Alex Spindler

Scary movies - Discussion

As an offshoot to the 28 Days Later thread, I thought it might be a good exercise to discuss scary movies. No so much which movies are scary to you (or perhaps that none are), but what it is that makes them scary.

I was giving this some thought because the feedback from some was that the film wasn't scary. I recall similar discussion and feedback from a number of releases like The Ring.

Now, it would seem to me that there are some portion of the audience that would never be scared by a movie. Perhaps its just that they're immune to any manipulation on the part of a director or screenwriter or that they're jaded by other films they've seen, but they would never proclaim a film scary.

There are others who may likely be scared by anything. Any trick in the book is effective for them and some have sworn off of horror movies and thrillers for just that reason.

For the rest of us, somewhere in the middle, I would expect that there are some things that work and some that don't. I would be interested in hearing what makes a film scary for you. Or, if you're one of the former category, the reason why you don't think it works or if you think you would ever be scared by a film.

For me, I don't find myself as susceptible to jump scares as I used to. For me, a scary movie is one that makes me tense up and feel like I've been through a wringer the whole film. This is almost always done because the environments of the film feel dangerous. Any time when the film has cranked up the tension and the characters are dropped in a place where anything could happen, I would call that an excellent scary scene. Example include heading into the house in The Blair Witch Project, walking into Reagan's bedroom for the showdown in The Exorcist, or dropping down into the Well in The Ring.

What are your thoughts? Can films be frightening? Do you think its possible that the current generation is inoculated against being afraid any more outside of a few well placed jump scares? What would you consider "scary" in a film?

Matt Stone

It seems that the use of jump inducing moments has taken over the horror genre. Rather than making something scary (disturbing, unsettling, etc), screenwriters and directors go for quick scares. I haven't been very scared by anything since I was little (specifically Halloween), but I have found many recent movies disturbing. Ring (and it's American brother The Ring) both left me pretty disturbed, as did 28 Days Later. If anything has scared me recently, it's undoubtedly May. I had a hard time sleeping after that.

I find that I can go back and watch older flicks and still get scared. Examples would be Last House on the Left, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Black Christmas, Halloweeen, and some others...but not to many movies are made that way anymore.

Holadem

Well, while jump scares don't do usually do much for me, I did find Scream quite effective, because of the normalcy of the killer. He was not cool, he was not larger than life, just a guy running around in a ridiculous costume killing savagely. It was all very real to me.

But in general, it is the supernatural, the unexplainable that I find scary. Ghost stories for instance.

The Devil's Backbone was more sad and depressing than actually scary.

I found the premise of the Ring terrifying. Not the execution, except that TV thing which did get me.

The first half (2/3rd?) of Identity was scary because I had NO idea what was going on. Something was definitely very wrong with the location, and that was very unsettling to me.

The Others also I found very effective. Those pictures upstairs were creepy as hell. The whole feel of the movie was right.

The Sixth Sense, although it relied on loud musical clues, had a couple of seriously creepy moments. These great moments get overshadowed by the tremendous ending all too often. Signs also had it's moments.

I'll take some flak for this, but the Haunting worked quite a bit for me in the theater.

Now, there are many classic that didn't do a thing for me: Psycho, Halloween come to mind. No, it has nothing to do with subtlety. Some people are unable to consider the idea that some of these movies might be dated, and that those experiencing them for the first time 30 years later might be immune to them.

As for the likes of Evil Dead, Friday the 13th etc..., I find the few I saw so laughably bad that there is obviously something I am not getting, since they have a huge following. Certainly not my cup of tea.

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Holadem

Justin_S

As a seasoned horror fanatic, I'm not the easiest person to scare, but certain things do scare me. The one thing that gets me every time is the terrifying unknown. THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT is the scariest film I have ever seen because it uses the fear of the unknown to tremendous effect, and the film is so bleak and unnerving because of it. I have honestly never been so truly terrified by a film, so this one really did a number on me. From the horrifying occurances that occur at night to the more subtle dread causing effects (like the fact that when they first enter the woods, you can hear all sorts of animals, but the deeper into the woods they get, everything is dead silent and there are no animals in sight), I was scared shitless. I still have a hard time rewatching the film to this day.

Another film that scared me by using the unknown was the fantastic BLACK CHRISTMAS. The killer's truly disturbed rantings over the phone never fail to scare the shit out of me, as they prove how disturbed this psycho is. Its just a masterful film, and is easily the scariest and best slasher film ever made.

PRINCE OF DARKNESS is another film that frightens me greatly throughout. The film is just so perfectly done by Carpenter, and the atmosphere and the creepy as hell plot its self really get under my skin.

Several other films have scared me on a good number of occasions as well in different ways. I agree with Holadem about the first half of IDENTITY, as I was very unnerved for the exact reason he was. The freaky ghost in the dog suit from THE SHINING creeps the hell out of me as well, as do several scenes in JAWS, THE HITCHER, THE THING, and so many others. Simply put, certain things really get to me, while lots of things don't at all.

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Rex Bachmann

Holadem wrote (post #3):

Quote:

I'll take some flak for this, but the Haunting worked quite a bit for me in the theater.

May we take it you mean the 1999 "re-make" (update?), then?

BertFalasco

Glitter.

Scared the shite out of me from beginning to end..even the credits..considering I have never seen it.

Matt Stone

I agree with Holadem about Scream. I found it to work well as a horror comedy (obviously with plenty of good self-referential stuff), but also as a very good horror movie. I was watching it the other night, and it still disturbs me to see Billy and Stu stabbing themselves at the end. The brutal lengths that these guys are willing to go is pretty horrifying.

Raymond_H

For me personally, I don't want to be scared.

I don't think I would find it enjoyable if something frightens me while watching a movie. Though, I have never experienced that emotion while watching a movie.

I think the right word for me in describing these situations is tense moments. I love tense moments. These may include a pivotal character in peril, an event where something happens to a character. These to me is what I like in "Scary Movies".

A good example is Hitchcock's Psycho, throughout the whole movie I was intrigued. And during the shower scene, I wasn't scared, I was on the edge of my seat so to speak with peak interest.

I find situations the best in these type of movies.


Raymond

Dan Rudolph

Signs had me shaking throughout the second half.

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DanielM

I think that it depends on so many things how a movie effects you..to actually scare it has to be believable and while I love horror and scary movies not too many qualify..
with that said I dig movies with dark creepy foreboding
helpless atmosphere like TCM and NotLD..The first time I saw BWP I thought it was fantastic however I dont feel it warrants repeat viewing because it loses impact somehow
same with the Sixth Sense

Scott Weinberg

Great thread, Alex. As a lifelong horror animal you knew I'd drop in for a chat.

Perhaps it's just the overuse of the word "scary". I found a few moments of 28 Days Later pretty shocking. Sections of The Ring are very unsettling. The Others? Creepy thanks to atmosphere.

Then of course there's "scary" as in "gross and disgusting" (one of my favorites ), "emotionally disturbing" or just plain old "horrifying". I feel no shame in admitting that the last few minutes of The Blair Witch Project gave me an ice-cold feeling up my spine. It was just the nightmarish vagueness of it that spooked me. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is scary because it looks like an actual documentary. Frailty is scary because the lunatic slowly starts to make sense! May is scary because we've all felt lonely and abandoned and needy. Cabin Fever is scary because it's unapologetically gooey and you really don't know what physically repugnant thing is going to happen next. (A scene involving a girl shaving her legs is the stuff of Gorehound delight.)

As far as "cheap scares" go (cats jumping through windows, dead bodies tumbling out of the trees, etc.) I'm pretty much totally immune. Maybe it's because I've seen so many horror movies or maybe it's because I'm a cynical old fart nowadays, but a movie has to really set a tone before I can feel scared. Though all three are entertaining in their own right, not one of the Scream movies scared me in any way.

And then there's the sort of scary that comes outside the realm of horror. The Day After, Testament and When the Wind Blows scared the hell out of me once upon a time. Several sequences in A Clockwork Orange are fairly disturbing. And forgive me for sounding over-sensitive, but Bowling for Columbine is pretty damn scary for what it has to say.

Short answer: yes, I'm happy to say that I can still be scared by a movie. Not only that, but it's one of my most favorite occurences in the world. But the filmmakers have to earn it; those cheap jolts generally earn my disdain, but a movie that creeps me out from tone and emotion and astmosphere...well that's a movie I'll probably freaking love.