10 Golden Rules For Making The Perfect Horror Movie
2. The Location Is Also A Character
Let me pose a rhetorical question about The Shining. Whose name do you remember more? The Hotel or the Butler who taunts Jack in the bathroom?
If you answered the latter, I probably just sabotaged my own argument, but bear with me here. This is something overlooked by many a hack horror director. There are no decisions more important in the writing process than where you set your horror film. The Witch premiered earlier this year to mixed reception from horror fans, but I've heard no one complaining about its setting. That was a film that made the woods of New England come to life in an oppressive and hope-draining way.
Similarly, the best horror films of all time make even the simplest and most comfortable locations into a home of nightmares.
Critics are right when they say the most important part of sublime horror is the atmosphere, but "atmosphere" could mean any number of things - cinematography, performance, music choices, sound mixing. It isn't as specific as many seem to think. The most effective pieces of atmospheric horror realize that you are only as comfortable as the environment surrounding you. If your environment feels like it's part of the horror, the horror feels like it's never letting up.
On top of that, if a horror film makes a relate-able environment a truly menacing element in its own atmosphere - say a summer camp or a suburban home - audience members will be reminded of the film whenever they visit such a place in their own lives. Not every great horror film needs that sort of location, but it's a fun perk if it does.