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[#Horror #Podcast] Horror Movie Podcast Ep. 063: A Horror Fan’s Plea to Jason Blum and Blumhouse Productions or: “Jay of the Dead’s 13 Principles for Making an Effective Horror Film”
Horror Movie Podcast Ep. 063: A Horror Fan’s Plea to Jason Blum and Blumhouse Productions or: “Jay of the Dead’s 13 Principles for Making an Effective Horror Film” read more.
This episode is dedicated to Producer Jason Blum.
In this unusual edition of HORROR MOVIE PODCAST, where we’re Dead Serious About Horror Movies, Jay of the Dead attempts to save the future of horror cinema by delivering an open letter-style address to Producer Jason Blum of Blumhouse Productions, arguably the most important Producer in horror today, in hopes that he will listen to this episode and consider implementing these good-natured suggestions to improve the overall quality of his future productions.
The Background: Last weekend, Jay saw the latest paranormal, found-footage Blumhouse flick called “The Gallows,” and its utter failure as a quality horror film inspired Jay to finally openly express his concerns with the direction of contemporary horror cinema and to publicly provide a list of foundational filmmaking tips that he calls, “Jay of the Dead’s 13 Principles for Making an Effective Horror Film.”
Jay and Josh conclude the show with Feature Reviews of two of the most recent Blumhouse Productions, “The Gallows” and “Creep.” If you’re Dead Serious About Horror Movies,” this is a must-listen! Join us!
Horror Movie Podcast is a weekly show that’s released every Friday. If you’d like to support our show, please subscribe to our podcast free in iTunes, and leave us a review! And remember, we love getting your voice mails, so call in with more recommendations and comments at this number: (801) 382-8789 Thanks for listening to Horror Movie Podcast!
SHOW NOTES:
I. A Horror Fan’s Plea to Jason Blum
— Explanation for this epsiode
— Hear Jason Blum interviewed on: KCRW’s The Business
— Acknowledgements and admissions
[ 01:13:36 ] II. NUTSHELL SUMMARY OF JAY’S MESSAGE TO JASON BLUM:
WHAT NOT TO DO:
Don’t run a successful property into the ground with several sequels. Leave the audience wanting more.
WHAT TO DO:
Adopt what Jay calls, “Christopher Nolan Model,” where you produce great, one-off Horror films and instead of producing numerous sequels, you move on to the next great, one-off Horror film.
HERE’S HOW TO MAKE GREAT, ONE-OFF HORROR FILMS:
“Jay of the Dead’s 13 Principles for Making an Effective Horror Film”
1. Introduce a new kind of monster.
2. Reverse-engineer the writing of your film, so it’s built upon themes that reflect actual, societal fears.
3. Regardless of the universe that your film is set in, anchor certain aspects in realism.
4. Conjure “Horror in the Daylight” by making Horror spring out of what’s typically safe and the mundane.
5. True Horror is born out of deep sorrow or profound rage, often both.
6. Write and observe the rules and parameters for the world of your film, but don’t explicitly reveal them all to your viewers.
7. Don’t try to depict everything visually onscreen, but provide an equally powerful alternative method for conveying that same idea.
8. Defy expectations and conventions by seeding in mystery.
9. Story beats should organically and logically lead one to another.
10. Generate genuine Suspense in your Horror film.
11. Horror is not just physical violence, but it is also emotional violence or terror.
12. Remember that Horror happens to those who deserve it least.
13. Don’t be afraid to have a devastating ending to your Horror movie where balance and peace are not restored.
[ 01:19:11 ] III. Feature Review: THE GALLOWS (2015)
Jay of the Dead = 3.5 ( Avoid )
[ 01:31:24 ] IV. Feature Review: CREEP (2015)
Wolfman Josh = 5 ( Low-priority Rental / Low-priority Stream it )
[ 01:54:11 ] V. HMP Voicemails
— Voicemail from Fritz about watching “EAT”
— Voicemail from Dr. Shock at the beach: As Above, So Below = 7.5 ( Rental )
VI. Wrap-Up / Plugs / Ending
JOIN US IN TWO WEEKS ON HMP: Our next show, Episode 064, for a THEMED episode about “The Found Footage Convention in Horror.” It will release on Friday, August 7, 2015. (We’ll resume our weekly schedule thereafter, but we need to get back on a 10-day editing schedule, as opposed to a two-day one.)
NOTE FOR NEWCOMERS: If you love this podcast, there are 36 episodes of two other great podcasts that precede this one. Just scroll back through our archives, or use the links in the sidebar on the right.
Leave a comment or e-mail us here: [email protected]
LINKS FOR THIS EPISODE:
RT this episode to Producer Jason Blum: @Jason_Blum
RT this episode to Blumhouse Productions: @Blumhouse
— Hear Jason Blum interviewed on: KCRW’s The Business
— Don’t forget to help Kyle and leave a positive review here for his book, American Zombie Gothic, and you could win a free Horror Movie Podcast T-shirt of your choice!
Dr. Walking Dead’s links:
Pre-order Kyle’s new book! How Zombies Conquered Popular Culture: The Multifarious Walking Dead in the 21st Century
Order Kyle’s previous books American Zombie Gothic and Triumph of The Walking Dead
Follow Kyle on Twitter: @DrWalkingDead
Wolfman Josh’s links:
Follow Josh on Twitter: @IcarusArts
Josh covers streaming online movies on: Movie Stream Cast
Follow MSC on Twitter: @MovieStreamCast
Like MSC on: Facebook
Dr. Shock’s links:
Dr. Shock’s daily movie review Web site: DVD Infatuation.com
Dr. Shock on Twitter: @DVDinfatuation
Dr. Shock’s DVD Infatuation is now on: Facebook
Dr. Shock’s other horror podcast: Land of the Creeps
Jay of the Dead’s links:
Jay of the Dead and Horror Movie Podcast Official Twitter: @HorrorMovieCast
Jay covers new releases in theaters on: Movie Podcast Weekly
And if you’d like to e-mail Jay with a good Beastly Freaks recommendation: [email protected]
You can always contact us by e-mailing [email protected]. Or you can call and leave us a voice mail at: (801) 382-8789. And you can leave us a comment in the show notes for this episode.
Special thanks goes out to singer-songwriter Frederick Ingram for the use of his music for Horror Movie Podcast.
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