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denouement, HALLOWEEN, IT FOLLOWS, NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET, PREDATOR, teaser, THE EXORCIST, THE RING, THE WAILING, three-act structure - October 26, 2022

HORROR STORYTELLING PART III: THE RETURN

Horror scripts are like any other screenplay; it’s of value to apply structure to the storytelling. However, I have a pet theory when it comes to structuring horror storytelling in particular. Which is this: Above and beyond the mechanics of standard three-act feature film narrative construction, there are three acts that correspond with the level of knowledge the in-world characters have about how haunted they are, and a teaser and denouement that are typically directed more toward the audience. To wit… Teaser. We open with a scene or sequence that acts as a “statement of intention.” It’s a horror movie,...

HORROR STORYTELLING

A horror story might be defined as a story in which the primary intention is to scare the audience. Being scared (within the confines of a safe environment) is fun. People spend money to watch horror movies and ride roller coasters for roughly the same reasons. In the same way a comedy needs to be funny in order to be successful, a horror movie needs to be scary. Scaring the audience isn’t just the prime goal, it’s the film’s raison d’etre. A movie that isn’t at least trying to scare the audience isn’t a horror movie; it’s something else. However,...

ON TITLES

The title is vital. It is the first point of contact between the script and the reader, and between the movie and the audience. When the audience comes to the theater and they look at the one-sheets and the marquee, the title is both the hook and the handle by which they shall make their ultimate decision: Which of these movies will they see? So let’s talk about titles. A good title accomplishes several tasks within just a word or few. The first task is to reflect the genre. We want to tell the audience what kind of experience they...

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