How to Make a Horror Movie and Survive

I think Craig set out with two objectives on this one: 1. Write a love letter to horror film. 2. Have a good time with it. I think he succeeded on both fronts, and I think the latter is one of the points the book makes. Horror isn’t horror unless it’s real? Sure, but I think Craig’s book also says horror isn’t horror unless it is, on some level, fun.

On that note, we spend most of the book with the filmmaker, Max Maurey, as he chases death in a deeper sense than he’s ever been able to go before. On one hand, he has the constraints of an entertainment industry squeezing his artistic ambitions, but on the other hand, he has a cursed camera that doesn’t really do him any good in making entertainment. You see, the camera kills show more its subjects, and Max thinks maybe this is his ticket out of horror as entertainment and into horror as art.

The heroine in this story is Bad Girl Sally Priest. She dreams of being a star actress (burdened by the weight of her mother’s missed stardom) and thinks being a horror film’s Final Girl is her ticket. It just so happens Max is trying to make a new experimental film, and he wants her in it.

Slight hitch. Everyone in Max’s film is going to die, like for real, and doggonit, Max actually likes Sally.

I liked this one quite a bit, but I wanted to spend more time with Sally. I found Max interesting, but I didn’t find his arc very moving. I found Sally’s quest for her mother’s approval and ambition at the risk of literal death relatable and compelling. For that reason, I think this book is more for horror lovers who appreciate the history and significance of the genre, and less for readers looking for a scary tale in which you invest in characters and grate with the tension of whether they’re going to make it (though that experience *is* here if you want it).

Broadly speaking, I think my favorite part of this book is it lets us take a step back and consider what it is about horror that appeals to us. Is it the thrill of the gore and blood? Is it the suspense of a lurking monster? Is it the disturbing nature of peering into the macabre? Is it the confrontation with death? Is it the explorations of the human condition? Is it the specter of grief? Is it the raw aspect of tension when someone we care about is chased by the darkness? Is it the satisfaction when the darkness overcomes someone?

I think this novel says yes, it’s all of that, and isn’t it amazing? show less

When it comes to horror movies, I am with Max on this. The "pure" form of horror movies is a bit lost now a days. There does not have to always be a huge body count within the first ten minutes of the movie. Let the suspense build up.

Where are the horror movies that send chills up your spine and not make you laugh when someone is getting k!lled. This is why I could understand Max's reasoning for him wanting to produce his style of horror movie even if he knew that everyone would d!e.

"Horror has to be personal. Psychological horror with a splash of fear of the unknown is where it's at."