# Which of these is a better premise for a horror film? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [November 17, 2020, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-is-a-better-premise-for-a-horror-film/925815 "2020-11-17T18:34:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cmyers1980](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyers1980/32/11814_2.png) [@Cmyers1980](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cmyers1980)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2020, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-is-a-better-premise-for-a-horror-film/925815/1 "2020-11-17T18:34:22Z")
Which of these is a better premise for a horror film? 1: A psychopathic alien with a twisted sense of humor forces 100 high schoolers to fight to the death for his amusement. 2: Various monsters wreak havoc on a small town on Halloween night. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2020, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-is-a-better-premise-for-a-horror-film/925815/2 "2020-11-17T18:44:55Z")
I like the second one. Also I moved your thread to **Cafe Society** from **IMHO**. Better fit. ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2020, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-is-a-better-premise-for-a-horror-film/925815/3 "2020-11-17T18:46:17Z")
Both are well chewed food in overly trodden territory so I’m not sure “best” is in play here. Premise doesn’t matter as much, though, if it’s well executed. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2020, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-is-a-better-premise-for-a-horror-film/925815/4 "2020-11-17T19:00:01Z")
> [@Cmyers1980](#): > > A psychopathic alien with a twisted sense of humor forces 100 high schoolers to fight to the death for his amusement. Why 100? Maybe the alien has 12 fingers, so it’s 144 high schoolers. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2020, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-is-a-better-premise-for-a-horror-film/925815/5 "2020-11-17T19:09:30Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Why 100? Maybe the alien has 12 fingers, so it’s 144 high schoolers. What a gross premise. ---
**Author:** ![Edward\_The\_Head](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ce73a5/32.png) [@Edward\_The\_Head](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Edward_The_Head)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2020, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-is-a-better-premise-for-a-horror-film/925815/6 "2020-11-17T19:09:39Z")
The second one is the premise of Trick 'R Treat, which is really good. ---
**Author:** ![arteekgeek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/arteekgeek/32/3536_2.png) [@arteekgeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/arteekgeek)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2020, 8:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-is-a-better-premise-for-a-horror-film/925815/7 "2020-11-21T08:47:41Z")
Various monsters invade a post apocalyptic world where they find mostly children have survived. As the Alien monsters realize they are superior in strength skill and strategy they begin to play with the kids as a dirty Mexican drug addict would in a Mexican cock fight… tournament of the times. ---
**Author:** ![Manwich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e480ec/32.png) [@Manwich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manwich)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2020, 9:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-of-these-is-a-better-premise-for-a-horror-film/925815/8 "2020-11-21T09:47:44Z")
1. The world is leaking into another dimension whenever objects are neither extremely blobby or extremely sharp (more average, more dimensional leakage), so that eventually the world can only be stable if made of dough and needles. 2. A confused god with a godlike brain injury confuses game shows for tests of human worth. A shy theology student must win Jeopardy and Supermarket Sweep to save mankind.