What makes a good horror film?

so answer the damn question people. Is it the monster/killer/whatever, the story, Gore, Suspence, setting or is it a combination of some of these things. Also does a horror film need to be scary to be good? I love old horror films my all time favorite is Boris Karlof's frankenstein and altho it was posibly scary for its time its hard to find anyone who would be scared of iit nowadays. yet it is still considered one of the best horror films all time. Theres also been films with nothin but blood and guts and theyr still awful.

Had you asked me this question several months ago, I'd have said "the gore" no doubt. I used to think gory films were fantastic. That was until I saw "28 Days Later" and I almost gagged during one scene. I've stood by and watched animals being slaughtered, and a movie scene nearly made me gag. It also made my boyfriend wince... and he had the nerve to say later, "You're such a wimp!" Grrr!

lol ive slaughtered my own dinner b4 so gore dosent realy bug me unless its something you could never have seen coming till it happens and your like "holy shit did that just hhappen" i personaly dont need gore for a good horror film i remember when the sixth sence came out what made the movie creepy was the whole tone not the "ghosts"

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Originally Posted by KilLAtomiK

lol ive slaughtered my own dinner b4 so gore dosent realy bug me unless its something you could never have seen coming till it happens and your like "holy shit did that just hhappen" i personaly dont need gore for a good horror film i remember when the sixth sence came out what made the movie creepy was the whole tone not the "ghosts"

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Gosh that movie was done brilliantly. I totally agree with you there.
But yeah, on 28 Days Later, it's gory in like the first 5 minutes and you think "well this will be an interesting movie" and it takes a while to get into it after that... but then, closer to the end, you think the worst part is behind you and then this dude bangs a guy's head against a wall (which spills a lot of blood, as you see), and then pushes his thumbs into his eye sockets, and you hear the guy screaming. Don't really blame him. It was more the fact that you knew he was still alive when this was happening that made it awful to sit through.

I dunno... it really depends on the cinematography more than anything.

http://faculty.washington.edu/kgb/ho...d_elevator.jpg

another vote for gore, then?? lol

unneccesasry nudity and gore are up there along with creative killing sequences and suspense a decent plot helps too

The single best thing in horror is atmospher. you can still scare the shit oughtta a person with a single sound or creepy mood. most films today relie on big budget cgi. It's why I like movies like the orginal halloween, just physical effects and the atmospher of terror. You don't get that these day too much. Saw and Strangelane in my opion are some of the few that try to still hold this kind of tradition pass or fail. Maybe I'm just too old fashion.

I like a movie with a lot of suspense. Jaws was a great example of this. Good thing for Spielberg that the shark hardly worked. I also love a good ghost story.

Safe Atmosphere. The kind where you feel as though nothing bad would or could happen. Too many horror movies try to look so scary and creepy they kill their own scares cause you're already comfortable with the surroundings. You EXPECT weird and scary things to happen in places that look as though that's what should happen. The Shining took place in your average hotel...it looked as scary as a barbie house...but the emptiness made it a bit "off" not enough to make you scared but uncomfortable. The creepy stuff to follow was what put you over the top. Brilliant.

Haunted House stories or places that do indeed LOOK creepy achieve their fright by making you as comfortable as possible..."it's all in YOUR head" and all that. Just when you let down your guard...BAM the horrors begin.

Modern horror movies lost their magic with CGI...it's just not scary when you're IMPRESSED by the technical side more than the horror of it all. Jurrasic Park was really the last "good" fright fest...it took something we all loved as kids and made them into vicious killing machines.

Every horror flick these days feels forced and lame due to it's "Look how creepy this place looks...oooooooOOOooOOoo scary huh?!!!!"

Look at that bad Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake...dear god that was awful. It lost all the fun of the original and the sequals.

Good horror flicks need solid storytelling skills and the understanding of how to play with an audience...not CGI, overly atmospheric sets, or remakes of classic fright flicks. Just some damn good fun and a sense of dark humor.

Theatres need to play their part too...they need to help set the mood like they use to...I remember back when Interview was released some manager put a little "Theatre De Vampires" sign above the screening room entrance...cheesy? kinda...but it set the tone AS you entered. Oliver Stone did this with NBK where managers would walk in before the flick and tell you how violent and dark the film you were about to see was...great way to set the tone and have some fun with it.

All of that makes a good Horror flick...and gratuitous nudity.

Suspence for me and then GORE.

i see alot of you are into the gore wich dont get me wrong is always good and fun but its not always what makes it a good movie. i remember seeing Final Destination and its sequel they have lots of realyt neat death scenes but in the end there was nothing scary about it it was more like watching nascar and waiting for a car crash

I also agree with waht TZ said about a safe atmosphere because when you feel your safe thats when you let your guard down wich is always a bad idea in a horror film :1orglaugh

Personally I find the true horror is found in fact based stories. I realize that there are no "true" stories being told in Hollywood, but when a story has some fact based substance, then that is horror to me.

Best examples I can give on short notice is:
The Entity..if you don't know it, check it out.

I find the best horror movies are the ones that inspire actual fear. Realism is key, as is a combination of mystery and horror. And, while Gore itself is not scary...
Power, the feeling that something can kill you and still be invicible, can be.

Everything can be a monster. The dakness, the light, sorrow, the demon Akariel, hunger: Everything can threaten.
Someone going missing and turning up later dead is normally not scary. Without a head, well, it depends. Might be scary. But if a filleted corpse, lying spread open and ripped apart from the chest is found-- totally shredded, not just killed brutally-- it's a lot more scary.
Violation of taboos is often revolting and terrifying-- combinations of gore, violation, and suspense work well. The grotesque (the actually ugly, not pretty hollywood grotesque) can work, as can pure aggression.

Also, camera angle. Shaky camera may add atmosphere, but to see the shlock and horror from 3rd person, unflinching, distant from it can add a feeling of helpllessness, and be moe terrifying. Violence should be hinted at and revealed openly in equal amounts, the most brutal easily seen, while the gentler left to the imagination.

Werewolf ripping apart a group of individuals in a hurry? Hide it if it's just blow-by-blow. Let the corpses be found. But if he's ripping them apart, let it be brutal, bloody, fast, and on camera. Let the spatter fly everywhere.

Gore isn't scary. Power is terrifying. Humans do not fear killing: we were made to kill to eat. But to be dominated, to submit, can be terrifying.

Subversion of traditional laws is an effective form of violation. The dark is meant to be scary, but what if you make it the only place to hide from the light-- the light which reveals more horror than a man can deal with?

Violate. Dominate. Defile. Infect. Do not make the viewer pity the monster. Make him empathize and feel horror at the same longings in himself, but do not let the monster have a weakness.
For example, a werewolf being shot and dying is pathetic. Being shot and not noticing it is not. It may not be scary, but it's not shown a weakness. Having it reel back, scream, and leap forward again is more scary, if only because it's sudden.

Misery and drudgery are two great fears of humanity-- living just to stay alive. Getting the horror of these emotions across is difficult, but it could be extremely effective.

Get inside their heads. Make them realize this bastard is like them, and they would not do this, but they damn well could if they had the right moral bent. Phantom of the opera could have been scary, theoretically-- we all could have made those choices, though we probably ould not have.

Also, note he was merely "hollywood ugly." Elephantism, leprosy, cretinism: these are ugly. A scar rarely is in comparison. This is a place Anime and japanese horror excels.

Except Sadako in Ring 2. Green, maybe. Cute? yeah.

Edit: Also: CGI is NOT realistic. Animatronics is. Combine the two: heavy Anima, light CGI.

Suspense, twist, and atmosphere.

There are several ways to inspire terror in someone. You don't just have to go the straight "monster gonna get you" route; be creative with what is causing fear, and it'll be good. The one reason why zombies/vampires/werewolves are (or at least were, before they were romanticized) considered scary was the idea that you could become them. If you're not wary or swift, it could be your face among the jumbled seething darkness...

david cronenberg.

mostly suspense also i think a good story line is needed lots of films tend to skip it now but i think a film is far more scary if you can belive it could happen cgi recks everything i my opinon i dont think theyll ever get it right

The Japanese make the BEST horror flicks. I don't know what it is they do, but the combination of suspense, drama, etc. Just take a look at the REAL versions of the grudge (all of them) Ringu (all of them) and there is this one movie...AUDITION (the best yet)
They may be disgusting...but they are the best I have EVER seen. Beats american horror anyday.

The Japanese have a long history of amazing horror, ghost, and demon stories that are vastly diffrent from those we're raised on...so they do come off as quite fresh in the west. The only downside to Japanese horror flicks is that knock offs are a plenty like in the west and their are a list of cliches...like the "spooky little girl" you see in so many Japanese horror flicks.

Great stuff none the less...though nothing will ever beat the golden age of horror flicks from the early Universal days.

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Originally Posted by sheramil

david cronenberg.

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I like his flicks but his stuff from the mid 80's on seems less scary and more thought provoking...I miss his early freaky fright fests.

Kinda the same goes for Brian De Palma...he's too well known for his gangster epics now. ( I don't care what anyone says Scarface was a fucking cartoon.)

i think horror movies today try to hard to be psychological i think they need to go back to being shocking and not worrying about getting R or NC-17 ratings i want to see a movie with over the top gore and nudity and some crazy ass deformed serial killer with a hedge trimmer or something not creepy little kids and bad CGI

generally i find it to be the things you dont see, a good amount of suspense followed by shock value of a severed head, freaky demon, monster tentacle penis are usually the best ways to get a cheap jump out of someone

to get that deep seated fear that follows you home you have to make it believeable, very realistic and very very sinister

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Originally Posted by sunkarma

The Japanese make the BEST horror flicks. I don't know what it is they do, but the combination of suspense, drama, etc. Just take a look at the REAL versions of the grudge (all of them) Ringu (all of them) and there is this one movie...AUDITION (the best yet)
They may be disgusting...but they are the best I have EVER seen. Beats american horror anyday.

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My opinion exactly. But why do most people end up hearing about the Japanese original version of all these films only after they have been butchered by US filmmakers? "I've got a great idea for a film, why don't we remake this excellent cult Japanese horror movie, adding nothing, cutting out some of the good bits, and best of all, use Caucasians instead of japanese people?" Is your average American not willing to sit through a film that doesn't contain enough white people/English language, if not other Americans? By the way, Miike Takashi rocks :D (he directed Audition, Visitor Q, and Ichii The Killer, among others)