understand people disliking the Shining, its one of the only films that relies completely on eeriness, and some might find it dragging the whole approach out. I'm not being condescending or insulting others views, i'm just presenting my own views on horror. I'm just an earnest believer in atmosphere over scare-tactics.
 
Stephen King's Danse Macabre is the best book on the subject of writing horror, but when it comes to filmmaking, he's kind of an idiot. Anyone see Maximum Overdrive (directed by) or Sleepwalkers (his only original screenplay)? In Danse Macabre he breaks down the fears that horror stories prey on. Mostly, the best horror stories prey not on our fear of death, but our fear of damnation, what happens to us after we die.
 
I'd listen to Stephen King when it comes to writing horror for the bestseller list. But as for his opinions on directing - he's an idiot. He hated The Shining as directed by Kubrick, so he had it remade for TV and he wrote the screenplay for it. Well, the Stephen King version of The Shining is so VASTLY inferior, it is in a different universe. Shows what he knows about film - absolutely, positively NOTHING. He should shut up about stuff he's clearly incompetent about and stick to talking about writing bestselling horror.
 
Stephen King makes a good point and backs it up. In fact, almost without fail, his very best works that become movies are those that are heavily character driven and not even horrors at all (eg. Stand by Me, Shawshank)...
 
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