^ Silence of the Lambs! The Exorcist! Aaaaaand…nothing. Unless one includes the makeup awards (not that The Fly and American Werewolf in London and stuff aren't amazing, just that it doesn't seem to show much respect for the films as a whole when they win for makeup alone).

Yet another aspect of the unending suckitude of the Oscars.

Curious, what are some of your biggest fears? Horror movies that focus on blood and gore end up looking like slapstick to me. But I think a movie that built around fears is much more horrific. I want to try and scare those unscarable adults and I think a movie centered around some of our worst and very real fears could be terrifying.

For example I have a huge fear of death and dying. I don't believe in any afterlife and every day for whatever reason at random times I imagine myself dying. Old, in a hospital bed, surrounded by family, weak, frail, the end of my existence. And then nothing. I won't know my children anymore. My wife will be gone forever. The earth turns without me, history goes on and I won't be a part of it anymore. I see it coming. Each day that moment gets closer. I can't stop it nor can I stop thinking about it. I literally have to shake it out of my head when it happens. Sometimes at night I wake up and the first thought that pops into my head is my death. I've come close to crying at times because its so awful. Not so much the dying as the moment when it all becomes black and I am gone forever. I've had these thoughts since I was 8 years old.

A movie built around that would scare and mind f$%& the hell outta me.

Yeah, but having a fear isn't the same as watching some other character have it.

Maybe I'm just a poor candidate for scaring so my perspectives on the issue are invalid.

Quoted Text Curious, what are some of your biggest fears?

Being stuck at a Miley Cyrus concert.

Adverts

Anybody who uses the word 'basically' a lot.

So, basically Smiley Cyrus concert ads make you basically shirt in her shorts?

I'd rather be on fire and buried alive with a shark and a black fucking mamba.

You need to work these lines into your next OWC.

Quoted from CameronD Curious, what are some of your biggest fears? Horror movies that focus on blood and gore end up looking like slapstick to me. But I think a movie that built around fears is much more horrific. I want to try and scare those unscarable adults and I think a movie centered around some of our worst and very real fears could be terrifying. For example I have a huge fear of death and dying. I don't believe in any afterlife and every day for whatever reason at random times I imagine myself dying. Old, in a hospital bed, surrounded by family, weak, frail, the end of my existence. And then nothing. I won't know my children anymore. My wife will be gone forever. The earth turns without me, history goes on and I won't be a part of it anymore. I see it coming. Each day that moment gets closer. I can't stop it nor can I stop thinking about it. I literally have to shake it out of my head when it happens. Sometimes at night I wake up and the first thought that pops into my head is my death. I've come close to crying at times because its so awful. Not so much the dying as the moment when it all becomes black and I am gone forever. I've had these thoughts since I was 8 years old. A movie built around that would scare and mind f$%& the hell outta me.

Hey Cam. I feel for you. I used to have severe panic attacks, shortness of breath, all those horrendous feelings of impending doom and that your about to die any moment. I still think now and again about death, particularly my own, but I think as you grow older, you tend to get a little more... carefree about the whole thing. You start to appreciate gallows humour more than you would than when you were young, perhaps.

You know your time is up, you know it's coming, it's the wait that kills you more than death itself. And the why, the how and the when is the most annoying part... and how long will this pain actually last?

Quick death is the best, I suppose, but no one knows anything about death so it's impossible to answer. I was interested in this because I was on a train earlier, one part of a fox's torso lay in one area, it's cleanly decapitated head lay in the other. Clean swipe. I guess he froze in the train lights and failed to duck. I hate seeing anything like that. But he died probably the quickest death possible. I consoled myself with that thought.

My biggest fears are those I love and care for being hurt. It sounds lame but it is true. Imagine your child, or wife, or whatever, being taken from you. Especially a child. You can't imagine the pain that must bring. A kid going missing for weeks, months, even years on end, must be soul destroying. It would kill me completely if any one I loved was taken - your mind would go wild. That is real horror, and if you are looking for real horror, I would tread in those types of psychological areas.
How it damages those that are looking for the person lost; how the captive is feeling; the kidnapper itself. I suppose you have your basic three there.

To add: The horror genre might get a lot of stick but it's an amazing genre that helps keep major companies in business. You can be as creative as a you want, you have freedom as a writer, you can do what you want in horror.

However, it annoys me that snobs look down and say "Oh, I might have to do a horror film." as if this is a last resort. Two words. Fuck. You.

Scoob, don't watch the movie 'Prisoners.'

Ray.... why are you tempting me into finding out all about 'Prisoners'.

OK, just read the synopsis on IMDB.

I guess I'm talking in the wind, haha.

Still, that's just one film. Which has probably been done a million times before.

No reason not to do the same thing but change it up a little. And by changing it up a little, I mean putting your stamp on it.

Every 'major' movie is always the same in structure because it is a tried and trusted formula. You don't break the rules when so much money is at stake, artistic vision goes out the window. It has to fit these regulations. If you, as a writer, can't do it, we'll pass it on to someone who can. They will rape and take your vision and make it something you won't even recognize without as much as a credit.
If you handle your business, you might be OK.

Going back to the creative side, horror like all genres, has ups and downs. Saw 1 was really good. It was more psychological than gore. Not seen it a while but I remember it being more of a contained room with two guys trying to get out kinda film rather than a splatter fest. The sequels made it a gore fest. Much like Halloween and Friday The 13th. People were more interested in seeing how to disassemble a human body in violent ways than the plot.  'How are they going to kill people this time?' was the main draw of Saw. How is Jason going to reappear and kill off Crystal Lake campers this time round? How's he going to die? What's Michael Myers been up to lately?

The first are usually always the best. So make something interesting, scary, genuinely frightening or intimidating that noone has ever used before - and you will be on to a sure bet.

Best of luck

What would bugg me out… Is if you die, you don’t just fade black like some script. But instead, your last visual image or dream image gets frozen in time. No consciousness. Just that image or even a sound added in. Just lasting for eternity. I dunno, but to me that would suck.

That sort of stuff tripped me out when I was a kid. Not thinking about death, just that everlasting sound. Like back in VHS days. After the credits of the movies were done…that beeeep sound would blare out the T.V.  I never liked that. It always felt evil to me. I hate when the emergency warnings come on at night too. Now picture that for eternity…..that shit’s horrifying.

Quoted from Reel-truth What would bugg me out� Is if you die, you don�t just fade black like some script. But instead, your last visual image or dream image gets frozen in time. No consciousness. Just that image or even a sound added in. Just lasting for eternity. I dunno, but to me that would suck. That sort of stuff tripped me out when I was a kid. Not thinking about death, just that everlasting sound. Like back in VHS days. After the credits of the movies were done�that beeeep sound would blare out the T.V.  I never liked that. It always felt evil to me. I hate when the emergency warnings come on at night too. Now picture that for eternity�..that shit�s horrifying.

Now you mention it, I think my biggest fear is that you are still conscious after death. You can feel, see, hear but can't move. Autopsy. Stuck in paralysis forever. Buried. Going through a cremation chamber, unable to yell for help.
I suppose suffocation would get you in the end but what a horrible way to go.

Sounds like 'Wes Craven's Serpent And The Rainbow' haha. I love that film, would love to see it again in decent quality.

Creepshow had something to that effect.  I’m not sure if it was part 1 or two. But the guy was dead or in paralysis, and he couldn't move. I think they even buried him.

Leslie Nielsen's segment : Something to tide you over. Classic short haha!
Wasn't Ted Danson the unlucky guy? Great little movie, cared little for the actual "twist" end but the horror of the idea is what sticks in your mind. Great score too, really accompanies the story.

If you have not seen Rainbow and the Serpent, check it out. It's an underrated classic as far as I'm concerned. I'm amazed they haven't remade it.  Yet.

Quoted from CameronD Curious, what are some of your biggest fears? Horror movies that focus on blood and gore end up looking like slapstick to me. But I think a movie that built around fears is much more horrific. I want to try and scare those unscarable adults and I think a movie centered around some of our worst and very real fears could be terrifying. For example I have a huge fear of death and dying. I don't believe in any afterlife and every day for whatever reason at random times I imagine myself dying. Old, in a hospital bed, surrounded by family, weak, frail, the end of my existence. And then nothing. I won't know my children anymore. My wife will be gone forever. The earth turns without me, history goes on and I won't be a part of it anymore. I see it coming. Each day that moment gets closer. I can't stop it nor can I stop thinking about it. I literally have to shake it out of my head when it happens. Sometimes at night I wake up and the first thought that pops into my head is my death. I've come close to crying at times because its so awful. Not so much the dying as the moment when it all becomes black and I am gone forever. I've had these thoughts since I was 8 years old. A movie built around that would scare and mind f$%& the hell outta me.

What you have just described is the horror genre.

Horror is our innermost fears personified and made external.

What is a zombie, but exactly what you are saying? Their slow, shambolic gait walking slowly towards us, their rotting faces are a mirror saying "This is what you will become".

The best horror unsettles by examining people's deep seated fears.

For instance, one of the reasons the novel Dracula was so successful at the time was that it tapped into British fears of immigration, the fear of foreigners from unknown lands bringing disease. It also featured burgeoning female sexuality, something deeply frightening to the Victorian mentality who saw it as a threat to the stability of families and therefore the country.

The problem you may come across is that in attempting to tell a story about inner fears, you don't make a horror at all...but an existentialist drama.

The challenge is to create an external force that represents those inner fears. It's not so easy.

Especially on film where you are at the mercy of special effects. Lots of scary stories cannot survive the transition between brilliant writing on the page, and a guy in a crummy latex suit in reality.