How would you make a horror flick?

[CFE]

I'd steer clear of "Slasher" and do a Dario Argento, occult-based film.

In fact, I've already got a few drafts of a project within that vein.

 

[AnorexicBatman]

I have another idea. Starts off as basic slasher fare but weird stuff starts to happen. One of the protagonists bites the killer and actually manages to hurt him. Another becomes more and more pale as the movie goes on. The protagonists act unusually hostile.

Then comes the kicker. The killer actually manages to kill all the protagonists. The last scene of the movie would be black screen with the killer's voice speaking through:

Killer: The job's done boss. Thank you sir! Oh it was no problem. Now, about that promotion. Fix me... I did what you wanted ... I killed the monsters... now make me human again... please...

 

[Nightmare]

The Ending where the normal people get killed off in a brutal way, then have the killer laugh.

 

[Eggyman]

I wouldn't try and make it scary from beginning to end like some do. The formula I prefer is to have a steady build of tension, and plenty of time for character development before anything happens. Why would you be scared if you don't give a sh** about the characters? Take Ridley Scott and James Cameron in their Alien films as good examples. They don't need to rush for the scares because when it happens you'll care enough for the characters for it to matter. It's nearly an hour before anything happens in those films.

 

[E-Man]

For me everything would be about how the audience feels. If I can drag them into feeling like they're going through the movie with the main characters, then I could scare anyone. It's easy to scare teens or easily impressed people. All you need is a guy in a mask slicing teens up somewhere. That's not really scary. It might be cool to watch sometimes, but it's nowhere near horrifying. What's truly scary is when you get drawn into the movie, and you forget that you're watching a piece of fiction. You gotta build an atmosphere that scares people throughout the entire movie instead of the last 35 minutes.

To do that I'd have a main cast that is different from the norm. No generic leading blonds. No implant girls having sex with Abercrombie *****e bags. No token characters. My main cast would include some ordinary looking people, and they'd actually have a reason to be in the same situation. Chances are I'd set the movie in a place where people work. It's easy to have 8 people in that situation together, even if they're from different backgrounds.

My antagonist would have to be something that can attack at any time, but doesn't for other reasons other than to make the movie longer. Ghosts wouldn't really wait around to start the killing, they'd probably just start killing when they feel like it. If someone has a beef to get revenge, a la your standard slasher fare, then they'd really just whip out a gun and off the people instead of toying with them. So my antagonist would have to be something or someone that will brutally murder my cast, but has enough reason not to do it so quickly. I think witches(Suspiria) or zombies(Romero) would be a good antagonist to build up the fear. Or I could go with something completely original like The Tall Man or Freddy Krueger. The bottom line would be to have things make sense, but to build suspense at the same time.

 

[TLH]

I'd use techniques that create suspense, like...

-Long shots (i.e., Kubrick in The Shining)

-Build-ups to nothing happening -- not even a fake scare. Just creating the horror/suspense of what might happen, not what actually does or does not (i.e., Carpenter in Halloween)

-Very few musical cues. Not much during build up either. Simple droning noises, or like the ticking of a clock in the background...ambient sounds.

-CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT to create empathy in the audience. (i.e., Bertino in The Strangers)

-Avoid based on true story cliches and illogical character choices.

 

[darkseid26]

I had an idea of a slasher film based on the Bunny Man - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bunny_Man,

I'd use every horror movie cliche i can think of in the best ways possible.
and pay for the film to be marketed as a romantic comedy.

 

[Vapor]

It'd be done handheld style like Cloverfield. It'd be about a group of 4 british friends going on a backpacking plus the one who is filming their trip. The main part of it would start in Africa, where they are at an isolated town and miss the bus so decide to trek to the next town. Obviously they would get lost and have to set up camp. Basically it'd be a sort of zombie flick, ala 28 Days where rather than been zombies they are some sort of infected tribes people.. Wouldn't just jump straight into it.. Various initial sequences at airports and stuff would set up the story and who they are. Whilst been lost they would hear wierd noises and have that feeling of been watched and stuff - building up to the first attack on their camp. With it been a home movie style thing, there wouldn't be any music either, just ambient noises and chit chat.