10 Genius Suspense Tricks That Made Horror Movies Great

Without question the most divisive horror film of the year so far is Kyle Edward Ball's experimental Skinamarink - a low-budget film about two children who wake up in the middle of the night, can't find their father, and are terrorised by a supernatural presence.

Skinamarink is most notable for its incredibly unique, tough-to-place aesthetic, which ensures it offers up a nightmarish vision quite like anything else out there.

Ball achieved this through one devilishly simple yet highly effective technique, and it's one that 99% of filmmakers would understandably avoid.

The film's images contain a high amount of visual noise, creating a texture that makes it feel like we're watching somebody's home video footage, even though Skinamarink categorically isn't a found footage movie.

Ball achieved this by raising the ISO (light sensitivity) of his camera as high as 102,000 while working in low-light conditions, creating a highly noisy image reminiscent of old video formats.

For context, most Hollywood productions will try to keep the ISO below 800 in most situations and, rather than raise the ISO higher and risk introducing noise, add lights to the scene instead.

Yet Ball wanted anything but a crisp image, ensuring that the movie's visual style resembles a nightmare or faded memory from childhood. Love or hate the movie, in terms of pure style it's a technique that works brilliantly.