Badmovies.org Forum

Hey all;

Pretty soon here, I'm going to start working on a homemade fright flick, and even though it's nearly impossible to make an independent no-budget monster flick have any scare factor whatsoever, I want to try to make this one as scary as it can possibly be.

Here's the pitch: A group of hikers find an old, freaky book with all this creepy, foreign writing in it. They recite a verse,  and summon a demon, that kills them. The monster then wanders into a nearby town, and begins killing more people.

So I have two question:
1) What makes a truly scary movie?
and 2) How can I make this super-low-budget creature feature scary?

"creepy, foreign writing"

How do they know how to recite a verse.  Even assuming it is using the English alphabet, what about pronunciation.  That's one thing that makes a movie scary, to me.  The closer to reality it can be, the scarier.  Now, I'll give the director a scary demon (or Alien), but make the rest of it as close to "normal" as possible -- have the actors react as people normally would.

1.) Scary != big budget.  You don't need $$ for scary.  Scary comes from the writing, not the visuals.  JMO.

2.) I think to hit scary, you've got to play around with human psychology a little bit - and maybe some cultural factors, too.  So, why do YOU think a demon running around a town killing people is scary?  What about that is scary TO YOU?  Answer that and play on it.  In other words, make the movie that would scare YOU.

3.) I once read something about what makes the difference between "horror" and "thriller" or some such.  Basically, in horror, the audience knows something bad is coming.  They anticipate it; they want it to be over.  But, you (as director) make that anticipation last.  This horrifies.  All the cheap-thrill jump scares are just that.  Cheap and forgettable.

Take a look at some of the masters of horror, imo films like HALLOWEEN, THE FOG, BIRDS, etc, and to see this in action.  The essence of what makes them scary is not gore, not jump-scares, but that the character's terror (transmitted to the audience) is prolonged.

4.) I think one tactic that helps is to keep the audience off-kilter just a little bit.  For examples of this, see SESSION 9 and MAY.  The audience does not REALLY know much more of what is going on than the characters (maybe some back story, maybe not).  Personally, in MOST instances, I find a film more enjoyable (and more scary) when I am not more enlightened than the characters (except for knowing that it is just a movie, something THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT tried to play with).

On this note, though, I personally HATE the camera trick of using field of view to artifically limit what the audience sees until the character responds to it.  For example, if a character is looking right at a {insert giant bug or other creature} but it is off-camera, they would still see it.  That sort of thing takes me out of the moment.

I'm sure Dean and some of the others with more formal study can give more technical answers, but summarizes the things I would think about if trying to make a truly scary film.

Act as if you really would if it were really happening, make scenes that really would scare you. Make everything seem grim and hopeless almost constantly.

Please don't have anyone act too confidant when trying to slay the monster, it's one of the few things that made Kolchak the Night Stalker scary (Kolchak was never totally sure of himself when fighting his beast), and it usually comes off as annoying.

Please please, PLEASE! Don't use dumbass "quick camera shots" detailing every single move the victim makes. This ain't some Xtreme action-adventure thing, it's supposed to be ominous. Even in chase scenes, try and make it suspenseful, not Xtreme!

Make the demon aesthetically pleasing, but not to the "oh damn that thing is kewl" point. Of course, the more visually interesting the thing is, the less scary, but if it is really boring, then people won't get interested. And remember to make it look powerful, like even if you robbed it of all weapons and powers it could still mangle you with it's bare hands. My favorite movie monster, rawhead rex incorporates all these elements (yes, rawhead still scares me).

God, please use mature dialogue, if you use crappy jokes and or one-liners, it'll probably suck

the final fight, make it suspenseful, VERY suspenseful, take special care to make it the scariest part of the film or else people will leave the theatre, do not give too much power to your hero, make him stay human and stay scared (this is horror, not inspirational). Once your film is over (and your thing may or may not be dead) there are many ways to go, there is no wrong answer depending on personal taste and tone, with the exception of two things...

*And unfounded ending scare, where all logic is defied for the sake of a jump moment.
*An abrupt ending, which is just stupid and uncreative.

Gore isn't that scary, not to say that crappy offscreen deaths are, remember to thrill, even when you don't kill.

Now, about budget, the best way IMO is to have lots of giving friends, and treat the project as a fun project more than just a "movie". Use locations other than friends' houses and public places sparingly. Try to make your picture (especially death scenes) in a few, good, shots, it will save you a lot of time reapplying makeup and gore, not to mention attempting continuity.

Don't be afraid to go small on effects, as long as you maintain the same level of quality throughout.

Of course, this is all considering yours is a straight-faced horror movie, if not, we'll talk about that too. I hope to post again if I think of anymore tips.

ulther's suggestions:
Right, then, I'll have to check the films you suggested.  Thanks for the tips, I'll make sure to answer why I think a demon running around town killing people is scary and play on it. You gave me some good advice there.

Mr. Biggs suggestions:
Don't worry, there WILL NOT be any confident monster slayers, quick camera shots, immature dialogue, unfounded ending scares, or an abrupt ending, because I friggin' hate those too. I didn't plan on putting much gore, I'm not much of a gore hound. A bit of blood here and there, but I won't have a scene where the monster attacks someone, and the camera cuts away to a shot of blood splattering against a wall. That's silly and uncreative. It is going to be a rather serious film, if that's what you mean by straight-faced, there might be a little comic relief, and if so, any suggestions on that?

Thanks for the help!

Don't force it and don't just slap it in. Make jokes clever, well-timed, and well spaced! (especially if they are recurring jokes, which can become lame and predictable if used more than two or three times)

Also (not too sure about this one) you may want to give your monster a signature roar. It can be beneficial to the feeling of impending doom, as long as it's used at key points.

Let's see...according to Hollywood, apparently movies with quick cuts and harsh, loud noises are scary...oh yes...and don't forget the girl "ghost" (usually wet for some reason) with the pale skin and sunken eyes.  :lookingup:

Let the viewer's imaginations do the scaring for you, an example, in the original version of The Fog the scene in which the fishing boat is boarded you never really see the ghosts clearly, mostly just shapes in the fog,you know their killing people by the noises, then you sort of see one of them grab the last fisherman by the throat and lift him up, cut to a dead looking hand holding a sharp looking object, knife or spike, the hand moves back and forward, cut to fog, two squish type noises and a gurgle. Imagination on the viewer's part, my daughter went for what scared her most, said the squishing noises were the knife going in the guy's throat and then out , gurgle was him drowning in his own blood. I imagined (and still do) that each squish was an eye being gouged out, the gurgle was his brain finally being pithed by the spike. Stuff like this is not expensive to do and is very effective. The original version of The Haunting is very scary and it's all done with sound effect's and a couple of doors that bow out of shape, you never once see a ghost. This one is much better than the remake, it should give you some good ideas.

I think going against the forumla as much as possible is good... Scream did that really well and I think that's why I consider it one of my favorite movies of all time.

bring the "creep"
getting into the psyche and just creeping someone out is very effective

think of what scares you
think of what sacred you as a child

was it going into the basement?
the creeping of the stairs?
a house on your block?
the forest around your house?

if you could identify with it you should be able to give your audience a chance to identify with it

It's tough scaring people these days, but one thing that still holds true is that people are afraid of the unknown. If we can't see/understand something, it bothers and sometimes scares us. For example, even when we get older, we still fear the dark to some extent (and for different reasons). (Maybe) There's no reason to, but we fear it, or rather, we fear what might be waiting for us in the dark. If you can play off of the primal fears that most of us have, then you may be able to create an excellent little horror film. (Note: One thing I really enjoy is when a film builds a growing sense of dread before unleashing hell upon the main characters: THE FOG does this very effectively as does Halloween - both of which were mentioned by ulthar. Other films to check out as well are  "Darm Remains," an independent ghost film, and Stanley Kubrick's "The Shining." Those films start out by tossing out some odd, but minor disturbances before the true horror really kicks into full gear.) Just my two cents.

Hope you keep us in the loop Corey, you've definitely gained my interest in your flick.  :teddyr:

Yeah, I'm interested too!

I'm not much of a horror expert really, but I'll try and give a few meagre suggestions.  The others have all given some really excellent advice.

First thing with small budget/no budget flicks is to find out what your limitations are and work within that.  Things such as shooting at night can be difficult with a dv camera without the correct lighting for example [it comes out grainy and looks quite terrible].  Of course, you can use this to your advantage, by creating a gritty atmosphere etc.

Well, atmosphere is important in a horror film, and its key trying to lock down your certain style, and that very much is dictated by your abilities and equiptment, so try to be realistic about what you can do.  I can count on two hands the amount of times my friends tell me of an idea they'd like to film, and I have to tell them: "So how do you propose to achieve this shot of burning flames in hell where a zombie hitler is roaming around ripping the heads off dead babies?"  You'd be surprised at how ornate they can be sometimes, and I'd love to do it, but it just seems very hard when all you have is $20 and a mini-dv camera to work with...

Movies like Saw, which although had it's downpoints [read the thread talking about how bad it is] also had certain stylistic elements/story points which worked really well.  Low budget films are forced to be creative, and that's what you'll need to be.

Think about all the elements of a horror/thriller that you found scary, and use that as a springboard for your ideas.  There's no reason why you can't go for a 'jumpy shock' film rather than a slow burning thrill-ride, as long as you achieve that given suspense and in a way that isn't 'oh look at that hack'.

Anyways, I think it's always worth experimenting for a bit before you really launch into it. I'm not sure of what you can/can't do, so I'll leave it to you to judge that part, but just make sure you don't write a really really awesome scene, only to realise you have no way of achieving it without spending more money than you have [a mistake I've made many times]

Personally for me, like some of the others, I tend to prefer the 'sick pyschological' thrills, rather than the jumps.  But combining the two can work wonders.  I guess it's why I found parts of Saw 'scary': you see the anguish on their faces as they try and comprehend their situation.

I suppose it's that old saying 'less is more'.  Sometimes the simplest ideas work the best, and a slow camera shot on a person as they discover something truly horrifying right before we are shown it [if we are shown it at all] is quite often much more effective than just plainly showing someone throw up a bit of blood.

Because you're dealing with no budget, you'll probably need to develop that particular type of moment [the 'slow burn'] unless you decide to go with the cheap thrills [since that's a classic style I suppose]

Definitely, like the others have said, build on a sense of dread.  There's a reason why in most classic horror films, you barely ever see the actual monster until near the end.  Sometimes it's all the more effective just seeing the results.

I'm sure there's loads of advice on style and format etc I could probably give, but my head hurts from a busy day at work, so I'll leave it right now, but I suggest you revisit films a few types of film.

Films that have a similar plot point/story to yours [eg. Monster/demon that goes killing people] It's always good to see how others have covered your same idea, so you can build on that and change/take from it.

Films like Se7en where there isn't a lot of shock horror, but rather a psychological, surreal oddness about it that makes it creepy.  You may not like the film as such, but it's a great example of style.

Other low budget horror films, or films that have inspired you to write this in the first place.

And so on.

You try to watch them with a critical eye: what types of camera shots were effective, what sort of situations made you feel creeped out/scared and how they technically achieved them.  Once you've locked down a certain style of shooting it, you can mould the emotion of the film around it [and vice versa].  No sense in having slow emotional build ups plot-wise, when you are cutting the shot every second!

I also find that when you combine religion with horror, it can really play on some people's superstitions.  I watched End Of Days on Tv the other night, and, whilst being a crappy Arnie films, it did have it's quite good moments, just because killing in a religious way seems kinda freaky to me.

Where the demon comes from is probably an important factor, and above all keep an air of mystery about it!

Anyways, I'd love to hear more details, such as what type of Demon is it [smart, or just ravage-monster] does it have a purpose etc or even some details on the behind the scenes part of it.

Anywho, that's all for now.  I hope that made sense...

Also, you only get scared if you feel involved with the people on screen. You need to get some real characters that your viewers can identify with. The audience doesn't need to love them, but it needs to care about what's happening to these people. Once your characters get annoying (comic relief characters are especially risky here), any chance of suspense is lost. As a case in point, halfway through Deep Blue Sea, I found myself shouting encouragements to the shark. (Go on! Eat the ****** cook!!!)

Don't overdo the 'Boo!' factor. Having the monster pop up in unexpected places might work once. If it keeps up appearing out of nowhere, this quickly gets boring.

Finally, do you viewers intelligence a favour: have some coherent idea about what your monster can and cannot do, and stick to it. All too often we have monsters that can rip a car apart, yet have difficulty breaking through a plywood door later on.

To sum up: careful plotting and writing.

1) What makes a truly scary movie?
and 2) How can I make this super-low-budget creature feature scary?

i say just do it from the heart man, take what you know ( which should be a decent amount if your hangin around a movie board) and go with it, like they said what scares you? use that. i make independent films myself and since i watch alot of movies i watch for things that worked and what didnt and how i could make things work that didnt ect. idk you kinda just gotta do it. for the most part though its all about the writing of the script and the people you get to act.

The problem with making a scary movie is that different things scare different people. Some people get scared from  things suddenly popping out, personally I don't get scared by this because I usually know when somethings going to happen. Other people get scared by gore and torture scenes, make them squirm in there seats. What scares me the most is atmosphere. Nothing gets me creeped out more than a chilling apocalyptic scene. Also I strongly advise avoiding cliche horror movie devices. Use some originality in presenting this movie.
So if you want to make this movie I say start with the atmosphere.  Make the woods as dark and foreboding as possible. Shoot at night and use little light except what the flashlight and nature gives you. Avoid using fog machines, I really hate when these get used because they just scream cliche horror movie. Use sound to bring out the creepiness of the woods, use strange haunting voices barely audible beaconing them with creepy disturbing music. I recommend finding some good doom or black metal. You could also go to the opposite extreme and use no sound except for whats picked up on camera, because sometimes silence is more frightening than anything.
The place that they find this book should be horrific and evil, like an alter covered in guts and blood with maggots and flies all around it with the book in the middle of a messy pile of bloody flesh. The book its self should be the center piece.Use an original idea for its design, please don't make it look like the Necromicon.
As for the monster there is a problem with trying to make it scary and keep a low budget. I recommend keeping it simple. you could have the monster a invisible being which tears its victims apart with unseen claws, or make the monster human in appearance but make the way it kills its victims especially in-human and barbaric, like beating them to death with its bear hands. The invisible monster idea could be cool because people could get ripped apart with out warning.Don't skimp on the gore. The more brutal the deaths the more you will have people squirming in there seats, if you have to get exploitive about it.
But the biggest thing you need to do if keep the movie coherent and logical. Write and re-write this movie until you have something that makes sense, and even if your actors are just your friends good and natural writing will make the actors more comfortable and expressive in there performances. Also if you haven't already find and read some H.P. Lovecraft. He is a master of the unknown and lurking horror.
So I wish you luck in your endeavour, listen to the people on this forum because they have seen more bad monster movies than anyone should.

i wouldnt do that, ive tried, its a cool idea but when it comes time to look at the footage its very poor, youll only be able to see the light and your camera will constantly be re-focusing itself(assuming its on auto-focus) when the light is moved around especially if a character shines it awy from the camera then back at it. your gonna need some type of light source out there with you with mabey with a filter on it. there is a lens you can buy that actually makes a day shot look like night but your on a budget.  i assume your shooting on mini dv, what kind of camera are you using?

its tough to make a serious movie. any jackass can just go running aroudn shooting things with a camera but when your making a serious flick theres alot of things you have to worry about and work with even if it is low-budget. idk i shoot for quality on a minimum budget, i look for little tricks and things online. i just recently contrstructed my own dolly system using some cheap stuff i bought from home depot, you know its not metal, its wood and pvc ,but it works all the same. use what you got to its full potential.

The easiest way to scare someone is to remember this quote from fellow Rhode Island homeboy H.P. Lovecraft:

"The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown."

If you want to scare the audience, be ambiguous but not so much that you alienate them.  I enjoy horror movies or stories that have the characters playing a part in some larger plot without know what's going on or the ramifications of their actions.  Keep your monster hidden as long as possible so the reveal will be that more shocking.

P.S.- I've been a fan of this site for a long time and I'm glad to join the badmovies.org family!  Stay Scared!

music helps a lot with the scares, I hate when movies use actual songs they just ripped from a CD, use instrumental/atmospheric scores that fit the mood of a scene

Exploiting taboos is scary too especially when you make the characters someone the viewer can relate to, it makes the viewer feel like they could have been the victim. I personaly find gritty no-budget rape scenes more terrifying than a million dollar CGI ghost with fast MTV-style editing or even gore (which I don't even find scary at all).

Have children be threatened too. Children close to death alone really freaks out people.

1. I think a little originality can go a long way in a horror movie that is obviously very derivitave of something like Night of the Living Dead or Evil Dead (most low budget horror movies are pretty much unauthorized remakes). So try doing some stuff noticably different:
     a. The slut and the black guy survive.
     b. It's concieved of as part twelve of a series. (If the movie idea's a LOT like Evil Dead, set it many years after the cabin incident, try to imagine an alternite version of what COULD have happened to Ash instead of Army of Darkness)
     c. Monster turns out to be kind of sympathetic/rational.
     d. Some misdirection to make it look like it's going to have a Scooby Doo ending.
(Hmm, tried to come up with four really original approaches and C and D are actually kind of cliches). Anyway, what I'm getting at is that the way horror is now, you can get hailed as a genius for making a movie that's merely derivative of NotLD rather than a virtual remake. Like the victims are on the move instead of besieged, and they have flashbacks.

2. Play to the phobic zeitgeist in some way, like when Bram Stoker made vampires sexually charismatic in victorian times. This is why vampires aren't scary at all to the modern audience, except for old school, unsexy pre-Stoker vampires, like in Salem's Lot. Do you have some insights into the current equivalent of how victorians were about sex? How about the phobic way people are now about either being percieved as prejudiced, or actually being sub-conciously prejudiced, unbeknownst to themselves? Just an example. Hit lots of phobic triggers like "Loss of faculties due to mutilation" and "spiders and snakes", throw in some contemporary stuff (according to personal insights you have about the phobic zeitgeist, since it's your movie)

3. Lovecraftian stuff. Not references to Cthulhu, actual Lovecraftian stuff, like the suspicion that the world as we know it is a wishful delusion disguising some dismal reality. A worst case scenario universe, governed by incomprehesible, impersonal forces that are indifferent to the point of hostility to all human values. Everything that would suck about a Godless universe, combined plausibly with everything that would suck about a universe packed with gods. Maybe read some of Lovecraft's correspondence and notes, and kind of hint at this.

4. Simpathetic victims, not too stupid or deserving of death. Someone the viewers can identify (probably near the same age as the people likely to be watching, etc)

OK, now I'm just going on because I wanted to think of more than three. Maybe later.

http://davemunger.blogspot.com
http://gaycelebritycrap.blogspot.com

I thought of another example that imo exemplifies a lot of what everyone is saying: CARRIE.  It has the expectation factor (you KNOW something wierd is happening/will happen, you KNOW those rascally kids are up to no good with Carrie) that takes it's own sweet time to play out.  Carrie is at the same time sympathetic and abhorrent.  The characters, while perhaps cliched to some extent, are given enough depth that we can identify with them (even the antagonistic ones).

Another thing I thought of regard to character development is that I think this should come first, before you start killing off characters.  Maybe it's just a personal taste thing, but I think movie deaths of throw-away characters are a waste (of my time, the film's time, fx resources, etc).  If you want to MOVE your audience, to push them into fear, make them care that so-and-so got axed. IMO, too many horror movies have the cheap set-up of throw-away undeveloped characters (usually near the beginning, but not always) just to set the tone.  I think the tone is far darker if it's someone we care about.

Another one to look at is THE EXORCISM OF EMILY ROSE.  The director did a LOT of subtle visual manipulation of the audience with color.  Orange meant one thing, green another, etc: fear, peace, general wierdness.  The director used it like a throttle on the viewers emotions...ratchet up the fear...get up there, then turn on the peacefulness a little.  Kinda like foreplay.  :)   It was well done, imo, to the point that before something scary was happening on screen, that anticipation was built subconciously by the color of the walls in the scene!  Other movies have used this well, obviously.

Another thing, i'm sure you know, but just in case...

Please, do NOT make the characters joke around fakely when in danger. i see that a lot in real boring dumb movies that don't even seem real because of this. for example: characters are driving in car, being chased by a dinosaur. "Ahh!! Oh Jim, I hope you got auto insurance!!" ....dumb, and pathetic, when i hear things like this, even half as bad as that, I just want to turn the TV off and leave.


Also, i'm sure every oen has said this, but just to defend it even more...

Make it seem relalistic, not 500 goblins and demons and monsters (unless of course, that is what you are going for, but its not going to be very scary, just a bad/boring movie, or a "B" movie), but if you intend to have a demon like you are saying, make him seem as human as possible, if that makes sense. if he has 40 special powers and lazer beams from his eyes, and hes invinible, thats not good. and he shouldnt be all wicked cool looking and all this stuff, he just has to look what a demon would look like in real life, think about how he would have to live and breathe, and defend himself.

And also (once again, i know this has been said already), but the book thing to start off, ehhh, doesnt seem like it would be that scary. but since you are going for more of a scifi-ish horror (with the book and demon and all), then it suits it i guess.

Only on this board will that statement be received by all with straight faces.    :bouncegiggle:

Yeesh!
What strong opinions we all have on this topic!!
I read over what everyone says, and I think I'm with Dennis most of all here --
Also, happily surprised by the number of us out there making films -- Good on ye all!!
What makes a movie scary?
DON'T SHOW THE MONSTER . . . EVER!!or, if you MUST show the monster, wait until the very end of the film, and show it only fleetingly.
The very best horror movies/scary movies have done this:  The Demon.  The Innocents.  Quatermass and The Pit, aka 5 Million Years to Earth.
The quality of Pursuit makes for tension and scares as well.
Placing your protagonists in danger when they have no idea how badly they are in danger makes for a very creeped-out audience.
peter johnson/denny crane

As long as you don't put a Space Monkey in your movie, you should be fine.

Contrary to popular opinion, kids don't love Space Monkeys.

The mentions of Lovecraft have been interesting. What sets Lovecraft apart form a whole lot of other writers is the basic helplessness of his characters. This plays both on a macro level ( Mankind is essentially powerless against the influence of ancient cosmic forces) as on a micro level: the Lovecraftian characters are rarely trying to destroy the monster, restore justice or whatever. They are basically trying to get out of there. They are bystanders who are trapped in a nightmarish situation and are just trying to escape.

It is this feeling of helplessness that give Lovecraft his frightening quality (I think)

Yes, just make every death some schlub running through the woods (monster's pov) only to trip on something and die in an offscreen death.

but its a f**kin demon, i mean does it really have to breath or find a way to live? im sure it doesnt have to eat or drink, at the most mabey where it dwells and most demons i would think(at least in my mind) would come standard with razor sharp claws and teeth to "defend" itself. what the hell is that supposed to mean anyway? "what a demon would look like in real life" what a demon would look like if it were appearing before you is merely whatever your mind can conjure up what YOU think a demon would look like because they arent real so if they are supposed to have a specific look we wouldnt know cause they dont exist therefore cant be seen. i may have a different vision of what a demon would like than you and so does the guy creating the prosthetic make-up for the actual demon character so there is no "realistic" look for a demon.

mabey i took that a little too far.....sorry havin a bad day.

Don't worry, there won't be any of that.  :smile:

Anyway, here's a few of my ideas, the most interesting and relevant ones:

1: Don't show the Demon too much, maybe a dark figure running through the trees every once in a while; keep its appearance simple, yet creepy; have it kill its victims often in bloodless yet horrific ways, ie drowning them, beating them to death with its fists, dropping them off heights. Every so often I guess it'll butcher someone with its claws, but mostly dry deaths.

2: Have realistic, non-stereotypical characters, ie the blond girl isn't a slut, the black guy doesn't wise crack all the time, the jock isn't a stupid brute.

3: There's a forest surrounding a lake near my house. The Demon will, of course stalk these woods, and this of course will be where the freaky satanic book will be found (what is it doing here? The hell if I know).

4. I've got to think of WHY the Demon is killing people. I can't just say "well, I guess it just doesn't like humans", that'd be rather dumb.

5. Perhaps the hero could be driven (or nearly driven) to madness trying futilely to stop the Demon, thusly having to contend with both the monster AND his own fractured mind?

6. The reason why a monster running around killing people scares ME is because there's always the possibility my friends or family could be the next victims. I'm already thinking of how to use that. Another thing that scares me is that it could somehow get into your house. The Demon here is has both human-level intelligence and somewhat above peak human strength. It could easily infiltrate someone's home.

What do you all think of these ideas? 

 

My opinion:

Sounds like a good balance, especially for a limited budget. The drowning death is not often used in monster film, and should be interesting to see the execution! :smile:

No comment, good idea

Wasn't it going into the city towards the end of the film? Remember that guy's idea for where the book is found (or is it just sitting in the woods somewhere?)

I figure, ya' know, it's from hell and stuff...

Here's something not used too much outside of The Thing! Very interesting, but remember, this type of insanity doesn't happen in seconds! (unlike what Scarecrow Slayer tells us)

Good luck!

Well, I'm not sure you need to worry too much about that. You can basically go along with 'I'm a demon, this is what I do' explanation. Mind you, it would be interesting if it wouldn't be just random violence. Perhaps he could have some purpose, such as fulfilling an ancient curse, or killing whoever woke him, or reclaiming his sanctuary. That way there would be method to his madness. On the other hand, knowing that there is something dangerous and bad tempered out to get, is usually enough to get scared.

Now about the Demon:

I haven't even started writing the script yet, I figured I'd come here for advice first. I have done some concept art, as follows:

1st Version: Kind of looks like a bald werewolf. Probably not going to use this, kind of bland.
2nd Version: The classic demon, with bat wings, devil horns, etc. Might use it.
3rd Version: Now this one is pretty out there. Pretty much a humanoid bat with a satanic symbol on its forehead. Not going to use this, too silly.

Could someone give me some advice as to what the Demon should look like? Keep in mind, it should be simple, yet freaky.

Do you have a scanner? BTW,
What does a bald werewolf look like?
Kay, aside from the cliche it could work
I think the bat idea sounds like the coolest (think Fright Night Part II!) IF you have the cash to pull the makeup off.

you should make the demon a spirit that possess people so you won't have to show it, it will be more troubling/upsetting for a character to kill it, and also it gives more opportunity for surprises and scares, might be a zombie movie cliche  but imagine a group of people locking themselves in a room cause they thought someone possess was chasing them when suddenly one of the people they're locked in with is possessed, they must kill their possessed friend or try to escape but time is running short  :buggedout:

That approach was pretty effective in THE HIDDEN.

It could, but there might be less of a feeling of imposition (imposingness?). You could go the jason goes to hell route and have the possessed just get so beaten up he looks inhuman by the end.

Hey... That could work!

Thanks for all the advice, you guys really know what your talking about!

I lost this thread somehow and started asking about it in the movies for a cold night thread. So, if you saw me begging for directions there, I'm OK, I found it again.

Some blog had some ideas about a new Friday The Thirteenth movie that I think could apply: http://x-entertainment.com/updates/2007/01/10/a-new-friday-the-13th-flick-yase-yase/

Meant to mention before that if I sometimes talk like you're a mountain dew swilling youtube retard, it's only because I've seen so much low budget horror made by mdsytrs. You don't come off that way (or you'd be calling people fags for saying stuff should be subtly implied and stuff).

Alrighty, I was going to keep numbering my notions for easy reference, so that even the really unoriginal one's would be immortalized under my name. People on movie sets would say "Employ Munger's cinematic horror principle five!" But now the original poster's using numbers, so I'll go to bullets or something.

- How about a monster that looks pretty much human, but with horns instead of eyes? Simple (just stick horns with pinholes to see through over the guy's eyes, maybe some fake blood if they're supposed to have grown through the eyes of a regular person who's transformed) Then you kind of combine the traditional archetypal underwood deviled ham devil with the freaky, "it has no eyes, yet can see me through some weird, otherworldly means" thing from Alien.

- Like the idea of giving it a better than usual motivation for killing people. Always thought that when they call the monster a demon, that kind of implies that they're trying to accomplish some larger purpose for their master, Satan, like the cursed thingies in the Friday 13th TV series. Maybe driving the hero insane is part of this? Maybe it could act a LITTLE like the T-1000 in T2, fond of exploiting the hero's concern for people close to him. Speaking of the hero going insane, maybe the catalist for that is a combination of the stress/ sleep deprivation/ despair/ etc of fighting the demon, maybe you could do the old Lovecraft standby of having the demon expose him to some Ultimate Truth that man was never meant to know. Also, maybe in order to keep his strength up, he does some meth or something, that would make it more believable to me that he could loose his mind. Again, you might suggest that the hero is unstable to begin with, forshadows the madness, and misdirects viewer to expect the "he was crazy and hallucinating the whole time" ending.

- Not showing the monster is a little overdone lately, IMO. Showing it too much mainly hurts you through the cheapness of the monster. That's mainly if it's cheap in terms of effort as well as money. In Alien (which is usually what people are trying to emulate with underlighting and not showing the monster), they do SORT of show you the monster quite a bit, just a hand, the mouth, is that a tentacle or a tail? Maybe if you just show the hand in one scene, you can go all out on your hand makeup effects, then all out on the face make up in scenes that just show it's face. Then maybe a shot or two of the whole thing in silhouette, just see enough to be able to tell that it's weird, not just a guy in a gorrilla suit or something.

- If you know any guys who are already kind of scary looking, or at least big, that could minimize the effort neccessary to make them into a monster. Like that Barrymore guy or Rondo Hatton. They don't have to be THAT weird looking though, maybe just a really big guy.

- Could the demon be harming people close to the hero through some indirect, magical means? Like when it gets the hero, instead of killing him it drinks a little of his blood or something, and then that somehow causes something bad to happen to someone else every time. Like it's reading his mind to pick it's next victim, who breaks out in terrible boils and dies, or becomes possesed or something. Maybe it could all be the hero's fault, so it's that much more awful.

On the Hero:

I like the idea of an anti-hero, someone who when we first meet him, we think he's unlikely to 'rise to the occasion.'  Perhaps also overdone lately, but Carpenter used just th right amount of this in THE THING.  MacReady kinda resisted being the hero through the whole thing, and just found himself thrust into a bad situation.

Something like that makes the main antagonist MUCH more believable as a real character.

Sorry if someone's already mentioned this.

You've got some really good ideas there. I particularly like the "horns replacing the eyes" bit! And I can assure that I am not just some mountain dew swilling YouTube retard, those guys really tick me off.

Again, thanks for all the advice!

And when you have your hero go mad, or possessed or whatever, try screwing with reality a bit. Keep the imagery realistic ( ie no warped 'monster vision' or coloured lense effects), yet disturbing enough, so that the viewer will go 'did I just see that?'. Don't overdo it, but insert a couple a sequences, just to keep everyone off balance.

As for the showing the monster: it should be there alright. There is a world of difference between something that is just seen partly, or glimsed too briefly on the one hand and something that isn't seen at all. In Alien you saw plenty of the monster, you just didn't see everything at the same time.

This time I agree with dvix712. "Descent" for me was far scarier, when I didn't know what might be down in the cave. One I did know what was done there, I could deal with it.

You know what scares the pi$$ out of me is the unknown.  The mind can be the scariest place of all.  You should use the viewers thoughts against them. 

John