What exactly makes a horror film "good"?

Respect for the material.

The invocation of honest dread.

Fear that the characters (and the viewer) cannot cope with the challenges.

The OP mentioned 'jump scares' and 'atmosphere' as ill comment on those a bit...

Jump Scares... pretty much suck if you ask me because it's just a cheap thrill with no lasting impact. like I don't mind if those are in a movie but if they rely on those, that's when things tend to go out the window. because for me movies are ultimately broke into two categories, which are... movies ill re-watch from time-to-time (i.e. Thumbs Up) and movies I won't re-watch (i.e. Thumbs Down).

but as for what makes a 'horror movie good' I can't really say exactly but it pretty much comes back to how I judge all movies in general whether they are interesting/entertaining/enjoyable to watch up to a certain standard as that's basically what determines whether a movie gets a 5/10 or less (Thumbs Down) or a 6/10 or higher(Thumbs Up) for me in general.

but strictly looking at what IMDb lists as 'Horror' apart of the genre there is a very limited amount of movies I score a 6-6.5/10 or higher in the Horror genre even though there is some others I still mildly like.


Atmosphere... I basically like when this happens to but it's not that often ill stumble into a movie that has a strong atmosphere that I really notice as while there are 190 movies I consider good enough to call a favorite movie (i.e. all movies I score a 7/10 or higher) only a small amount have a solid atmosphere that I really acknowledge. but who knows, maybe others have it on some level.

but I guess some movies just click and others do not. I can't really explain it in great detail but you just know, based on a general feeling/emotional response a movie gives me, whether a movie is good enough to re-watch or not. then out of the ones you will re-watch (i.e. my 6/10's and higher) you can pretty much tell about where to rate it given your general enjoyment etc of watching it play out in reference to all other movies you have seen.


vegalyra



If something like that occurs, that's great. but the thing is... at least for me, it's a rare occurrence for any movies (or TV shows) to pull that off to where I am on the edge-of-my-seat (NOTE: edge-of-my-seat as in your heart is pumping quite a bit and the like) to any clear degree where I clearly acknowledge that's happening.

in fact, the most recent time that 'edge-of-the-seat' stuff occurred for me is Breaking Bad Season 3 Episode 13 (i.e. the last episode of Season 3 called Full Measure), which I first seen back when it aired in June 2010.

but basically in terms of that accelerated heart rate type of stuff... that's only happened roughly 3-5 times (at least three for sure, but probably closer to 5 or so at least on some level) I can recall in my 20's to date which is pretty much the year 2000 to date. I excluded before that as I think it's generally easier to get a higher level of excitement when your young vs when you get a bit older and experienced more things as it takes more to give you that feeling. it's great when it happens, but it's pretty rare.

but to quickly list the stuff that I clearly remember giving me that accelerated heart rate etc feeling...

-Open Range (2003) (this is a slower paced movie but where it qualifies for the general 'edge-of-seat' stuff is the build up prior to the main shootout)

-Running Scared (2006) (a fast paced movie)

-Breaking Bad Season 3 Episode 13 (2010) (I clearly remember that being the peak of the show due to that solid tension/suspense throughout the episode)

I have seen all of those back when they were new basically. I was born Oct 1979 so damn near all of the 'edge-of-seat' stuff happened in my 20's and younger with the Breaking Bad thing being the exception so far.

p.s. I probably can list The World's Fastest Indian (2005) on some level but I think that movie sort of appealed to that love of speed aspect in me etc. also, I think at times like Breaking Bad Season 3 Episode 7(One Minute) and Episode 12(Half-Measures) had small moments of it but was pretty much at the end area of the episodes. so if you count these that puts me around 5 times.

Actually, it's quite simple. A good Horror film is one that has artistic integrity.

The same thing that makes any film good. You like it.