If I could change anything, it’s that I'd like unrated and NC-17 movies to get wider theatrical releases rather than either going straight to DVD or receiving very limited runs. I was part of the last generation who got to see the unfettered likes of Pieces, The Beyond (aka Seven Doors of Death), and Demons in theaters and I think it's unfortunate that unless someone lives in or near a major market, the most extreme horror movies they'll ever experience on the big screen are R-rated fare. And it's also a shame that quirky independent pictures like Larry Fessenden's The Last Winter and Stuart Gordon's Stuck (among many others) don't have a chance of playing at most fans' local theaters. I'm glad these movies have an outlet to be seen uncompromised on DVD and cable but yet I wish they had greater opportunities for theatrical distribution.
But as far as the movies themselves go, even if much of the new crop is terrible I don’t see that as being any different from any other point in time. Most horror movies have always been poor at best. Even with good films, when they make a lasting impact, it’s usually down to the age that you first watched them. Burnt Offerings (1976) blew my mind because I saw it when I was around seven or eight years old. Had I seen it when I was thirty-five instead, well... that'd be a different story. That’s not to say I wouldn't like to see more horror films strive for greatness, or that it’s always about seeing a film at the right age, just to acknowledge that the movies I grew up with weren’t flawless by any means and yet my movie collection is full of films that critics - and most fans - once thought would be forgotten in a month. A lot of irrational attachments are made when it comes to horror films so it’s not my place to say that today's fans shouldn’t feel as connected to the movies that they’re growing up with as much as anyone else did to the movies of their eras.
Personally, I enjoy seeing how the genre changes each year. I like watching trends come and go. And I like the fact that the horror genre's prosperity is seldom up to the hardcore fans but instead in the hands of a larger mainstream audience who determines what movies become hits (even if it sometimes flies in the face of what horror fans approve of). The horror movies that we see may seldom be the kind that would be made if fans were left to call the shots but I don't see anything wrong with that. Instead I think it keeps things interesting. My feeling is that every age gets the horror films that it needs - although sometimes this is only evident in hindsight.
Article comments
1 - E. D. Deuss
The problem with recent (and not so recent) horror movies is that they mostly have blood & gore (BAG) for its own sake. If one wants that, they should work in a butcher shop! Damned few "horror" movies made over the past 30 or so years would be deemed classics. A classic, in my humble opinion, is a film that one wants to see over and over and over again.
The Universal horror films of the '30s and '40s are mainly classics and appeal even to today's viewers. There was a certain quality about those films, for example, that is totally lacking in the majority of BAG films of the last 3 or so decades.
Some of the best "horror" or "thriller" films have the "less is more" idea of not showing every little thing. The unseen is much more spooky than actually seeing whatever it is.
My rule of thumb is: most remakes are not going to be as good as the originals. Some of the BAG films might be suitable for renting, but I sure wouldn't pay big bucks to see 'em.
2 - George
The big problem with todays horror is it is SO FANTASTIC AND SO DRIPY OF BLOOD NOT REALLY DOWN TO EARTH.What scares people is in the normal cours of our lifes journy....lets say...a friend of your's is a palentologest working in south america comes across a fossol of a 5 fingered claw and arm.....breaks it off and shows it to other scientiets....they think there could be more to this so they put together an expedtion to find the CREATURE from the black lagoon....in B/W mind you....There was no huge spiritul hold on the lagoon by the creature. Like in the new mummy movies....All that tends to not be believable..Is not at all scary.. But our boy the creature is just a simple creature living in it's own world....We came to capture him.....very very hard to do...That was scary...But the whole story could actually happen...the way it was written....So what is believable and what is not??? that is the question!!!!..Is seem to me that to much is put into the new horror..K.I.S.S..KEEP IT SIMPLE STUPID...aND THE PEOPLE WILL COME...G..
3 - joelp
easy for you talentless fucks to sick back and complain.
go out and make your own movie if the rest suck so bad.