Monster in the House

Monster in the House

The genre for Stop Zombie films will be horror. With a name like Stop Zombies did you expect something else? Our style of horror film has been defined as a “Moster in the House” – a term coined by the late screenwriter Blake Snyder. A few popular examples of this style are, The Exorcist, John Carpenter’s remake of The Thing, Evil Dead 1 and 2, Alien, Return of the Living Dead, Friday the 13th, Jurassic Park, and Jaws.

This style of horror has three parts: a monster, a confined space, and a hero trying not to be eaten by the monster. This is not a new concept. Writers have been telling this story for thousands of years. The Greeks wrote a tale about a hero named Theseus who ventures into the darkness of the labyrinth to slay the Minotaur. Simple concept, but powerful because it speaks to us on a primal level.

It is vital that every member of a film crew understand the style of movie being made. Everyone must KNOW the rules. Watch these movies and learn to identify the key theme elements. Once you understand the rules you can twist the character or story into something unique and dangerous.

Some of the movies on the list might seem out of place like the 1975 movie Jaws. Steven Spielberg, has made several Monster in the House movies. He created a confined location, a boat. He created a monster, a large great white shark. And the heroes Brody, Quint and Hooper try to avoid being eaten while they hunt the monster. Low budge horror movies can be made artistically. There is no universal law stating horror movies must be full of terrible cliches.