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  1. #1
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    The Dumbing-Down of Horror

    Found this interesting article surfing the net and agree with it in it's entirety:

    http://splicetoday.com/moving-pictur...e-they-used-to


    Today's horror movies are long on gore and short on brains, and the current directors of a once-great genre have blood on their hands.


    Plotline for the 2004 film, The Grudge, according to imdb.com:

    Karen Davis is a woman residing in Japan with her boyfriend, who is studying there. Temporarily assigned to be caretaker for a woman with severe sleeping disorder, Karen goes to the patient's house. What she finds is something she would never expect. The house is plagued by the presence of murderous ghosts, the result of a curse. The curse is born from someone dying in a powerful rage. Now, Karen finds herself being tormented by that curse, as it eventually starts claiming its victims.


    Another plotline, this one for the new “horror” film, Shutter, also from imdb.com:

    A newlywed couple Ben and Jane move to Japan for a promising job opportunity— a fashion shoot in Tokyo. During their trip on a dark forest road they experience a tragic car accident, leading to the death of a young local girl. Upon regaining consciousness, they find no trace of her body. A bit distraught the couple arrives in Tokyo to begin their new life. Meanwhile Ben begins noticing strange white blurs in many of his fashion shoot photographs. Jane believes that the blurs are actually spirit photography of the dead girl who they hit on the road, and that she may be seeking vengeance.


    As you can see, the creativity of horror movies is taking a nosedive. Some buffs say that today’s horror movies are so filled with garbage that they make Young Frankenstein seem like an actual horror film. Others come to the conclusion that the horror films today deliver excellent fear and excitement. That brings us to two possibilities: a) the film genre of horror is extinct or b) the majority of people seeking entertainment don’t know what’s good for them. Can’t really pick out the lesser of two evils right there.

    There are more pressing concerns in this world today that dwarf pop culture—oil prices, global warming, the presidential election and a sagging economy, just for starters. Nevertheless, after glancing at the trailers for the upcoming horror excrements advertised as The Ruins and Shutter, I can’t help being concerned about the possible downfall of this historic genre. Over the past 10 years or so, nothing but complete Hollywood filler has been coming out of the horror industry. Thanks to the minds of false horror visionaries such as Rob Zombie and Eli Roth, the mainstream horror genre has turned into remakes of either older American cult horror movies or foreign (usually Asian) horror films; sequels or prequels from previous horror releases, whether the original film is from 2000 or 1970; or original scripts, consisting of either wet adolescent girls dressed in rags who don’t speak or sex-and-mutilation films with nauseating and unnecessary gore and vulgarity. Horror has gone from making the audience feeling vulnerable from the amount of fear a film delivered, to making the audiences feel like they either want to vomit incessantly from the mutilation and/or never have sex again.

    Wanton mutilation, violence and gore have been in films for a while, dating back to the numerous underground horror films from the late 1960s. It continued in the 70s with disturbing films such as El Topo (1970) and Last House on the Left (1972), and then in the 80s with films like Cannibal Holocaust (1980). The timeline goes on, a key difference between then and now is that these films weren’t on the same commercial level of say, Star Wars or Indiana Jones; they attained fame and cult followings over the years. However, the blockbusters of horror these days like Saw (lazily shot in 18 days) happen to be the ones consisting of screaming women being raped and men enduring testicular torture. These are the films whose posters are showcased in every rental store and movie theater across the world:



    But it’s not only the filmmakers that have changed. It’s safe to say that current audiences have become either invulnerable or immune. In 1931, the nation was horrified upon the release of James Whale’s famous screen adaptation of Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein, starring horror guru Boris Karloff. A similar scare pandemic occurred in 1960 when Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho came out, and then true mass hysteria took place in late 1973 when The Exorcist premiered, with people literally screaming and fainting in theater aisles. And, of course, every single cineplex in the summer of 1975 shook from the reaction to Jaws. Today, people watch these films for nostalgia, not fear.

    Filmgoers were arguably more timid in the mid- to late-20th century. But over the years, we have seen frightening imagery not only in films but also in real life, not only from wars, but random serial killings and school shootings. And we’ve been exposed to more dark and frightening imagery from film, television and music. We’ve become used to seeing the dark side and somewhat perverted nature of mankind, and we’ve learned to accept violence as part of even the most mundane newscast. So whenever a horror film that consists of rape, mutilation and other unsettling subject matter is released, we seem to yawn it off. Some filmmakers have been smart, using filmmaking techniques rather than the actual subject matter itself to trigger the fear, such as the purposefully amateurish styles found in The Blair Witch Project and 28 Days Later, both shot on camcorders.

    People will only become more and more passive to horror films. “Horror” used to denote creepy and unsettling subject matter mixed with occasional visceral shocks—think of The Shining (1980). Now any movie with the slightest intellectual engagement is considered a “thriller,” like The Sixth Sense (1999), which would have been considered horror in any other decade. Who knows, maybe this horror era will lead to a better one. The Lon Chaney age went into the Karloff age, the Karloff into the Vincent Price/Hitchcock era, and the Zombie age of George A. Romero led to the New Wave horror of Wes Craven and David Cronenberg in the 80s.

    But by the looks of it right now, the horror movies in the first decade of the 21st century have been less than impressive. Is horror on the road to becoming obsolete as a film genre? The audience can’t become more timid and the producers of horror films won’t be any cleverer. And to all horror film enthusiasts like myself, the fact that this genre is completely losing its charm is far more terrifying than a crazed Jack Nicholson chasing someone around with an ax.
    ======================================================= =====================

    I've been saying it for years. Horror movies over the past 10 years have been lacking in story telling and
    originality. Remakes and as the article above PERFECTLY describes people like Zombie and Roth as "false horror visionaries" are ruining this genre I love so much.

    Agree or disagree?

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    Last edited by koolmike; 03-12-2009 at 12:23 PM.
    "Wake up sucker, we're thieves and we're bad guys. That's exactly what we are."


  2. #2
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    FrighT MasteR's Avatar
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    Nothing really new is stated here that most vet. horror fans already know. US horror pretty much sucks, which is why we have to turn to foreign and low-budget efforts

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  3. #3
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    Quote Originally Posted by FrighT MasteR View Post
    Nothing really new is stated here that most vet. horror fans already know. US horror pretty much sucks, which is why we have to turn to foreign and low-budget efforts
    Of course the fact that horror has been sucking in this country over the last 10 years or so is nothing new but at least this article reminds us of a time when horror was "scary" as true horror is supposed to be. That's usually achieved when someone sits down to write and actually "thinks" of instead of "borrows" an idea.

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    Last edited by koolmike; 03-12-2009 at 01:01 PM.
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  4. #4
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    Fright hit it on the nose. US horror stinks and lacks when compared to the foreign horror industry. But again, nothing we didn't know.

    I agree with most of your post KoolMike with one exception on false horror visionaries; IMO Eli Roth is trying to push horror away from teeny bopper PG13 movies about ghosts. And Hostel was praised even by Takashi Miike. Maybe he helps more than hurts our beloved genre.

    That said, I do agree Rob Zombie has not produced anything even remotely original in any of his films which I found very disappointing over the years. Yeah, they are cool to look at but there is no real substance to his projects.

    1. House of a 1000 Corpses (TCM rip-off)
    2. Devils Rejects (Sid Haig and Ken Foree only saving grace of that yawnfest).
    3. Halloween 1&2 are F-ing remakes!

    And how about not making it all about your wife? She is fine but she can't act and her voice makes me want to chew on tinfoil.

    For that matter I would love to see Cronenberg come back to horror. Videodrome rules.

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  5. #5
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    I mostly agree with whats being said, granted it is a gross generalization, but Fright nailed it with the international horror. While the US might be in decline, phenomenal films like Let the Right One In are finally taking us in the right direction. I hate being cliche and having to site the film, but it really is amazing, and will hopefully be the film to catch Hollywood's attention and get the Studios to finally realize that though gore has its place in the genre, you can accomplish so much more with so little as we saw in LtROI.

    I still back Devil's Rejects and Hostel despite the abusive gore, they were each original and thoughtfully crafted. I empathized with the characters I should have been hating more in DR than any other film I can ever remember seeing, and Roth did make subtle attempts at achieving TCM status by cutting away from the actual gore during some sequences and instead focusing on the expressions of pain and suffering (the achilles heel cutting scene in particular).

    I guess I am for and against the current trends. I'll try to be more contradicting in my next post for sure!

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    Last edited by Dragonmanes; 03-12-2009 at 01:04 PM.

  6. #6
    Child of the Grave
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    Quote Originally Posted by Sutter Kane View Post

    I agree with most of your post KoolMike with one exception on false horror visionaries; IMO Eli Roth is trying to push horror away from teeny bopper PG13 movies about ghosts. And Hostel was praised even by Takashi Miike. Maybe he helps more than hurts our beloved genre.
    SLIGHT SPOILER ALERT



    I liked Hostel. The idea of being lured into those situations and people paying to torture and kill was chilling I must say.

    Hostel was a good movie, but just another addition to the already saturated sub-genre of torture horror to come out over the past decade.

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    Last edited by koolmike; 03-12-2009 at 01:08 PM.
    "Wake up sucker, we're thieves and we're bad guys. That's exactly what we are."


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    Still not long enough on the gore for me.

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  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by FrighT MasteR View Post
    Nothing really new is stated here that most vet. horror fans already know. US horror pretty much sucks, which is why we have to turn to foreign and low-budget efforts
    Agreed with everything said here.

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  9. #9
    Child of the Grave
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    It really sucks that they're remaking the big horror icons. Never thought I'd see the day that Michael, Jason, and Freddy would be remade.

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    Last edited by koolmike; 03-12-2009 at 05:29 PM.
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    Quote Originally Posted by koolmike View Post
    It really sucks that they're remaking the big horror icons. Never thought I'd see the day that Michael, Jason, and Freddy would be remade.
    If the options were to continue releasing watered down and terrible sequels, not getting any sequels or remakes, or giving another filmmaker the opporunity to remake the film, Id prefer to see a remake even if it ends up being terrible. Robert Englund cant keep playing Freddy with the same level of intensity into his 80s, can you imagine Angus Scrimm starring in a new Phantasm? At some point, we have to face the inevitable, the films are going to be remade, or else most are going to be on a steady downward spiral in film quality. I hated the Halloween reboot, but I will take Zombie's interpretation of the character a hundred times over rather than watching Halloween 5 or 7. The Wicker Man was aweful too, but its not like you can sequelize the original, and Id rather have the chance to see another version of it than not, we dont gain anything from nothing.

    It sucks that they have to go back and change the things we have all grown up with, but there are only so many times we can keep rewatching the same films before its time for something new, and Freddy and Jason will always be there waiting for us when we get back.

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    Last edited by Dragonmanes; 03-13-2009 at 04:11 PM.

  11. #11
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    mike loves to paste :starefreak:

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  12. #12
    Child of the Grave
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    Happens in Current Events and UHM News all the time. Copy and Paste. Bringing in the news.

    Maybe I should have read it first, and then rewrote a long essay in my own words.

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    Last edited by koolmike; 03-12-2009 at 06:24 PM.
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    Quote Originally Posted by koolmike View Post
    Maybe I should have read it first, and then rewrote a long essay in my own words.
    :thumbup3:

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    Last edited by steelba; 03-12-2009 at 06:24 PM.



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  14. #14
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    Although FM has a point Mike, I am very glad that you posted this. We as horror vets may know horror in America has gone to shit, but we need constant reminders so that hopefully someday, it will come full circle. In all honesty, After Nightmare on Elm Street (with the exception of Cronenberg and a few things from Carpenter) the late 80's and the majority of the 90's consisted of either sequels to franchise slashers or a mundane PG-13 cat and mouse slasher attempt (don't even get me started on those F***ing moaning ghosts of the new millenia.) Thank you for posting this Mike, and hopefully one of us here can take horror back to the fans, and out of the grips of the Weinsteins.

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  16. #16
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    Horror has almost always been a genre of overwhelming crap-to-quality ratio. This is made moreso by the fact that "scary" comes in different forms for all of us.

    That article could have been written at any time over the last 50 years with only the examples being changed.

    "If I see another movie about a werewolf or giant animals from outer space..."

    "If I see another movie about dumb teenagers in the woods...."

    "If I see another movie about dumb teenagers in the suburbs..."

    "If I see another supposed horror movie that plays entirely for cheap laughs...."

    "If I see another dead girl in a white dress haunting confused bystanders...."

    The only notable change is that now we can microwave our popcorn and fill up a Netflix queue in search of that quality. It's easier than ever to find the good stuff.

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  17. #17
    Child of the Grave
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    Quote Originally Posted by levil666 View Post
    Although FM has a point Mike, I am very glad that you posted this. We as horror vets may know horror in America has gone to shit, but we need constant reminders so that hopefully someday, it will come full circle. In all honesty, After Nightmare on Elm Street (with the exception of Cronenberg and a few things from Carpenter) the late 80's and the majority of the 90's consisted of either sequels to franchise slashers or a mundane PG-13 cat and mouse slasher attempt (don't even get me started on those F***ing moaning ghosts of the new millenia.) Thank you for posting this Mike, and hopefully one of us here can take horror back to the fans, and out of the grips of the Weinsteins.
    Glad you enjoyed this article as much a I did.

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  18. #18
    Child of the Grave
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    I agree with your point Luris about scary being different for all of us, but then there's always those horror movies that come out and pretty much grab hold of us all. (PSycho, JAWS, Halloween, NOTLD, and The Exocrcist) Not enough of THOSE. People aren't taking chances with horror anymore like they used to. Taking the safe route.

    Tired of writers rewriting stuff already written.

    (Try sayin' that 3 times really fast )

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    Last edited by koolmike; 03-12-2009 at 07:20 PM.
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  19. #19
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    That article was a bunch of pretentious crap. As Luris said, horror goes in phases. This "phase" is remake anything that worked in the past and try to update it. For "original" horror the 2000s is all about big gore, bad acting, and mediocre directing.

    If you ask me it's a step in the right direction compared to the watered down 90s.

    Everyone's examples of Jaws, NotLD, Psycho, etc. are all genre defining pedestals. You can't compare the 2000s, or any decade for that matter, to the standout movies of other decades. You have to look on them as a whole. How many "great" horror films were there in the 50s? 60s? 70s? 80s?

    Do a quick runthrough in your head and you can see it was a steady increase till around the mid 80s...then a taperoff to the dreadful 90s when there were only a few standouts. As the cycle reboots itself we will see more, better horror return in coming years.

    Is horror lamer today than it was in the 1970s-1980s? Yes. Is horror better today than is was in the 1990s? IMO yes...so as of right now horror made it past it's "low point"

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  20. #20
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    Quote Originally Posted by Sutter Kane View Post
    I agree with most of your post KoolMike with one exception on false horror visionaries; IMO Eli Roth is trying to push horror away from teeny bopper PG13 movies about ghosts. And Hostel was praised even by Takashi Miike. Maybe he helps more than hurts our beloved genre.
    He should be praised on the basis of the MPAA rating his film gets? I would hope the actual quality of the film: acting, directorial style, story being really effective get a film or director more praise then the fact that he grew up worshiping Sam Raimi films. Hostel had an interesting premise, but it was buried under Roth's tribute to the 80's.

    If getting an R was what the genre needed, we should be building golden statues in tribute to Platinum Dunes and praying at the feet of Michael Bay and Brad Fuller.

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