Member Blog Post

I have started a list (actually I've been working on this for a while...) of what makes a horror film, meaning what are the component parts that it breaks down into? Not so much plot, but what are the pieces of the story that go together. Like, what is the paradigm of horror? 

I've come up with a list of at least a few pieces. I'll post one a day or so, depending on how my time goes. For now, here's number one. Feel free to comment and tell me what you think:

1) Prior bad thing. There has to be something which happened either slightly or much earlier, which was bad. A tragedy, or a death, or a fire. Something before the story opens.

Examples: The ship crashes in The Thing. Also arguably the Norwegian camp in The Thing. The earlier alien race encountering the aliens in Alien, and setting up the warning beacon. Several events in The Woman in Black, most recent and obvious, the childrens' deaths.

More to come, stay scary. ;)>