I recorded a programme on UK TV this weekend about the technicalities of scares in movies. In the first five minutes I watched John Carpenter and John Landis talking about the things they believe scare people in movies.
Since it’s Halloween I thought it a good idea to ask you what you find scary in the movies? I don’t mean the film itself, but what actual techniques and physical things scare you? Here’s a few from my list that I thought of…
Creepy kids
Not seeing what should be seen – hidden faces, action off camera
Seeing something the character can’t
…and similar to that one, seeing something before it happens
Thick forests at night
Noises off camera
There’s a few, are some of these the ones that scare you the most? Is there anything else? What are the vehicles and devices that scare you?
Update:
Here’s an excellent quote from John Landis during the Channel 4 show exploring the scariness of movies (the show was pretty poor)…
What really scares me? People. People really scare me because people kill people. I don’t know one person killed by a vampire or a werewolf or Godzilla. I really don’t. People scare the shit out of me.
