Screenwriting : Horror Movies by Nicola Guaglianone

Include plenty of levity. Seriously. The purpose of a good horror movie, I think, is almost to get people running to their psychiatrists. Not quite, obviously, but you get my drift. Now, what better way to unsettle them, get them running for the sofa even if their name is Chuck Norris, than to make them laugh and then make 'em scream. After all, the drop is all the more deadly if you have a height to fall from... You should also make them care for the characters so that when they meet their gruesomeness, the effect is devastating. Okay maybe I'd better stop now lest I grow a reputation for being unnecessarily fun.

It depends on what type of horror you want to make. You can include humor in it like Andrew said, but be careful not to get too campy unless that's your preferred subgenre. The trend over the past few years has been more toward shock and gore, but personally I prefer two other types. First, suspense is much more terrifying than just someone jumping out with an axe. You can either let the audience know what's coming so they can hope the character doesn't get caught, or you can just let them know something is going to happen but not say what, Second, make it something that can actually happen in real life and you'll have people rethinking their everyday life. If they can see themselves in the situation, that adds to the horror. Two good examples are Jaws and the Exorcist. Keita made good points but I'll only comment on some. Cliches are sometimes a reflection on life, so they're really impossible to completely avoid. Where do prisoners fight? Shower, the yard and cafeteria. If someone hears a noise, they often investigate. What I think she means is avoiding predicatability. I've seen more than one movie where I could tell you what was happening before it did. When growing a character, in horror the truth is most people don't care about arcs. They want to be scared. That makes it al the more important for the main character(s) to grow or change somehow. Andrew made what I think is one of the strongest points. If the audience doesn't care about the characters, there's no real feeling of risk for them. In the horror movie I wrote - which is in preproduction - I made characters you liked then dangled them over the proverbial meat grinder. In fact, when I got reviews from my peers they said that was the part they liked most. One even called me all kinds of adjectives for killing off one he liked most. LOL

thanks guys, your suggestions are very helpful. I think the first thing to ask to yourself when writing a horror script is what really scares people? For me it's gratuitous violence. That's why I loved Tesis, first Amenabar's movie and Hostel. Have any of you seen Kevin Smith's Red State? it is interesting how, starting from cliché, he has changed the cards on the table with the second half of second act and third acts.

Make it scary...

I think some of the best horror scripts are born with one foot in the probable. Some of the scariest movies I've seen really little on special effects and more on seeing yourself falling into similar circumstances. For instance the probability of me staying in a hostile has diminished greatly. I also think the levity thing is important. Creating a fun relationship between your audience and characters makes you feel even more empathy when they're tied to a chair looking at a bunch of saws and knives.

yeah Noel, but this is true for all kind of scripts.

empaty

Nicola, exactly. Some of the best action films are also where average people are forced to contend in extraordinary circumstances. I'm just saying that the movies that really disturb me are the ones that make you feel you could be the main character. That the moral choices and challenges are something you yourself would have a problem with making. But to tell you the truth if you write a horror film script and shoot it with the right crew you'll be able to market it. We have one in distribution now. We made it just to show investors we could. The script was written in two weeks and had we had it cast and shot in three months.