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 What makes a really good horror movie? Discussion

What makes a really good horror movie?

 
Description: Films from the horror genre are designed to elicit fright, fear, terror, disgust or horror from viewers. In horror film ... more
What makes a really good horror movie? ... plots, evil forces, events, or characters, sometimes of supernatural origin, intrude into the everyday world. Horror film characters include vampires, zombies, monsters, serial killers, and a range of other fear-inspiring characters. Early horror films often drew inspiration from characters and stories from classic literature, such as Dracula, Frankenstein, The Mummy, The Wolf Man, The Phantom of the Opera and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Later horror films, in contrast, often drew inspiration from the insecurities of life since World War Two, giving rise to the three distinct, but related, subgenres of the horror-of-personality film, the horror-of-Armageddon film, and the horror-of-the-demonic film. The last subgenre may be seen as a modernized transition from the earlier horror films, expanding on the earlier emphasis on supernatural agents that bring horror to the world.

Newest Review: ... combines the fear of the dark, being trapped in tight confined spaces and a sense of oncoming but unseen danger. This is what makes the film and creates a gripping nervous experience for the viewer. - THE ELEMENT OF SURPRISE Now a lot of modern day horror films will use a soundtrack to get a jump out of the audience and it's a cheap tactic. Raising the soundtrack a few notches to literally ... more

 ... lift the viewer put of their seat by their ears. But the best jumps are orchestrated and take a lot of thought. Fine examples of this are found in the Final Destination series. Throughout they set-up potential danger, layering on the tension until you ge...more

utero
Premium Review What makes a really good horror movie?: Cooking Up A Scare (497 words)
by utero - written on 27.11.07 (Very useful, 160 readings)
Rating:

So what does make a good horror movie? Well one person's opinion on the subject will probably differ from another. But there are a few ingredients that I think are essential. - A PLAY ON HUMAN FEARS If an audience can identify with something on screen that plays on their own fears then you've got half the job done. Almost everyone will have something in common that they fear. Of course the usual things could be spiders and creepy crawlies, so movies about giant spiders may make the skin crawl. But for me the best use in recent memory of a premise that plays on human emotion is Neil Marshall's The Descent. It combines the fear of the dark, being ...

Kezz360
Premium Review Torture? Darkness? Murder? Am I getting close? (1610 words)
by Kezz360 - written on 31.10.07 (Very useful, 301 readings)
Rating:

Ahh yes the horror genre. We either love it, or hate it. I personally love the horror genre and have seen my fair share of good horror movies and bad horror movies. I suppose the question I should be asking myself is why do I like them so much? Is it that I like to see people being ripped open and gutted? Do I like seeing people running for their lives? Do I like the jumps and chills? I don't know, but whatever it is makes me excited whenever I hear of a new horror film coming out. I decided to do a little research on the horror genre, just out of interest really and I found out that the very first movie that showed supernatural events was Georges ...

The+Daz
Premium Review What makes a really good horror movie?: Fear of the Dark! (372 words)
by The Daz - written on 24.08.07 (Useful, 84 readings)
Rating:

The classic image many might have of a horror film would be the Hammer House type - chilling music to the sight of Christopher Lee draining the blood from his newest helpless victim, but thesedays there seems to be a whole range of sub-genres for Horror. Most popularly: Teen Horrors are generally gorefests, with either: a downtrodden/grudgebearing student/town recluse going around hacking annoying but pretty young teens to death (I'm fairly sure I know what you did last summer but i'll still need 3 films to work it out), or occasionally a weird creature (Jeepers Creepers) with an insatiable thirst. Other films thesedays are often either extremely ...

 
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