We obviously see horror movies for the thrill, but what makes it so scary (for you)? Several elements come to mind quickly such as, surprise, atmosphere, music, suspense and gore. but what is it that you look for in a horror movie?

My priority would have to be atmosphere and tension if I want to be scared. Torture/light porn genre doesn't scare me at all and I just watch those for the effects. Realistic slashers if they are high in atmosphere like Wolf Creek, Broken and others of that ilk will scare me if the director pays really close attention to the atmosphere. Tense like Haute Tension gives me the heebie jeebies. I also love italian cinema based on atmosphere and set pieces alone. The french also get it right. Guillermo Del Toro honestly can totally creep me out with his atmospheric movies. This is what I want when I want to be scared. Crazy people freak me out as well and wicked characterizations! That's what I prefer in my horror movies. Them and Inside are two movies I am highly looking forward to.

Yeah. Recently looking back recently on Eyes ithout a Face I realized that because we can't see Christiane's face it makes us wonder what it looks like, but it also builds enough tension that we don't want to!

When I did my survey for my thesis I asked this question. Scary atmosphere was by far the most listed thing, followed by creepy characters. Other things listed more than once by people were jump scenes, suspense, supernatural elements, and creepy music. It was basically the crafting of elements that created an overall mood of terror and excitement in people.

It's funny, because when I first did the practice survey, blood and gore was listed a few times. The second time around it was listed maybe once.

For me personally, it's all about the atmosphere. What I mean by that is the mood created by the cinematography, the production design, the music and sound, the acting, the story, and the editing. A "jump" scare cannot be achieved without these things coming together!

Definetly true. If you looked at Onibaba without all of that stuff the "jump" scenes (of which there are probably few in the film, not that it's bad as a result) would amount to virtually nothing.

This is precisely what I'm talking about! It takes all of these things to create a certain mood, suspenseful, tension. They all have to come together. When they do, that is what I find off the charts scary!

True. Just curiously Headcheese, what is the picture of the bunny people from? It looks vaguely familiar...

Suspenseful music really does it for me! A good score can go a long way in my mind. I'm also a big fan of gore. And, the things that tend to scare me in movies are more old school horror effects. I love sudden sounds and things jumping out! That's going to make my heart race!

I think it's from David Lynch's Inland Empire

Cool thanks.

What really scares me are simple dark faces, such as this one.

The things that would, to me at least, make a horror film, or series, so terrifying would be the strong emphasis on surprise, atmosphere in as large quantity as surprise is, music equally so, suspense, too, must be in an equal amount to the aforementioned 3, with a smaller emphasis on gore. This strong emphasis on the first 4 elements with a minor focus on the 5th element, which is gore, certainly gets the blood chilled in my circulatory system in regards to horror films and/or horror series. It's just a thought that I wished to express. Thanks for your indulgence. MartinKandell August 29, 2008

I love the creepiness factor of a movie. I want to feel the hairs on my neck standing. Examples: those eerie little twins in The Shining.
the wheelchair in The Changeling.
the spider walk scene in The exorcist.
the theme song in The Amityville Horror.

alot of gore, alot of sleaze, some unintentional humor and now thats a great horror flick.

Anticipation of what's going to happen scares me. Examples: the scene in "Sixth Sense" when Haley Joel Osment is in his little tent and the clothes pins start popping off. That freaked me out. The original "Haunting" where we hear something going down the hallway banging on the doors and walls. What's out there? Is it going to come in? "Jaws", when Richard Dreyfuss goes into the water to check out the hull of Ben Gardner's boat. Is the shark gone? Are we sure? Any scene done like that just gets my heart racing and makes me sit on the edge of my seat. I love it.

What really gets me going is when yhe music stops and minutes later. The (whatever) hops out and kills the person who hides. I love a movie that has that.

The most important thing in a horror movie to me and what makes a flick scary is the exploration of the unknown. To me when a horror filmmaker explores some part of life that people wonder about or question thats when a scary movie is at its best. For example Night of the Living Dead a classic not just because it had never been done before but because it explored one of humaities deepest darkest fears death and the afterlife. Most of the iconic horror movies have this common theme, movies like Nightmare on Elm Street had a great monster but was also great because it explored what happened at night in your nightmares and could it really effect you waking conscious and being. How many of us have had the dream of waking up only to still be dreaming. I think when horror movies take up these unknowns they become more real and visceral therfore scarier. Whats really behind a phsychotics rage: Halloween, what happens in hell: Hellraiser, what happens to those lost a sea: Open Water, what would happen if you were telepathic: Scanners,, all great movies all rooted in real life questions.

Good Day,,
I Said Good Day!