However, someone somewhere does need to pull back, needs to attempt to separate themselves from time and space, factor in all the variables and see what sinks and what rises. If that is my burden to bear as a modern horror blogger, so be it. No regrets on this end. I get to tell someone that Teeth is the millennium’s most unappreciated creature feature. That Altered is a thoroughly enjoyable twist on the alien abduction niche undeserving of its relegation to straight-to-DVD obscurity. That I may just be one of the few people blown away by The Last Horror Movie. That Black Water struck an indelible fear of crocodiles in me. That Storm Warning is a welcome relief in the overwrought Hillbillies-Rape-Locals brand of horror. That some studios still take risks on superficially silly material like killer plants and turn out horrifying product like 2008’s best horror film thus far, The Ruins. Or that [REC] will make grown men shit their pants.
I, not a film critic, just a film enthusiast, get to discover and share all those films with readers around the world. Every couple weeks I round up my own little big-screen-in-the-basement bound festival of titles chosen from blog of mouth. My friends, who couldn’t tell David Cronenberg from David Caruso, are routinely blown away by the new batch of horror out there. And when they aren’t, well, I just pop in The Thing and let ‘em discover how glorious old school horror is. Let’s not forget just how many horror films are released each and every month. I personally don’t see how anyone can cover them all with a blanket statement declaring, “The problem with today’s horror is…”
The only problem I find is there isn’t enough time in the day to discover what I’m missing out on.
Slasher Speak wonders where all the innocence has gone...
Modern horror movies have lost their innocence. Sounds like an oxymoron, but it’s true. Gone are the days of wide-eyed awe at creatures that defied explanation and dazzled with their improbability, monsters that sprung forth from our internalized fears onto the screen. The modern horror film is less thematic and more about… well, everyday horror.
Trouble is that genre films today are more focused on the depiction of horror where horror films past concentrated on the personification of horror. Horror once spoke subtly, using allegory and metaphor and symbolism to convey the horror at its core. Horror spoke to you through the back door; it whispered in your ear. Headlines of the day were cloaked in comforting doses of filmmakers’ imagination — monsters and make-believe terrors. You escaped with horror to indirectly deal with broader societal issues that terrified or confused you – communism, war, racism, sexual liberation.
Article comments
1 - Bo
A very interesting read and some fine points made all around. I would argue that modern horror is the same as it ever was, only different. It's similar in that there have always been the good releases and the not-so-good. The '50s and '60s are a prime example of the rush to film sometimes on the basis of nae alone. For every Ed Wood, there is a modern analog, our Uwe Boll. There are a number of fine horror films in the recent past, many of which were mentioned here (The Mist, The Ruins, [REC]) and some of these films are truly exceptional. I dare anyone to watch the last fifteen minutes of [REC] alone in the dark and not get spooked. Unfortunately, all American filmmaking has become a numbers game, and, as such, the 'product' the studios have been slinging is inferior and derivative. As long as people buy tickets for it, studios will continue to produce. The best new horror is often fund on the dvd shelves and not at the box office. Unless a festival is nearby, it's all-too-easy to miss an Inside or The Orphanage. Can't wait to read part 2!
2 - Brad Schader
I find that horror today reflects the attitudes of the day. The 80's Slasher movies were filmed during the Reagan era of oppressive morals. In those films, sins were punished by a slasher's visit and only the pure survived. The 70's saw mostly horror movies were G-d and the devil were at odds and usually G-d was powerless to help you (exorcist, omen) which was a reflection of the post Watergate era. The 60's, like today, were heavy on gore based films with little suspense because today, like the 60's we live in a very suspenseful and horrific time of war and gore.
Great read BTW
3 - Teresa
Wonderful article! I've always said today's movies are just not scary (sorry, I didn't like "The Ruins" at all). The only movies that truly made me scared were ones such as "The Evil Dead" and "The Thing". Even the 'cheesy' horror movies of the past are a 100 times better than the 'cheesy' ones made today, I don't know if it's the setting, the acting, the concepts, but a 70s horror film always outshines something from today.
4 - Alvin
We just need something good to come along and change things. IMO it all went tits up when they made a film called Scream which was crap and overrated
5 - UP TOOO LATE
Rec isn't terrible but nothing on Blair Witch (i'm used to being told off for that one) and honestly didn't capture me the way i'd hoped. The ruins wasn't bad at all but still has that sour smell of crapiness that for me has defined this decades horror releases. The Mist was watchable enough but again, flat.
I think what's wrong with horror today (and there is something very wrong) is down to something that's missing in youth culture at the moment. It's the same in music ect innit. It's hard to define. I will start my OWN BLOG YEAHAHAHAHA. (i will)