What makes a film scary

            Sound is what makes a film scary. In almost every horror film, during a particularly frightening scene, the director uses sounds, whether it be music, monsters, etc. Imagine a horror film without sound. Although the images in the film might be scary, any pop-out scene will have its shock effect reduced without the sound associated with it. For example, in most horror films, the scenes that precede pop-out scenes are often silent or have minimal sound to create suspense and make the viewer nervous, and then the pop-out occurs. As the pop-out occurs, the sound of the film is re-introduced to go along with the scene in order to enhance the horror of the scene. For example, In Psycho, when the detective is going up the stairs just before he is murdered, there is little sound with just the staircase, and the scene is silent otherwise. Then, as soon as the murderer comes out, there is a sharp loud sound as the murderer moves fast to stab the detective. This sound not only catches the attention of the viewer, but also the dramatic change in sound frightens the viewer and the image of the man getting stabbed frightens the viewer even more. However, without the sound, the viewer would be uninterested and slightly frightened by the image, but no significant sudden change in emotion would occur.