ASK & DISCUSS
INDEXThoughts and opinions of what makes a good Horror?
12 years, 10 months ago - James Page
Hi,
I was just wondering people's thoughts on what makes a good Horror. Not so much gore that isn't quite the mark.
Thanks
James
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12 years, 10 months ago - Ed Griffiths
Hi James,
The place where I like to start is, what scares me personally? Most film stories that are genuinely frightening work at a deep and truthful psychological level about the terrors that motivate us.
For myself it's helplessness and isolation. Being at the mercy of deranged people who genuinely want to harm you and being lied to, for example, when your life literally depends on answers you get are elements with a lot of horror.
To breathe real life into a horror script you need to bring your own experiences of anxiety and fear. ERASERHEAD by David Lynch for example, is one of the most nightmarish things I can think of onscreen, made while he himself was struggling to support a young family and launch a career. The paranoia and fear and loathing in that film are hellishly authentic.
Effective horror usually stems not from the supernatural or extreme violence but from the amplification of an everyday kind of fear or apprehension, one that gradually becomes inescapable and insupportable.
Some years ago I myself had a persistent bout of insomnia. Being unable to sleep for long periods tormented me and I experienced hallucinations and the like which made my grip on reality more than a little fragile. Well; more than nowadays, anyway.
Using that experience was very helpful when I decided to write a script about a character experiencing much the same thing.
So...wanna see something REEEEALLY scary??? (TWILIGHT ZONE THE MOVIE at the opening intro...)
12 years, 9 months ago - Ed Griffiths
The old TWILIGHT ZONE TV series had some excellent episodes about just this kind of theme. Try A THING ABOUT MACHINES from Season 2, you can get the entire series on DVD and it's a good investment if you're a horror fan. Best wishes with the script!
http://uk.imdb.com/title/tt0734551/
12 years, 10 months ago - Allan (Mac) McKenna
I did one in Italy with Ivan Zuccon in 2007 called Nympha which won some sort of 'genre' awards for something or other. Well filmed with an impossibly complex plot that no-one really understands involving time slips etc and occasional sex with the odd dash of ultra-violence. Definitely not my genre. Zuccon always quotes H.P. Lovecraft as his mentor and I did one of his (on which the plug was pulled) a couple of years ago. Very complex, very depressing. Lovecraft apparently was the inspiration for Stephen King and others and coming from New England most US horrors seem to be pitched there.
12 years, 10 months ago - James Page
Thanks Guys, the reason why I'm interested is that want to expand on the short'Trapped....' I did which hinged on a sentient smart phone. Given how much our lives depent on phones, playing it in to horror looks like the most compelling genre for the idea.
Trapped....
http://youtu.be/Pt5HZshzqgc