The Horror Genre is Dead

[ctc]

>I find nothing entertaining about innocent people being slaughtered. It's cheap and disturbing.

'Course it's SUPPOSED to be disturbing.... but I can definitely see that sort of thing not being to everyone's taste. You're hitting on why I didn't care so much for the glut of 80's slasher films: mutant guy kills a lot of stupid teens, wash, rinse, repeat. I'm not bothered by anything I see in a film on moral grounds 'cos it's not real. I dislike the ol' slasher flick 'cos they're all the same.

>I'm a big fan of Dog Soldiers and The Descent.

Hmmmm.... "The Descent" not so much for me, 'cos it smaked of the "stupid people doing stupid things" trope a bit too closely.... but I loved "Dog Soldiers!" Who here thought the guy in the kitchen might actually have made it?

>what's so scary about little Japanese girls?

You obviously don't know any. Beneath those giggling exteriors beat hearts as black as pitch....

>I also think it's perverse to have kids being victimized, whether they're physically harmed or spiritually possessed or whatever.

That's one of them old saws going back to the Grimm days. Kids are an easy go; if they're the victim you get instant sympathy. If they're the monster you get instant creepy 'cos it's such a twist on real life. That; and kids are kinda creepy to begin with. They're small, misshapen, they stare with those big, vacant eyes, they leak, and they make horrible, horrible noises....

Don C.

[Brazoo]

It's a few years old now, but Sam Raimi's 'Drag me to Hell' is an excellent movie.

I might get flack for this - but I thought it was just as great/crazy/fun as any of the Evil Dead movies - but for some strange reason people seemed to ignore it.

[gummi]

It's definitely a rare occurrence these days when a great, original horror movie comes along. Everyone is so interested in remaking all the classics from my childhood, and typically not for the better. There have only been three horror movies in the past several years that I would consider future classics, and two have been mentioned already: Trick 'r Treat and Insidious. The third is The Cabin in the Woods. This was one of the most fun and original horror movies I've seen in a long time. Check it out if you get a chance.

[domino]

I think it's just a stale genre right now. Everyone wants to make cheap remakes for quick $$$. There are still some decent movies out there, you just have to keep an eye out for them. It's not a great movie but I really enjoyed Ti West's House of the Devil. It reminded me of the 80's style. I also was one that enjoyed Drag Me To Hell. I was surprised by the ending and it made me jump.

[Timothy2251]

Gotta go with what ctc, domino, etc. said. Horror, much like every other genre out there, goes in cycles. While it's a bit stale at the moment (seriously, I'm burnt out on zombies and Paranormal Activity stuff), there are some good flicks out there and some on the way. The Carrie remake looks like a winner (Chloe Moretz and Julianne Moore? Major, major points on the acting alone for this flick!), Lords of Salem looks to be hanging it's hat in Argento territory (or TERROR-tory, if Forest J. Ackerman were still with us!), The Last Voyage of the Demeter is taking us back to Stoker's Dracula book... there's some good films on deck within the year.

Also, Cabin in the Woods was one great twist on the genre. More films like that, please!

[JediJaida]

These aren't true horror films. They are gross out films masquerading as horror.

Real horror films are more about what you DON'T see happening, than getting in your face and spraying blood, gore and guts every which way.

Christopher Lee's turn as Count Dracula is an excellent example of this. There wasn't a whole lot of blood, but the acting was excellent (even if the script was a bit iffy), the mood, the sets and lighting all meshed together and gave us the real ambience of a horror movie.

Bela Lugosi's turn as Dracula scared the wits out of me as a kid. That creepy castle, shot in black and white; with cobwebs and dust everywhere. No mirrors, the furniture was so creaky I thought it would crumble into dust; Bela's truly menacing and hypnotic presence. Perfect.

Real horror is about what's in the dark; lying in wait for an unsuspecting victim, either as an easy meal, or as a way out of it's prison.

And it's not always the monsters that are the bad guys. Most of the real monsters are the ones passing as ordinary people.

The Godzilla movies are a hoot to watch. Okay; it's a guy in a rubber suit. He's still danged fun to watch, especially when he tromps all over the villainous monster of the movie, or Downtown Tokyo, whichever floats your boat.

I will admit that some of the plots are trite and been rehashed to death in the horror genre lately.

I remember reading Grimm's UNabridged fairy tales as a child and there was some pretty horrible stuff in those!

Cinderella's step-sisters maiming themselves to fit into the slipper; Rapunzel's prince losing his eyes to a thorn bush; Sleeping Beauty in a death like state for a century while a whole generation of young men lose their lives trying to rescue her from her tower; Snow White eating a poisoned apple given to her by a jealous step-mother after her father is murdered by said step-parent.

If those aren't a good example of horror, nothing is.

[Mikey]

I love Bella, but his Drac never scared me

Lee's Drac scared me

[Hector]

Yeah, no more monster-driven horror movies except for zombies.

Now it's all about surprise boos and supernatural stuff...lame.

[Timothy2251]

It'll change - one thing I learned from decades of watching horror flicks is, like a proper monster, the genre doesn't stay dead for long.
I'll be glad when the zombies and ghost hunting stuff burns out and we get something else. A Creature From The Black Lagoon redux would be nice to check out.