Horror: What Really Scares You?

I saw a ghost once.

Or at least I like to think I did. I was walking with a friend and we got talking about ghosts and at one point I looked behind me and thought I saw someone walk through a hedge. Of course, I realised soon after it wasn't a ghost, just my imagination in part with the talk me and my friend were having.

While I enjoy the horror genre more than any other, it has to be admitted that most horror films haven't scared me. Don't get me wrong, most horror films have moments that can make you jump at times, but any film in any genre can do that. When I saw The Departed, there's a moment in that film that makes you jump, due to the shock of what happens.

But there are some types of horror films that do work fully on me. Serial Killers are the first. I'm not talking about the intelligent killers like Hannibal Lecter, but rather the Henry: Portrait Of A Serial Killer type of murderers. One of the best films I saw last year was Hound Of Love. It's also one of the most chilling films I've seen for sometime. The story of a couple who abduct and murder teenage girls is not an easy one to watch and it gets under your skin and lingers there. Killers like these are much more terrifying because they appear more 'real' and in turn much more scary.

Eli Roth's Hostel films are another. Not that they are great films, they aren't. However, the idea of places where people could go and kill without the fear of being caught, that is one I think could actually happen. When you consider the number of people who go missing and are never found it is entirely possible it is places like these some could end up.

But when it comes to horror films, there is one sub-genre that works on me more than any other; the ghost story. There is something about a well told ghost story that just works. However, I would also say the ghost stories are the hardest type of horror film to pull of successfully.

In the past few years, the horror genre has had a series of horror films that have the same approach, the so-called 'quiet, quiet BANG' type of scare. They often involve long set-ups before the scare hits. The likes of the Insidious films are an example of this. To be fair, a lot of the scare moments work well, but I now a there are horror fans who dislike this approach. It's an approach that is reminiscent of the slasher genre. Change the scare moment to a character being killed in a film like Friday The 13th for example and it is almost the same set-up and scare or jump moment.I have to say personally, that films like the Insidious series are films I enjoy. I like the approach and some of the scares are very effective.

But a jump shock by itself while effective doesn't make a film scary. As I said, any film can make you jump. No, what makes a film scary for me, are the parts between the scares and this is where a lot of horror films fall down. simply put, the characters are not interesting and the story being told isn't much better.

But what really lets most attempts at ghost stories fail is that there is no atmosphere or sense of dread. The great ghost stories, The Haunting, The Changeling, Dark Water to name three, they have a sense of dread in them. It keeps you on edge throughout, both with music and direction but crucially also with story and characters.

The better stories too often take their time before the scares begin. Most horror films like to have a scare of sorts at the beginning to put the audience on edge as the story develops and in some cases this works brilliantly. Look at the opening of Ringu for example.. But for me, the better ones take a different approach, introducing the characters, then bringing the scares.

But you do need someone who understand too how to deliver the scares. James Wan is possibly the best horror director at the moment in delivering the 'quiet, quiet, BANG' type of scare, by managing to add a slight unpredictability to when they land. It's clear Wan has knows the horror genre well, in particular the haunting type of films. He does borrow elements from classic horror films and knows what works and what doesn't. Look at the early Insidious films and The Conjuring ones.

But Wan, like other modern directors has a problem with endings. There's often a tendency in modern horror films, even in ghost stories for the ending to get overblown, that or all the quiet moments, the well judged scares, they feel they need to dial everything up for a bigger ending. Even one of my all time favourite horror films, The Exorcist III suffers from this, although to be fair, that was the result of the producers insisting on an Exorcism being in the film, resulting in scenes that are at odds with what has gone on before.

This isn't something new in horror, some of the classic films often end with an ending of building burning down, explosions, etc. But in the case of most ghost stories, that ending doesn't always fit. The better ghost stories have one other trick up their sleeve I find and that is they don't always have a happy ending, instead having a tragic ending but one that fits with the story. The ending of The Haunting for example is just perfect as is the ending of The Orphanage. They have endings that linger with you, in their own way haunting you.

When The Blair Witch Project was released in cinemas in 1999, a rare thing happened at the end, the audience left in near silence. Often they you will hear people talk about loving or hating the film they've just seen as the credits roll, but in this case not a sound. I thought the film brilliant and scary. It certainly worked on me. That night walking home after, the street was the quietest I can ever recall. It got to me so much, I found myself looking behind me, just in case.

I didn't see anything, but the feeling lingered.

I love when a horror film has that effect on me. Most horror films don't do that.

But Ghost stories always do.  They may scare me, but I love them.