Simple Scares Are the Best Scares for a Horror Movie

Simple scares for a horror movie are always the best scares for me when it comes to the horror genre. When I talk about simple scares, I'm referring to either the most simple horror concepts, or using 'easy' techniques to scare the viewer. These scares need to be done in a very effective way of course, but most of the time, the director/writer does pull off the simple scare idea. 

A good example of these simple scares has to be the horror movie that recently came out this year: Obsession.

There is going to be major spoilers for this movie, so if you don't want to continue reading this, please turn back!

This film is about a young man named Bear, who has a crush on a woman named Nikki. He decides to make a wish, so that she will fall in love with him. This wish goes wrong, when their relationship goes from romantic to full on chaos, and the main character is now stuck in a toxic love. 

This film uses the love interest of the main character very well in this film. The scares are simple, but it's executed with flawless perfection.

One example in the film is when the main character wakes up to find his girlfriend watching him sleep. At first, you have no idea if she is actually there, until she suddenly moves from the corner of the room. The director made the audience really rely on their eyes for this moment, but it was still hard to catch her. The scene only gets even scarier when for a quick second, you see Nikki's face change. 

She no longer looks human, and it's creepy as hell. She then tells Bear to go back to sleep, and this moment gets even more scary as she suddenly screams in another part of the house, running to him with a plant held right in front of her face. Bear panics, asking her to calm down, and then she puts down the plant, suddenly acting normal.

This whole sequence works so well through the simple horror concept. The director relied on only using the actress to pull off the scare of someone watching you sleep, and instead of going over the top, the scene remains quite simple, but it's freaking scary. 

Another scene in the film that pulls off simplicity is when Nikki and Bear are having a conversation after Nikki stabs herself with a bottle during a party. Bear appears to come to the conclusion that she is indeed under the wish's spell, until Nikki suddenly walks backwards away from him. It's beyond unnatural, and this scene scared the crap out of me. I felt like Bear's character in this scene, as he begged her to calm down.

We see Nikki now standing in the dark, and we can't even see her face. She speaks to him in a calm manner, but this scene is so effective, because the way that the director only relies on tension through the actress was a genius move here. Not showing her face makes the scene stand out too, because we have no idea if Nikki is portraying that inhuman face, or if she is just talking to Bear in the dark.

I wish directors would use the 'simple scare concept' for horror movies more. Relying on nothing but jump scares, or trying to go over the top with wanting to scare their audience doesn't really work for me. Something as simple as Nikki from the movie Obsession screaming whenever Bear doesn't shower her with his love is a great way to scare the audience. 

Sometimes we don't need over the top horror to scare horror fans. Using simple events or stories can be the main tool to create the perfect scary movie!

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Thank you for reading!

Emy Quinn