Spooky season is over, but this conversation is just beginning. Why is it that movies like the Smile series, overdone with graphic gore scenes and predictable jump scares, just don’t invoke the same fear as films more simply recorded on a mobile device? Allow me to explain.
1) I don’t relate to you.
Outrageous plot lines, such as the drug-ridden pop-star protagonist in Smile 2, force the viewer to deviate from the narrative. In stark contrast, the six main characters featured in the Skype-call-turned-scary movie Unfriended, encounter issues regarding bullying, suicide, social hierarchy, and infidelity. Despite the running time of Smile 2 dwarfing that of Unfriended, I learned and empathized more with each of the six characters than I did with the one.
2) What else is coming?
Once you see it, you can’t unsee it. Something or someone in the corner—it was probably just nothing. Or was it? We mustn’t underestimate the value of gradual jump scares, discrete to disastrous. No franchise executes this concept better than Paranormal Activity. With an almost voyeuristic quality, the discrete introduction of jump scares excels at keeping momentum and engineering the fright to feel like it is happening right next to the viewer. This creeping terror, amplified by the homemade style of mobile-recording footage, keeps the viewer on edge, not knowing exactly when or where the next scare will come, dreading this continuous and uncomfortable experience. What begins as a minor inconvenience, a lamp knocked over, a dog barking too loud, quickly snowballs into your worst nightmare: chandelier collapses on the floor, total demonic possession, and more!
This kind of unpredictable jump-scare will forever surpass the jarring rather than genuinely unsettling attempt of films like the Smile series. Designed to deliver an adrenaline rush, the coupled abruptness forces me to undermine the build-up of suspense. It feels more mechanical and about delivering a reaction than creating a lingering sense of dread.
3) We’re all just one big happy family!
There’s one subconscious thing we don’t notice, but it completely alters how we absorb that 90-minute fear fest. That thing is the focus on a small, consistent group of characters—typically a couple or a family—creating intimacy and isolation. Best executed in the Paranormal Activity franchise, this intensifies the horror because, unlike in films with rotating characters, the viewer can’t escape the anxiety or unease growing in the house or apartment. Stakes skyrocket because the emotional bond with the characters grows over time; we feel their distress as if we’re a part of their big happy family. Viewers don’t just see a sequence of scary events—they live through the psychological unraveling of the family, making it more personal.
Conversely, Smile shifts the focus to new characters and various settings more frequently, diluting the emotional investment. Constantly introducing new faces makes it harder for the viewer to form that lasting emotional connection. Because these characters are fleeting, the sense of isolation and shared experience with them isn’t as strong. You’re often left with a sense that you’re simply passing through the lives of the people being targeted, rather than witnessing a gradual unraveling of their lives. As a result, the horror feels less intimate and more external—it’s a spectacle, but one that we’re not truly living through alongside the characters.
Above all, there is a definite need for an increased release of films with a structure similar to Unfriended and Paranormal Activity. I demand more of this raw, unpolished feel, and this authenticity that comes with it. The shakiness, the low-quality visuals, and the sense of witnessing something secret resonates so deeply today that the line between reality and fiction continues to blur. The least you could do is take a look and tap into the unknown and the unexplainable.