Atmosphere?

“I love the atmosphere in that movie”

“That movie’s got some crazy dark atmosphere”

“The use of gritty atmosphere makes that film”

The above are all things I say and hear a lot.

What defines atmosphere in movies? It’s one hell of a vague term. Atmosphere generally refers to the overall tone or mood when talking about a movie of course, but what makes it something that’s so important to so many people who love horror movies and why is it a word that’s used so copiously by genre fans when describing why they love a certain movie?

Here’s my take. Walk with me.

EVERY movie has atmosphere, which may encompass any one of these words or any combination of them at the same time:

Beautiful

Glossy

Cheesy

Cheap

Dark

Grimy

Youthful

Sexy

Soft

Grainy

Creepy

Warm

Luxurious

Rich

Full

Minimalistic

Fast

Loud

Dreamlike

Claustrophobic

And a million more.

The point is, there are many terms for the feelings that atmosphere creates in movies beyond just a movie having “good atmosphere” (a few of those words weren’t even “good” examples of atmospheric descriptions, but you get the idea..). With horror, I feel like atmosphere is such an integral part of the movie viewing experience that it’s hard to even have a movie be CONSIDERED a horror movie without certain types of atmosphere. I find this ESPECIALLY true when talking about modern horror movies… que rant!

It’s no secret that I am generally more partial to older horror movies over most of the newer ones. In particular, I’m a big 70s and 80s horror guy personally. There are a number of reasons that I usually prefer these movies over a lot of the newer ones, but one of the biggest ones is atmosphere; and one of the biggest sticking points for atmosphere in horror movies for me is a subscription to this belief:

Horror movies should be either dirty, gritty and raw, OR, horror movies that choose to use a dark beauty to create their story should do so in a refined atmosphere that relies on location and filming style more than visual effects and glamourized settings.

Filthy grindhouse flicks – I love

Dark old slasher movies – All day long

Italian gut munchers and gore buckets – Until the bright red blood runs dry

Big name, crisply filmed slow burners from the 70s and 80s – To be savored like fine wine and cheese

Theatrical releases of modern, rapid fire, glossy horroresque thrillers – Go away, I’m fucking busy.

I said before that I think it’s hard to even have a movie be truly considered a horror movie without certain types of atmosphere and that I find this particularly true for modern horror movies. And here’s the thing, I really feel like a lot of modern horror movies get a really raw deal and that a number of directors and small companies that deal with modern horror movies are often truly well intentioned to create great horror atmosphere. Sometimes, it seems they just get the shit end of the stick due to circumstances that are really hard to control that often weren’t even barriers that makers of some of the older movies that I love had to ever deal with. Of course, some of it just has to do with differences in tastes and thoughts on what modern horror should be too, and then some things just come down to greed and money in film making – which unfortunately almost always results in shitty horror movies all around.

Here are a few major things I feel really prevent a lot of modern horror movies from having the atmosphere that elicits a horror movie feel to me:

1. Movie medium, and change in how movies are made

The format a movie is made on undoubtedly has a huge impact on how the movie ends up looking and ultimately the overall presentation and atmosphere of a movie. The same story could be shot on 35MM film and then re-shot on a camcorder or smart phone and have 3 very different feelings of atmosphere. It’s not the only thing that matters for creating atmosphere, but it sure can filter it in a different light (pun intended and also not so intended). To me film just looks better. I feel it looks more timeless and tends to be able to better capture both grainy AND more matte crispness better than a lot of HD formats now that strive to give the most clear images that a lot of time end up looking super filtered. Put on top of that the fact that most bigger companies try to further polish those looks and filming styles with added effects to make them look even more “state of the art” and modern until it gets to the point where the rawness that embodies what good horror movies look like to me is completely lost in them.

What is also kind of a shame here is that even the filming of low budget grassroots horror movies today are often effected by this too. If someone wanted to make a movie with no money and a bunch of friends years ago (like so many of the old slashers I love) a lot of the cheap formats they could film on left the movie having that genuine feeling that I love so much for horror atmosphere. When a group of friends with no money get together today to do the same, since our everyday technology has changed so much, the cheap and readily available format is generally digital (sometimes just a phone even more and more it seems) and that sauce usually just really lacks the flavor of horror to me.

Sure, there’s a big resurgence of old school film and retro looking movies being put out now, and I love it.

The only thing that sucks there is that now people can’t do it for really cheap…

And those with the big bucks don’t generally have desire to put out gritty or classic looking stuff…

Which means you’re left with only a certain middle segment that is left wanting to put out stuff like that...

And then they have to do it right..

It should also be mentioned in this section that movie making has changed drastically over the last 35 years or so a few different times and that this has effected atmosphere a lot, namely when determining not only the medium a movie is filmed on, but also what it is then WATCHED on and WHO gets to see it. Ok, just think about it… I’m still gonna leave the debate on VHS/DVD/Blu Ray/streaming formats for another day...

2. Mass marketing

Ok, here’s one of the biggest blamed reasons for lack of horror atmosphere, so let’s get it out of the way. Yes, this ruins horror movie atmosphere and it does so more now than it used to. Any time you take something that is esoteric or that has cult or specific appeal to a specific group or people and try to make it something that a much broader group of people will embrace you have to change the core of what the thing was in the first place. It’s the same as taking the components of small batch, micro-brewed beer and having a big company mass produce it in giant drums, or taking handmade artisan crafts and having them produced in a factory by machines. You’re going to reach a lot more people - and probably make a lot more money, but by removing perceived “imperfections” from the more dedicated original fans’ beloved products and compromising them you usually end up taking out the very aspects that made those people love the damn thing so much in the first place.

Thus is the woe of the theater horror movie’s atmosphere story.

Visually aesthetically dark, dingy, stripped down, unfiltered horror movies don’t (generally) make it to theaters for a simple reason: These visuals are not the best-selling. For a movie to make it to being shown in a big theater it has to be analyzed thoroughly and be virtually guaranteed that the movie is gonna make a lot of money.To do that it obviously has to bring in the most people, which usually means being very polished and appealing as closely as possible to the largest number of people and the biggest movie-going demographic for that movie.

And sorry guy sitting on the couch in front of your giant dvd horror collection wearing the Lucio Fulci “Beyond” shirt, but it ain’t you.

But.. Isn’t Fulci shirt guy the guy they SHOULD be marketing to? The guy who really loves horror in its true form?Unfortunately, no – and it makes no sense for them to, and there’s no intention to either.

To help explain, (but mostly so I can be a smart ass) here’s what an HONEST letter would look like to address this issue..

“Dear Fulci shirt guy,

We hear you’re confused about why our recently released “Last Horror of Blah Blah Something Blah” remake in 3D and extra duplex HD lacked what you say the original had in terms of desolate, crisp, and creepy visuals and settings. Are you kidding? We’re here to inform you that our version doesn’t’ give two and a half dumps about the original and there’s no way in hell we’re gonna put something like that in the theater in 2015. Our target audience is not you.It’s teenage couples who will be stimulated by the cool CGI and sick new fast paced cut scenes just long enough to keep them interested until the many loud jump scares that we put into this movie will give the rattled girl an excuse to cling on to the horny guy and get his hope of a handjob in the theater up. You’re lucky we even put in a couple of references to that other horror movie you liked. Guess that worked since you bought a ticket. Sorry you didn’t like it. Loser. Whatever, take a shower…

Go fuck yourself,

Large Studio

PS: Come see our upcoming remake of Tourist Trap! You’ll love it!...”

(There is no remake of Tourist Trap scheduled for big theater release. Breath. It’s ok.)

And for good measure, here’s one to the target audience:

“Hey man!

You gotta check this shit out! It’s gonna be totally fucking intense! Bring your girl, some extra money for snacks and shit, and don’t wear underwear.. ;) This is horror for the NEW generation!

See you there bro!

Large studio”

Nothing against getting frisky at the theater, but point is, unless it mixes a decent dose of action, romance, comedy or drama into it, the movie won’t stand much of a chance of getting the money they expect it to, so don’t hold your breath for many of those tattered and torn looking rustic horror flicks to be seen in big theaters these days. Sorry Fulci shirt guy.

3) Faster paced movies for faster paced lives

While this one is more subjective than the other two categories I feel this is a reason that helps explain a couple different things with movie atmosphere and what is required to make movies watchable to a large number of people today, and it goes along with #2 in a way. Technologically, the world is very different today than it was in the 70s and 80s, so we have very different kinds of movies from then as well that look very different. We are ridiculously reliant and overstimulated by media now to the point where attention spans are far less than what they used to be. For entertainment to watch we can access just about everything from our pockets today either for free or a small fee, and while myself and a number of other people like me would LOVE to see and pay for a slow burning old-school horror flick done right, or an eerie and slimy feeling stalk and slash movie, most people would rather see something with the best and cleanest sound and picture they can get that moves at least at a relatively fast pace to avoid becoming bored and turning it off. When it comes to a market that is extremely oversaturated I can understand why a lot of people might not gamble with making horror movies that have the type of atmosphere I would personally want to see, but it doesn’t make it suck any less.

So yeah, these aren’t rules for 100% of the time. There are some amazing more modern horror movies out that have vibrant and incredible atmosphere (Gutterballs, Let The Right One In, Inside, House of the Devil, just to name a few). These are just some reasons why the majority of modern horror movies don’t have the kind of atmosphere I’d like to see anymore. Today any genre can be gory, anything can be mean spirited, and anything can have a zombie or 200, but to at least a good sized PART it takes a certain feeling, a certain atmosphere, to let me know it’s a horror movie… and I know it when I see it, and when I don’t.

And so does Fulci shirt guy.