Hardest part of a horror

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  • #16
    Re: Hardest part of a horror

    Originally posted by christopher jon View Post
    Look at the SAW franchise. It's the traps and Jigsaw that fans are rooting for and not the hot young thing who is about to get ripped apart by the ginsu 3000. Did audiences really care if they guy in Hostel made it out alive or did they just want more driller killer action.
    Well, I'd say that Jigsaw's puzzles and the moral connundrum's they create are the star.

    But let me ask you this:

    What's Jigsaw's backstory? Does it matter? Would the movies be significantly different if he got his twisted morality because he was abused as a kid?

    Let's look at some other examples:

    Halloween: Michael is just evil. No origin for his evil is explained in the first film.
    Jaws: The shark just shows up and starts eating people.
    Alien: The Alien just shows up and starts eating people.
    Rosemary's Baby: No indication of why these people became satanic cultists. They just are.
    Silence of the Lambs: No reason why Lecter became the way he is.

    Then you've got a lot of films where some carrot is offered:

    Scream: Sidney's dad had an affair with the killer's mom.
    Saw: Jigsaw was changed by surviving cancer/has a brain tumor.
    Friday the 13th: Mrs. Voorhees son drowned, wants revenge
    F13, sequels: Jason wants revenge on the campers

    Here's the thing with all of this:

    Most people who have their parents' marriage break up from an affair don't go on to become killers. Most people who have brain tumors don't become sadistic moralizing killers. Most people who's son dies don't run out seeking murderous vengance on a bunch of kids who's only crime is being in the same place. Most sons who die stay dead.

    In other words, as far as backstory, all these things are is a little hook to hang you hat on ... but in reality they're tremendously unimportant. I'll bet if you spend and hour you can come up with 20 other motivations for any of those characters which don't change the main action of the film at all; the only part of the script they change is the part when the villain explains why he's a villain (which doesn't even exist in some of these films).

    When you write:

    A great backstory or clever twist for your villain will make the horror fanboys giddy with excitement.
    I wonder if you can come up with a specific example of when the killer's BACKSTORY is what makes everyone excited coming out of the theater. I'm all for clever twists, I'm all for interesting villains, but an interesting backstory is not what makes a villain interesting.

    I loved the way "Dark Knight" dealt with this - not a horror film, but nonetheless: The Joker tells the story of how he became who he is three or four different times ... and each time is different! IT doesn't matter - he's just doing it because it's fun.

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    • #17
      Re: Hardest part of a horror

      In Saw you sure did root for the characters. Same as Halloween, NOES and F13. It was only until the lacklustre sequels did audiences turn up for the macabre stars.

      As Ronaldinho said, many films have no answer and these are often the scariest.

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      • #18
        Re: Hardest part of a horror

        Good writers give you character elements without making it blatant in your face. It should be seemless and integrated into the story without causing a bump in the fabric.

        They dont have to monologue about how their husband was murdered, their child doesnt speak to them, and they have an addiction to pain pills.

        All the movies you listed have memorable characters that you root for because their character moments were seemless.

        Originally posted by christopher jon View Post
        Your thinking too much like a writer. You need to think like the audience.

        Audiences for different genres have different expectations.

        A horror audience doesn't care as much about character depth, development or arcs. That is not why they came to see the movie.

        Alien is considered by most to be a classic horror film yet the characters are generic. Great acting perhaps but they only exist to be eaten up one by one. Was anybody really rooting for Ripley to survive? The film is a classic because it was something nobody had ever seen before and was really damn spooky.

        I don't remember R.J. MacReady having much character depth and the guy was also a jerk but The Thing is another classic - soon to be bastardized by a remake that I'm sure will have plenty of wasted get to know and like the hero time. Screw that, I want more time devoted to spider legs and eyeballs growing out of severed heads.

        That's not to say that character and story aren't important, they are. A strong story is a must for any film.

        Character development is great if you can slip it in but don't forget why people came to see a horror movie - thrills, chills and a crazy guy chopping off a hotties toes with wire cutters.

        So, know your audience and give 'em what they want. Screw them Hollywood screenwriting rules.

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        • #19
          Re: Hardest part of a horror

          Good writers give you character elements without making it blatant in your face. It should be seemless and integrated into the story without causing a bump in the fabric.
          Exactly. Whether the audience knows it or not (and they probably don't, unless they're writers or possibly big film buffs), character and story are more important to them than the scares and/or blood and guts. The reason they LOVE a movie has more to do with the characters and the story being told. They're both important, of course...character and story just come first.

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