People are getting braver day by day when it comes to horror movies. It is harder to scare people today. And I mean the real scare, that used to creep to our bone marrow and lingered for weeks after the movie ended. Then there are the other kind of horror movies that resort to cheap tricks to give us the thrill to make it just worth our money. Both the types do use the same tricks, albeit in different ways.

When the villain talks into the camera, staring right at us

It is just like he is talking to you, and that is super scary. If the actor is a good one, you will feel scared.

Underexposure, so that we do not really know what is happening in the frames

Underexposure makes everything in the frame creepy, because your eyes cannot really comprehend what is in there and what is not.