Recently, I've been thinking a lot about suspenseful situations in movies and other media. I feel that many movies and films go for a suspenseful angle, but fall a bit short.
Movies like the Friday the 13th and Nightmare on Elm St. films, which are intended to instill horror, fall somewhat short on the suspense scale. They reveal their villains/monsters somewhat early on, which removes some of the mystery.
When left up to their own imaginations, people will fill in the blanks themselves. Almost without fail, this will illicit more of a reaction than what Hollywood could do.
The movie Cloverfield, for example, does a great job of building suspense. The viewer sees nothing of the monster for 95% of the film, which allows them to build it up in their mind. When the creature is finally seen, it has a greater impact.
I feel that more movies should adapt that style. One may have created a truly terrifying monster, but why not amp up the effect by letting it stew in mystery for a while?
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