Chapter 3712: Evil Strength (13)

"Doctor!" Danny called out instinctively, "Why are you here?"

Meanwhile, the real Shiller glanced at Mephisto's expression and knew that he must be cursing inside.

"So what exactly is going on?" Eddie, who was watching this scene, touched his chin with his fingers and looked at Shiller, saying, "Didn't you say Mephisto doesn't have the guts to harm the human race right under Strange's nose? Then who is this guy eating the corpse?"

"Look closely again, examine that corpse."

Eddie zoomed in further on the image and increased the sharpness, but still saw nothing. At this moment, Venom emerged from his shoulder like a tiny sprout, shook his head, and said, "You stupid coward! Haven't you noticed that's not a human kidney at all? And the heart, the heart doesn't look human either. Although it's well disguised, I can immediately tell they're not human organs; they're more likely from a pig."

Eddie's mouth opened slightly. He rewound the video and looked at different angles of the corpse, but couldn't draw any conclusions. Then he rewound the video further and seemed to realize something, saying, "I understand now. When you two came down from the entrance, you walked through a corridor, which I found odd before. The setup of this corridor is meaningless; why design a corridor in a normal basement? Wouldn't it be more convenient to have a warehouse right after the entrance?"

"And you made the corridor so dark. You walked in there for a few minutes, and the edited footage was at least several dozen seconds long. Coupled with the few dark clips before, it's enough for the audience to adapt to the dark lighting, isn't it? And at the moment the door is opened, even though the room's light is relatively dim, there's a sudden brightness change in the image, making it hard for the audience to adjust their vision and examine the corpse's details. Once the shock from the transition settles, the scary close-up face appears, further leaving the audience no time for reflection. This helps cover any flaws that might exist with your fake corpse."

"Exactly." Shiller nodded and said, "I haven't introduced you yet; this guy could be a great kid, perhaps even the first big star from our rehabilitation center."

Eddie looked at the blood-drenched, ferocious face on the camera, opened his mouth slightly, not quite agreeing with Shiller's 'great kid' comment. He chose not to voice his disagreement out of politeness.

"Generally speaking, actors who've never been in a horror film need training to play roles in such films. Even very experienced veteran actors, if they've never acted in this genre, require training. Of course, they can practice on their own, which requires skill." Eddie said.

"The reason is that fear is a unique emotion in all of them. When you're not genuinely afraid, your expressions become too restrained, making it hard for people to empathize with your fear. But if you act in an overly exaggerated way, your expressions become grotesque and distracting. It's crucial to strike the right balance."

A film critic was holding up a phone, recording while walking out of the cinema.

"And for actors playing ghosts or killers in horror films, high demands are placed on them. Take the most famous Sadako as an example. Although she never shows her face, only her body and long black hair, her physical expression is spot-on, especially the moment she crawls out of the television, giving a very strong non-human feel."

"Indeed, the non-human feel is the source of fear that the villainous roles in horror films bring. Even if the person standing before you looks exactly like a human or possesses most human features, some of their key expressions are far away from human-like; it's like a monster wrapped in human skin that cannot fit in. This feeling of the most familiar stranger is the best state of performance."

"I have to admit, the actor playing the possessed by devils character grasped this very well in this scene. What's more exquisite is how the typically used bloodied scenes to scare audiences were deliberately blurred by the director with lighting. This breaks the audience's sense of security — when blood appears on screen, they think: 'Now that there's blood on the screen, the next scene will surely be terrifying.'

"They focus on the gore, but at this moment, the transformation isn't the bloodied corpse itself, but someone next to it. This person's actions don't escalate the bloody scene, instead, it's a sudden scare, using the non-human feel they possess completely breaking the audience's expectation of fear, creating an unexpected horror."

"I'm certain this film's director is a master of horror. Although he hasn't revealed his identity, I suspect he might be one of those already famous directors who disguised themselves to test their actual prowess. Okay, great director, you wanted to hear this. You won; you successfully scared me. You damned bastard! Soon, you all will feel the same fear as I did. Let's eagerly anticipate that moment together!"

"Ah, I forgot to mention, the actor playing Nelson seems to be acting for the first time, and he surprised me quite a bit. I heard he was originally a patient in the rehabilitation center, and the director boldly included him in the shooting. I'm genuinely curious about the behind-the-scenes story — how did the director persuade him to participate and make him act so well? Hopefully, in the subsequent behind-the-scenes stories, we can find this out."

"Hey, Nelson, it's me." Shiller stealthily entered a hospital room. Nelson, who was sitting by the bed playing a video game, was startled.

"Gosh, Doctor Schiller? Why is it you? You haven't been by much lately; I thought you'd forgotten about me."

"How could I? Nelson, we're the best of friends." Shiller sat down next to him and said, "Speaking of which, you might not believe it, but the person you've seen lately wasn't me."

"Oh, no surprise." Nelson put the game console aside, tilted his neck, and said, "I felt he didn't quite seem like you. He's too normal, unlike me at all. We're the best together."

Nelson reached out to wrap his arm around Shiller's shoulder. Shiller raised his hand and said, "You have to help me out, Nelson. I know you envy those superheroes who get attention; maybe you'll have a chance to be a big star someday?"

"Oh, come on." Nelson slumped to the other side sulkily, saying, "My parents wouldn't let me leave this place. As for superheroes, I have to say, you've kept this place so clean I haven't seen a single spider. If not, perhaps by now I'd be swinging across the New York sky."

"I never thought you'd forget your fear of heights." Shiller walked over to pour him a glass of water and said, "But now there's an opportunity; even if you don't go out, you can be a big star. Would you like to give it a try?"

Nelson immediately laughed and said, "Do you have another brilliant idea? What do you want to do?"

"Here's the thing, I want to shoot a horror film, a false documentary. You've seen James Wan's movies, right?"

"Of course, 'Saw', I love it. It was because I snuck into my room to watch his movies that my parents thought my condition worsened, so they sent me here."

"It seems you have a connection with him. I'm planning to make a similar movie."

Nelson sat back down, twisting his upper body, and said, "I'm sure you can do it. I think you'll become an even greater horror film director than him. What do you want me to play? Jigsaw?"

"Something like that. I think you're very suitable for playing villain roles, but a little puppet on a bicycle isn't interesting; you can only do the voice. I think your appearance is good, so acting in person isn't impossible."

Nelson smiled shyly. Shiller sized him up—if you don't consider the thick stack of his medical records, he looks very normal, a long-faced young man with brown curly hair.

"Of course, no problem!" Nelson jumped up and said, "When do you start shooting? Are we going now?"

"Don't rush; first, we need to set up the place. I've prepared the other props, but we need a fake corpse to scare people. I know you're interested in this, so let's do it together."

"Oh my god! You're awesome!" Nelson pulled Shiller up from his seat, gave him a strong hug, and said, "You're the best psychiatrist for me! Even better than my parents! If I win an Oscar, I'll give the statue to you!"

"Then I gladly accept," Shiller said with a smile.

"Let me tell you the plan." Shiller pulled out a notebook from his pocket and said, "First, we can't kill someone for real to disguise a corpse... No, no way, Nelson, even if this could make you an ultimate villain, do you think you could beat Spider-Man? If you don't want to get beaten up by him, it's best to tread carefully."

"First, we need to go to the wax museum; only there do they have realistic-looking human models. Of course, the cemetery and crematorium could work, but there definitely aren't any fresh corpses there now. You know, if the time of death doesn't match, it'll give it away."

"Then we have to go to a slaughterhouse, get some pig organs, hearts, livers, spleens, lungs, kidneys—those are very similar to humans. And then we get some blood. Then you'll do this..."

"What on earth are you guys doing???" Mephisto asked Danny, "Your brother ran out like a madman, saying you were in danger, and I had to come over to check..."

"Danny! Danny!!!" Johnny's voice came from the entrance. Danny quickly responded, "Johnny, I'm here! Don't come down; I'll come to you right away!"

After saying that, he turned back to look, glanced at the young man lying on the ground, and then looked at Mephisto and asked, "Who is this?"

Mephisto was visibly confused. He stepped back and glanced at the person on the ground and said, "Seems like it's Nelson, a high-functioning autistic patient, who stays on the second floor."

"I knew it." Danny walked over and helped Shiller up, then said, "You were right, Doctor. I guess this is Mephisto's trap."

The question marks on Mephisto's head almost became solid. But before he could speak, Danny walked over, propped Nelson up, and then said to Shiller, "I'm afraid we won't sleep tonight. Can you exorcise him, Doctor?"

"I'm not sure about his condition yet," Shiller shook his head, deliberately acting as if he was in a tough spot and said, "I need to examine him first and set up the exorcism ritual, but whether it succeeds, it depends on whether God looks kindly upon him."

The group left the cellar and saw Johnny anxiously waiting above. Johnny still looked a bit pale and said, "I felt you might be in danger, so I rushed out. Security stopped me and called Doctor Shiller. Are you guys alright?"

"Not quite unscathed," Danny replied, rubbing his arm—Nelson had just bitten him hard. Fortunately, his long sleeves weren't torn, but it's bruised already, half of his arm feeling numb and painful at touch.

"Let's not waste time," Danny continued, "We need to find a place to exorcise Nelson. If Mephisto returns to him, I'm afraid we won't be able to stop him anymore."