Watching A Horror Movie - Which Is More Effective ?

Hi kiran, in Black and White age of film industry the movie makers were sincere to maintain the original essence of the story. But now movie makers are more interested to make money. Their aim to hit the box office. Perhaps you watched the Indian film Devdas in Black and White and colored picture of Devdas. Thae later is far far away from the original story. But it is a hit movie.

oh yes, I really agree with you kiran. It seems that the old horror movies give me more thriller than the modern movies. Everytime I watch the new horror movie I will just laughing from the start till the end except for the movie-Ju-On- a japanese horror movie. I can say that the chilling and scary effects of the modern horror movies are not as effective as what we can see in old movies. Like you said the violence and bloodshed is everywhere in nowadays movies.

I think atmosphere is very important. So many people cringe when you mention a blac and white movie. I think they have a very fine affect on the viewer. Whether it is a horror movie or other type of film. There is something very authentic about black and white. I can't really explain it. I don't know if it might be that I was brought up with black and white. Maybe they seem more realistic because of this. Good acting goes along way too.

Which version did you watch ? Name and year ? It's a bit like asl

Hello Kiran ji, black and white film have their our glamour, some hindi films is black and white in their original version but these are too much good in colour version like Naya Dor. I watched colour version of dracula so I don't know too much about its black and white version.

in the latest scary and horror movies these days id on't think they are that effective. well, maybe it is because my mind has been immune to watch a lot of horror movies so i find it difficult to find something that really scares me.

Hello kiran. Back when these movies were first made the directors knew how to scare the bejesus out of their audiences. They also knew which actors could be scary. In the day I watched Bela Lugosi as a mad scientist. There is something about the way he held his hands that made you believe he really could be a mad scientist. And his eyes peeping behind a cape were very scary. Boris Karloff and his performance of the mummy became what he was famous for. I loved Vincent Price int the Edger Allen Poe movies Especially the pit and the pendulum. I don't watch those movies made today because they are just too gory.

Hi kiran! I have watched the Dracula film in black and white, too! You're right. It was chilling and I thought it was more better than the other Dracula films which were newer. And I agree too that it is important to create the right atmosphere in a horror movie. Bloodshed and violence do not entirely make a horror film scarier. I actually think those movies with a lot of psychological madness and less gore are more scarier.

I prefer horror films about supernatural beings rather than psychotic people (slasher flicks). Asian horror films are better in that aspect. They really get that dark, creepy, foreboding feel before springing a scare at you. And they don't have that much bloodshed. I agree that the atmosphere is what makes the film. Really agree. Having only black and white to work with can either be limiting or advantageous. I think it's more the latter because black and white already has that natural eeriness that horror movies need. It's not an excuse for color though. One would think that having all those colors to play with would help moviemakers do what black and white couldn't, but most of the time they go overboard. That may be due to the diminished attention span and increased craving for visuality of people today. If a movie doesn't make people's eyes spin with delight, chances are most would get bored. Some could just be desensitized to the more refined scares of classic horror films so they need a more graphic one. I do like zombie movies a lot though so I have no problem seeing guts spilling out all over the screen. :)

I agree totally, and some of the best directors can make even the most innocuous of thing scary. A good example is when a scene is in a quiet room and then a sudden noise, say a phone ringing breaks the silence and in doing so makes you jump. For me that is so more scary that watching a mutilated corpse lumber down a road. And to add to this old movie makers, especially in the horror genre knew the power of the individuals mind and allowed the audience to scare themselves by not letting you see everything, imagining something bad. Where as today horror is served up on a plate with no room for the audience to use their own imagination to scare themselves. There are still some directors who manage to create this sense of tension and atmosphere where you are scared by what may happen and what you think but in a world of MTV where it’s all about the visual the majority of movies cater for those who don’t want to use their own imagination.

The first thrill does last for a while, the precise reason I still am a fan of Hitchcock movies. The advantage of monochrome (B&W) format was that it hid a lot of detail in the shadows. This is the real trigger for the thrill seeking imagination. Violence and gore act on the fear part of emotion and we get used to it very fast. Vivid imagination is very hard to get used to and lasts a life time.

I am a huge fan of horror movies. I have always found myself to be more in awe of a black and white version. I think it is just more dramatic and suspenseful. You can put more of your own imagination into color that is not there. besides, there are just some horror films that need to be in black and white to be really appreciated.

Yes i do agree with you.horror is a feeling which cannot be generated by only using bloodshed and showing too much killing,too much ferocious murders. I have seen so many movies from the old days where the directors never showed ferociousness of the murder and not so much blood but it became a great horror movie.It depends on screen. Now-a-days the movies are releasing have very little content inside them,the story becomes monotonous killing. but in the old days the movies used to cover a wide range of area,and used teach us a moral.

I have to agree with. The original version with Bela Logosi is the best one. By today's standards that movie would see corny to the younger generation because of movies like SAW and other gory films. I'm a big fan of the old black and white horror films and it doesn't take a movie to show someone cutting up body parts to be considered a horror flick.

Yes, I had a Black and White version of Dracula too, some years back. That was really a horror. One evening. a friend of mine and I sat down in front of the TV and watched it. We did not get too far. After about thirty minutes, we become so horrified that we decided to turn off the TV. Otherwise , we won't be able to sleep well that night. That was how excellent the horror was.

I love all the original movies in their first viewings. I have Abbott and Costello meet Frankenstein on DVD. Before that I had it on VCR so kids could watch it too when they were smaller. Its a spoof on Dtacula and Frankenstein and the Wolfman. This couple were a comedy team but the way Costello played his part, he deffinately convinced you HE was scared. Its in black and white too. I saw the original Clash of the Titans too. Then went and saw the remake it was not the same.

The atmosphere plays a lot of roles in a horror movie. The most effective scare actually comes from the build up of the atmosphere to the moment of shock and awe. This is why Japanese horror movies are so successful, The Ring and The Grudge has proven this fact. On hollywood films, you can see a lot of horror movies that uses the films atmosphere to generate a scare nowadays, they are on the right track. I enjoy these types of films but I also enjoy the gory ones even though I'm not really scared of them. It might be my weird fascination for severed hands and limbs that I find gory horror films entertaining.

@kran Agree with you the film should create a lot of suspense and thrill so that the audience will get involved by the film then they can feel the exact thrill of the fear of the film For example "Sixth Sense" is a film that doesn't more of violence but the suspense in the film is too great and that's what made the film a hit