What makes a movie scary?

With it being October, everyone is getting into the Halloween spirit as Halloween approaches. What better way to get into the spirit of Halloween than a scary movie? When it comes to scary movies, people tend to want the types of films that’ll really get to them. Some scary movies don’t fit the standards though, as many claim that they’re scary but really aren’t. So people are left wondering, what makes a movie scary? The first factor that makes a movie scary is the type of content each film showcases. The content shows us why the movie is classified as horror. This includes sub-genres such as gothic horror, supernatural horror, monster movies, psychological horror, splatter films, slasher films, body horror, and comedy horror. These are the types of movies that’ll really get to someone’s head, which is what makes them horror movies. A great example that can fit almost all these categories is Stephen king. Stephen King’s content consists of horror, supernatural fiction, suspense, crime, science-fiction, and fantasy novels which makes him a good example. His most iconic films include IT, The Shining, Pet Cemetery, and many more. These films include content such as psychological horror, body horror, suspense, jumpscares, and many other things that help make the films more terrifying. Another aspect that can make a movie scary is its realism. For example The Conjuring series. It is stated that The Conjuring is based on a true story, revolving around the cases of Ed and Lorraine Warren, who were real-life paranormal investigators with real experiences of paranormal activities. This makes for a great concept and keeps the viewer on edge. Another example of some good horror is slasher films. The most notable slasher films are Halloween, Friday the 13th, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and many others. These films use gore as a shock factor that will make sensitive viewers sick to their stomachs. One recent example of this is with the latest film Terrifier 2. People have claimed to vomit or pass out while watching the film in cinemas and it’s gone to the point where they had to pass out vomiting bags to people who were going to watch the movie. The quality of the films also adds to the horror. This is where the more fictional horror films shine, as horror films that include monsters and demons look more authentic compared to older films. Although older horror films with this element were good at their time, with films like IT and many other older Stephen King films, nowadays that level of quality isn’t as scary compared to the newer remakes like IT (2017) as the effects in this film add a much darker tone which really captures the horror. But that’s needless to say that the older psychological horror films weren’t bad as those didn’t include monsters but actual people who were like monsters. Some examples are The Shining (1980) and American Psycho (2000). All in all, there are hundreds of horror films that you can choose from as well as a variety of genres for said films, so you can sit back and enjoy the thrills and horrors this Halloween.