Whatever happened to the horror movie?

[Gregorius_H]

I've noticed lately that there has been a downwards trend in the number of quality horror movies being released. I mean, it seems lately that I'm lucky to get one good horror movie (by good I mean actually scary, doesn't have to be shakespeare or anything). Last year, I'd say the Dawn of the Dead remake and Saw were the only good two that I saw. Might've been more... (me brian ait'n noi goad at memmorri). Surely the terrified general population is enough to justify a few more good horror movies, preferably with some kind of social context (or at least a villain that doesn't die five times). Surely it isn't that hard to make something scary? Is it?

Enough with 'psychological' horror movies that don't engage me mentally at all, and slasher movies that only seem to slash at my fleeting sense of purpose (causing me to ask what valuable service I could be performing for society other than watching this).

I remember fondly the exorcist, poltergeist, omen and alien. (even though i was only born in 1987, I had watched all of these by the time I was ten.... very disturbed child. I know.)

Whatever happened to the horror movie?

Where has all the horror gone?

Even stephen king is writing freaking fantasy for christ's sake...

[Jay232]

I agree, the only good horror film that I have seen recently is The Grudge. And how come all of the recent flicks are pg-13?? My belief is that if you are trying to make a horror flick, you need to go rated R... I'm watching old horror movies more and more, only realizing that I'm now memorizing the whole movie one by one So come on Hollywood, get your act together!
What a great thread

[Gregorius_H]

I was actually arguing with a friend the other day about how recent horror movies aren't scary. And he's only ever seen recent horror movies, so he was under the opinion that there was no such thing as a scary horror movie...

So I sat him down in front of the Exorcist...

His face had no colour left in it after the movie... I swear!

I haven't actually seen grudge yet, and I also have to get around to seeing Saw, which looks pretty good.

Perhaps they can salvage my opinion of the modern horror movie?

[Eventine]

I have the misfortune of being really jumpy. Not because of scary things, but sudden movements and loud noises cause me to jump. I jump when the toaster goes off or when my phone rings.

This makes people assume that when I'm watching a "scary" movie such as a slasher flick that relies on the killer/cat/whatever else jumping out a quiet moment that I'm scared out of my wits. I'm not.

But some recent(ish) movies that have managed to scare, and in which I never jumped once:
The Others - great building of mood and use of colour to convey it. the scene with the little girls voice in the old ladies body freaked me out big time.

The Ring - very mysterious and once again has a great use of a creepy kid. The feeling of inevitability really worked for me.

The Sixth Sense - or, in particular, the tent scene.


Actually, looking at that it seems I've got a problem with spooky kids in movies. I should probably rewatch the Exorcist and Omen...

[Jay232]

I just bought the Grudge today. The freakiest parts in the movie are how and where the girl shows up. She's pretty much exactly the girl from the Ring, but better. She shows up more and kicks some but. In the Ring, the people killed just looked really scared, like they died from fright or that their life was sucked from them. The Grudge has a better way of what the girl does. It's not all anticipation for that 7th day to arrive. I haven't seen the saw yet, and I'm hoping that Hide and Seek and The Boogeyman will be at least a good flick. Boogeyman looks like it would be more on the fright side than Hide and Seek, but who knows? They're both PG-13 and that irritates me. Where's the good old fashioned blood and guts? R-rated horror movies with SCARY plots and NIGHTMARISH scenes. I haven't had nightmares form a horror movie since I was 3... and that was because my brothers threw a Chucky doll at me and made me believe that he really was real I want a movie that is so scary I have nightmares Like the Grudge. I had ONE nightmare... and that was only because my worst fear is my room- once you see it you'll know why I'm off to write the next best horror movie

[Gregorius_H]

I'm off to write the next best horror movie

Not before I do you're not! lol.

I would really like to start writing screenplays, but unfortunately I have no idea how and I've got too many little projects going right now to bother figuring it out.

Maybe when I finish something I'll look into it...

[Jay232]

lol! I have two good friends who are into writing screenplays. If you ask me, only one of them is any good and he writes stuff that mixes LOTR and the Matrix and probably two other completely opposite movies in one ..... so yeah. But I myself am more interested in suspensful romance for my novels and extreme horror for my screenplays. Like I'd ever sell anything, but at least I'll be satisfied scaring the living crap out of my friends with a horrifying book/screenplay.
I'm working on a piece right now that I'm hoping will be a mix between The Exorcist and The Grudge with a little bit of the Legend of Hell House. If it weren't so violent I would probably post it in the Community.
But I am a firm believer in the horror genre and I'll be frustrated with Hollywood forever for not comming up with something scarier than dead teenage girls that will kill anyone who enter's their 'world'. OH OH and how scary was the evil side of the Tooth Fairy in Darkness Falls.!! So anyways... I'm still in the drawing board room and must return

[Gregorius_H]

lol

I got one of my friends to send me a bunch of photos of his town and then I went and threw together a zombie short story set there. I sent it to him and now he doesn't go outside after dark anymore.

And don't worry about posting violent stuff in community, some of my stuff in there is probably pretty violent... check that... really violent.

I usually only like violent stuff if its used for a reason, unlike in movies such as... say... Freddy vs Jason? That kind of violence is just stupid. It makes me laugh more than it actually scares me. And yes, it appears the horror genre has hit some kind of dark age. Perhaps a renaissance is in order? A violent, bloody, utterly terrifying renaissance.

[Jay232]

Freddy Vs Jason made me laugh the whole way through. Oh and Jason X... I thought I was watching an Adam Sandler movie I was laughing so hard.
Once I stayed with a friend at her mom's bf's house and his son was doing nothing but annoying me and my friend so I made up a quick short story about things that lurk in the shadows and just wait for little boys like him to walk outside at night. It was so funny the look on his face. :P I also warned him about the toilet monster. He only comes out when you get up at night to go to the bathroom... that way everyone else is asleep and no one can hear you get sucked down the toilet.
It was horrible but he stopped bothering us
My violence has it's purpose, but I found myself trying to get more deaths in my book. I want to portray the evilness VERY clearly... but sometimes the way I describe things ....... so yeah. But I'll check out some stuff you have posted in the community sometime tonight. Right now I'm in the midst of some research and I'm on a roll.

[Gregorius_H]

lol, I love horror. it seems to be one of the only mediums that actually get an emotional response out of some groups of people. Although a lot of them will revert to the old standby in order to defend their honour - "That was crap. I wasn't scared at all."

The upcoming silent hill movie should be good I think, then again it is based on a game, and they did manage to turn resident evil into what basically came down to an action movie with zombies. But I'm still going to sit here with my fingers crossed!

And good luck with the research, i hate research.

[Jay232]

Me too! I'm sitting with my fingers crossed on the remake of the Amityville Horror! I swear if they ruin that movie I'll be depressed for life I heard something about a sequal to the ring too.......... but that was a long time ago you'd think it'd be out by now. The remake to Texas Chainsaw Massacre was good, but not scary. Ofcourse, I barely even remember it and I've seen it 4 times. The original was scarier only because it seemed more realistic I guess, I don't know. But... Fingers Crossed that Hollywood comes to their senses!!!

[Gregorius_H]

They're remaking the amityville horror? Cool! I second that about being depressed for life if they screw it up though...lol. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake was good, in that it interested me and I was able to actually watch it, and even enjoy myself perhaps, but it wasn't that scary and, no, not that memorable either. The original was better, because I think they focussed on the emotions a little more, and the blood a little less. Like in the scene in the original when she's sitting at the table and they're all laughing and the camera just keeps going back to her eyes with the freaky music. I'd have to nominate that for one of the most unnerving scenes ever in a horror movie.

[Jay232]

Definitly. I read on an Amityville Horror site that THE guy that owned the house for real has all rights to anything Amityville or something of the matter. I guess he was supposed to help with the new movie? That was my rememberence of the article. It's supposed to be more of what REALLY happened to the family, and with today's technology I'm expecting it to be good. But I will cry if they ruin it lol. And good point on the old texas chainsaw. It was alot easier in that one to put myself in her position than it was in the remake so I see what you mean. I think that's what makes movies scarier, being able to put yourself in the character's position and trying to figure out what you would do in that situation. That's what reeled me into the Halloween movies. I won't watch those very often just because I can easily put myself in her position and sometimes it's freaky LoL. I'll try to find that article again and post it

[Jay232]

http://www.amityvillehorror.com/articles/erarticle.htm
I'm not sure if that is the same article I read a while ago but it does talk about the movie and the remake. Check it out if you'd like I thought it was rather interesting.
http://www.amityvillehorror.com/remake/remake.htm
Also if you go there, there is a couple of more articles about the remake. Maybe that will be interesting too, wouldn't know I didn't read them

[Eventine]

Me too! I'm sitting with my fingers crossed on the remake of the Amityville Horror! I swear if they ruin that movie I'll be depressed for life . The remake to Texas Chainsaw Massacre was good, but not scary. Ofcourse, I barely even remember it and I've seen it 4 times. The original was scarier only because it seemed more realistic I guess, I don't know. But... Fingers Crossed that Hollywood comes to their senses!!!

I heard something about a sequal to the ring too.......... but that was a long time ago you'd think it'd be out by now

There's a trailer out, I'm expecting it to be re-released soon. Did you realise that The Ring is a remake of a Japanese film that has a prequel and a sequel?* The Grudge is also a remake of a Japanese film, and from what I've seen most reviewers believe the original has much more atmosphere.

*Sorry if I pointed out something you already knew