For Video Version, Copy and Paste This in Youtube Search: It How to Make a Modern Horror Movie

Ah, scary movies. There’s just something about them that makes us wanna keep watching. Maybe it’s the adrenaline rush that we get when we’re scared to death or maybe it’s that sense of accomplishment that we ¨made it¨ through something that terrifies us. Whatever it may be, we love horror movies, And It just became the highest grossing horror movie of all time and the fourth highest grossing R rated film at the box office, as well as having pretty good reviews. So why did it work?

Let’s talk about jump scares for a second. A jump scare is not necessarily bad, when properly executed. To execute a proper jump scare, you need two things: First a proper build up of tension. And the second requirement is that it’s not a false scare. Most of the jump scares in the movie are actually properly earned. They all have a proper build up and they aren’t false. The payoff would have been really good if only they hadn't added that stupid clang noise attached to every single scare in the movie. A loud noise isn’t scary. It’s definitely startling and annoying, but scary? Not in a million years. I highly recommend you watch The Problem with Horror Movies Today over on Chris Stuckmann´s channel where he thoroughly explains how people have forgotten what scary actually is. But the point is that what's actually scaring the kids in the movie is the frightening part, not an added loud noise. (To illustrate this point, let's watch this scene of the movie as it was originally released and now a sound edited cut where there´s no loud noise after the scare). Both of these clips are just as effective in their build up and pay off, but one is annoyingly stupid and the other one isn’t. It may seem like I’m complaining way too much about a jump scare tactic that has been used for years but there is a big problem here. And that is that these loud noises take you completely out of the movie experience as you´re fully immersed. It's frustrating. So why do pretty much all modern horror movies have them? Well, the obvious reason would be that ADD audiences have forgotten what true horror is. But the real reason is the same one why everything in It is blown out of proportion. The best example of this is the projector scene where Pennywise starts appearing on screen, which is probably the most horrific thing any one of those kids has ever seen in their lives. The situation itself is creepy. But then they had to show the huge clown coming out of the screen. (Sigh). Subtle moments like the page turning scene do not have a lasting impact on today's audiences. Speaking of modern audiences, let’s talk about the timing of the It release and why it’s so important.

The timing of the release was perfect. The obvious reason behind this is that it's been 27 years since the release of the 1990 Miniseries. But it does go beyond that. The release of an R rated It movie where kids throw around the f word like it's nothing (which is great by the way) is one reaction to the success of Deadpool two years ago, which showed that R rated movies can definitely turn a big profit. Ahhh and then there's the whole “What's old is new again¨. Star Wars, Jurassic World, Star Trek, Ghostbusters, Blade Runner, Alien, Clash of the Titans, A Nightmare on Elm Street, The Blair Witch Project, The A Team, Karate Kid, Tron, Gremlins, Mad Max, Starship Troopers, Jumanji, Robocop, The Mummy, and so on. In 2017 out of the top 20 highest box office movies, only 4 were original releases. It’s pretty clear that general audiences prefer familiar content instead of new approaches and stories. People are familiar with It, particularly because of Tim Curry´s pretty good performance in the miniseries. And we also have Stranger Things now, which is clearly a love letter to Stephen Kignisms and Steven Spielberg Isms from the 80’s. Retro is cool gain. And It has a very strong retro feel to it, very similar to Stranger Things.

So what was the point of this entire rant? It definitely wasn’t to hate on It, because it was actually a pretty good haunted house like experience with creepy moments and a memorable performance by Bill Skarsgard. But there’s a lot more to this than meets the eye. People loved It because it’s the perfect movie for modern day mainstream audiences. It had jumpscares, creepy clowns, retro kids from the 80’s that say shit and fuck and so on. It was a safe movie to make. The point of this video is just to illustrate how modern day massively popular films are pretty much genetically engineered to satisfy modern audiencies and are rarely the ramblings of a crazy man. I mean the vision of a director (Star Wars, Rian Johnson, Writer and Director). They’re like Original Glazed Doughnuts that are designed to make you fat. And this isn’t a hate letter to Hollywood either, this analysis is more observational than critical. So watch It, it’s pretty entertaining and you’ll have a good time watching it. The goal of this analysis is to create a more aware viewer that questions as to why certain things are in a movie putting them in a historical context, because big movies like these are always a direct representation of worldwide audiences.

For Video Version, Copy and Paste This in Youtube Search: It How to Make a Modern Horror Movie