Now take a look at the movies that were not as successful. Friday the 13th's Jason
Voorhees, Nightmare on Elm Street's Freddy Kruger and Night of the Living Dead's
zombies. What do these characters have in common? They are all fictional and unrealistic.
As scary as they, or their movies may be, I believe the fear they can create is limited.
Norman Bates, Jack Torrance and Billy Loomis can strike fear into the audience
because they are based on real people, while Jason Voorhees, Freddy Kruger and the
Zombies are not, and therefore the audience can't relate to them, at least not to the same
extent.
Not only do the characters in Psycho, The Shining and Scream seem realistic, even
the actual killings and the plots of the movies themselves are more realistic. For example,
Psycho's legendary shower scene is more realistically possible then Freddy Kruger attacking
you in your dreams and then therefore will more likely frighten you, the viewer. Pay
attention to the killer's physical abilities. Norman Bates, Jack Torrance and Billy Loomis
have the same physical strengths as most of the audience, but as for Jason Voorhees and the
Zombies, they are the walking dead and have the strengths people do not have. This even
more so makes these characters more unrealistic.
By studying the plots, it's found that the more realistic they are, the more fear can be
created. Take The Shining for example. The plot is of a man, Jack Torrance who takes a job
as a caretaker of an old ski lodge up north which is closed for winter. Being isolated for that
length of time, he starts having mental problems and attempts to murder his family. This
movie has proven to strike fear into the audience. The film Night of the Living Dead has a
very simple and unrealistic plot. Due to some astrological occurrence, the dead come back to
to claim human victums.
a lot of suspense. In the Friday the 13th movies suspense is non-existent. As with other less
successful films the murderer is already known, sometimes even before the film as begun.
The plot too is given away time after time and takes away any possibility of suspense even
being created. Some may say the classic horror movies are the more successful in creating a
frightening atmosphere while others may argue that the new wave of horror films surpass the
classics. But in reality, time doesn't determine the success of the film. Psycho and Night of
the Living Dead prove the success and failure of the classics as Scream and Tales from the
Crypt do the same for the new films.
The purpose of this essay was not to prove that films like Friday the 13th,
Nightmare on Elm Street, Night of the Living Dead and Tales from the Crypt were not
successful, as they were all good movies. The purpose was to prove that some horror
films are more successful than others at creating a sense of fear. Various techniques as
outlined in this essay lead to more success in creating fear.
PSYCHO (1960)
Directed by : Alfred Hitchcock.
Written by : Alfred Hitchcock and Joseph Stefano.
Staring :
Anthony Perkins (Norman Bates)
Vera Miles (Lila Crane)
John Gavin (Sam Loomis)
Martin Balsam (Milton Arbogast)
Janet Leigh (Marion Crane)
NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (1968)
Directed by : George A. Romero.
Written by : George A. Romero and John A. Russo.
Staring :
Duane Jones (Ben)
Judith O'Dea (Barbra)
Karl Hardman (Harry Cooper)
Marilyn Eastman (Helen)
Keith Wayne (Tom)
ROSEMARY'S BABY (1968)
Directed by : Roman Polanski.
Written by : Ira Levin and Roman Polanski.
Staring :
Mia Farrow (Rosemary Woodhouse)
John Cassavetes (Guy Woodhouse)
Ruth Gordon (Minnie Castevet)
Sidney Blackmer (Roman Castevet)
Maurice Evans (Edward "Hutch" Hutchins)
THE EXORCIST (1973)
Directed by : William Friedkin.
Written by : William Peter Blaty.
Staring :
Ellen Burstyn (Chris McNeil)
Max Von Sydow (Father Merrin)
Lee J. Cobb (Lt. William F. Kinderman)
Jason Miller (Father Damien Karras)
Linda Blair (Regan McNeil)
HALLOWEEN (1978)
Directed by : John Carpenter.
Written by : John Carpenter & Debra Hill.
Staring :
Jamie Lee Curtis (Laurie Strode)
Donald Pleasence (Loomis)
Nancy Kyes (Annie Brackett)
P.J. Soles (Lynda)
Kyle Richards (Lindsey Wallace)
THE SHINING (1980)
Directed by : Stanley Kubrick.
Written by : Stephen King.
Staring :
Jack Nicholson (Jack Torrance)
Shelly Duvall (Wendy Torrance)
Danny Lloyd (Danny Torrance)
Scatman Crothers (Dick Hallorann)
Barry Nelson (Stuart Ullman)
FRIDAY THE 13th (1980)
Directed by : Sean S. Cunningham.
Written by : Victor Miller II
Staring :
Betsy Palmer (Mrs. Voorhees)
Adrienne King (Alice)
Kevin Bacon (Jack)
Jeannine Taylor (Marcie)
Robbi Morgan (Annie)
PROM NIGHT (1980)
Directed by : Paul Lynch.
Written by : Ron Oliver.
Staring :
Jamie Lee Curtis (Kim)
Leslie Neilson (Mr. Hammond)
Casey Stevens (Nickt)
Anne-Marie Martin (Wendy)
Robert A. Silverman (Sykes)
CREEPSHOW (1982)
Directed by : George A. Romero.
Written by : Stephen King and George A. Romero.
Staring :
Hal Holbrook (Henry Northrup)
Adrienne Barbeau (Wilma Northrup)
Leslie Nielsen (Richard Vickers)
Ed Harris (Hank Blaine)
Ted Danson (Harry Wentworth)
A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET (1984)
Directed by : Wes Craven.
Written by : Wes Craven.
Staring :
John Saxon (Lieutennant Donald Thompson)
Ronee Blackley (Marge Thompson)
Heather Langenkamp (Nancy Thompson)
Amanda Wyss (Tina Gray)
Johnny Depp (Glen Lantz)
PET SEMETARY (1989)
Directed by : Mary Lambert.
Written by : Stephen King.
Staring :
Beau & Blaze Berdahl (Ellie Creed)
Denise Crosby (Rachel Creed)
Fred Gwynne (Jud Crandall)
Susan Blommaert (Missy Dandridge)
Stephen King (Minister)
CANDYMAN (1992)
Directed by : Bernard Rose.
Written by : Clive Barker and Bernard Rose.
Staring :
Virginia Madsen (Helen Lyle)
Tony Todd (Candyman)
Vanessa Williams (Anne-Marie McCoy)
Xander Berkeley (Trevor Lyle)
Kasi Lemmons (Bernadette Walsh)
SCREAM (1996)
Directed by : Wes Craven.
Written by : Kevin Williamson.
Staring :
Neve Campbell (Sidney Prescott)
David Arquette (Dpt. Dwight "Dewey" Riley)
Courtney Cox (Gale Weathers)
Drew Barrymore (Casey Becker)
Skeet Ulrich (Billy Loomis)
HALLOWEEN H2O : twenty year later (1998)
Directed by : Steve Miner.
Written by : Robert Zappia.
Staring :
Jamie Lee Curtis (Laurie Strode/Keri Tate)
Adam Arkin (Will Brennan)
Josh Hartnett (John Tate)
Janet Leight (Norma Strode)
LL Cool J (Ronny)
URBAN LEGENDS (1998)
Directed by : Jamie Blanks.
Written by : Silvio Horta.
Staring :
Rebecca Greyheart (Brenda)
Jared Leto (Paul)
Alicia Witt (Natalie Simon)
Michael Rosenbaum (Parker)
Loretta Devine (Resse Wilson)