Shining named perfect scary movie

[edonline]

Shining named perfect scary movie

Stanley Kubrick's The Shining, starring Jack Nicholson, has been named the perfect scary film, according to a new mathematical formula.

The secret of making a scary movie has been calculated by university experts.

Scientists have worked out an equation to prove why thrillers like Psycho and the Blair Witch Project are so successful at terrifying audiences.

The formula combines elements of suspense, realism and gore, plus shock value, to measure how scary a film is.

Researchers spent two weeks watching horror films like The Exorcist, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and Silence of the Lambs in pursuit of the formula.

The model focuses on three major areas: suspense, realism and gore.

Shock impact

Factors considered include the use of escalating music, the balance between true life and fantasy, and how much blood and guts are involved.

As suspense plays such a pivotal role in the success of a scary film, its elements - escalating music, the unknown, chase scenes and a sense of being trapped - are brought together and then squared. Shock value is then added.

In addition, the experts say a film needs to be realistic to be truly frightening. Accordingly, they tried to balance out the parts which made a film either too unrealistic or too close to life.
They then looked at how many characters were in the movie, assuming audiences empathise with a smaller number of people.

The team at King's College, London also took into account the darkness of the film's setting.

The Shining's isolated setting, with the family living in a huge hotel closed down for the winter, and the shower scene in Psycho, were perfect examples of the winning formula, experts said.

The formula also looks at the levels of gore and offset this against the number of stereotypes present in the film.

Jaws was the perfect example of appropriate levels of gore in a film, researchers found.

"Steven Spielberg reached the optimum level perfectly allowing the viewer to see just enough blood to be scared of the Great White Shark, but not so much that it repulsed us," experts agreed.

The research was commissioned by Sky Movies, to launch a season of scary films.

SCARY MOVIE FORMULA
(es+u+cs+t) squared +s+ (tl+f)/2 + (a+dr+fs)/n
+ sin x - 1.
Where:
es = escalating music
u = the unknown
cs = chase scenes
t = sense of being trapped
s = shock
tl = true life
f = fantasy
a = character is alone
dr = in the dark
fs = film setting
n = number of people
sin = blood and guts
1 = stereotypes

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/entertainment/film/3537938.stm

Published: 2004/08/05 14:04:38 GMT

© BBC MMIV

[BorderEevilIII]

Stephen King must be rolling his eyes at this article....
The Shining is a chilling movie for what it was but high on the chain for scary movies? WELL.......:confused:

[one_crow_sorrow]

Well, those goddamn twins sure scared the fuck out of me.

[Hannibal21]

I wouldn't say it's the most perfect scary movie, but it definitely is up there, along with Psycho and The Exorcist

[Adornado]

Originally posted by Hannibal21
The Exorcist

If you were to watch that movie right now and when it was over could you actually say it's the perfect scary movie? I don't see how considering there is absolutley nothing even remotley frightening about The Exorcist. I'm positive it was scary back in the day but today..it's nothing.

[Heavenley]

I'll agree with it, The Shining is a masterpiece, and in my eyes perfection. Loved everything about it. As you can see by my avatar, it's my favorite film.

[Tayzlor]

I'm not quite sure whether The Shining is the scariest movie out there, but I definitely agree that it is the perfect scary movie.

I say that because it doesn't manipulate us with a score kicking in at the right moment to give us a thrill or rely on other cliched tactics. It lets us decide what to be thrilled by, and it makes us think. It scares us with its images and taps into our fears. The look on Jack's face as he watches Wendy and Danny play in the snow is more frightening to me than some devil child turning its head. In fact, Jack Nicholson's performance alone is probably more frightening/shocking than The Exorcist or The Blair Witch Project.

[Hucksta G]

The Shining's the only movie thats actually ever scared me and still gives me the creep's.

This may not be the perfect scary movie but its the closest I've ever seen.

[optimusprime]

The Exorcist is a fine movie I must say. It deserves all of the praise it gets. But it is not without flaws. The Shining however, is the perfect scary movie. That's all I got to say about that.

[ANavissi500]

The Shining did not scare me at all. I found it visually stunning, but it didn't reduce me to a quivering mass like The Ring did.

[cup_of_beef]

i just watched this movie a couple days ago (for the 100th time) And i have to agree, its the closest thing to a "perfect scary movie" as we have ever seen. Great Cast, great directing, and of course great story/source material. It never stoops to cheap thrills or dumbing down (like horror these days) it takes itself very seriously. Great movie!

after watching it the other day I checked out the original theatrical trailer. The trailer is great, only showing the movie name, cast, and director (scrolling up) with the elevator in the background, after the credits roll the elevator door opens up letting all the blood flow. Very effective IMO. If i saw that trailer i'd be first in line when the movie opened :D

[cup_of_beef]

on another note, the exorcist is a great movie, but scary?? not really (for me atleast). with that 12 year old girl screaming FUCK ME!! FUCK ME!! its disturbing yes, but scary?? no

[Squid Vicious]

The perfect scary movie? No.

The most overrated scary movie? Yes.

[Pvt. Joker]

This movie was one of the only movies that ever scared the shit out of me. I was very young when I first seen it and had nightmares for nights on end. For me it was the scariest movie I have ever seen.

[Cronos]

one problem with this is that it isnt scary, creepy at times tho

[Jackass80]

Well, those goddamn twins sure scared the fuck out of me. [/QUOTE]

I agree. The Shining is a creepy, spooky flick and definitely worthy of its recognition as one of the best horror films ever made.

[Sigur509]

I dont care how many times I watch The Shining, it still scares the hell out me. It has the Ultimate Creep Factor. And yes those Goddamn twins gave me nightmares for weeks, and after that I didn't like Tricycle's.

[Briare Rabbit]

Originally posted by Adornado
If you were to watch that movie right now and when it was over could you actually say it's the perfect scary movie? I don't see how considering there is absolutley nothing even remotley frightening about The Exorcist. I'm positive it was scary back in the day but today..it's nothing.

Negative. The Exorcist is the perfect scary movie. It's psychologically scarring, it's the thinking man's horror film. Why? Because the idea of satan and the devil actually being able to cross in to this world are frightening, ever if you're hardcore purist non believer. The Exorcist is somewhat visually shocking, but it's so much deeper than just some pea soup and piano strings.

[Kidsilk]

The Shining was good, but I don't think it's the perfect scary movie. That honor goes to PSYCHO.

[jmcpher_007]

I love The Shining and I love Psycho. I think overall, however, The Shining is the "scarier" film. Psycho was creepy for the most part, but only actually trying to be scary in a handful of scenes (and masterfully done at that). I do think Psycho is a more important film as far as cinematic technique and directorial skill is concerned. Both are marvelous films, though.

[GoldenGhost]

Yar, I read this baby up in the paper.

I disagree with some of the formulas (n, 1, f) but I certainly think if you whack the old es, u, s, tl, fs together then you should have a pretty solid concept ground for a scary flick.

As for zee Shining, I wouldn't consider it my greatest, but I can defintley see why some do.

[Greenaway]

Originally posted by optimusprime
The Exorcist is a fine movie I must say. It deserves all of the praise it gets. But it is not without flaws. The Shining however, is the perfect scary movie. That's all I got to say about that.

I have always felt awkward about The Exorcist being hailed as a great horror film, as I think that Polanski already captured the idea of demonic suspense in his 1968 film Rosemary's Baby, and while Friedkin did a remarkable job, the film (even if it wasn't the victim of its reputation) fails to intrigue in the field of perception, that being the relationship between the perspective of the viewer and --- then? While Polanski succeeded in using the simple protagonist technique, Friedkin was perhaps too ambitious by placing the idea itself, the demon demonizing the girl, in front of all multiple protagonists, as the girl is still the centerpiece of the film. As a character piece it is a good film to some extent, but as a horror film it is, for me, that is, too unbelievable to feel terror, knowledge and understanding at the same time. Of course, when somebody is able to live all those emotions through while watching the movie, that's one experience, I must say.

[optimus]

Though I love Jack Nicholson and what he did for that character in the Shining, I don't think it was as good as the TV version of the book. The two twins and the naked chick in the shower that turned into a zombie used to scare the shit out of me.

Good? Yes The scariest? No...

[Briare Rabbit]

Originally posted by Greenaway
I have always felt awkward about The Exorcist being hailed as a great horror film, as I think that Polanski already captured the idea of demonic suspense in his 1968 film Rosemary's Baby, and while Friedkin did a remarkable job, the film (even if it wasn't the victim of its reputation) fails to intrigue in the field of perception, that being the relationship between the perspective of the viewer and --- then? While Polanski succeeded in using the simple protagonist technique, Friedkin was perhaps too ambitious by placing the idea itself, the demon demonizing the girl, in front of all multiple protagonists, as the girl is still the centerpiece of the film. As a character piece it is a good film to some extent, but as a horror film it is, for me, that is, too unbelievable to feel terror, knowledge and understanding at the same time. Of course, when somebody is able to live all those emotions through while watching the movie, that's one experience, I must say.

To compare Rosemary's Baby and the Exorcist is ludicrous. The plot points aren't even remotely similar, only the somewhat similar nature of demonic possession- and even then, it's of an entirely different nature between the two.

The thing is, there are only two protagonists in The Exorcist- Father Karras and Chris MacNeil. Chris wants her child back, so she turns to religion (something she abandoned), Karras just wants to forget Religion. The intricacy of the plot shifting between the two is great- even more so than Rosemary's plight into insanity.