A great way to open a horror movie is to start with a radically different kind of movie, only for that movie to be derailed by a horror movie. If your first act is a movie people would watch to the end without any fantastical elements, then you’ve really got something when the monsters show up.
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Also, Annabelle started with a young couple moving into a new house while expecting a child and then 30 mins later it became a horror movie
1. Meet characters and establish why they’re together.
2. Ooh… they’re going to do something fun and interesting.
3. Some stuff happens that need to be resolved NOW.
4. If only we resolve this we can get back to the fun thing maybe.
That was a good one. Even despite Jonah Hill.
*shudder*
Will our star get away with her heist?! Whoa, she barely made it past that creepy highway patrolman.
Is she gonna crash from the rain? Whew, she made it to that motel. Now let's enjoy a sexy shower scene with one of the hottest actresses in Hol-
WTF just happened?
You get the grieving man, the attack...
THEN "Who's car is that?!"
"We called him the Baba Yaga"
THEN
(LITERALLY) Buried guns and... GOLD COINS?
And VIGO has GOLD COINS?
WTF?
And the Fantasy part kicks in!
Luckily, there have been some people who got it, and they said really nice, self-esteem boosting things.
By the time I watched it I had forgotten a lot of what the trailers showed, so the turn still surprised me.
I really adore the (honestly) oppressive and hopeless atmosphere, and the character interplay that keep that movie constantly engaging. Such cool creatures and setting, too!!
Bank robbery/hostage situation gone wrong gets interrupted by a zombie apocalypse.
I know it'd make bank, but I've got no interest in writing it.
I've got the wrong instincts for horror.
Things that creep me out/scare me don't generally affect other people. Most of the stuff that scares them I find boring.
I think there's maybe a half dozen horror films I enjoy? And few of those are about the horror.
The way it transitioned from a joke to a weird comedy to an outright horror movie was awesome. Having no idea what it was at the start let it play with our expectations for a long way into the show
That shit was terrifying before the monsters showed up.
Thank M. Night for that.
So, I dunno. Start with Cape Fear, and then suddenly WEREWOLVES OUTBREAK.
Surprise! You're in Friday The 13th: the Final Chapter!
But then the red tree, and the barn, and the therapy session, and then–
The TV comes on.
And you look.
But I will say The Wild Robot was a masterclass in unveiling it's world
One of my favorite horror movies of all time.
One of the most memorable movies for me because of that.
The Rites of Spring
The Price We pay
Splinter
If you hadn't seen the trailer, Abigail fits this too.
As a kid, my parents convinced me Cujo was a light-hearted comedy and went out for the evening. (I was familiar with horror films by this point)
Starts out as a Commando/Rambo style big men, big guns and big guns 💪 style action movie til it switches gears to horror right after the base assault.
But both films didn’t really have a story until there was a slasher on the loose.
At least with Psycho it was about her stealing the $40K and FDTD was about those 2 bank robbers trying to get away.
My wife on the other hand watched the same movie, fell asleep, woke up and vampires were going ham, and was like WTF
2nd one... same town- wait, same actor? With the same name? This is a
And slowly through the second film things just feel a LITTLE off, and you come to realize it's a Christmas Cult and they're drugging/brainwashing women into a polygamist marriage to their "Saint Nick". Film ends with woman managing to call a friend in NYC & beg for help.
😎