2. Cultivate A Slow Build: The Fear Of The Unknown Is Powerful
The common element in all of my descriptions of fear is uncertainty. You don't know what, who, how, where, or when. The more uncertainty there is, the more (and longer) you have to be vigilant. The more vigilant you have to be, the bigger the threat. And of course, the bigger the threat, the more scared you are. A truly scary movie has you believing something could follow you outside the theater, and that doesn't happen without a profound sense of mystery. All of the unanswered questions of the movie converge in your mind to form the most sinister and imagined horrors which you instantly breathe into your own personal life, unable to help yourself. Nothing I actually write could be worse than what you privately imagine. This is something that Hollywood desperately needs to understand as it makes more scary movies. The anticipation is worse than the actual event. The longer the reveal is dragged out, the more unsettled the audience becomes, and very few movies have done this well.
Movies That Got It Right: Alien Ju-On The Shining