So what's next for 3-D? Action films will continue to use it, and perhaps the entirety of films will be made using it, however, I have found the next logical step for 3-D - one that will really leave a mark on the viewers. It is the horror genre.
Horror has been neglected throughout cinematic history, and especially of late. Aside from some notable attempts, most "horror" films have been boring slashers, gory remakes, or underacted and overproduced big budget ghost stories. The notable attempts are The Blair Witch Project and Paranormal Activity, two faux-documentary, low-budget, and critically-acclaimed films that have the same positives and negatives. Their positives are these: they concern ghosts, are actually scary, and are well acted. Their negatives are these: there is too much tension and suspense and not enough gratification, or resolution, and its scares are mostly too subtle/predictable.
Hollywood needs to understand, that through the critical and box-office success of these two tiny horror films, that to scare the viewers and make money, they need to return to be more simplistic. No, that does not mean go to guys running around in masks killing people. Involve ghosts and the paranormal. They scare more than slashers because the paranormal is unpredictable, can appear anywhere, cannot be 'killed', and leave a lasting impression on the viewer. Ghost stories scare because of the plausibility of their implausibility. Run-of-the-mill gore flicks may sell well on Halloween, but for temporal value, they suck.
Here's my suggestion: make more ghost films. Show shadows and crawlers. Play some classic horror video games, like Silent Hill, and see how unpredictability works in their favor. Show a ghost with red or yellow eyes. Freak the viewer out. You don't need to go for cheap scares, at least not all the time. Subtle (or at least consistent) unnerving imagery is enough. Leave questions at the end, in the style of Blair Witch and Paranormal Activity. The soundtrack should be of footsteps and uneven breathing, either by the characters or the ghosts themselves. Music often tells the viewer to pay attention or anticipate an event, and though sometimes it is executed well, people today are familiar with the "OMG TENSION IN THE MUSIC -- lol there wasn't anything there haa *turn* OMG A GHOST!" or the "OMG TENSION IN THE MUSIC -- AHHH A GHOST!" ploy. Eliminate music, throw the viewer off balance. For God's sake, play Fatal Frame 2: Crimson Butterfly.
And how this ties into my first topic is this: include 3-D, applied as cohesively as it is in a film like Avatar, and you are sure to scare the living hell out of your audience. To have a character like the chick from The Ring crawling out of the TV (i.e., movie theater screen) into the room (towards the audience) in 3-D would make for an unforgettable experience.
Revamp the horror genre with the paranormal and some 3-D. Win.
