Written by Journalism Staff Reporter Mia Rooney
Horror is one of the classic genres of film, and one of the most popular. Thousands of different horror films have been created, some of the most iconic horror films being Scream, IT, and Halloween. But what makes a good horror film? What causes a film to be entertaining, whilst also being terrifying?
Image from https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094862/
Firstly, we need to establish what exactly the audience is looking for in a horror film. A good horror film has suspense, costume design (more directed towards the antagonist character rather than the protagonists), film shots, and more. The film cannot have excessive gore, but also needs to show enough creative and grotesque slashings to give the audience the “wow” factor. When watching a horror movie, the viewer should feel so scared they want to look away, but so intrigued that they just can’t. Obviously, different horror fans will have different preferences, but this is what I have concluded from a broader perspective.
In 1996, the iconic horror movie, Scream, was released. “A year after the murder of her mother, a teenage girl is terrorized by a masked killer who targets her and her friends by using scary movies as part of a deadly game. (IMDb)” The film was so popular; it eventually became a franchise. Its sixth film came out in 2023, starring rising actress Jenna Ortega. Scream is such a good film because it plays into your stereotypical horror tropes (final girl, dumb jock, etc.), while also causing you to physically react to scenes in the movie. Shouting at characters who made dumb mistakes, wanting to scream at the character, “They're right behind you!”, wincing at the gruesome, yet creative, kills. It was scary, yet so interesting you couldn’t stop watching. They even include the allure of “whodunnit” when trying to figure out who the murderer(s) is(are). While slasher movies aren’t for everyone, most horror fans can admit that Scream is such a good classic horror film you should watch at least once in your lifetime.
Another great horror film is the Conjuring series. This was yet another series that eventually got its own franchise, more commonly known as the “Conjuring Universe.” The movies were inspired by Ed and Lorraine Warren who were known as paranormal investigators in the 20th century. “In 1970, paranormal investigators and demonologists Lorraine (Vera Farmiga) and Ed (Patrick Wilson) Warren are summoned to the home of Carolyn (Lili Taylor) and Roger (Ron Livingston) Perron. The Perrons and their five daughters have recently moved into a secluded farmhouse, where a supernatural presence has made itself known. Though the manifestations are relatively benign at first, events soon escalate in horrifying fashion, especially after the Warrens discover the house's macabre history.” Obviously, this is a completely different horror style than the Scream franchise. Scream is what you would consider a slasher movie, which is a subgenre to horror. If you don’t know what a slasher is, Wikipedia defines it as, “slasher film is a subgenre of horror films involving a killer stalking and murdering a group of people, usually by use of bladed or sharp tools like knife, chainsaw, scalpel, etc.” Examples of that would be Halloween or Friday the 13th, while The Conjuring focuses on the paranormal. No murders take place in The Conjuring, but it’s still considered to be a frightening horror movie by most. Even though The Conjuring lacks excessive swearing or sexual content, it was still considered scary enough by the MPA (Motion Picture Association) to give The Conjuring an R rating. The Conjuring mainly focuses on suspense. It sets up scenes to leave open space in their shots, leaving you to wait for something to pop out and scare you. The horror starts out subtly. The entity in the house doesn’t just make itself known to you. It's implied there's something wrong (bruises appearing on the younger girls, subtle noises and feelings of unsettledness), but it's not until later in the film that the entity starts physically attacking the family. The Conjuring has you gripping your seat in fright, waiting for something to come out, and screaming at the family for making stupid choices. And, in my opinion, while I think the special effects for the ghost could be better, the horror movie is still extremely frightening. While some people dislike The Conjuring movie, I argue that it’s a really well thought out film.
Image from https://www.thewrap.com/box-office-how-horror-films-conjuring-win-scaring-young-women-104901/
The point of a horror movie is to scare, if you’re not turning away in fear, then the movie is not done right. It must keep a viewer both entertained and frightened, and costumes and set must look good. For certain films, poor SFX can ruin the scariness of a film. If you look at the dual film series IT, inspired by the novel by Stephen King, many horror fans have complained about IT’s sfx’s, a lot of fans complaining IT chapter two didn’t compare to the first chapter done in 2017. It takes a lot of work to make a horror film, but the payoff is worth it. An iconic film you can watch every Halloween (or Friday the 13th)!
Sources: https://thefulcrum.ca/arts/the-art-of-a-good-horror-movie/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slasher_film
Spotlight image created in Canva by Mia Rooney
