What is the basic 3 acts to a horror script? I think my script has some entertaining exciting death scenes and a beginning but I really don't want to go any further without knowing this

Unfortunately I can't give you the exact answer you are looking for. I mostly write in the horror genre, and I've just completed a script. Here is how it is laid out:

1. Opened with a scare. Set up the bad guys.
2. Introduced and developed the protagonist and antogonists.
3. Began the stalking of the protagonist and the slow awareness of the danger surrounding them.
4. Revelations for all.
5. The Big CHASE.
6. The final confrontation and resolution/setup sequal.

So, in essence it's not anything to do with the 3 act structure, as I never really wrote it with that entirely in mind (though I did move some scenes around to fit the structure).

Hope This Helps (probably not though......)

McDuff - that's a great formula for a slasher -

There really is no format for the "perfect" horror film.
My advice is to rent a shitload of Hitchcock and Romero and any other horror director you admire - study their techniques, what makes their films scary.

Not Romero, his movies aren't really horror movies, "persay" they are more socially driven pieces.  I've never been scared of a Romero Film, they aren't horror films to me... they are what if's and staples of the time pieces.  IMHO, of course.

I think the best way to do horror is, fast and fun. Creepy and eerie. Spooky and scary.

You do all of that and you've got something to look at or in the very least, something to make me look at and wanna watch.

I do my horror movies like such.  I start them off very fast, slow them down, pick it up a notch, speed the strength to the characters down to a grunt and then blast you with the best story I can come up with.

Lay it out~
Make it fit~
Don't get too out of hand~
Follow your rules and nobody elses~
Don't have too many characters~
End it with a twist or a shock of a sudden ending~

Thos are the steps I follow in my work... some may like it, love or hate it, but I know if I had the chance to see one thru to the big screen, I'd go see one of mine over any new big budget hollywood flick around.

Ego driven, yeah, maybe... but all true

C.K.

Wes, good luck with your next project and I can't wait to read Molly Dolly~

Good thoughts~

I don't consider myself a horror writer or even close but I want to expand my horizons mostly because of people like Balt and a few others who know who they are and some may not

I mean the only thing I've written that people will openly enjoy is that "Series" which I will not mention

My only problem that I'm having is I don't have a shock beginning but more like a storybook once upon a time beginning that sets up the story perfectly because it is a remake of an unproduced script (With permission and most know what I'm talking about)

It's hard to stay in the campus and have 3 acts and any length whatsoever, frankly I don't know how people do it and keep it good because I got bored with some films I've seen done that way

I guess all of that advice can help me in some way figure out the direction i'm going

You might need to do what Rod Serling and Luci Fulci often did, along with Lamberto Bava aswell... 3 of the best and most inspirational writers and directors to me. Write from the end to the begining.  

Are you writing a slasher/murder mystery?

If so, lay it out from end to begin -- You'll see it in a whole new light, trust me. You will have little if any loose ends and plot holes to patch up.  This is a great formula for a slasher/murder type movie.

If you think it is getting stale about 20 to 25, 30 pages in... you need something to throw that off.  It could be a scene that pertains very little to the movie, but make sure you make it fun and entertaining.  Also try to make it have some sort of relevance to something that could happen later on in the movie.

Focus on comedy
Focus on dialogue
Focus on story
Focus on characters

Make all them work, don't worry about your kills and such so much... invent them the best you can and that is by offing your cast by the best design of the persons personality. Fulci was great about doing this --

For instance~

A women has a dog in a fulci movie ~~ I'll bet you my guitar picking hand, she'll get killed by the dog.

A man is a painter ~~ He'll die doing that.

A little boy has a fear of being in a dark basement with Dr. Freudstein ~~ He'll be down there begging for the pain to stop.

make your deaths as close to home as possible. I don't like seeing out of place and whack deaths.  If you have to have less killing to make the story good, fantastic!  

Fulci did this in NEW YORK RIPPER, the best murder myster/ slasher of all time imo.  It was even heart felt at the same time as it was graphic and overly violent at times... however it's a beautiful train wreck of a movie in the end.

Wes... I'm not Steven King or even close, bro... I do know that I try my best to come up with interesting content that I know I'd like to go see at a theater. Sometimes, my work isn't as good as some of my other works, but I don't think none of them are low bar terrible either.  I don't write to make anyone happy or to make anyone jump up and down in awe at it... I write cause it fills a gap in me that I don't get from watching the movies I like to watch.  I get to live out a dream of seeing a horror flick or whatever else I choose to write, the way I want it done.

That is the pay off.  

Good luck man... I am really pulling for you on this, really.

C.K.

Good thoughts~

As an avid reader of books and screenplays I can say you tell stories a little moe entertaining than Mr. King at times. Have you seen that hospital show of his? Man that show is worse than moldy cheese or my cooking

I did kinda write a horror that I called a thriller The Obscure, I mean it got a positive response from people I respect but something about the early and before they get to the house I just didn't like all that much

I've been trying to rewrite it and make the parts that never set well with me work but I haven't gotten back to it

I always start at the end and work my way backwards tho, I write the ending and most of the key points to my screenplays on paper and than work from there. it's not a slasher, I honestly can't stand slashers. It's a smart killer

I have just finished my third script which is also my first horror. (After seeing the Grudge, I decided that it was time for a smart teenage slasher movie.) Here are the three parts that I've seen in my script and others.

Part one - The Introducing of every character and the scare that they will possibly  be facing.

Part two - The Entertainment part of the movie, where you can have fun scenes and create conflict between people.

Part three - The climax, chase, and revelation of the killer. Make sure the third half is fast paced.


Good luck!