Rambling About Horror

[Slaughterhouserock]

Horror - painful and intense fear, dread, or dismay; aversion or repugnance as per ye olde dictionary. Google adds shock to the list, but I trust the actual dictionary when it comes to defining words. Shock has its place in horror films, but it's often used as a crutch to the point where I see it more as a symptom of bad filmmaking rather than proper horror. Take the average five year old and ask them what they would do to scare someone. They would likely jump out at them from around a corner, possibly making a silly face, and shout "hah!". The average horror fan is not a five year old child. We can do better.

Imagine this scenario: you are walking home along a dark street. No one is around, not even headlights in the distance. You look away for a second, but when you turn back, there is the dark figure of a man standing in front of you, roughly twenty feet away, facing your direction. This, in and of itself, is not scary, though the sudden appearance of the unexpected can cause you to be more alert. Now, let's take this man and change how he appears to us. Surprisingly, making it less threatening would be to have the person walking in your direction at a casual pace rather than standing still. Normalcy very rarely invokes fear. The standard jump scare method is him suddenly appearing directly in front of you accompanied by a loud noise. Startling, yes, but we are looking for horror, not shock, as google would have you believe.

Irregular movement, be it changing the speed at which he moves, having joints bend in ways they shouldn't, or even the total lack of movement adds a sense of uneasiness. Something's not right.

Instead of a sudden loud noise, maybe he makes a noise that should not come from a human(such as a distorted mewling sound) or a sound that's human, but not that of a full grown man(such as a baby's wailing cry). Even a quiet murmuring, or a little tittering laugh is likely to cause a bit of dread.

These are just a few very basic ideas that are much more effective than what has been put of film in recent years. Yes, there are exceptions, but they should be the standard, not rarities. I want to feel the tension, the dread, the absolute fucking fear the characters are dealing with. Maybe I'm old and just don't get it. But if you jump in front of me and shout, you're more likely to get punched in the face than for me to cry out in fright.

[zombie]

personally, i feel like shock is something more than jump scare, and doesn't have to be accompanied by a loud noise either. i also think that jump scares can be done effectively. it depends on the filmmaker. but i've seen enough slow build suspense, recently, in horror film to keep me satisfied too. maybe we're not watching the same films or our tastes are just different. but yeah.

i've seen you talk about horror film, in general, not really being scary though, jump scare or not. has that changed?

[Slaughterhouserock]

personally, i feel like shock is something more than jump scare, and doesn't have to be accompanied by a loud noise either. i also think that jump scares can be done effectively. it depends on the filmmaker. but i've seen enough slow build suspense, recently, in horror film to keep me satisfied too. maybe we're not watching the same films or our tastes are just different. but yeah.

i've seen you talk about horror film, in general, not really being scary though, jump scare or not. has that changed?

Shock in any form is generally just for shock value, and rarely has any substance. That's not to say I don't like fucked up situations and whatnot, but it's only good if there's a purpose other than "we need a scare here". And I watch what I have access to, which varies wildly, so I dunno. I don't watch ghost stuff, though(which is pretty prevalent in modern horror), but you know my thoughts on that shit.

Not in a real sense, it's just a movie after all, but I can still find it believable that a character is truly scared. With most of what I've seen recently, suspension of disbelief just gets thrown out the window. And it's not a matter of acting, as I've seen some shit acting in good horror films. It's the situation itself.

And I hate to say it, but too much horror has just become comedies with a bit of gore. I love me some cheese, but don't pretend to make a horror film when your intention is solely to be bad and hope it's funny. What makes bad films good is the total sincerity of everyone involved. Ask the director of Troll 2 what he thinks of the film. He'll tell you it was a fucking brilliant horror film and people are stupid for not understanding it. Ask anyone about an Asylum film, and they'll tell you it was a joke.

I think it all boils down to a lack of love of the genre or filmmaking in general. When there's no passion, it fucking shows.

[zombie]

yeah, shock value just for the sake of it isn't what i'm talking about either.like human centipede or some crap. but a well done moment of shock or even a well constructed jump scare can do a lot for a film. and i don't know about asylum. i couldn't tell you if any of the films i've seen recently came out of there. but i'm sure i've come across a couple at least.

i am sorry that you're having that experience. i'm just not, personally, overall. and i could recommend stuff but i'm sure you've seen it, and more than likely don't think as much of it as i do.