What don't you want to see in a horror/supernatural movie?

Damnd of Hell · Post by **Damnd of Hell** » Mon Apr 13, 2009 4:58 pm

I'm looking for help. I'm a wanna be screenwriter, and won some compititions. But, I'm looking for a new angle in screenwriting.

I have only one question, since you are the ones who would be paying to see them.

What don't you want to see in a horror/supernatural movie?

Freitag · Post by **Freitag** » Mon Apr 13, 2009 11:29 pm

I do not want to see "startle movies" - that is movies that use sudden appearances instead of really scary thing.

Oh and no sequels (unless it is a multi-part story to begin with) Jason, Pinhead, Freddie, the Aliens, and the Predators just need to all die already.

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Oh, and regardless of genre, treat the audience like they have a clue. Being spoon fed plot points is a real turn off. It's OK if I don't get something until I've thought about it then next day.

Hitchcock did it right. He either cast the mundane in a frightening way (Birds) or would give the audience information that was not available to the characters to build suspense (boring table conversation wit cut scenes to a timer counting down)

Maybe something really scary like an IRS agent.

GhostLine · Post by **GhostLine** » Tue Apr 14, 2009 12:28 am

Personally, I like any movie in which I care about the characters...not the ones where you don't care who gets off'd. The Ringu-inspired horrors have been overplayed...and no more horrors with some stupid children's lullabye involved! The Saw/Hostel stuff is old too.
For some reason Blair Witch still gives me the creeps even though it's really lame, but I think it's because there isn't any film score and the camera gives no obligatory pan to give the viewer any sense of control....

Damnd of Hell · Post by **Damnd of Hell** » Thu Apr 16, 2009 6:31 am

Thank's guy's, I need all the help I can get.

Freitag · Post by **Freitag** » Thu Apr 16, 2009 9:42 am

GhostLine wrote:Personally, I like any movie in which I care about the characters...not the ones where you don't care who gets off'd. The Ringu-inspired horrors have been overplayed...and no more horrors with some stupid children's lullabye involved! The Saw/Hostel stuff is old too.
For some reason Blair Witch still gives me the creeps even though it's really lame, but I think it's because there isn't any film score and the camera gives no obligatory pan to give the viewer any sense of control....

Oh yeah, Blair Witch... That one had the potential to be really really scary, but by the time it was over, I'd have killed them myself.

The relentless cursing in an attempt to make the characters appear "real" was just stupid. I'm sure there are people actually like that in the world, but no one knows them. Because after about ten minutes after being introduced we just wander off and find interesting people to talk to.

And the jerk that threw the map away. You could strangle him with the tent cord and it would be deemed justifiable under the "he needed killin'" defense.

The original version of House on Haunted Hill was pretty scary - the scene where there is thumping in the walls and the one girls still thinks the beds are pushed together and she is holding her friends hand. that is just CREEPY AS HELL.

Oh and don't let any of the editors from SciFi network touch the script. they have a nearly magical ability to destroy anything.

Post by **Jeff Georgeson** » Fri Apr 17, 2009 7:07 am

I'd definitely agree that Hitchcock had it right, most of the time--although some of his stuff wouldn't count as "horror." Still, if you're going to emulate someone's films, you'd have a hard time finding a better model. Vertigo, North by Northwest, and Spellbound are three of my favorites.

The slasher film has more than run its course. And fear through startling--blah!

I think the best horror films build and build on the psychological stuff, until you're on the edge of your seat and nearly anything would send you cowering under it--still with one eye glued helplessly to the screen, of course. Good characters are also a must--and certainly not the stereotypical "everyone who isn't a virgin is dead by the end" kind of thing.

I must admit I have a soft spot for the old Hammer films--but even though they're supposed to be horror, they really aren't scary. Just fun.

Vincent Price was great as a horror film actor--and more so when they put him in an Edgar Allan Poe story. Again, that's sort of old school, but maybe it's time for a comeback of sorts.

Freitag wrote:Oh and don't let any of the editors from SciFi network touch the script. they have a nearly magical ability to destroy anything.

If it says "A Sci-Fi Original Film," you know it has to be cheese.

--Jeff

Damnd of Hell · Post by **Damnd of Hell** » Sun May 31, 2009 4:24 pm

Thank's everyone, this helps a lot!

M4nu3l · Post by **M4nu3l** » Tue Jun 02, 2009 10:21 am

The Audition.

Need i say more?

Damnd of Hell · Post by **Damnd of Hell** » Tue Sep 08, 2009 5:38 pm