Directed by William Friedkin
Written by William Peter Blatty
1973
"Blair Witch Project"
Directed by Daniel Myrick & Eduardo Sanchez
Written by Daniel Myrick & Eduardo Sanchez
The two scariest movies I've seen are The Exorcist and Blair Witch Project. Actually, the only two movies that actually scared me are those two movies. But those two movies are legitimately scary because it doesn't use any cheap thrills. They instill genuine fear into the viewer, and manages to maintain suspense. You can scare anyone easily; just sneak up on them and yell suddenly. That's the trick most horror movies use, and it's stupid. The Exorcist and BWP however gives you a good reason to be scared for 2 hours.
The Exorcist starts pretty slowly and boring until Regan pees on the carpet in front of everybody and predicts someone's death, which became a classic scene unfortunately subject to numerous of parodies. Then there's the desecration of a statue of Virgin Mary. That's when the creepiness sets in and starts to build.
Then the first actual scary part; Father Karris's dream. It's almost completely silent except a very eerie white noise. And in that dream, there's the cut of Karris' mother that only lasts for a split second, then the dream continues. Then there's another sudden cut, but instead of his mother, there's a demonic face that is probably the most subtle scare I've ever seen.
There's just so many good moments in this movie. For example, the first time the bed shakes, which is a really simple image, but is very effective in telling the audience that they are dealing with something supernatural and something violent.
Then the first time the demon exposes itself; when Regan's throat inflates like a frog, and her skin becomes dead-pale and her voice changes into a monster's.
I could go on and on.
The Blair Witch Project deals with something also supernatural. It uses a documentary style, and you would certainly believe that it is real, factual footage until you wikipedia it.
On a $30 000 USD budget, what can you do to make a scary movie with that? BWP has so many night scenes and terrific, naturalistic acting that is probably one of the main reasons why the film is so scary. It also uses so many unconventional tricks such as intentionally messing up the sound (for example, using a microphone from another camera, which is a meters apart since the camera used for the footage on screen doesn't have an in built microphone), and adding psychological themes, such as the trio being angry at each other, scared with each other, etc. Also, the scary moments are very believable such as seeing weird rock piles surrounding their tents, hanging dolls made out of hay, etc. It messes with your mind.
It also has the scariest ending I have ever seen. I won't spoil it since I've already revealed a lot.
For those who want to make a scary movie, here are the do-s and don'ts, starting out with the don'ts:
Don't:
Use cheap thrills: A monster jumping out of a closet? Things like that have become so cliche and predictable and ultimately wastes the audience's time and insults their intelligence.
Have a plot twist or a ridiculous explanation: M. Night Shylaman is a devout user of plot twists. I guess it worked with The Sixth Sense, but that's it. I'm not going to reveal the ending for the Sixth Sense, but I will for the other movies because it's so stupid.
Signs: The aliens can't tolerate water. If you pour water on the aliens, they will die because of the water.
The Village: It actually isn't a time piece. The village is actually just a home for scared people that have been isolated from modern society. The monsters are people disguised.
The Happening: It's the plants. Yes, the plants are killing us because they are angry at us. Seriously.
Anyway, those are the movies by Shylaman I've watched, and hopefully I won't watch another one. Plot twists can be really stupid and ridiculous and makes the audience feel like they've wasted 2 hours. And plus, it'd probably make people look it up and learn about the explanation on wikipedia before watching the movie. And rightfully so.
Have totally unrelated themes: Sometimes a horror movie doesn't seem to have the intent to scare you. They also sometimes have a side-love story, some humor, etc. Why? See the Happening with its blatant attempt for an anti-global warming ad.
Do:
Fear than scare: The Exorcist doesn't have the demon chasing people. In fact it stays tied down in bed for the majority of the movie. And in BWP, you never see the witch. That is genuine fear; that fear you get when walking in an empty 3 story house at midnight without any lights. The fear of a monster even though there isn't any.
Good script: I love the game Silent Hill so I was excited for the movie version. I was very disappointed. Although it used a few scenes from the game, the script was just so bad, it was distracting. The director did a good job in creating the Silent Hill world, but the side story with the husband trying to find the wife didn't work, the dialogue was horrible, and the same psychological fear the game had on the player wasn't conveyed at all in the movie. The Exorcist had a great script, and was even nominated for an Oscar. BWP wasn't as memorable as the Exorcist, but was very appropriate for a documentary style, and it still had scenes like walking in straight line but going in circles (doesn't make sense I know but watch the film).
Have the characters scared: In Silent Hill, the protagonist was fairly confident which made the audience confident and not scared. In the Exorcist and BWP, all the characters were petrified. How can you convince the audience to be scared if you can't even convince your own characters? This also calls for some good acting.
Anyway that's all I can come up for now. If you're making a horror flick, at least obey these rules and watch the Exorcist and BWP.
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