Horror Filmmaking Quotes

I love scary movies and respect the filmmakers of scary movies, and it's just as hard to make a great scary movie as it is to make a great comedy or drama or anything else.

Horror is like comedy. Woody Allen's comedy is going to be very different from Ben Stiller's comedy which is going to be different from Adam Sandler's comedy which is going to be different from Judd Apatow's comedy. They're all comedy, but they're all very different types and you can enjoy all of them. Horror is the same way.

I'm terrified of the supernatural things, which is why I'm very grateful that I don't see things like that. Because if I did see things of the paranormal persuasion, I don't think I'd be able to continue making scary movies.

I'd never thought of horror as being so challenging, but it is.

I joke and I say, 'I need to go back to make a supernatural horror film just to so that I can make a movie that's grounded again.'

One of my favorite things about making horror movies is, the first time you screen them in front of an audience, it's very fun to hear people audibly react to the work you put into a movie. You don't wonder at the end of the movie whether it worked or not.

Asian horror is really setting a trend. The Pang brothers are from Hong Kong, so they just bring a whole different sensibility to a horror movie. In Hong Kong, they're actually doing stuff that's very artistic and pushing boundaries.

The best horror walks a line that's completely on a psychological level, not needing the typical tropes of traditional horror filmmaking, then also having to tease out those elements in a way that makes the audience feel like they know what they're in.

I'm a big fan of suspense and tension filmmaking, and that was my goal with 'The Conjuring.'

Nobody cares for the product I, and a host of other horror directors, make.

I really believe that you could do horror very inexpensively. I don't think it has anything to do with the effects, the effects are not the most important parts.

I love horror movies. It's so fun being absolutely terrified. It's damn hard to shoot, though. I didn't realize how difficult it was to make a horror movie as an actor. Physically and mentally, phew.

Horror films have been with us forever, so you can't say I originated that in any way, but it sort of brought back a classical way to make a horror film.

I'm not a horror guy, it's not my thing, but I respect it a lot. I know how hard it is to make, especially to make good.

The first monster that an audience has to be scared of is the filmmaker. They have to feel in the presence of someone not confined by the normal rules of propriety and decency.

Some people think that horror films are some sort of second class filmmaking, and the only way to bypass that thinking is being proud of the fact that we do it.

I will say that when it comes to the horror genre, for me, the scariest thing is when something is actually in the frame.

When I stage a violent scene, I try for it to serve a purpose. I do love those things, the makeup effects. But I love them more with the monsters. I never was much of a gore guy. I've always enjoyed just creating monsters.

I get sent horror scripts every week and most of them are putrid. A lot of people think it's an easy medium but it's not. Not if you want to make ones that last.

I think being snobby about the kind of storytelling people do, it just irks me. It irks me. And in fact, it's one of the things that drives me to make as many horror movies as I do.

The horror genre is important because it promotes experimentation in filmmaking.

I think the hardest part about making a scary film is about being able to retain the mystery, especially when it comes to supernatural stuff.

Everybody's making horror films and, to me, not especially well.

One of the difficult things of making a horror sequel in general is because the horror genre is so founded on surprise.

I love Carpenter, I love Craven - these are all the classics - the Romeros of the world, but I think the biggest influence on me as a storyteller and as a filmmaker is actually Steven Spielberg. I love that even though Steven isn't known for being a horror director, he started out his career making scary movies.