by RainBird

Created on: February 15, 2007   Last Updated: May 09, 2007

I love this question as I have watched my share of nail-biting, edge of your seat, scary movies that had me cowering under the blankets in from of my television or squeezing my eyes shut in some movie theatre expecting the worse. It never fails that there is going to be at least one but perhaps several characters in any given movie who just has to open that door or go into that empty abandoned house in the dead of night and get themselves whacked.

I think what makes a scary movie scary is #1, the soundtrack. If some eerie melody suddenly appears out of the audio system and begins to build in volume and intensity at a frantic pace, chances are really good that the movie is about to lose a character in the film.

#2 would be atmosphere or surroundings. It wouldn't be very scary to see someone in broad daylight, surrounded by throngs of people, carrying on day-to-day life yet, you lose the crowd, place that same someone in the middle of nowhere and all of the sudden this person is asking for trouble. Throw in some bad weather, junk or clutter in the way of any escape routes and a puddle of blood or two and we are talking instant scary.

#3, the plot build-up. Showing the viewer a recent history of terror in the lives, community, or background of any given character in the movie right up front allows the viewer to be expecting something to happen throughout the rest of the film. Newspaper articles, TV news programs, word-of-mouth among the characters, associates of the characters disappearing at an alarming rate, etc... are really good sources during the film to show why this character should be terrified and what the viewer should be expecting.

#4, the surprise factor. Including the previous three items in the mix, to suddenly have something totally unexpected happen adds to the viewer's fright immediately. Example: Two friends who, throughout the first 90 minutes of the film have been scared beyond belief and are apparently running for their lives when they come across an old barn in which to hide themselves. Scary music abundant, wind blowing fiercely and tree limbs bashing the building as a storm rages outside in the night, they secure themselves in a great hiding spot. Frantically watching for this nameless predator to appear, one of them turns to face their companion and becomes an unfortunate victim as they didn't realize that they were with this monster the whole time as this so-called friend, turns fiend and kills in revenge for some unknown agenda the victim

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>