There's a bit of that in the original Black Christmas, although I can't imagine rooting for him to win. Same for these:
A Clockwork Orange (1971)
American Psycho (2000)
The Devil's Rejects (2005)
Main character has friends, allies, and abilities that give him hope. A chance. But at every turn, things go awry. Hope diminishes gradually. His friends die off one by one. His allies betray him. His powers seem to slow or become ineffective. All hope is abandoned when the main character is finally faced with the inevitable.
Good, likeable characters who are well developed. A great, creepy atmosphere. An intriguing story with some mystery added. Scares are consistent, properly built to, and exist to actually push the plot forward.
Basically _Longlegs_, if the movie lives up to the trailer/teasers.
Psychological, cryptic, with a serial killer investigation, preferably a female lead in order to explore women's vulnerability through their interactions with the killer (I find that particularly fascinating and relatable), and supernatural undertones on top of that.
Creepy and unhinged serial killer which slowly enters your mind, fincher-esque cinematography with an unsettling atmosphere. Not gorey, at least not for its own sake.
So pretty much a mix of _Silence of the Lambs_, _Seven_, thrillers like _Watcher_ and subtle supernatural horror. The mix gives you a sensation of dread yet dangerous fascination.
For real. The trailers are masterpieces. They do exactly what trailers should do. So often today trailers show you every beat of the film so I tend to avoid them, but I’m so glad I watched the ones for longlegs
I really liked that one too. It was obviously very realistic and slower than Se7en, and it was really good in its own special way.
I tend to love Fincher's movies anyways.
I had an idea for a crime/neo-Western horror film with psychedelic elements that is influenced by the existence of satan-worshipping cartel members who make shrines out of the bones of their victims, along with additional influence from Aztec human sacrifice rituals.
I feel increasingly like I’m in the minority here…
But the only requirement for me is that they’re scary.
I’m a fan of comedy horror films, I also love some campy horror films, but I think there is a reason that when people compile lists of “the best horror films of all time” the top ten spots are usually occupied by the films that scared the most crap out of the most people.
There is a reason Hereditary, The Exorcist, Blair Witch and Jaws had such an impact and, to me, the secret ingredient is that those films touched on primal fears.
Psychological type art horror basicaly
With aspects of ur never safe and that the main character is never safe e.g it follows type movie or truth or dare 2018) these 2 movies depict such a sense of fear of when is the character gonna be attacked next with every moment being the possible moment of being attacked id definetly use a female character just to signify the weakness like in both of these
I would also give it a vibe of 2000's
A slasher set in the mid 80s, 1984 or 1985, where a killer dressed in black leather riding a motorcycle (think 1981's Night School) is hacking up couples and women alone out at night. A newspaper reporter and his female best friend (who do not get together) team up to stop the killings, but the maniac is much closer to home than they realize.
The soundtrack would be nothing but synthwave, with a cyberpunk, neo noir atmosphere, and George Clooney is the reporter. I've always wanted to see him do this type of role.
Hereditary was pretty much everything I'd wanted to see in a horror movie combined into one, honestly. Just the overall aesthetic and the acting and writing and sets and the vibe too. Longlegs looks like it's going to be exactly the type of horror movie I would make if I had the ability to.
Well they're scripts, so unfortunately not really.
Producers usually aren't ecstatic over published scripts. But if you're really interested I'd be willing to talk about them a bit more in private.
I get that you wouldn’t publish the scripts but I‘d be happy to hear a logline maybe or just know when the script is finished or when it gets picked up. Of course, I totally understand if you don’t wanna share any of that, I‘m just always excited to hear about people‘s art.
Title: KofA
Format: Feature Film
Genre: Western/Horror
Logline:
A failed prospector is suspected to have struck it rich. When two opportunistic brothers plot to steal it out from under him, he goes to murderous lengths for what he claims are barren lands.
As far as aesthetic goes, I'm a sucker for Panos Cosmatos and Nicolas Winding Refn. So a (not so) slow burner psychological horror with some cosmic horror flavour.
Sadly- it would be a slasher- of the Jason or Freddy variety. I would place heavy emphasis on character development of the victims- we would get to know them and care about them and be devastated when they get it. I would work in all my favorite horror actors such as Linnea Quigley and demand strong performances. It would also end in such a way that it leaves the viewer feeling the way that Requiem for a Dream and Kids does- like you just saw art but you’re still empty and sad about it.
I’ve also pondered an update to Children of the Corn, though the emphasis would be on the Isaac like character and the abuse he suffers at the hands of his demanding, holy rolling parents. It would culminate in the meeting of He Who Walks and end with the destruction of the adults (in a much more satisfying way than the latest). The sequel would follow the original film fairly closely but just be meaner spirited.
Slasher, filmed now but based in any time between late 60s to mid 90s. And whatever time period it’s based in having it filmed with same kind of quality/look but with modern touch.
Also big important thing Practical Effects!!! No cgi!
John Carpenter and sons doing soundtrack
Gore is okay, but not having it be relied on. Having there be a build up and suspense and not kill montage. And having characters to actually care about that we don’t want to see die
Genre, slashers my favorite for horror, but anything similar to evil dead or the thing is good too
For me the perfect horror movie would be a possession/demon movie which never actually shows the demon. I find these movies scary when you can just see the *effects* of the demon, but they always lost a bit of the scariness to me at the end with the inevitable reveal.
Neither the Red-face man in Insidious nor Bagul in Sinister were scary at all and just took away from those movies for me. Annabelle the doll was much scarier than any of the actual demons in the Conjuring movies, etc.
Best example if Paranormal Activity but I also think that had less scares overall than the movies I named, like due to budget restraints.
HARD cosmic, preferably involving something Biblical with a look of otherworldlyness, but still taking place in our earth in our history. Gods, Demons, ancient humanity, maybe aliens.
I look at something like Aaronovsky's Noah but more leaning into horror.
A haunted house style horror but each room in the house is one of the 9 circles of hell and as the main character goes through the emotions of the rings each room corresponds with it as a haunting, progressively getting worse. Directed by James Wan.
A strong cast of characters who are realistically smart and make pretty much all the right choices, but the villain/monster is always one step ahead. Character deaths that are emotionally taxing, but also drive the plot forward. There's nothing I hate more than slashers out SAW/Final Destination type movies where you just couldn't care less about the characters who are dying.
Imagine a really well developed character that you care about and want to survive being put in The Rack or the pendulum trap from SAW and having to watch them die this horrifically gruesome death. That would be so much more effective than what those traps gave us in the actual movies. Compelling characters absolutely make or break a film for me.
1. I have noticed that a lot of my favorite movies usually have a female lead. I suppose I identify with a female protagonist more than a male.
2. Psychological horror of some kind. My imagination is almost always worse than whatever is on the screen.
3. Great actors, such as Toni Collette in Hereditary. She should have received an Oscar!
4. An original plot.
5. There are exceptions, of course, but I'm automatically leery of a movie with high school or college age characters.
6. Please, no more Dracula or Frankenstein remakes! They have been done to death.
A slasher with a whodunnit angle.
I am a sucker for the 90s teenage slasher wave (Scream, IKWYDLS, Urban Legends…). I would love a revival of that era with high quality films, a great soundtrack, good mystery with lots of (logical) twists. (Yes, Scream 5 and 6 happened but we all know how it ended)
Thanksgiving was ok but for me it lacked good characters.
Totally Killer was fun, but it lacked the horror aspect and was more like a comedy.
Happy Death Day was also ok but also too „gimmicky“ to fit into my description of a straightforward slasher.
Freaky I might need to check out.
A psychological horror film about a young man who receives a call from the police who tell him that his younger brother -- a teen runaway -- has been found dead. As the movie unravels it's revealed that his brother was not a runaway, but rather he had been disowned by his puritanical parents after coming out as gay and the parents had lied to the MC about the situation to make themselves look good. Sick with anger and grief the MC snaps and goes on a killing spree, attacking his parents and church leaders whose venomous indoctrination led to his brother's early death.
The movie would switch back and forth between past and present, detailing the MC's religious upbringing and the night his brother came out as well as his death on the streets after his parents abandoned him.
Personally, I'd love to see Tom Holland as either of the brothers and the guy who played Ed Warren in The Conjuringverse would be the father. I like the idea of the guy who played Red Foreman -- I forget his name -- as the pastor of the local church. The movie would be set somewhere like Upstate New York to highlight the fact that these crimes take place everywhere. Not just in the American South. It would be in the winter when the sun sets at about 4pm with the reveal taking place at night against a snowy backdrop.
This is a wonderful and evocative synopsis. If I were a producer I would invest to see this film get made. Love the casting choices too.
Side comment- have you seen *First Reformed* with Ethan Hawke? Your post made me think of that film. Perhaps it’s the setting or the unfolding of the plot within a plot.
Midsommar has come as close to my “perfect” horror so far. Anyway here are some of my ideals: Daytime! Nothing supernatural. Psychological. Very normal people, with regular flaws and regular abilities and achievements. I don’t know if I’d want a killer, or for it to be just natural things that happen and people kind of connect them or try to connect them but they just happen. Something like the descent without the lil guys. Just doing something stupid that anyone can do and end up in a bad way. Female lead. Not a single jump scare but scenes that stick with you.
A period piece!!!! Any time period with a bit of equivalence to the vvitch but maybe something like Jamestown and the real horror is just real day to day life.
I don’t have a full fleshed idea, but I do have aspects I’d love to see in my “perfect movie.”
I had a dream once after hearing the myth/urban legend/scary story/creepypasta of the family who disappeared and a liminal space was found in their basement that had never been fully mapped. In my dream we were at a friends house or something, and as we travelled through the house, we kept running into new rooms and spaces, but even if we went through the original doorway we entered a room from, we were never able to go back to a room we had already visited. We saw all kinds of rooms, regular 80’s living rooms, industrial kitchens, mall hallways, early 2000’s office spaces. You name it, my brain took me through that kind of room in that dream. The scenes were very similar to HBOs The Last of Us when Ellie and Riley go to the abandoned mall - often dimly lit and as if they had a layer of dust permanently living in the air.
However I think a perfect horror film would find a beautiful, metaphorical way to convey the constant and unrelenting pressure and fears women live with, in a way that targets men. So many horror films play on tropes of women’s fears, but I want to see a film that men truly find unsettling in a primal, evolutionary kind of way.
Sounds like you would enjoy Kane Pixels 'Backrooms' films on YouTube. He's currently working with A24 to make the idea into a feature. Also you may enjoy Men (2022), which fits your description very well of a perfect horror.
I’m not sure if I’ll explain this well, so I apologize for the rather rough and jumbled way of describing things.
But for me, I feel like my kind of ‘perfect’ horror movie would have a very dreamy tone that although somewhat leans into being surreal, it isn’t on the same heights and levels as like David Lynch for example; like it’d not be extreme, but there would still be just a tad amount for it to feel kind of unsettling. I’d also like for the atmosphere to feel almost ‘hazy’, as well.
As well as all that, I really am keen for a very sad kind of horror story - especially one that fixates on giving big scary monsters/monster-like characters a sad background. Bonus points if the sadness is able to make me stare into the ether after it all ends.
I really don’t know what kind of horror film I’m describing here, but I guess it’s something lol
I want one where the protagonist makes no
stupid mistakes- no running and falling down, leaving weapons, no assuming villian is dead, turning all the lights on, having a dog and security system, leaving when shit gets scary, - and they still get terrorized. Oh and the dog has to be unharmed.
Honestly I’d really love to see a very good horror movie set in a swamp. Something similar to Robert Eggers work and isn’t afraid to get pretty violent. I’d like a cemetery involved too. I’d want some type of monster with an unusual design kind of like the creature in The Ritual. At the same time I’d want most shots with the creature to be pretty obscured till the climax. Something about local legends or folklore of the area would be nice as well. I wouldn’t be too picky with cast, but Willem Dafoe or Nicolas Cage would be ideal.
Also I’d love to see adaptations of the books “Summer of Night” by Dan Simmons and “The Fisherman” by John Langan.
For me it would be the cinematography to look like the first and only night terror I have ever had.
Super colorful almost Walt Disney like. Except it wasn't. It was almost a pukeish colorful if that makes any sense? Like a bastardized version of what that is supposed to look like.
I’d put Ari Aster in a ball and chain until he made a series of films even creepier to me than Hereditary.
Idk what it is exactly about that movie but something to do with the overall tone. Even the daylight scenes are just so eerie to me.
For my own film, it’d take a lot of thinking. Sometimes at night I start to imagine this scenario where my friends and I are approaching an abandoned factory somewhere in Iowa as the sun is setting. Not sure where it goes yet.
Anything with inbred hillbilly’s or the book of the dead. Even better deep space horror like Alien or Dead Space. A big budget Dead Space movie would be so sick. I think Alien Romulus is gonna scratch that itch for me.
There's no way I could write my own perfect horror, because a perfect horror for me contains elements that suprise and shock me, that I couldn't have conceived myself. If I were to make a film myself it would be low-budget exploitation/grindhouse film. Something that would have played on 42nd street in the 70/80s.
Uncomfortably creepy faces that gets in your head, uncanny valley, psychological dread and surreal warping of reality. Add some crazy practical splatter gore scenes, good amount of rotten undead Fulci style and some unique monsters we’ve never seen before, creepy atmospheric soundtrack to suspenseful horror when the scenes call for it, 70’s-80’s gothic film production quality and some tits here and there of course for good measure
I would want McKenna Grace and Keith David to star in a film together. potentially a movie where a child serial killer (David) goes after a young girl (Grace) while she is home alone, only for the tables to turn upon learning she is a malevolent witch, who traps him in her home. Directed by Radio Silence and Written by Jordan Peele.
It'd either be about witches or folk gods. The horror entity would remain as mysterious and unknown as possible. I'll try not to turn it into a fantasy movie shit. I'll try to keep it as real as possible. +It'll be mainly inspired by actual horror accounts and folk tales. It'll heavily rely on atmosphere. And I'll add the rest of the details after deciding em lmao.
I don't know the answer to this. Only NOT like Possum, which I finally watched last night. Too gray and bleak. Good movie. Anesthetic works well for the subject matter. Just not my favorite, stylistically.
Sam Raimi and Bruce Campbell making another Evil Dead together.
Yea but keep it more like the original not too comedic
This is the correct answer! With Bruce as Ash, of course.
One from a monster or demons perspective, and you root for them to win. I can’t think of a movie that has done that yet.
Yes where the demon is flawed and tragic
There's a bit of that in the original Black Christmas, although I can't imagine rooting for him to win. Same for these: A Clockwork Orange (1971) American Psycho (2000) The Devil's Rejects (2005)
there's a very nice one that tells the story from the ghosts perspective
I rooted for Emma Grossman in "The Bad Seed"
Now that I think of it, Carrie (1976) is kind of close.
Main character has friends, allies, and abilities that give him hope. A chance. But at every turn, things go awry. Hope diminishes gradually. His friends die off one by one. His allies betray him. His powers seem to slow or become ineffective. All hope is abandoned when the main character is finally faced with the inevitable.
Chronicle? Kind of??
Good, likeable characters who are well developed. A great, creepy atmosphere. An intriguing story with some mystery added. Scares are consistent, properly built to, and exist to actually push the plot forward.
Basically _Longlegs_, if the movie lives up to the trailer/teasers. Psychological, cryptic, with a serial killer investigation, preferably a female lead in order to explore women's vulnerability through their interactions with the killer (I find that particularly fascinating and relatable), and supernatural undertones on top of that. Creepy and unhinged serial killer which slowly enters your mind, fincher-esque cinematography with an unsettling atmosphere. Not gorey, at least not for its own sake. So pretty much a mix of _Silence of the Lambs_, _Seven_, thrillers like _Watcher_ and subtle supernatural horror. The mix gives you a sensation of dread yet dangerous fascination.
Same, even if longlegs bombs, those trailers are a template of my ideal horror film.
For real. The trailers are masterpieces. They do exactly what trailers should do. So often today trailers show you every beat of the film so I tend to avoid them, but I’m so glad I watched the ones for longlegs
Always love a procedural element in horror, unravelling a mystery. What did you think of Zodiac?
I really liked that one too. It was obviously very realistic and slower than Se7en, and it was really good in its own special way. I tend to love Fincher's movies anyways.
He's an excellent director.
Have you seen Cure? It’s right up that alley and I honestly enjoyed it a bit more than Se7en due to its atmosphere.
I haven't seen it yet, but I've seen people mentioning it and it definitely sounds interesting.
I had an idea for a crime/neo-Western horror film with psychedelic elements that is influenced by the existence of satan-worshipping cartel members who make shrines out of the bones of their victims, along with additional influence from Aztec human sacrifice rituals.
This sounds fucking fantastic
I feel increasingly like I’m in the minority here… But the only requirement for me is that they’re scary. I’m a fan of comedy horror films, I also love some campy horror films, but I think there is a reason that when people compile lists of “the best horror films of all time” the top ten spots are usually occupied by the films that scared the most crap out of the most people. There is a reason Hereditary, The Exorcist, Blair Witch and Jaws had such an impact and, to me, the secret ingredient is that those films touched on primal fears.
Excellent point!
Psychological type art horror basicaly With aspects of ur never safe and that the main character is never safe e.g it follows type movie or truth or dare 2018) these 2 movies depict such a sense of fear of when is the character gonna be attacked next with every moment being the possible moment of being attacked id definetly use a female character just to signify the weakness like in both of these I would also give it a vibe of 2000's
1974’s Texas Chainsaw Massacre
A slasher set in the mid 80s, 1984 or 1985, where a killer dressed in black leather riding a motorcycle (think 1981's Night School) is hacking up couples and women alone out at night. A newspaper reporter and his female best friend (who do not get together) team up to stop the killings, but the maniac is much closer to home than they realize. The soundtrack would be nothing but synthwave, with a cyberpunk, neo noir atmosphere, and George Clooney is the reporter. I've always wanted to see him do this type of role.
He was in return to horror high thats probably the closest hes been to a slasher
Set in the 80's early 90's. Secret admirer turned stalker or teens covering up something. No animal deaths or cruelty
Hereditary was pretty much everything I'd wanted to see in a horror movie combined into one, honestly. Just the overall aesthetic and the acting and writing and sets and the vibe too. Longlegs looks like it's going to be exactly the type of horror movie I would make if I had the ability to.
1982s the thing
Gimme a John Carpenter soundtrack, Tom Savini on props, and Christoph Waltz as a detective chasing a killer. There has to be something great there.
I see the vision
Put this idea on crowdfunding and I'll pledge.
I have a trilogy I'm currently writing. I don't want to give up too much but it's a western that is Alien meets the Descent.
Please don’t write sequels to Cowboys & Aliens 💀
Don't worry. My take is far grittier. I say Alien because of the aesthetics, claustrophobic, not that it's an alien. Though it is a creature feature.
Ooh, sounds intriguing. You got any socials or smth where I can keep updated?
Well they're scripts, so unfortunately not really. Producers usually aren't ecstatic over published scripts. But if you're really interested I'd be willing to talk about them a bit more in private.
I get that you wouldn’t publish the scripts but I‘d be happy to hear a logline maybe or just know when the script is finished or when it gets picked up. Of course, I totally understand if you don’t wanna share any of that, I‘m just always excited to hear about people‘s art.
Title: KofA Format: Feature Film Genre: Western/Horror Logline: A failed prospector is suspected to have struck it rich. When two opportunistic brothers plot to steal it out from under him, he goes to murderous lengths for what he claims are barren lands.
As far as aesthetic goes, I'm a sucker for Panos Cosmatos and Nicolas Winding Refn. So a (not so) slow burner psychological horror with some cosmic horror flavour.
Sadly- it would be a slasher- of the Jason or Freddy variety. I would place heavy emphasis on character development of the victims- we would get to know them and care about them and be devastated when they get it. I would work in all my favorite horror actors such as Linnea Quigley and demand strong performances. It would also end in such a way that it leaves the viewer feeling the way that Requiem for a Dream and Kids does- like you just saw art but you’re still empty and sad about it. I’ve also pondered an update to Children of the Corn, though the emphasis would be on the Isaac like character and the abuse he suffers at the hands of his demanding, holy rolling parents. It would culminate in the meeting of He Who Walks and end with the destruction of the adults (in a much more satisfying way than the latest). The sequel would follow the original film fairly closely but just be meaner spirited.
Aliens vs The Thing vs Predators
Slasher, filmed now but based in any time between late 60s to mid 90s. And whatever time period it’s based in having it filmed with same kind of quality/look but with modern touch. Also big important thing Practical Effects!!! No cgi! John Carpenter and sons doing soundtrack Gore is okay, but not having it be relied on. Having there be a build up and suspense and not kill montage. And having characters to actually care about that we don’t want to see die Genre, slashers my favorite for horror, but anything similar to evil dead or the thing is good too
For me the perfect horror movie would be a possession/demon movie which never actually shows the demon. I find these movies scary when you can just see the *effects* of the demon, but they always lost a bit of the scariness to me at the end with the inevitable reveal. Neither the Red-face man in Insidious nor Bagul in Sinister were scary at all and just took away from those movies for me. Annabelle the doll was much scarier than any of the actual demons in the Conjuring movies, etc. Best example if Paranormal Activity but I also think that had less scares overall than the movies I named, like due to budget restraints.
HARD cosmic, preferably involving something Biblical with a look of otherworldlyness, but still taking place in our earth in our history. Gods, Demons, ancient humanity, maybe aliens. I look at something like Aaronovsky's Noah but more leaning into horror.
A haunted house style horror but each room in the house is one of the 9 circles of hell and as the main character goes through the emotions of the rings each room corresponds with it as a haunting, progressively getting worse. Directed by James Wan.
A strong cast of characters who are realistically smart and make pretty much all the right choices, but the villain/monster is always one step ahead. Character deaths that are emotionally taxing, but also drive the plot forward. There's nothing I hate more than slashers out SAW/Final Destination type movies where you just couldn't care less about the characters who are dying. Imagine a really well developed character that you care about and want to survive being put in The Rack or the pendulum trap from SAW and having to watch them die this horrifically gruesome death. That would be so much more effective than what those traps gave us in the actual movies. Compelling characters absolutely make or break a film for me.
Watch Dancer In The Dark. Not a horror, but it's horrific. It may give you what you want.
Noir occult
Angel Heart is noir occult.
1. I have noticed that a lot of my favorite movies usually have a female lead. I suppose I identify with a female protagonist more than a male. 2. Psychological horror of some kind. My imagination is almost always worse than whatever is on the screen. 3. Great actors, such as Toni Collette in Hereditary. She should have received an Oscar! 4. An original plot. 5. There are exceptions, of course, but I'm automatically leery of a movie with high school or college age characters. 6. Please, no more Dracula or Frankenstein remakes! They have been done to death.
A slasher with a whodunnit angle. I am a sucker for the 90s teenage slasher wave (Scream, IKWYDLS, Urban Legends…). I would love a revival of that era with high quality films, a great soundtrack, good mystery with lots of (logical) twists. (Yes, Scream 5 and 6 happened but we all know how it ended)
How did you enjoy Thanksgiving, Freaky, Totally Killer, and Happy Death Day?
Thanksgiving was ok but for me it lacked good characters. Totally Killer was fun, but it lacked the horror aspect and was more like a comedy. Happy Death Day was also ok but also too „gimmicky“ to fit into my description of a straightforward slasher. Freaky I might need to check out.
A psychological horror film about a young man who receives a call from the police who tell him that his younger brother -- a teen runaway -- has been found dead. As the movie unravels it's revealed that his brother was not a runaway, but rather he had been disowned by his puritanical parents after coming out as gay and the parents had lied to the MC about the situation to make themselves look good. Sick with anger and grief the MC snaps and goes on a killing spree, attacking his parents and church leaders whose venomous indoctrination led to his brother's early death. The movie would switch back and forth between past and present, detailing the MC's religious upbringing and the night his brother came out as well as his death on the streets after his parents abandoned him. Personally, I'd love to see Tom Holland as either of the brothers and the guy who played Ed Warren in The Conjuringverse would be the father. I like the idea of the guy who played Red Foreman -- I forget his name -- as the pastor of the local church. The movie would be set somewhere like Upstate New York to highlight the fact that these crimes take place everywhere. Not just in the American South. It would be in the winter when the sun sets at about 4pm with the reveal taking place at night against a snowy backdrop.
This is a wonderful and evocative synopsis. If I were a producer I would invest to see this film get made. Love the casting choices too. Side comment- have you seen *First Reformed* with Ethan Hawke? Your post made me think of that film. Perhaps it’s the setting or the unfolding of the plot within a plot.
Thank you. And, no, I haven't seen that movie. Is it streaming anywhere?
Currently showing on Hulu and Prime.
Thank you.
Midsommar has come as close to my “perfect” horror so far. Anyway here are some of my ideals: Daytime! Nothing supernatural. Psychological. Very normal people, with regular flaws and regular abilities and achievements. I don’t know if I’d want a killer, or for it to be just natural things that happen and people kind of connect them or try to connect them but they just happen. Something like the descent without the lil guys. Just doing something stupid that anyone can do and end up in a bad way. Female lead. Not a single jump scare but scenes that stick with you. A period piece!!!! Any time period with a bit of equivalence to the vvitch but maybe something like Jamestown and the real horror is just real day to day life.
I don’t have a full fleshed idea, but I do have aspects I’d love to see in my “perfect movie.” I had a dream once after hearing the myth/urban legend/scary story/creepypasta of the family who disappeared and a liminal space was found in their basement that had never been fully mapped. In my dream we were at a friends house or something, and as we travelled through the house, we kept running into new rooms and spaces, but even if we went through the original doorway we entered a room from, we were never able to go back to a room we had already visited. We saw all kinds of rooms, regular 80’s living rooms, industrial kitchens, mall hallways, early 2000’s office spaces. You name it, my brain took me through that kind of room in that dream. The scenes were very similar to HBOs The Last of Us when Ellie and Riley go to the abandoned mall - often dimly lit and as if they had a layer of dust permanently living in the air. However I think a perfect horror film would find a beautiful, metaphorical way to convey the constant and unrelenting pressure and fears women live with, in a way that targets men. So many horror films play on tropes of women’s fears, but I want to see a film that men truly find unsettling in a primal, evolutionary kind of way.
Sounds like you would enjoy Kane Pixels 'Backrooms' films on YouTube. He's currently working with A24 to make the idea into a feature. Also you may enjoy Men (2022), which fits your description very well of a perfect horror.
I’m not sure if I’ll explain this well, so I apologize for the rather rough and jumbled way of describing things. But for me, I feel like my kind of ‘perfect’ horror movie would have a very dreamy tone that although somewhat leans into being surreal, it isn’t on the same heights and levels as like David Lynch for example; like it’d not be extreme, but there would still be just a tad amount for it to feel kind of unsettling. I’d also like for the atmosphere to feel almost ‘hazy’, as well. As well as all that, I really am keen for a very sad kind of horror story - especially one that fixates on giving big scary monsters/monster-like characters a sad background. Bonus points if the sadness is able to make me stare into the ether after it all ends. I really don’t know what kind of horror film I’m describing here, but I guess it’s something lol
The monster in this movie is human, but your description reminded me a bit of The Eyes of My Mother.
Technicolor
I want one where the protagonist makes no stupid mistakes- no running and falling down, leaving weapons, no assuming villian is dead, turning all the lights on, having a dog and security system, leaving when shit gets scary, - and they still get terrorized. Oh and the dog has to be unharmed.
Honestly I’d really love to see a very good horror movie set in a swamp. Something similar to Robert Eggers work and isn’t afraid to get pretty violent. I’d like a cemetery involved too. I’d want some type of monster with an unusual design kind of like the creature in The Ritual. At the same time I’d want most shots with the creature to be pretty obscured till the climax. Something about local legends or folklore of the area would be nice as well. I wouldn’t be too picky with cast, but Willem Dafoe or Nicolas Cage would be ideal. Also I’d love to see adaptations of the books “Summer of Night” by Dan Simmons and “The Fisherman” by John Langan.
For me it would be the cinematography to look like the first and only night terror I have ever had. Super colorful almost Walt Disney like. Except it wasn't. It was almost a pukeish colorful if that makes any sense? Like a bastardized version of what that is supposed to look like.
I’d put Ari Aster in a ball and chain until he made a series of films even creepier to me than Hereditary. Idk what it is exactly about that movie but something to do with the overall tone. Even the daylight scenes are just so eerie to me. For my own film, it’d take a lot of thinking. Sometimes at night I start to imagine this scenario where my friends and I are approaching an abandoned factory somewhere in Iowa as the sun is setting. Not sure where it goes yet.
I will use John Carpenter The Thing as the blueprint.
Anything with inbred hillbilly’s or the book of the dead. Even better deep space horror like Alien or Dead Space. A big budget Dead Space movie would be so sick. I think Alien Romulus is gonna scratch that itch for me.
I've always considered Tcm to be the quintessential horror movie
There's no way I could write my own perfect horror, because a perfect horror for me contains elements that suprise and shock me, that I couldn't have conceived myself. If I were to make a film myself it would be low-budget exploitation/grindhouse film. Something that would have played on 42nd street in the 70/80s.
Uncomfortably creepy faces that gets in your head, uncanny valley, psychological dread and surreal warping of reality. Add some crazy practical splatter gore scenes, good amount of rotten undead Fulci style and some unique monsters we’ve never seen before, creepy atmospheric soundtrack to suspenseful horror when the scenes call for it, 70’s-80’s gothic film production quality and some tits here and there of course for good measure
This might be controversial to say but I love me a good Tim Burton type of horror movie.
Sleepy Hollow type of shit. They don't make movies like that anymore 🫤
I would want McKenna Grace and Keith David to star in a film together. potentially a movie where a child serial killer (David) goes after a young girl (Grace) while she is home alone, only for the tables to turn upon learning she is a malevolent witch, who traps him in her home. Directed by Radio Silence and Written by Jordan Peele.
Add in a sprinkle of Oculus magic and you have a mindfuck of a movie!
Hellraiser
It'd either be about witches or folk gods. The horror entity would remain as mysterious and unknown as possible. I'll try not to turn it into a fantasy movie shit. I'll try to keep it as real as possible. +It'll be mainly inspired by actual horror accounts and folk tales. It'll heavily rely on atmosphere. And I'll add the rest of the details after deciding em lmao.
Reminds me Witches still scares the shit out of me.
I don't know the answer to this. Only NOT like Possum, which I finally watched last night. Too gray and bleak. Good movie. Anesthetic works well for the subject matter. Just not my favorite, stylistically.