What Must Happen In The First 10 Minutes Of A Horror Movie - Steven Shea

[@BooBooGlue1]

What about Rosemary's Baby? The Exorcist starts off in Iraq for the first 10 min. I hate hard line rules. It contributes to the shite movies today.

[@100footsie]

My thoughts exactly.

[@100footsie]

Psycho didn't have a kill in the first five minutes, and it was a classic.

[@DovieRuthAuthor]

Rosemary's Baby breaks the rules but it's still a classic. Scared my pants off! Loved your Japanese haunted house story. Thanks for sharing.

[@mojo6112]

*Rules are meant to be broken.* Nowadays the viewer knows what to expect from a horror movie (unlike in the past) and so they need to be refreshed, the movie has to take them somewhere they've never been to and not a ruling they've whitnessd 1k times. The awsome thing about the time we live in is that just by read8ng the genre of the movie, the viewer's imagination already builds up a preception of what's to come.. and that's a perfect opportunity to shock him/her, a perfect opportunity for change, and a perfect opportunity to make the movie with context that have been gathered from 100s of horror movie intros. It kinda does the work (the writing) for you

[@filmcourage]

What do you think should happen in the first 10 minutes of a horror movie? Is slower pacing more effective?

[@Spragon]

Works both ways. Night of the Living Dead and the original Pet Semetary are two of my favorite horror movies. NOTLD is off the the races right as it starts. Pet Sematary sets the mood and takes about 20 minutes before creepy things start to happen. Then there’s Who Can Kill A Child? which is one of the most effective horror movies I’ve ever seen and it takes practically half the movie before you get to the horror, but it’s all the better for it. There’s countless examples for both arguments.

[@southlondon86]

For the 30+ audience I think slower pacing is more effective. Under 30s apparently have slower attention spans so something big should definitely happen in the first ten minutes.

[@nrrork]

Scream almost did it TOO well, it was the best part of the movie by a mile.

[@isaacwest276]

I think it's also important to fear for the character. For example I love the Alien (you were right, it's Alien that had the long intro), I frankly enjoy seeing it get a kill (hopefully that didn't sound insane or too dark), but I would be scared for Corporal Hicks and Newt (from Aliens) because I really enjoyed those characters, I feared for those characters which was created because the challenge before them, the challenge of surviving the aliens was insurmountable. A Quiet Place is a another great example, but to avoid spoilers I won't explain why. So to sum up what I just said, I think it's important to fear for the character, and that's done by making the audience enjoy the character (a cheap and lazy way of doing that is having an attractive cast) and making the opposition (whether it's a ghost, a murderer or a monster) seem unstoppable.

[@channingparker9431]

Death Proof by Quentin Tarantino is probably on of my all time favorite movies. Can't exactly call it a horror film but, it breaks a few rules and I love it..

[@halfxbreed23]

Most definitely a horror movie. A twist on iconic slashers. Grindhouse altogether was horror.

[@EasyZee69]

I think it goes without saying that you need a kill or something equally engaging in the first ten minutes of a horror movie these days. Anyone who has watched a horror has noticed this formula. Problem is, it's usually not engaging. The reason is, since it takes place in the first few minutes of the movie, we don't get a chance to know the character that gets killed, we don't get a chance to care about the character, usually we don't even know their name. They are just some rando that gets killed to let you know what kind of a movie you are in for. But that's boring. Seeing a character you don't know get killed is boring. I don't know why they continue to do keep this as a formula. It has become a joke by every movie reviewer on you tube, when a the first kill happens all reviewers say "Good bye person I don't know and don't care about". If producers were aware that audiences find this a joke, they would stop that nonsense immediately.

[@zionleach3001]

Could you at least have one-liners like in Resident Evil 4. The characters make occasional jokes. But when the story needs to be serious they don't make jokes?

[@dante22723]

If it suits the story and tone then I’m sure it’s fine

[@zionleach3001]

@@dante22723 Something like Monster Hunter International or Supernatural. A contemporary dark fantasy setting. With jokes and the occasional comedic moment.

[@zionleach3001]

@ThisIsNotReel IDK. Arcane and Castlevania did fairly well. But I guess it has to do if the writer/ director actually likes and understands the source material. It took what 5 episodes of Halo for the writers to get it together. Cause I highly doubt the UNSC would try to kill Master Chief when he's the only thing keeping humanity alive.

[@CriticalEatsJapan]

I live near Fuji Q ---the hospital is a good one👍

[@tedlogan5628]

Gotta have at least 1 Cat jump scare and then someone needs to trip and fall as they’re running for their life….(too many horror movies from the 80’s-90’s)

[@concernedcitizen7385]

Less is more.. and cheaper to shoot 😆

[@YogGroove]

Hereditary breaks this rule and was great

[@southlondon86]

Very true

[@plisskenetic]

No it doesn't, the girl definitely didn't get killed in the first 5 mins

[@محمدعبدالوهابعبدالحليم]

Full interview? 🤍

[@filmcourage]

We still have a little ways to go but we are getting closer. Thank you for watching!

[@123rockfan]

Misery breaks this rule. I love the quiet, melancholic beginning. And you learn all about Paul Sheldon’s character in just 5 minutes.

[@Mr.Goodkat]

It has a car crash in the first minutes so it is providing that sudden "grab" the audience device.

[@robertsmith3339]

What about ALIEN 1979? You didn't have anyone died until over half way into the movie.

[@TheSachmo6]

I think Alien gets a break because it’s sci-fi horror and needs to meet with those tropes as well. world building, etc.

[@AceProductions91]

He’s wrong about Abbott and Costello lol. Those weren’t made until almost 10 years after the Great Depression.

[@Wordsley]

These Rock!

[@mojo6112]

Im glad that the people in the comments realize that THAT is not the only way to do it and that it's not Definitive Rule

[@tolvfen]

If there is one human on a deserted planet and a xenomorph? There would not be a story, if the first character dies?

[@Casper0123]

I remember going to Fuji Q as a kid. It was a nightmare . I remember guys coming out of water at the board area

[@JayTaylor3dollarfilms]

We need something fresh with horror. The Scream franchise ( while terribly successful) are the worst horror movies as it combines useless kills. characters that know they're in a horror movie, yet still behave like cliché horror characters. Useless twists on whom the killer is treated like intelligent writing. Just awful.

[@thereccher8746]

This is so rigid it's ridiculous. How would you pull of something like thins in a sub-genre that doesn't involve deaths like haunted house films?

[@stevencruz4563]

Nerf Herder t-shirt is rad af!