what makes a scene scary?

The torture sub genre is ****, theres no real horror, you KNOW that charactere X and Y are going to be mutilated and you're going to have to watch prostetic teeth, or fingers removed, and sure it might make you cringe...but thats it. it's not true horror.

The atmosphere, the feeling of dread, and the silence, the silence is where the atmosphere kicks and and then the anticipation of the scare settles in. Lighting, cinematography, and music used to be used for this, now its all about just being loud and bullshit shakey cam.

I wouldnt say horror is dead, I'd say that its just in hibernation until people who have something to say get off their asses and say it...by which I mean write a script, pick up the camera and start filming.

Until then we're all the victims of losers Like Eli Roth, Paul W.S Anderson, Michael Bay, etc.

I think what really makes something scary, is when you're dealing with something you dont understand, something that doesnt follow the rules, or formulas we've all memorized by heart...Also I have to say that while Innovative, and clever, most japanese horror is pretty bland. I dont like having to wait 85 minutes for something to happen.

I don't have a short attention span, I mean hell 'Silence of the lambs' is one of my favourite films, not an incredible amount of action happens in the film, but its the dialogue and interplay between Lecter and Clairice I love.

If I have to hear how great 'Ringu' is from people I just slap my forehead and tell myself 'try to be civil'. Because to me, waiting 85 minutes for something to happen and listening to the mother whine like a ***** from act 2-90% of act 3, just isnt right.

I think Stephen King was correct in saying its the characters, but I think what works the best is when you have characters that have 'souls', going up against something thats just so unreal and foul. Even more so when they're both stuck together in a location of somekind.

Worked for 'Aliens', 'Silence of the lambs', 'night of the living dead'.

Didnt quite work so well in Saw, AvP, Resident evil,2,3, or SIlent Hill.

It all comes down to us, the writers, to push the limits as far as we need to and make stories that deserve life, not whoring.
 
Wrathborne, of all the very insighful things you said I think this was the most profound:
Wrathborne said:
I think what really makes something scary, is when you're dealing with something you dont understand, something that doesnt follow the rules, or formulas we've all memorized by heart.
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I think you're on to something. Things that don't makes sense at all, that violate our understanding of how the world works is disturbing, especially if it is sinister, powerful and we (the hero, the one we are vicariously living through) are their target.

Have you ever been around a wild animal that can harm you? .... you can't trust them, they just don't follow the rules we humans conform to. Reptiles are really strange, they just automatically attack like a machine.
 
Anything by Lynch is great. Start with "Blue Velvet", Elephant Man, Wild At Heart....anything except his last film, "Inland Empire". Dont start with that one. You really need to see a lot of his stuff before hitting Inland Empire. It's like the master's course in David Lync :)

But remember, Lynch is not a horror filmmaker. He's about tension, uneasiness, and real human darkness

let me know what you think.
 
The Exorcist is probably one of the greatest examples of building atmosphere and also using a 'monster' to generate suspence and fear.. that movie scared the **** out of me.

And I will get a lot of flak for this.. but Event Horizon scared the crap out of me as well... something about a ship that has visited hell.... *shudder
 
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*Gives Loki more flak* There, now you can make yourself a flack jacket*drumroll*

Sorry though sir, Any film by Paul W.S Anderson Fails.Automatically.

Again with the exorcist, to me it didn't really build up to a grand conclusion, or climax for me. Strange stuff happens and then in the last 10 minutes the catholic church gets its ass in gear and sends in a frail old exorcist who dies after 7 minutes on the job and then Karras does a swan dive out the window with Pazuzu screaming 'YEEEHAAAAAW, be back in the sequel!!'

It just didn't do it for me, the way stuff happens, the way certain things are filmed, its so...Benny Hill to me. Just potential that wasn't used, I guess you could say.
 
A tale of two sisters by Ji-woon Kim is an exceptional horror film. Absolutely no gore, nothing of the sort. The film makes you believe theres something there. A very atmospheric thriller.

Best true horror film I think I've ever seen. I watched it in the middle of the day with my two roommates and it was amazing how petrified three dudes could be from a silly japanese movie.

Audition is also pretty good. Although, Americans don't make movies like this too much anymore the Japanese still do.
 
The Changeling with George C. Scott always worked for me.

It's virtually f/x-free; it's about creepy connections and clues and poltergeistering and the furious vengeful ghost of a dispossessed and murdered child.
 
10s said:
Wrathborne, of all the very insighful things you said I think this was the most profound:


I think you're on to something. Things that don't makes sense at all, that violate our understanding of how the world works is disturbing, especially if it is sinister, powerful and we (the hero, the one we are vicariously living through) are their target.

Have you ever been around a wild animal that can harm you? .... you can't trust them, they just don't follow the rules we humans conform to. Reptiles are really strange, they just automatically attack like a machine.
Click to expand...

I really agree that the less you show of the monster/creature/dark force that compels the movie, the more potential the movie has at being truly effective. The less you understand, the more scared you are. Nothing is more frightening than the unknown.
 
what make a escene truly scary is suspense and uglyness (unknow), have ever somebody see this new movie cloverfield? it's pretty mess up, i usually dont jump off my seat in a movie, but this movie is a good example of suspense and terror, like the escene when one of girls who is infected with some rare desease pop up around the room. It's bloody scary.
cubitfox said:
This was referenced in another thread about Stephen King, but I'll start the discussion up here. What makes a scene truly scary? Do you think these methods have changed overtime; have they matured, or gotten worst in this generation of films?
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Wolf Creek and High Tension were very scary. Yes, they had some gory shock moments, and High Tension has a stupid ending, but the suspense, in High Tension in particular, was over the top for me.

Saw was a good low-budget concept movie, but just like Hostel, was nothing more than gore-porn.

I'm a fan of suspense, and identifying with the character rather than gory shock value moments.

An American Werewolf in London has some great attack scenes, from the opening on the Moors to the subway scene.

Jaws uses great technique, but I don't get scared by it, and I never did. Through Jaws I developed my love of the water and everything in it.

I just saw The Orphanage and loved it. Very thought-provoking and suspenseful, with little gore.

Other favorites include:
The Others
The Devil's Backbone
the first half of Jeepers Creepers
What Lies Beneath (a lot of people didn't like it but it scared the crap out of me in theaters)

So what makes a movie scary is, to me, being uneasy - sensing that something bad is going to happen to a character that you like, but not knowing when or what.
 
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