Horror and Terror - Two letters difference in spelling, a world of difference in practice

Horror and Terror - Two letters difference in spelling, a world of difference in practice

The difference between horror and terror (bar the first two letters of each word) when put into practice provide very different results. Terror is best described as the skin crawling dread you feel as you slowly climb the creaking staircase, your mind telling you to run away from the unknown sound upstairs, whilst your body continues its shaking zombie like march up the stairs, desperate to know what is making that unearthly sound. Horror is when you open the door to your bedroom and see that it is your mother shrieking at the pornography you've left playing on your laptop (not a true story, I promise).

In simple terms, terror is the feeling preceding the horror. Terror is the foreplay on the way to the big messy climax of bodily fluids all over the walls. The majority of horror movies, rush through the terror, desperate to get to the horror (I think the foreplay and sex metaphor still holds up here). I don't begrudge horror films for going the fast food route to horror, I mean they are called horror films.

The classics - although the original Halloween is more terror over horror

Classic examples of horror films relying on the horror over terror are your Friday the 13th's, Nightmare on Elm Street's, and Saw's. The emphasis, particularly as each series went on, was less on the build up to the kills and more the kills themselves. The camera would lovingly ache over gallons of gore and guts sprayed across the room, caused by Freddy's finger knives, Jason's machete, or Jigsaws latest murderous carnival-esque game.

In small doses, a shot of pure horror is highly effective. One of my favourite horror movies, The Descent builds and builds until the tension is too much before unleashing bloody hell upon its caving protagonists. Another classic, Jaws sets up several perfectly placed jolts of horror, be it the "You're gunna need a bigger boat" scene, or a sudden appearance of a decapitated head deep under water, the horror is earned every time and the audience reaction is there to prove it. Stories of popcorn being thrown sky high during original screenings of Jaws are believable.

However, what is key to these moments of horror, and the prime reason they are successful is that they are earned through the terror that is paved on the way to the horror. Jaws wouldn't be half as successful as it was if every five minutes Bruce (the name of the shark) was jumping out of the water to the sound of shrieking violins. The Descent wouldn't be the nerve shredding experience it is if (and I won't spoil it here) the bad guy was jumping out shouting "boo-ga-loo" every five minutes.

Having said all that - this scene was prime terror (until it got bang noisy)

Films like Paranormal Activity and The Conjuring have proved highly successful in the last few years. It is undeniable that they do trade upon a certain amount of well wrought terror. They take time and effort into setting up their scares (The Conjuring is far more expert in its set ups, using interesting camera angles and scenarios that are unavailable to the found footage Paranormal Activity). But both these films fail in execution. They are both so eager to show you the goods that either the monsters or spirits or spooks are appearing in full glory within five minutes of the movie starting, or when they appear it isn't the fact they've appeared that is scary it is only making you jump due to the monster bringing the full London Philharmonic Orchestra with them. Well done film-makers, you've discovered that humans will jump at loud noises. Very scary.

However, to me there has been a concentrated push back against this type of horror, this "violin-shoulder" horror (i.e. hand appears from behind on a character's shoulder, for some reason their shoulder sets off an army of violins, audience jumps, job done). This push back has been most evident in three films over the past few years - The Babadook, It Follows, and The Witch.

In my mind, these three films have terror as their priority, letting the horror naturally flow on. The result of this method is that if and when any overt horror comes, be it in a sudden terrible image of a ghoul, or an actual jump scare - they hit home every single time. Without spoiling them, or ever really touching on the particulars of plot, I'll briefly discuss how each one of these fantastic films hits the mark for me.

It Follows uses masterful cinematography to create a constant sense of lingering and unstoppable terror, which is perfectly inline with its antagonist: an unstoppable force, ever chasing, never giving up. It Follows focuses on long single takes, forcing the viewer to take in every aspect on screen. Is that the thing in the background, slowly making its way to the unknowing protagonist? It Follows lingers on terror.

It Follows - I think I can see which one is It...

The Babadook: Perfect book for your pesky nephew

The Babadook also uses terror in its filming techniques but for me the terror is more in the storytelling. The film's uncomfortable mix of a potentially supernatural threat and mental illness and loss results in an atmosphere of unease mingled with uncertainty leaves the viewer as confused and scared as its protagonist so that when the titular terror does reveal itself, it catches you off guard as much as the players.

The Witch: The most terrifying goat in all cinema. Honest.

And finally The Witch has one of the most oppressive uses of atmosphere I've even seen in any film. Every frame is shrouded in a pervasive darkness, which coupled with the film's use of language and setting, presents to the viewer an alien world. When the jump scares come in this film, they are few and far between, but they hit hard every single time. I saw this in a packed cinema and there were audible moans of horror when certain scenes landed. One in particular towards the end uses no jump scare, no music cue, just a voice and some darkness, and it nearly made look away in fear for what I may see.

So if you find yourself bored with being covered in buckets of blood and predictable phantoms, check out It Follows, The Babadook, and The Witch. They may be a hard slog for you if your kinda horror is fixed on the blood and boo formula, and good for you if it is. You'll never go hungry if that's the stuff you want to devour. But if you've grown tired of the same old bile and bits, try these three films for a taste of frazzled grey matter.

Sleep tight, don't let the Babadook bite.

P.S This blog post went on a bit longer than expected so my promised review of Under the Shadow will come along next week, all by itself.