Modest Horror with Big Chills

[Susan]

>Movies that are able to retain some mystery, hide the exact nature of the >menace, give more modest signs of its presence, and stimulate the imagination, >can raise the hairs on the back of your neck. What are some examples?

Any movie that avoids typical cliche scare tactics. One movie of recent I like to point out is "Stir of Echoes". I wouldn't consider it horror but I really enjoyed it for the fact that it teased you by not doing what you expected. He reaches under the bed looking for a shoe or something..that is THE scene you would expect something to be there or when he stands up something to be behind him. It's like they put these type of scenes in the movie in order to make you realize it wasn't going to be that obvious..so it built up the suspese. That way when he leans back on the couch in that one scene I was completely shocked to see the ghost next to him. I think that "what Lies beneath" also did an effective job in this respect - except with a glaring opposite reaction of creating the obvious scenes and even with the audience expecting it..they still jump. I remember even tho this wasn't a great film overall, in the theater it was alot of fun as after the 4th or 5th jump the audience started laughing and applauding..suprisingly enough, each time it happened.

The movies that also tend to get me are the ones that dont' have a score, or a score that is odd sound effects. Perhaps it makes the film feel more "real" in that it isn't being drowned out by a violin or something. When a telephone ringing makes you jump, that's enough for me. It proves that the movie has done a good job at subtly creating an atmosphere that has left you on the edge of your seat..so there is no need to throw out a bloody corpse to try to get a rise out of you.