Don't have too much time on my hands, so I'll keep it to what I think is one of the most important aspects.
Ken Levine talks alot about it with Bioshock, and it's very evident in his past titles, which is Humanity. (Or a loss, there of.) It's terrifying and sad, seeing something that behaves in a very surreal, vague fashion, like people. Demonstrating familiar traits, but at the same time, in a horribly deviant or disfigured manner, physical or emotional.
lol Reminds me of Tulk's old thread with the mansheep. That thing seriously gave me the chills.
I think the best formula for horror movies or games is suspense and keeping the player fearing the unknown. Movies like "Friday the 13th" just aren't scary to me because they're so predictable. You know what's going to happen right down to the time and the place in most cases.
The Silent Hill series really hit the nail on the head, I think. It's never too gratuitous with violence or gore, simply because it doesn't need to be. It's the subtle noises, creepy environments, and the mysterious parts of character's backgrounds that keeps me on the edge of my seat.
You have you "gotcha!" style, startling scary, then your "yuck, that is gross!" revolted scary. You have the "something here is not right" creepy scary, and the "I am so small and weak" existential scary.
I think all really effective horror has to have an element of reality, something you can relate to. Slasher flicks like the Saw series, for instance - they have shock value, but it's not the kind of thing that will stay with you after you've left the theater because you can't relate to such an absurd situation.
On the other hand, things that prey on real fears can have a lasting effect. The original Psycho is a classic example. A roadside motel, a guy with a knife - yeah, that COULD happen. As a kid, the scariest film I ever saw was Red Dawn. While the specifics of the plot were a bit much, the fear of a Soviet invasion and a real World War III on American soil seemed all too possible in the mid-1980s.
I think the last movie I saw to actually affect me was the original Blair Witch Project. You didn't even really see anything until the end of the flick that qualified as supernatural or whatever, but the (at the time) realistic shaky cam stuff and the prospect of being lost in the wild, that had some compellingly creepy moments when I imagined what it would really be like.
Yeah, ninjas is right on the genres.
I really like the h.p. lovecraft sort.
The terror of the unknown, the fear of other realities, and the secrets behind the dreams. Things long since locked away from our comprehension, long removed from our minds. Things we cannot fathom, things that live beneath our perception.
The dark corners of the human mind can be scary shit, too. Stuff about crazy people, true to life serial killers. I sat down one day and read about real serial killers, and their habits, and personalities. That stuff is just weird, and frightening. Knowing that it can actually happen is scary enough.
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I think the last movie I saw to actually affect me was the original Blair Witch Project. You didn't even really see anything until the end of the flick that qualified as supernatural or whatever, but the (at the time) realistic shaky cam stuff and the prospect of being lost in the wild, that had some compellingly creepy moments when I imagined what it would really be like.
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As much as people like to make fun of that movie, and as much as I don't like to admit it, that movie probably scared me more than any other film I've seen. Although, a big part of that probably had to do with the fact that I was 14 years old at the time and I happened to live in a very rural, wooded area.
I find the real life scenerios more scarier than anything over the top. Situations i could see myself in scare me more than any knife weilding hockey mask wearing demon can.
Also less is more. Good example of this is the Ring,part one was scary because the girl was rarely seen as well as her victims on the other hand part two showed her way too much and it killed the impact.
well, I think Clive Barker is a great example of good horror, and what to me, makes his stuff good is that his 'bad guys' all have understandable motives.
See, just having a maniac run around is not scary, but somehow being able to relate to him even on the most basic level makes them familiar and 'human'.
Remember when you were a kid, and someone flicked their hand at your eyes? You would blink and they would say "Scared you"! In reality, they just triggered a reflex (a smart one at that -- protecting your eyes is a good idea). Most horror relies on shock to make people jump under this mistaken understanding that a reflex reaction constitutes "fear". It's a cheap trick that has no lasting effects.
Tier 2 - Disgust
The next most liberally employed "horror" technique is simply to gross people out. People dislike pain, we fear it. The easiest way to visually convey pain is to show mutilation. Someone who is being chopped into pieces is obviously being hurt. Even something as simple as vomit is unpleasant. Most people feel some degree of empathy towards characters in media, real or not, so imaginary pain translates into real discomfort. This doesn't mean, however, that it will be particular strong discomfort and that it will be strong enough to translate into fear.
Tier 3 - Paranoia
Sometimes kids think there are monsters under their beds, in their closets, or hiding in the shadows. It terrifies them to no end. They can't sleep and they'll go so far as to avoid parts of their own homes. An effective technique for curing this is to ask the child what exactly -- in detail -- they think is hiding out there. What does the monster look like? What can it do? Why is it there? Could you draw a picture? Is there any way to fight it?
Chances are, the kid will realize very quickly that they don't even know what they are afraid of. That's because they weren't afraid of the monster, they were afraid of the idea that there might be a monster and they didn't know what that monster was. As soon as they define what the monster is, they can deal with it. It's not scary any more, it's just another obstacle in life like any other.
Imagination is stronger than the senses. The most pure form of horror is to restrict what information reaches the senses so that the imagination runs wild.
Shock and disgust are most effectively used for the purpose of creating paranoia. The problem with most horror media is that it reveals too much with those devices so nothing is left to the imagination. If you're seeing exactly what's going on, there is nothing left to worry about. If you're not worrying, you aren't afraid.
Imagination also requires time, which is why horror that is too fast paced simply become a "thriller" or "action" instead. Paranoia stems from imagination that stems from thought, and thought can't happen if people aren't given enough time to think.
So here's a little guide to making quality horror experiences:
a) Shock and disgust should only be used to promote paranoia.
b) Viewers need ample time to be able to think about what is going on.
c) Viewers need to be shown a situation that is thought provoking enough to get their imagination going (hence, the "realistic scenarios are most effective" mentality).
d) Viewers need frequent reminders that they should be afraid. People will eventually think their way out of fear, but not if they are constantly having to deal with new things to think about.
e) Avoid answering or explaining anything as much as possible. It will only make (d) harder to accomplish.
f) Avoid cliches like the plague. People already know how to deal with cliched situations. They don't need to think about them because they are used to them. People who aren't thinking aren't afraid.
I find horror these days to be more funny and predictable than actually scary.
I'm with vermillion about Blair Witch. It was definitely the last movie I saw where I was a tad creeped out.
I've only played the original Silent Hill (and a little bit of Silent Hill 4) and I loved it for the atmosphere and ambient noise and crackles you'd hear from time to time. Sometimes you'd run around for ages not seeing an enemy which puts you on edge and creeps you out because you're expecting one... It's a little too quiet!
I think it comes to the individual really.
Gore horror with heaps of blood is all good to watch, but I don't think its scary, most of the time it looks way too over the top so you end up laughing at it being so damn ridiculous.
The ones where there's a serial killer taking teenage kids out one by one is far from scary (well for me anyway). You may jump once or twice throughout the film, but you already know what's going to happen before you even walk into the theatre.
Personally, things that creep you out or when you have an unknown threat... That's the stuff that I find scariest.
I'm not so sure there is a formula. Whilst I agree to a large extent with the 'less is more' concept, I think that what's frightening to people is largely subjective. Even as a kid, I have never really been remotely 'scared' by any kind of modern slasher/horror movie. Stuff like the texas chainsaw massacre and friday the 13th were just silly to me. Although I do recall being affected for a while by the red eyes outside the window in the original Amityville. Descent made me jump, but that's different. That's surprise. Doom3 did absolutely nothing for me in the scared stakes, Fear was just too derivative. I honestly can't think of a game that freaked me out.
Psycho is a pretty scary movie. However, sit me in front of something that's more 'disturbing' and freaky like maybe Lynch's Eraserhead and maybe a couple of scenes from Jacobs ladder or the original French version of the Vanishing and I'm a mess. I think what scares an indivudual is to a large extent intrinsically tied to their life experiences.
In addition to using one's imagination to create horror and forcing him/her to relate with what's happening (meaning that the subject facing the horror in the movie or game is an average joe/jane), I think that a solid background story for evertyhing builds the horror up even more. If I made a horror game, I would concept a detailed story first and then reveal only some parts of it to the player and thus let the players create their own interpretations of the horror. The horror dies if the story is either too shallow (someone's dead and has become back to kill) or is explained to every little detail so that the player feels that he/her is in control of what's happening.
As mentioned above, The Blairwitch Project and Silent Hill (both the games and the movie in the latter) work so well because they have such fascinating stories with mundane people facing the unknown. In Silent Hill, the unknown is actually hidden deep in their own psyche which, in my opinion, creates a really strong emotion: the darkness you feared is something you're hiding inside.
Building a beliveable legend around the Blair's witch made the movie absolutely terrifying. Rumours and tales passed down for generations usually have a fantastic mix of what really happened and what was used to colour the story. Like the Rustin Parr incident in the movie could really have happened, there's nothing paranormal about it. Actually, the fake document about Parr is almost as scary as the movie itself, you should definitely check it out. I was quite young too when it came out and even though I was really sure that it was just a movie, the documents and the way the movie was filmed made me doubt my beliefs.
The plot of Silent Hill 2 (the game) is maybe one of the best I know in video games. Even reading it gives me the chills, that's something I want to see in horror games. I hope the sequel to the Silent Hill movie will take this plot and follow it quite precisely, it's just a masterpiece.
Most of Lovecraft's novels haven't actually scared me but I've been really fascinated by them, his detailed Cthulhu mythos especially. He created another reality in his works that makes the reader doubt his own.
Also, dark ambient music is one thing that really gives me the chills. Actually, I'm currently listening to Silent Hill 1's (game) soundtrack. Also, a dark ambient artist called Atrium Carceri has a magnificent album called Cellblock. I once tried listening to it on headphones while lying on my bed in the dark. I noticed that my heart started to beat faster and I felt an undefined feeling of uneasiness. Needless to say, I didn't listen to it very long.
If most Lovecraft hasn't scared you, I strongly urge you to check out Color out of Space or the Nameless City. I believe they're shorts, so not much time investment required for great horror. Quake 1's 'storyline' was originally based off of a lot of Lovecraft's stuff and even had a level named after the Nameless City. Another one you may enjoy is the Shadow over Innsmouth.
I'm a huge fan of scary, dark ambient music, so thanks for mentioning Atrium Carceri, I'm hooked
If you like them, you may like Justin Lassen's work. It kinda reminds me of Chris Vrenna's Alice soundtrack, almost.
If most Lovecraft hasn't scared you, I strongly urge you to check out Color out of Space or the Nameless City. I believe they're shorts, so not much time investment required for great horror. Quake 1's 'storyline' was originally based off of a lot of Lovecraft's stuff and even had a level named after the Nameless City. Another one you may enjoy is the Shadow over Innsmouth.
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I've actually read almost all of Lovecraft's work, including those. Even though I love his works, they just don't scare me, just fascinate. Maybe my imagination is too dull to create as vivid images as the author himself had.
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I'm a huge fan of scary, dark ambient music, so thanks for mentioning Atrium Carceri, I'm hooked
If you like them, you may like Justin Lassen's work. It kinda reminds me of Chris Vrenna's Alice soundtrack, almost.
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No problem and thanks for that link too, checking it out now.
going back to blair witch, that was probably really scary before the hype. I had a friend who watched it in the middle of nowhere when he was visiting a friend. Alone, and watching it on a dubbed VHS, without knowing anything about it beforehand, he literally thought it was a lost documentary. Freaked him out for the longest time. I think that goes back to the fear of the unknown, as well as fear of something you can relate to.
The original Ringu was by far amazing and one of the better films of this field. It just grabs you by the balls and spooked the shit out of you. First time I saw that was late at night, by myself, and never even heard of it before. Instantly got sent straight to my number one spot.
As for games, well, thats a different story. Doom 3 was by far one of the LEAST frightening games I had ever played. It had a few moments of greatness, like the Imps walking over windows and casting shadows down. But a lot of it was just really, really bd. Monsters appearing out of walls? I mean, not breaking through them like the Alpha, but walls actually acting like doors for no reason? Not to mention that Doom 3, as a whole, sounded quite bad for the area it was in. The alpha again really, REALLY made the game creep me out, but then they scrapped all the sounds...
One game has had me gripped just recently, and for a very good reason. Penumbra. They have it bang on if you ask me. While its not the best looking game ever, they really do present the right things at the right time. For example, I'm only a few levels in, but there has been one single enemy. I've heard scuttling, noises and the like, but still, its just messing with me, and I fall for it, EVERY time. The first time I see an enemy, its fantastic. I cant fight it. I'm so scared, I cant even look at it. Not me, but the game. Every time I look at it, my focus turns to it, everything else blurs, and if i keep looking, ill panic and it will know I'm there. So, to get around it, I cant look at it, at all. This, coupled with the fact I'm in a small cave like, mine section with zero light, really spooks the hell out of you. You hear it move around, sniffing, then it starts to moan... Has it spotted you? Are you gonna die? Who knows, because you cant look at it. The way the story is present is also fantastic, you have letters and all sorts around the place, you piece it together as you go along.
VERY well done IMO.
But Doom 3, as a horror game? No, it was laughable at best. It would of been even more scary if they stuck to the original vision.
The unknown is the source of fear. It should be what you return to whenever you work on a "scary" project. People will always be more afraid of what you don't show them, than what you do. The strongest, most powerful element of fear is a person's own imagination. The imagination takes the unknown, and fills it in with all manner of horrors. A creative individual is his/her own worst enemy when it comes to being afraid. When presented with the unknown, their mind instinctively fills it with whatever horrifies them the most.
The secret to scary isn't to produce something that is scary. The formula you are seeking for is this...you need to trick the audience into frightening themselves. The best horror, regardless of the medium, preys upon, feeds, and guides the imagination of the audience.
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I'm not so sure there is a formula. Whilst I agree to a large extent with the 'less is more' concept, I think that what's frightening to people is largely subjective. Even as a kid, I have never really been remotely 'scared' by any kind of modern slasher/horror movie. Stuff like the texas chainsaw massacre and friday the 13th were just silly to me. Although I do recall being affected for a while by the red eyes outside the window in the original Amityville. Descent made me jump, but that's different. That's surprise. Doom3 did absolutely nothing for me in the scared stakes, Fear was just too derivative. I honestly can't think of a game that freaked me out.
Psycho is a pretty scary movie. However, sit me in front of something that's more 'disturbing' and freaky like maybe Lynch's Eraserhead and maybe a couple of scenes from Jacobs ladder or the original French version of the Vanishing and I'm a mess. I think what scares an indivudual is to a large extent intrinsically tied to their life experiences.
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I was going to mention The Vanishing as well. The ending of that movie is pure fucking horror, simply because it is entirely within the realm of possibility. The thought of being buried alive scares me a lot more than anything from a Nightmare on Elm Street film. Hell, even the coffin scene from the second Kill Bill got to me a bit.
I'd like to add in the whole concept of Loss of control. Knowing that you are not the one in power, and you are out of your element. Couple with fear of the unknown, and you're in a very scary place.
I tend to have the problem with many horror movies in that I am a fairly confident and analytical infividual who is fairly well rooted in reality. If the stories get too far out there, I tend to dismiss them as being silly. If they are too close to reality, then I tend to think of how I would have handled the situation better than the idiots in the movie.
Unlike a lot of people, I really didn't enjoy the Ring. I just couldn't help but question how the hell this little girl is supposed to harm me. And exactly how did she get this weird TV power? She watched a bunch of videos? So have I. And if this little elementary school kid can get this supernatural power after death, then I should be able to do the same too, and would whip her ass. Silly ego-tripping, I know, but it makes just as much sense bas the story presented in the film.
One of my favorite horror/thrillers was Seven. The loss of control that the Pitt character goes through is total torture. On top of that, he didn't play an absolute bumbling idiot like there are in many horror films. Here was this sharp guy who could handle himself well, and he is still not the one in control. He's completely victimized, and there's not much he could do about it.
Some great horror examples from games are:
1) 1st level of Doom 3 after you've defeated your first enemy and everyone on your communicator is screaming and dying.
2) F.E.A.R. 1st level when you walk around and then suddenly a picture of skull takes over your screen for a split second.
3) The beginning of Silent Hill games when you don't really know what's going on, and you have lots of doubt about what you're doing.
Of course, in games it only works in the beginning, because later on you end up fighting enemies repetitively and it becomes more and more action then horror. You know what's currently going on, you can tell what's coming next, etc.
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Do you think the feeling of isolation enhances a game's ability to induce fear?
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Absolutely. That's what made the Silent Hill games so good was that you were totally alone in a deserted town, you were completely cut off, and and your senses didn't count for anything because you couldn't see shit.
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Also, what are your thoughts on boss fights in horror games?
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Personally, I don't like them. They take you out of the suspense. All boss fights come down to pattern recognition, and reaction to those patterns. Plus, if the boss is truly worthy of being feared, then no matter what you do to it won't affect it at all. It's about the struggle against something that you cannot win against that is scary.
That said, I wouldn't necessarily reject all boss fights. Again, going back to Silent Hill (2 to be exact), and a cute little guy called Pyramid Head. He wasn't so much a "boss", but just a monster that followed you around that could not be killed. So you ran away from him. That is more scary than actually fighting him. Or set up your "boss fight" as just that - You interacting with the environment or whatever simply in order to get away.
When you eventually meet up with him again at the end of the game, you have serious feelings built up from all those times you nearly got away, and the tension is that much higher.
Show a film with ET's long poo finger to any five year old and they will freak....
But seriously
As regards to horror games I don't find any particularly effective at present. It depends on how the narrative is attached to the gameplay, I agree that silent hill is one of the better examples.
Infact bridging away from the games you lot have mentioned I find "CHASE" scenarios from bosses / characters most nerve bending. Looking at Prince of Persia series (can never remember the character) Dahaka or something chases you for a peroid and the "UNKNOWN" and "ISOLATION" factor of what lies ahead really piles on the pressure.
As neo god stated earlier fear and primary emotions, latch onto them and work out effective gameplay devices to encourage and display them.
A word about cliches, people moan and drab on about them at times but they exist because they are consistently successful to some degree.
what about 'The Uncanny'? a "Freudian concept where something can be familiar, yet foreign at the same time, resulting in it being uncomfortably strange"
In recent times, the Call of Cthulhu game, while far from perfect, did a great job of slowly, slowly building tension and dread before a sudden scene of sheer fear and panic, which I shan't spoil here. The remainder of the game never quite lived up to that one scene but the game is worth hunting down just to experience the opening 45 minutes or so.
I always found the Cybernetic Nursemaids in System Shock 2 to be really frightening and I don't really understand why. Its a terribly cheesy character design and the character model can't have more than 300 polys in it, but theres just something in that voice thats terrifying.
the "dogman" from the first Silent Hill, he's the humanoid guy who runs on all fours and tackles you. I don't recall if he did much damage but he did pin you down and the loss of control is scary, I read that the game testers would panic whenever they heard the dogman's bark.
Isn't it bad enough getting that kind of treatment on one thread, Bitmap? Anyway, can anybody suggest any especially frightening horror films? Not too gruesome, though.
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Isn't it bad enough getting that kind of treatment on one thread, Bitmap? Anyway, can anybody suggest any especially frightening horror films? Not too gruesome, though.
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Halloween.. you barely see anyone blood, its all suggested. The film really works well because it builds tension in peaks and troughs. The villains music becomes crucial to raising tension.
A great example of the same thing in a video game is Silent hill. You have a radio that plays static whenever a monster is near.. you begin to associate fear with the noise and soon they give you a blast of the static and it puts you on edge! (Only to sucker punch you with a scare from something unexpected.)
Far too often western horror films rely on gore to elicit an emotional responce.. and I see the same in most horror related titles which are developed in the America and Europe. Its not always a bad thing if gore is approproate to the context but its over relied upon.
True horror is psychological, not disgusting.
Watch any early John Carpenter film, even in a film like the thing, its not the insane gore sequences that scare you, its mistrust that he creates amongst the group.
Honestly, one of the better examples of unnerving comes yet again from silent hill, especially the second for me, such as hearing the dragging of PH's blade, or the static of the radio. Even better, when you're taking an elevator ride in the radio, and suddenly it picks up a gameshow, asking you questions, directly. Even referring to you by name. Many other parts throughout the game, where James's name is directly mentioned, even though he hasn't really done much there.
Replies
Ken Levine talks alot about it with Bioshock, and it's very evident in his past titles, which is Humanity. (Or a loss, there of.) It's terrifying and sad, seeing something that behaves in a very surreal, vague fashion, like people. Demonstrating familiar traits, but at the same time, in a horribly deviant or disfigured manner, physical or emotional.
lol Reminds me of Tulk's old thread with the mansheep. That thing seriously gave me the chills.
~H.P. Lovecraft
i think "Call" movie is good example.
The Silent Hill series really hit the nail on the head, I think. It's never too gratuitous with violence or gore, simply because it doesn't need to be. It's the subtle noises, creepy environments, and the mysterious parts of character's backgrounds that keeps me on the edge of my seat.
You have you "gotcha!" style, startling scary, then your "yuck, that is gross!" revolted scary. You have the "something here is not right" creepy scary, and the "I am so small and weak" existential scary.
On the other hand, things that prey on real fears can have a lasting effect. The original Psycho is a classic example. A roadside motel, a guy with a knife - yeah, that COULD happen. As a kid, the scariest film I ever saw was Red Dawn. While the specifics of the plot were a bit much, the fear of a Soviet invasion and a real World War III on American soil seemed all too possible in the mid-1980s.
I think the last movie I saw to actually affect me was the original Blair Witch Project. You didn't even really see anything until the end of the flick that qualified as supernatural or whatever, but the (at the time) realistic shaky cam stuff and the prospect of being lost in the wild, that had some compellingly creepy moments when I imagined what it would really be like.
1) Less is More.
I really like the h.p. lovecraft sort.
The terror of the unknown, the fear of other realities, and the secrets behind the dreams. Things long since locked away from our comprehension, long removed from our minds. Things we cannot fathom, things that live beneath our perception.
The dark corners of the human mind can be scary shit, too. Stuff about crazy people, true to life serial killers. I sat down one day and read about real serial killers, and their habits, and personalities. That stuff is just weird, and frightening. Knowing that it can actually happen is scary enough.
I think the last movie I saw to actually affect me was the original Blair Witch Project. You didn't even really see anything until the end of the flick that qualified as supernatural or whatever, but the (at the time) realistic shaky cam stuff and the prospect of being lost in the wild, that had some compellingly creepy moments when I imagined what it would really be like.
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As much as people like to make fun of that movie, and as much as I don't like to admit it, that movie probably scared me more than any other film I've seen. Although, a big part of that probably had to do with the fact that I was 14 years old at the time and I happened to live in a very rural, wooded area.
Also less is more. Good example of this is the Ring,part one was scary because the girl was rarely seen as well as her victims on the other hand part two showed her way too much and it killed the impact.
See, just having a maniac run around is not scary, but somehow being able to relate to him even on the most basic level makes them familiar and 'human'.
So add depth and emotions to your badguys.
Remember when you were a kid, and someone flicked their hand at your eyes? You would blink and they would say "Scared you"! In reality, they just triggered a reflex (a smart one at that -- protecting your eyes is a good idea). Most horror relies on shock to make people jump under this mistaken understanding that a reflex reaction constitutes "fear". It's a cheap trick that has no lasting effects.
Tier 2 - Disgust
The next most liberally employed "horror" technique is simply to gross people out. People dislike pain, we fear it. The easiest way to visually convey pain is to show mutilation. Someone who is being chopped into pieces is obviously being hurt. Even something as simple as vomit is unpleasant. Most people feel some degree of empathy towards characters in media, real or not, so imaginary pain translates into real discomfort. This doesn't mean, however, that it will be particular strong discomfort and that it will be strong enough to translate into fear.
Tier 3 - Paranoia
Sometimes kids think there are monsters under their beds, in their closets, or hiding in the shadows. It terrifies them to no end. They can't sleep and they'll go so far as to avoid parts of their own homes. An effective technique for curing this is to ask the child what exactly -- in detail -- they think is hiding out there. What does the monster look like? What can it do? Why is it there? Could you draw a picture? Is there any way to fight it?
Chances are, the kid will realize very quickly that they don't even know what they are afraid of. That's because they weren't afraid of the monster, they were afraid of the idea that there might be a monster and they didn't know what that monster was. As soon as they define what the monster is, they can deal with it. It's not scary any more, it's just another obstacle in life like any other.
Imagination is stronger than the senses. The most pure form of horror is to restrict what information reaches the senses so that the imagination runs wild.
Shock and disgust are most effectively used for the purpose of creating paranoia. The problem with most horror media is that it reveals too much with those devices so nothing is left to the imagination. If you're seeing exactly what's going on, there is nothing left to worry about. If you're not worrying, you aren't afraid.
Imagination also requires time, which is why horror that is too fast paced simply become a "thriller" or "action" instead. Paranoia stems from imagination that stems from thought, and thought can't happen if people aren't given enough time to think.
So here's a little guide to making quality horror experiences:
a) Shock and disgust should only be used to promote paranoia.
b) Viewers need ample time to be able to think about what is going on.
c) Viewers need to be shown a situation that is thought provoking enough to get their imagination going (hence, the "realistic scenarios are most effective" mentality).
d) Viewers need frequent reminders that they should be afraid. People will eventually think their way out of fear, but not if they are constantly having to deal with new things to think about.
e) Avoid answering or explaining anything as much as possible. It will only make (d) harder to accomplish.
f) Avoid cliches like the plague. People already know how to deal with cliched situations. They don't need to think about them because they are used to them. People who aren't thinking aren't afraid.
Well that's my quick, half-assed $0.02.
I'm with vermillion about Blair Witch. It was definitely the last movie I saw where I was a tad creeped out.
I've only played the original Silent Hill (and a little bit of Silent Hill 4) and I loved it for the atmosphere and ambient noise and crackles you'd hear from time to time. Sometimes you'd run around for ages not seeing an enemy which puts you on edge and creeps you out because you're expecting one... It's a little too quiet!
I think it comes to the individual really.
Gore horror with heaps of blood is all good to watch, but I don't think its scary, most of the time it looks way too over the top so you end up laughing at it being so damn ridiculous.
The ones where there's a serial killer taking teenage kids out one by one is far from scary (well for me anyway). You may jump once or twice throughout the film, but you already know what's going to happen before you even walk into the theatre.
Personally, things that creep you out or when you have an unknown threat... That's the stuff that I find scariest.
-caseyjones
Psycho is a pretty scary movie. However, sit me in front of something that's more 'disturbing' and freaky like maybe Lynch's Eraserhead and maybe a couple of scenes from Jacobs ladder or the original French version of the Vanishing and I'm a mess. I think what scares an indivudual is to a large extent intrinsically tied to their life experiences.
As mentioned above, The Blairwitch Project and Silent Hill (both the games and the movie in the latter) work so well because they have such fascinating stories with mundane people facing the unknown. In Silent Hill, the unknown is actually hidden deep in their own psyche which, in my opinion, creates a really strong emotion: the darkness you feared is something you're hiding inside.
Building a beliveable legend around the Blair's witch made the movie absolutely terrifying. Rumours and tales passed down for generations usually have a fantastic mix of what really happened and what was used to colour the story. Like the Rustin Parr incident in the movie could really have happened, there's nothing paranormal about it. Actually, the fake document about Parr is almost as scary as the movie itself, you should definitely check it out. I was quite young too when it came out and even though I was really sure that it was just a movie, the documents and the way the movie was filmed made me doubt my beliefs.
The plot of Silent Hill 2 (the game) is maybe one of the best I know in video games. Even reading it gives me the chills, that's something I want to see in horror games. I hope the sequel to the Silent Hill movie will take this plot and follow it quite precisely, it's just a masterpiece.
Most of Lovecraft's novels haven't actually scared me but I've been really fascinated by them, his detailed Cthulhu mythos especially. He created another reality in his works that makes the reader doubt his own.
Also, dark ambient music is one thing that really gives me the chills. Actually, I'm currently listening to Silent Hill 1's (game) soundtrack. Also, a dark ambient artist called Atrium Carceri has a magnificent album called Cellblock. I once tried listening to it on headphones while lying on my bed in the dark. I noticed that my heart started to beat faster and I felt an undefined feeling of uneasiness. Needless to say, I didn't listen to it very long.
If most Lovecraft hasn't scared you, I strongly urge you to check out Color out of Space or the Nameless City. I believe they're shorts, so not much time investment required for great horror. Quake 1's 'storyline' was originally based off of a lot of Lovecraft's stuff and even had a level named after the Nameless City. Another one you may enjoy is the Shadow over Innsmouth.
I'm a huge fan of scary, dark ambient music, so thanks for mentioning Atrium Carceri, I'm hooked
If you like them, you may like Justin Lassen's work. It kinda reminds me of Chris Vrenna's Alice soundtrack, almost.
If most Lovecraft hasn't scared you, I strongly urge you to check out Color out of Space or the Nameless City. I believe they're shorts, so not much time investment required for great horror. Quake 1's 'storyline' was originally based off of a lot of Lovecraft's stuff and even had a level named after the Nameless City. Another one you may enjoy is the Shadow over Innsmouth.
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I've actually read almost all of Lovecraft's work, including those.
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I'm a huge fan of scary, dark ambient music, so thanks for mentioning Atrium Carceri, I'm hooked
If you like them, you may like Justin Lassen's work. It kinda reminds me of Chris Vrenna's Alice soundtrack, almost.
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No problem and thanks for that link too, checking it out now.
The Ring really creeped me out. It just had an eerie feeling. That was probably the last movie I saw that made me drop a dookie.
As for games, well, thats a different story. Doom 3 was by far one of the LEAST frightening games I had ever played. It had a few moments of greatness, like the Imps walking over windows and casting shadows down. But a lot of it was just really, really bd. Monsters appearing out of walls? I mean, not breaking through them like the Alpha, but walls actually acting like doors for no reason? Not to mention that Doom 3, as a whole, sounded quite bad for the area it was in. The alpha again really, REALLY made the game creep me out, but then they scrapped all the sounds...
One game has had me gripped just recently, and for a very good reason. Penumbra. They have it bang on if you ask me. While its not the best looking game ever, they really do present the right things at the right time. For example, I'm only a few levels in, but there has been one single enemy. I've heard scuttling, noises and the like, but still, its just messing with me, and I fall for it, EVERY time. The first time I see an enemy, its fantastic. I cant fight it. I'm so scared, I cant even look at it. Not me, but the game. Every time I look at it, my focus turns to it, everything else blurs, and if i keep looking, ill panic and it will know I'm there. So, to get around it, I cant look at it, at all. This, coupled with the fact I'm in a small cave like, mine section with zero light, really spooks the hell out of you. You hear it move around, sniffing, then it starts to moan... Has it spotted you? Are you gonna die? Who knows, because you cant look at it. The way the story is present is also fantastic, you have letters and all sorts around the place, you piece it together as you go along.
VERY well done IMO.
But Doom 3, as a horror game? No, it was laughable at best. It would of been even more scary if they stuck to the original vision.
The secret to scary isn't to produce something that is scary. The formula you are seeking for is this...you need to trick the audience into frightening themselves. The best horror, regardless of the medium, preys upon, feeds, and guides the imagination of the audience.
I'm not so sure there is a formula. Whilst I agree to a large extent with the 'less is more' concept, I think that what's frightening to people is largely subjective. Even as a kid, I have never really been remotely 'scared' by any kind of modern slasher/horror movie. Stuff like the texas chainsaw massacre and friday the 13th were just silly to me. Although I do recall being affected for a while by the red eyes outside the window in the original Amityville. Descent made me jump, but that's different. That's surprise. Doom3 did absolutely nothing for me in the scared stakes, Fear was just too derivative. I honestly can't think of a game that freaked me out.
Psycho is a pretty scary movie. However, sit me in front of something that's more 'disturbing' and freaky like maybe Lynch's Eraserhead and maybe a couple of scenes from Jacobs ladder or the original French version of the Vanishing and I'm a mess. I think what scares an indivudual is to a large extent intrinsically tied to their life experiences.
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I was going to mention The Vanishing as well. The ending of that movie is pure fucking horror, simply because it is entirely within the realm of possibility. The thought of being buried alive scares me a lot more than anything from a Nightmare on Elm Street film. Hell, even the coffin scene from the second Kill Bill got to me a bit.
I tend to have the problem with many horror movies in that I am a fairly confident and analytical infividual who is fairly well rooted in reality. If the stories get too far out there, I tend to dismiss them as being silly. If they are too close to reality, then I tend to think of how I would have handled the situation better than the idiots in the movie.
Unlike a lot of people, I really didn't enjoy the Ring. I just couldn't help but question how the hell this little girl is supposed to harm me. And exactly how did she get this weird TV power? She watched a bunch of videos? So have I. And if this little elementary school kid can get this supernatural power after death, then I should be able to do the same too, and would whip her ass. Silly ego-tripping, I know, but it makes just as much sense bas the story presented in the film.
One of my favorite horror/thrillers was Seven. The loss of control that the Pitt character goes through is total torture. On top of that, he didn't play an absolute bumbling idiot like there are in many horror films. Here was this sharp guy who could handle himself well, and he is still not the one in control. He's completely victimized, and there's not much he could do about it.
1) 1st level of Doom 3 after you've defeated your first enemy and everyone on your communicator is screaming and dying.
2) F.E.A.R. 1st level when you walk around and then suddenly a picture of skull takes over your screen for a split second.
3) The beginning of Silent Hill games when you don't really know what's going on, and you have lots of doubt about what you're doing.
Of course, in games it only works in the beginning, because later on you end up fighting enemies repetitively and it becomes more and more action then horror. You know what's currently going on, you can tell what's coming next, etc.
Do you think the feeling of isolation enhances a game's ability to induce fear?
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Absolutely. That's what made the Silent Hill games so good was that you were totally alone in a deserted town, you were completely cut off, and and your senses didn't count for anything because you couldn't see shit.
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Also, what are your thoughts on boss fights in horror games?
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Personally, I don't like them. They take you out of the suspense. All boss fights come down to pattern recognition, and reaction to those patterns. Plus, if the boss is truly worthy of being feared, then no matter what you do to it won't affect it at all. It's about the struggle against something that you cannot win against that is scary.
That said, I wouldn't necessarily reject all boss fights. Again, going back to Silent Hill (2 to be exact), and a cute little guy called Pyramid Head. He wasn't so much a "boss", but just a monster that followed you around that could not be killed. So you ran away from him. That is more scary than actually fighting him. Or set up your "boss fight" as just that - You interacting with the environment or whatever simply in order to get away.
When you eventually meet up with him again at the end of the game, you have serious feelings built up from all those times you nearly got away, and the tension is that much higher.
But seriously
As regards to horror games I don't find any particularly effective at present. It depends on how the narrative is attached to the gameplay, I agree that silent hill is one of the better examples.
Infact bridging away from the games you lot have mentioned I find "CHASE" scenarios from bosses / characters most nerve bending. Looking at Prince of Persia series (can never remember the character) Dahaka or something chases you for a peroid and the "UNKNOWN" and "ISOLATION" factor of what lies ahead really piles on the pressure.
As neo god stated earlier fear and primary emotions, latch onto them and work out effective gameplay devices to encourage and display them.
A word about cliches, people moan and drab on about them at times but they exist because they are consistently successful to some degree.
I always found the Cybernetic Nursemaids in System Shock 2 to be really frightening and I don't really understand why. Its a terribly cheesy character design and the character model can't have more than 300 polys in it, but theres just something in that voice thats terrifying.
Oh wait. You said NOT too gruesome...
Isn't it bad enough getting that kind of treatment on one thread, Bitmap? Anyway, can anybody suggest any especially frightening horror films? Not too gruesome, though.
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Halloween.. you barely see anyone blood, its all suggested. The film really works well because it builds tension in peaks and troughs. The villains music becomes crucial to raising tension.
A great example of the same thing in a video game is Silent hill. You have a radio that plays static whenever a monster is near.. you begin to associate fear with the noise and soon they give you a blast of the static and it puts you on edge! (Only to sucker punch you with a scare from something unexpected.)
Far too often western horror films rely on gore to elicit an emotional responce.. and I see the same in most horror related titles which are developed in the America and Europe. Its not always a bad thing if gore is approproate to the context but its over relied upon.
True horror is psychological, not disgusting.
Watch any early John Carpenter film, even in a film like the thing, its not the insane gore sequences that scare you, its mistrust that he creates amongst the group.