What makes a good scary movie comes down to the effects. Have goofy or blocky visual effects and your film won’t be taken seriously. Have unrealistic blood and gore special effects then people might be thrown out of the story. Over generations, there’s been plenty of poor effects used in films, however, there have been just as many if not more groundbreaking effects used in iconic cinema. The age-old argument has always been that one is more effective than the other. Some believe you can’t accomplish nearly as many things with special effects as you can with visual effects. Some believe that you can’t get authentic reactions from actors with visual effects like you can with special effects. Let’s break it down and find which effects make a horrifying film. 

     Special effects (SFX) are effects that are added during the time of filming. Some examples are fake blood, prosthetics, makeup the list goes on and on. SFX has been practiced in films forever yet its prime was in the 80s. Many say that was the peak of horror in general because of the creativity that came with creating sets and creatures in horror. Some of the biggest movies and their most memorable scenes are thanks to the use of creative SFX. For example, in The Blob 1988, majority of the film was all special effects. They used beverage thickeners that make milkshakes and tested many slimes alongside them to create the blob creature. It had both foam and animatronic tentacles that made it look like the creature was alive. They used gravity and different camera angles to make it appear as if it was crawling across surfaces. That creature is one of the most grossest and memorable creatures in horror. In  an American Warewolf in London, Rick Baker won an Oscar for his special effects work because of how well the transformation scenes looked in that movie. This film blows all other Warewolf films out of the water. Its use of SFX is so astonishing that it’s almost hard to believe there isn’t any VFX used.  You watch the full transition from a man to a beast multiple times. Each transition is better than the next, packed with details like hands elongating to paws, a face turning into a snout, and nails turning to claws. Another good and iconic movie is Alien. Alien is known as not just the best horror movie because of the acting but because almost every set, monster, and injury were all special effects. One of the most memorable scenes is the chest explosion. In this scene, none of the actors except for John Hurt knew an alien would pop out. You can see the actors’ faces begin to panic when they see John’s fake chest begin to bulge and stretch until POP, blood splatters all over the faces of the onlookers. You hear the authentic screams and see the actual terror in everyone eyes as they realize a baby alien just popped out of this man’s chest. I don’t believe you would’ve gotten that good of a scene if this was visual effects. If special effects are applied correctly, it can make a good movie into a great one. 

     Visual effects (VFX) are applied after the filming process. Examples of this would be giant monsters, explosions, or even sometimes gore or crazy mutilation scenes. Some of the best VFX can be seen in the Grudge. The scariest moment in the movie that stuck out to me was the shower scene. As the woman in the shower begins to wash, you see her start feeling around as if there’s something strange in her hair. You don’t think anything of it as the camera stays on the woman’s face. Then it cuts to the back of her head where you’re shocked to see the monster’s hands tangled in her hair. Imagine seeing that as a young kid and never wanting to wash your own hair because you’re scared the grudge will be there to help. The movie Mama has one of the scariest ghosts in horror cinema. When the kids are looking for their mother, they come downstairs and see a woman floating in the living room, you can see the woman’s hair floating in the wind. To the viewer, we can tell that there’s something off with the woman, but the kids don’t seem to think so as one says “Mommy’s mad”. The ghost’s head snaps towards the children, as she slowly lifts her hands, at this point, you can tell that it isn’t human because of the way her body appears, twisted and frail. Then she comes rushing towards the camera producing a jumpscare that frightens the audience. This ghost was made with only visual effects and scared viewers nonetheless. Another example of a movie using VFX to its fullest extent would be IT. All forms of Pennywise are cgi, but every appearance is more horrifying than the next. From the inhaler melting his face to him bashing his head into the glass to eat a child, VFX is a great tool to make the unreal real. visual effects allows the imagination to come to life and is more cost-effective in the long run. No multiple takes to get the perfect shot. 

     I believe the argument about which type of effects are better cannot be answered. I believe that what makes a great horror movie is a blend of both. It’s always better to use as many special effects as you can. If you can’t then that’s where you add in the visual effects. It also depends on what the vibe of the movie is, and what that film needs. For example, the early movies in the Saw franchise used almost nothing but special effects, later they began to dabble more in visual effects and because of that, the franchise lost a little bit of its fan base. Special effects made movies like Saw, Smile, and The Exorcist iconic. That doesn’t mean they never use VFX, it just means that they didn’t have to make sure they got A-list actors because special effects aided the performance. Personally, a movie gets extra points in my heart if they use special effects, but I don’t hate well-done visual effects. Movies like The Conjuring, Paranormal Activity, and Hereditary use VFX very well. Those movies aren’t any worse or better than other horror movies solely on the type of effects they use. In the end, if you can accomplish the goal and make the unreal look tangible then you’re succeeding at making a gruesomely horrifying film, no matter the direction you take.