Modern horror movies have unfortunately done something to viewers--taken us as far as they can go with desensitizing us. Since we longer jump and cringe at ax murders, then they eviscerated and tortured people. When that newness wore off, they tried gruesome killing after gruesome killing, each more over the top than the last.
The problem is, they no longer hit our horror G-spot.
Like porn and the use of a vibrator, it takes a bit more and more and more to stimulate and eventually, one builds up a tolerance.
Horror was never about the killings or the torture so far as it was about the unknown (in other words what they didn't show us, not what they let us see--everything). The real horror is not in witnessing death, but in the not knowing what will happen. If you see a dark room and hear creepy music, your mind fills in the appropriate terror that works on you instead of someone spoon-feeding you your fright.
Our minds are truly the best scriptwriters when it comes to terror, not our eyes.
("Hostel" - Modern Horror Movie)
I don't find movies like "Hostel" or "Saw" scary, only uncomfortable and numbing. Think about it, people are killed off one after another until there is no one to care about and nothing to hope for. You simply witness a slaughter. It creates an apathy in the viewer. Even a simpleton moviemaker should know that creating apathy in your viewers is the kiss of death.
How do you do a killing movie and create horror? Let's have a look at this one --
("The Changeling" 1980)
There is hope on the horizon! Some moviemakers have gotten savvy at looking towards the classics for cues on how to totally engage the viewer with lush cinematography, gripping soundtracks, great doses of darkness, unexplained happenings, and haunted characters. Here's two that come to mind and are worthy of the watching - allowing the horror sensation to seep back into our minds and bodies again so we lose that numbed up feeling.
("The Woman in Black")
("The Awakening")
The tough question might be: Can you take hardcore horror enthusiasts and get them to back down to suspense and moodiness, atmosphere and the unseen and have them satisfied or bored to tears?
Well, let's look at what happens. With a good suspenseful horror that builds up but doesn't spoon feed you the enemy, for example, "The Haunting" (1963), you are given adequate foreplay and anticipation, tingling, heightened senses, dilated pupils, and preparation so that even a slight touch of fear creates the climax.
In the movies "Darkness Falls" and "Sixth Sense" they played on the childhood terror of what is outside the sheet when you sleep. Those early fears are where we developed our worst fears throughout life, whether it was being alone, in the dark, what's under the bed, in the closet, what's that sound???
It can be difficult for over-stimulated horror lovers to differentiate between fear and disgust. If you're watching a disembowelment, you cringe, want to look away, feel a bit sick and quite grossed out. You know the person won't survive, so you are not emotionally invested at all, except that you're glad it's not you. That's not really fear. Fear is more about what COULD happen, not what is happening. What IS happening is fait accompli.
When a movie gives us a realistic scenario, we can actually relate. Some people brought together to study a haunted mansion: A feasible scenario. Characters that we can relate to: A driven, skeptical and pragmatic scientist...
How about a location we might actually see ourselves in...
Notice the use of sounds? Music, lighting? These are the tools of horror seduction.
We're not likely to end up in a room, tied down by some madman wanting us to hurt ourselves to escape.
Some people refer to it as "torture porn" and there is a good reason for that: It's hardcore, in your face, and raw. Some people want to see things you don't normally get to see, like intestines spilling onto a floor or a head being chopped off, but that's not fear so much as repulsion.
You want to get scared? Imagine coming across a killer of unknown origins and motivation; a killer that sees you seeing him!
The minute a viewer straps on their seat belt and wonders "what would I do?" You have him truly in suspense!
Suspense is horror.
Guts are horrific.
Notice the use of sounds? Music, lighting? These are the tools of horror seduction.
We're not likely to end up in a room, tied down by some madman wanting us to hurt ourselves to escape.
Some people refer to it as "torture porn" and there is a good reason for that: It's hardcore, in your face, and raw. Some people want to see things you don't normally get to see, like intestines spilling onto a floor or a head being chopped off, but that's not fear so much as repulsion.
You want to get scared? Imagine coming across a killer of unknown origins and motivation; a killer that sees you seeing him!
The minute a viewer straps on their seat belt and wonders "what would I do?" You have him truly in suspense!
Suspense is horror.
Guts are horrific.
