Steven Spielberg’s Jaws is often credited as the textbook example of a Hollywood blockbuster that manages to foster a sense of suspense and nail-biting tension while keeping its monster – an impossibly big great white shark known as Bruce, in this case – firmly in the shadows. With only a demon-like fin for reference, such restraint allows the audience’s collective imagination to run wild – so much so that, by the time Jaws appears in shot midway through the film, viewers are rooting for Roy Scheider’s Chief of Police with bated breath.
And though Spielberg’s seminal pic isn’t necessarily classed as a horror film per se, the same logic can be applied to the vast majority of genre films that revolve around a single, relentless entity.
Matt and Ross Duffer know a thing or two about this ‘less is more’ tactic. As the co-creators of Netflix phenom Stranger Things, the filmmaking duo – along with series producer and director Shawn Levy – unleashed the Demogorgon upon the unsuspecting masses of Hawkins, Indiana, but did so in such a way that the otherworldly beast wasn’t the show’s main attraction. Rather, that title belonged to the loveable cast of characters that the Duffers created, most of whom are back on board for the upcoming second season.
Not only that, but it seems Matt and Ross Duffer will utilize a similar level of restraint when it comes to handling the supernatural beasts of Stranger Things season 2, as the latter told Variety:
The point is not to give everyone what they think they want. Because I don’t think they really know what they want. Hiding the monsters can be more effective than seeing them, so restraint can be a good thing. I can’t talk too much about them, but they’re cool.
And though her untimely death sparked an online campaign – a campaign that demanded justice for Barbara Holland – the Duffer Brothers went on to reaffirm that Barb is unequivocally dead by the time Stranger Things season 2 begins.
There’s no resurrecting Barb. It was really surprising how much she took off. I related to her, so I think other people did as well.
Comprised of nine episodes in total – up one from the original run of eight – Stranger Things season 2 will stream via Netflix this Halloween. But will you be tuning in? Do let us know.
