Wanna take a shot at making a horror movie? Look at these tips to give it a Hollywood atmosphere and... profit!
Here are 14 tips to shoot a horror movie that no one can tell apart from Hollywood.
14 Things That You'll See In EVERY Hollywood Horror Movie
First you need a protagonist that's depressed, melancholic, and has psychological problems.
He or she might have a troubled marriage. They could be divorced, or about to. They could have lost their child, or want to have children badly but can't. They could be traumatized from some past events.
Then, the setting... It has to be a mountain, or an untouched forest. Pretty much middle of nowhere, far away from civilization.
Choose a house that's way too big, with many rooms, low lighting and moist, adorned with lots of windows. The depressed character(s) will reside here. It would be best if there's an attic or loft, or a basement. Don't forget; lots of windows. Windows everywhere, even on the doors!
The troubled characters who come here to escape their problems will start experiencing peculiarities right away.
Voices out of nowhere, seeing shadows while doing laundry in the basement... But the build up has to be slow, so don't put the hard stuff right away.
It would be best if you also find a weirdo child character as well.
This psycho kid will talk to himself a lot, mention creepy imaginary friends, repeat the same absurd nursery rhymes over and over again, and draw terrifying pictures.
Now we need a side character who never believes what the protagonist says and represents "logic."
He or she will never take the protagonist seriously and always try to explain the paranormal experiences with some science or logic. Once in a while, they will even ask, "Did you take your meds today?" and treat the main character like a mental patient. Usually dies early on. Kill them early and keep the tradition alive.
Mystery is key!
Use mystery elements such as photos, weird marks, recordings, cassettes etc found in the attic and give clues about the house. Don't give answers to the questions until the very end so that the audience keeps watching.
More than half of the film has to take place at night. The rest will be in a low lighting, like gray sunless days.
You can't put any sun in there.
From the thousands of windows the lead character will keep seeing shadows.
A silhouette always watching the house from outside would be appropriate. Of course, the protagonist will be the only person that sees it.
The protagonist has to be stupidly courageous.
He or she will track every creepy noise and every silhouette that appears in the garden. Even when they learn that someone was murdered here, instead of moving out immediately they will try to contact the spirits there and learn about their troubles.
Police need to come after all is over.
But beware; NEVER on time. And even when they do they should also treat our character like a mental patient.
Another side character that knows all about dark magic, spirits, demons, and such.
This person will believe the lead character and will be the only one that helps. Unfortunately, they will also die early... Because the protagonist needs to face their troubles alone.
There needs to be a couple locked-door forcing scenes.
Hollywood can't get enough of these scenes. These doors are locked for no reason and the vibrating knobs add to the tension.
Broken lights.
Lights should just shut off all of a sudden, or sizzle.
And when everything is solved, the spirit is liberated, demons destroyed and the sun is back...
Don't leave it there. No horror movie ever ends truly happily. Relieve the audience but reverse everything once again. Imply to them that not everything is over; the demon is still lurking and creepy stuff will be back. No one will be able to live happily ever after. But why? That's up to your creativity.
Ta-da! Here's your amazing Hollywood style horror movie. Good luck at your next Oscar ceremony!
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