10 Subtle Ways Horror Movies Made You Feel Uneasy
Taking a look at the way subtlety can actually provide the biggest scares.
If you watch a lot of horror, you'll have been exposed to a lot of disturbing things. You name it, we've probably seen it, right? Demonic possession, violent hauntings, stalking killers and crazed psychotic clowns are just a few of the things we've all seen as we've followed the genre over the years. Yet there's often something quite unsettling and creepy about the more subtle aspects of the scary flicks we tune into. Things that we find frightening that are anything but explicit, gory or in-your-face freaky.
Maybe it's the sound effects in the background which you've not given much thought to, the unusual demeanour of a central character or perhaps that you can spend 90 minutes in a film before actually seeing anything explicitly scary with your own eyes. Whatever it is, there are certainly subtle elements to many horror films that hitch-up the scares and it's not hard to see why.
In this list, the spotlight is on ten great horror movies that manage to make us feel uneasy in some of the most subtle, unusual ways. Sit back and discover the reasons these movies freaked you out so much; you might be surprised.
10. The Sound Techniques - The Exorcist
Most horror fans will have watched the iconic, classic release of The Exorcist, which was unleashed into the world in 1973 to much excitement and religious fervour. It was directed by William Friedkin and starred Linda Blair as sweet Regan MacNeill, a young girl who is eventually tormented and possessed by a demon.
The film itself is creepy enough, as it explores in-depth the evil that takes over the child, but some of the elements of this iconic 70s production make a startling impact on the fear-factor. For instance, it has been said that Friedkin used sounds recorded at an abattoir, which were played in the background of key possession scenes. Added to that, the voice of the tormented Regan was made all the more disturbing with the use of a voice-over by actress Mercedes McCambridge.
McCambridge provided Regan's speech, and stated that she smoked several packs of cigarettes a day in order to get the raspy, creepy effect of the demon's voice. She was also reported to have eaten raw eggs and and drank volumes of whiskey, all in an attempt to make the voice coming out of the young girl feel exceptionally gritty and unnerving. The effect of hearing such a voice coming from a child is shudder-inducing.