Over recent months I have begun watching a large number of horror movies. I have always been a fan of the genre, there is something about scaring yourself shitless that I find appealing - now I don't mean I like sitting on the M1 or closing my eyes when chopping an onion - for those fellow horror fans, you know exactly what I mean.
I have always given any film a chance, no matter the budget, cast (preferably not Knightley!) or director. What you tend to find with horror is there are a large number of low budget films out there that try their hardest to 'do a Blair Witch' - and to be perfectly honest, most fail more spectacularly than John Carter!
I often find myself wondering if the producers and director actually watched their film back to see if it was at all scary. Or in fact, if they ever wanted to be scary in the first place! There are countless examples out there of low budget films scaring the bejeezus out of an audience.
So as I continue to expand my repertoire of the sick, twisted and damn right scary I have compiled a list of key elements when making a horror film...
The first, this is a crucial and often overlooked element - ATMOSPHERE (and no I am not talking about the board game people). If you wanna get people at their wits end, at the edge of jumping off their chair then you need atmosphere. Now I don't want to see a load of fog thrown into a scene (hang your head in shame those responsible for the remake of 'The Fog') I want a Night of the Living Dead style opening, a sense that some seriously freaky shit is about to go down and I am NOT going to like it. Or I want a dark, brooding atmosphere so beautifully created in the tremendous 'Let the Right One In'.
Next, I wanna feel some serious TENSION - not the kind of tension you see in George Clooney's face for most of his movies, where you can't work out if he is in pain or just eaten a moth - I want some proper hiding behind your pillow 'oooohh don't open that door' tension. It's not all about the fast cut shots of gore - looking at you Rob Zombie - Tension is not easy to build, the Paranormal Activity series have managed to nail it in every film. You want to keep a camera focused just for that extra few seconds so the audience begin to feel that something is going to happen, but it might not be yet, or is it, wait what's that, no its nothing, ok we are fine...BANG! HOLY SHIT I'M GONNA PASS OUT.
Here I want to pause a minute and pay homage to a horror film that has been sadly overlooked in mainstream circles. Grave Encounters was released in 2011 and I can bet no-one else reading this has heard of it. Directed by The Vicious Brothers - and to date their only title - Grave Encounters follows a ghost-hunting film crew as they film their latest episode of 'Grave Encounters'. The film sees the team shoot an episode, and more terrifyingly, spend a night inside the abandoned Collingwood Psychiatric Hospital. Once the doors are locked for the night all manor of creepy shenanigans goes down and the film is brilliantly directed as the tension reaches such levels that a window opening is enough to remove your dinner earlier than expected!
The best horror films are those that have a TWIST, or ending that SURPRISES you, I am tired of the slasher 'rules' where the killer always comes back from the dead blah blah YAWN! I want a clever piece of writing that sees you sit up and dare I say it, smile, and think to yourself - well played. An example I hear you cry. Ok, just for you, I give you - The magnificent and utterly horrific 2003 French masterpiece 'Switchblade Romance'. For those who have seen it, you know what I mean? Don't worry I won't spoil it for you who haven't but this is the kind of twist I wanna see. You think you are watching one film and in the flash of an eye, you are watching something even more sinister. Brilliant.
The last element that for me can make a horror film is that one moment, that one horrifying scene where the camera doesn't cut away, or the director doesn't bottle it and you witness something you just never expected to see - for this I reference some of my favourite horror movies 'Martyrs' again French, again astounding - pick almost any scene. 'Jacob's Ladder', that deeply disturbing hospital scene where he is carried down the hallway on a stretcher. 'The Ring' - yes I agree the Japanese version is better overall but the scene where the girl comes out of the tv is sublime.
For me, horror is in the mind. There are only so many blood and guts you can see before you start to think, hang on - that's just corn syrup and food colouring. The Blair Witch Project showed you can scare the world by not actually seeing anything. Fear is primal, horror movies tap into that and when done right that can give you an adrenaline rush unlike any other genre in cinema. I always look doubtingly upon someone who doesn't appreciate horror movies, like someone saying to me they don't like tea, or don't watch 'It's a Wonderful Life at Christmas' ... You serious?!
And anyone who has seen the original 101 Dalmatians don't tell me you don't watch horror - Cruella Di Vil is pure evil!
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