Post by armagecko on Nov 17, 2003 3:08:50 GMT -5
Anyone familiar with my postings knows that I frequently suggest that people check out the many recent trade mags in an effort to keep current on the ever changing world of movie-making. Just this month I came across an article by William Martell in Script magazine that focuses specifically on horror and I thought I would share some of the info with anyone who's interested.
Martell studied the films Night of the Living Dead, Rosemary's Baby, The Bride of Frankenstein, and The Exorcist in an effort to find some similarities that seem to make a good horror script click. This is what he discovered.
More than anything, the key ingredient to a good (and financially successful) horror movie is DREAD. "Dread is that feeling of impending doom, that unsettling feeling that bad things are going to happen and nothing you do can stop them." As an example of this, Martell points to the original Halloween, where Michael Myers does very little actual killing, yet he's always lurking in the shadows creating anxiety and fear.
Also in many good horror movies, the film places the protagonists in a new environment - a place they are unfamiliar with - making the story take place in an area unknown. For examples, Martell looks to The Shining, where Jack, Wendy and their son have temporarily moved into the Overlook Hotel. In Texas Chainsaw Massacre, the group of kids are passing through rural Texas, and in Rosemary's Baby, the young couple has moved into a new apartment. It may seem trivial as a device, but when placing your character in an unknown world, you create a useful situation, where everything is now a source of potential fear. More recent examples, (Not that I would use either of these as GOOD examples) are Cabin Fever, where the kids are camping in the woods, and Wrong Turn, where the guy is lost in rural W. Virginia (sound familiar?).
Martell also finds that many successful horror plots challenge or pervert present beliefs. Anything that creates order is rendered powerless. In Frankenstein, a doctor creates life from DEAD tissue. In NOTLD, a contaminated NASA satellite raises the dead zombies. In The Exorcist, events lead Father Karras to question the existence of God.
These are just some things to think about when considering your horror plot and script. Maybe they will prove helpful or start you thinking.
One last thought offered by the author: "A big mistake that modern horror movies often make is to increase the amount of action, thereby decreasing the amount of anticipation and dread. The resulting film may have lots of teenagers getting decapitated, but it just isn't scary." Now, how many of these movies have we seen? Make sure that you avoid the same mistake with your story.
Martell studied the films Night of the Living Dead, Rosemary's Baby, The Bride of Frankenstein, and The Exorcist in an effort to find some similarities that seem to make a good horror script click. This is what he discovered.
More than anything, the key ingredient to a good (and financially successful) horror movie is DREAD. "Dread is that feeling of impending doom, that unsettling feeling that bad things are going to happen and nothing you do can stop them." As an example of this, Martell points to the original Halloween, where Michael Myers does very little actual killing, yet he's always lurking in the shadows creating anxiety and fear.
Also in many good horror movies, the film places the protagonists in a new environment - a place they are unfamiliar with - making the story take place in an area unknown. For examples, Martell looks to The Shining, where Jack, Wendy and their son have temporarily moved into the Overlook Hotel. In Texas Chainsaw Massacre, the group of kids are passing through rural Texas, and in Rosemary's Baby, the young couple has moved into a new apartment. It may seem trivial as a device, but when placing your character in an unknown world, you create a useful situation, where everything is now a source of potential fear. More recent examples, (Not that I would use either of these as GOOD examples) are Cabin Fever, where the kids are camping in the woods, and Wrong Turn, where the guy is lost in rural W. Virginia (sound familiar?).
Martell also finds that many successful horror plots challenge or pervert present beliefs. Anything that creates order is rendered powerless. In Frankenstein, a doctor creates life from DEAD tissue. In NOTLD, a contaminated NASA satellite raises the dead zombies. In The Exorcist, events lead Father Karras to question the existence of God.
These are just some things to think about when considering your horror plot and script. Maybe they will prove helpful or start you thinking.
One last thought offered by the author: "A big mistake that modern horror movies often make is to increase the amount of action, thereby decreasing the amount of anticipation and dread. The resulting film may have lots of teenagers getting decapitated, but it just isn't scary." Now, how many of these movies have we seen? Make sure that you avoid the same mistake with your story.
