In my last post, I briefly touched upon Patrick Bateman in American Psycho and how I did not want my protagonist to be like him because I wanted my character to be more serious and pensive, not comedic and showy.
After a bit more research into the characters of psychological thrillers, I stumbled into none other than Stanley Kubrick. He has three movies that are very obvious psychological thrillers, but I always found his movies to be a little more funny than scary, and I think I found out what it is...
IT'S THE STARE!
I have never really liked any of Kubrick's movies. I always felt like the actors were trying to hard and overacting, and I think I was able to pinpoint the root of the problem in the Kubrick Stare. And as it turns out, I am not the only one that shares this sentiment.
Apparently the Kubrick Stare is a popular term and has become almost synonymous with cheesy serial killers in movies.
Cheesiness is something I want to try to avoid in my film opening. I want to adhere to a lot of genre conventions like having one main protagonist (most likely a male), making him mentally disturbed, and use physical violence to evoke psychological responses from his victims or from himself.
I kind of want my film to be a lot more serious than American Psycho, but films like The Shining aren't supposed to be funny, yet I find them so brutally cheesy that I cannot help but have a laugh. So, I have to avoid overacting or things like the Kubrick Stare, so I can have more tonal control throughout the opening and not confuse audience as to whether they should be terrified or cracking up.
I know I have done some obscure research on genres and representation that don't really follow any coherent pattern, but I have recently become more interested in a new genre... the psychological thriller.
This is a genre of movies that I can safely say is my favorite because of the dark tones and character-centric approach to storytelling. Assume what you'd like about me based on my morbid tastes, but this genre is not limited to just slasher movies or "torture porn" like the Saw movie franchise.
Some of the more brilliant approaches to this genre either just barely teeter on the edge of being horror or become so distinct from horror that it almost defines a new genre.
Definitely a unique film within the realm of psychological thrillers was Whiplash (2014). I found an interview with lead actor Miles Teller touching upon the idea that Whiplash is a completely different beast of a movie that is borderline a horror movie.
Although there is so much truth in the idea that Whiplash is a thriller because of the constant emotional abuse from the character of Fletcher, but in my film opening, I think I am going to take a more traditional approach to the genre.
A pretty traditional psychological thriller, in my opinion, is the movie Se7en because of its strong focus on one unstable character reeking absolute havoc on a city.
The character John Doe played by Kevin Spacey has some interesting characteristics that I would definitely want to adapt when making my project. He is very meticulous about the way he kills his victims and the kills are so personal to him. There is a bigger picture to his murders, it isn't just killing to satisfy twisted cravings. I obviously can't rip off the novel idea of killing based on the seven deadly sins, but an omniscient killer is something I want in my film.
Speaking of a main character with unmotivated, impersonal kills, I think the character of Patrick Bateman from American Psycho is not something I would like to replicate.
This movie has very powerful themes of materialism and consumerism in America, but it is a borderline comedy because of the gimmicky personality and attitude of Bateman. His motivations aren't rooted in real desires to fix himself or issues around him, it is purely out of outrageous and comical reasoning.
In contrast, the movie that my preferred approach is the film Taxi Driver.
Martin Scorsese uses the character of Travis in a more unique way. He is driven by very complicated morals and motives, which is pointed out in the movie...
"He's a prophet and a pusher, partly truth, partly fiction.
A walking contradiction."
This one quote sums up the themes of what, in my opinion, makes a good psychological thriller. Travis becomes fixated on helping a teenage prostitute named Iris, but his motivation to do so is a bit selfish because he wants to be her savior. Likewise, he is concerned with getting rid of all the "scum" in New York, but actively takes part in immoral activities. There is something deeply personal about his actions, but it is hard to distinguish whether the audience should sympathize with the character.
Similarly, the movie Nightcrawler explores the idea of having an unlikeable protagonist in a psychological thriller.
Making my character very passionate, personal, yet unlikable is something I intend to portray in my film opening because it adds a lot of nuance to the murderer. Unlike horror movies, psychological thrillers are able to justify being their own genre because the antagonists aren't masked killers, they are everyday people and they are the protagonists and antagonists at the same time.
Resources:
Mecholsky, Kristopher. “The Psychological Thriller: An Overview.” Louisiana State University, 2013.
