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Post by milkomania on Jan 20, 2013 20:19:43 GMT -5
I was discussing with my friend the other day about how there's no more good horror flicks. In my delusions of forever sickitude (see "I've been sick for 20 days"), I've decided to watch all the horror flicks on Netflix to find ONE good film. And then the inevitable debate- well, what is a horror film? Is it only witchcraft or do suspense flicks count too?
For my own purposes, I don't include monster movies or murder mysteries without supernatural context. But, as my friend pointed out, almost all of the recent horror flicks are either gore-based or supernatural, and since I have a hard time getting into either, I guess that's why I haven't enjoyed any as of late. And I love horror flicks. I loved the Exorcist and Night of Living Dead. I watched Insidious and Last Exorcism yesterday and I wonder...what happened to the genre?
Your thoughts?
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Post by Koda, Master Crunchyroller on Jan 20, 2013 20:26:51 GMT -5
What happened to the genre is, at least in American horror, subtlety has been removed. It is all about the gore and jump scares.
It is all quick cheap scares now.
Now I can enjoy that occasionally, case in point I'm a guilty pleasure fan of the Paranormal Activity films, but when the entire genre is built on it.........
Basically Saw and Paranormal Activity have warped the genre for the worse I'm afraid.
Oh and the apparent need to make an American remake that completely misses the point of any foreign horror film that is good/legitimately scary and instead ends up being a cookie cutter modern American horror film.
Something is wrong when the best horror films to come out America the last few years have been horror comedy films!
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Jiren
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Post by Jiren on Jan 20, 2013 20:29:53 GMT -5
We do get some good ones here and there (Sinister) but they're few and far between.
It's what makes money at the end of the day (Paranormal, Saw, Remakes), Originality is too big a risk nowdays
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Post by Cela on Jan 20, 2013 20:30:09 GMT -5
Hostel ruined horror. It showed gore was a popular money making option. Saw ran with it.
The came Paranormal Activity showing that really cheap "real" stuff could be be done.
The missing thing in both of these types? Writing. It's easier to make a movie if no one cares what's in it.
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Post by Koda, Master Crunchyroller on Jan 20, 2013 20:33:41 GMT -5
Hostel ruined horror. It showed gore was a popular money making option. Saw ran with it. The came Paranormal Activity showing that really cheap "real" stuff could be be done. The missing thing in both of these types? Writing. It's easier to make a movie if no one cares what's in it. Case in point the most recent Paranormal Activity film. It didn't advance the plot of the series AT ALL. You can literally go from Paranormal Activity 3 to 5 without skipping a beat, as nothing new was introduced. Hell the entire series has pretty much been reduced to just a bunch of random scenes of paranormal activity with the thinnest progression of story to tie them all together. And this is even considering the barely there plot of the first film.
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Jiren
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Post by Jiren on Jan 20, 2013 20:36:19 GMT -5
Hostel ruined horror. It showed gore was a popular money making option. Saw ran with it. The came Paranormal Activity showing that really cheap "real" stuff could be be done. The missing thing in both of these types? Writing. It's easier to make a movie if no one cares what's in it. Case in point the most recent Paranormal Activity film. It didn't advance the plot of the series AT ALL. You can literally go from Paranormal Activity 3 to 5 without skipping a beat, as nothing new was introduced. Hell the entire series has pretty much been reduced to just a bunch of random scenes of paranormal activity with the thinnest progression of story to tie them all together. And this is even considering the barely there plot of the first film. Hell just stick with the first I like it's ambiguity
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Post by Orange on Jan 20, 2013 20:38:41 GMT -5
Hostel ruined horror. It showed gore was a popular money making option. Saw ran with it. The came Paranormal Activity showing that really cheap "real" stuff could be be done. The missing thing in both of these types? Writing. It's easier to make a movie if no one cares what's in it. I haven't seen any of the Paranormal Activity movies (even though I want to), but based on your description - I'd say The Blair Witch Project popularized the idea that that could make money way before the PA series did.
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Jiren
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Post by Jiren on Jan 20, 2013 20:42:09 GMT -5
Hostel ruined horror. It showed gore was a popular money making option. Saw ran with it. The came Paranormal Activity showing that really cheap "real" stuff could be be done. The missing thing in both of these types? Writing. It's easier to make a movie if no one cares what's in it. I haven't seen any of the Paranormal Activity movies (even though I want to), but based on your description - I'd say The Blair Witch Project popularized the idea that that could make money way before the PA series did. While Blair Witch made money but they didn't see Horror as a major cash cow till Saw/PA/Remakes came along.
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Post by Koda, Master Crunchyroller on Jan 20, 2013 20:44:23 GMT -5
Case in point the most recent Paranormal Activity film. It didn't advance the plot of the series AT ALL. You can literally go from Paranormal Activity 3 to 5 without skipping a beat, as nothing new was introduced. Hell the entire series has pretty much been reduced to just a bunch of random scenes of paranormal activity with the thinnest progression of story to tie them all together. And this is even considering the barely there plot of the first film. Hell just stick with the first I like it's ambiguity And the fact that it actually did look like it was a personal recording, all of the other ones just look too well filmed, including the third one which took place in the 1980s!
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Post by Deleted on Jan 20, 2013 21:05:52 GMT -5
There is still great horror but one just has to search it out but sadly the actual good horror atleast most of it is straight to DVD.
The Hatchet series most notably.
The best main stream horror movie in a while IMO has been The Collector and the follow up with IMO the best horror sequel in awhile The Collection....but again sadly overlooked for the cash cows.
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Post by Red Impact on Jan 20, 2013 21:13:36 GMT -5
To borrow from Hitchcock, it used to be "There is no terror in a bang, only in the anticipation of it."
Now it's "There is no terror in the anticipation, only in the bang."
Suspense and horror used to be the same thing, then the slasher movie came out and it started to become about gore and jumps. Now the majority of them are all that, and I really lost any interest in horror movies because of it, because I can't stand jumps and gore.
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Post by Talent Name on Jan 20, 2013 21:22:08 GMT -5
Honestly foreign horror movies are where the best movies are, but American movies rely on either cheap scares, cheap thrills or cheap monsters. Gore and sleaze is what sells the horror movies, that and unnecessary sequels and pointless remakes dilute the classics. For every sinister that comes out we get ten last exorcism 2's or nine hostels nothing is original its just a recycled concept with nothing new.
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Post by Yami Daimao on Jan 20, 2013 22:22:26 GMT -5
I agree with the general consensus here, most horror films rely too much on jump scares and cheap gore, as well as the same premises like found footage, and supernatural forces in an old house.
However, I did watch V/H/S on Netflix a few days ago, and while they use the tired found footage format, I thought it was pretty well done. I liked how it was a series of short stories inside of a main narrative, we rarely see that nowadays. Even the stories were pretty original, and while most weren't flat out terrifying, they were very creepy at most.
One of the very few horror movies I've enjoyed in many years.
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Post by SsnakeBite, the No1 Frenchman on Jan 21, 2013 5:00:16 GMT -5
Watch [.REC] (avoid the sequel though), The Cabin in the Woods or even he original Saw and you'll change your mind.
I also hate the idea that gore in horror movies is a new thing, or when people call them "torture porn". It's called HORROR for a reason, because it's supposed to have HORRIFYING imagery. Yes, I get some movies manage to do it without showing too much gore and yes, I get that some movies rely far too heavily (as in, entirely) on splatters and guts, but the idea that it wasn't the case before or that it's all that's being made these days is ludicrous.
Honestly, I'm far more offended by the overabundance of jumpscares these days than by the gore.
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Post by Koda, Master Crunchyroller on Jan 21, 2013 5:29:15 GMT -5
When I mentioned gore I meant in the way that some horror films, like the Saw and Hostel series, use it as a crutch to carry the films.
I know excessive gore isn't new. Hell I even like it(I am interested in the Evil Dead remake for example because of the large amount of amazing looking practical effects based gore). I just don't like when it is the only thing propping a film, let alone entire series, up.
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Post by SsnakeBite, the No1 Frenchman on Jan 21, 2013 5:51:32 GMT -5
When I mentioned gore I meant in the way that some horror films, like the Saw and Hostel series, use it as a crutch to carry the films. The Saw films really don't. Well okay, the last three movies do (which is why they suck), and the 4th has a bit more than necessary, but overall the emphasis is on the story and characters. In fact, what I loved about the first movie is that it that it had very likable characters who I really wanted to see survive as the one thing I tend to agree has gotten worse and worse in horror recently is the amount of absolutely horrible people as main characters who you don't care about, and the way it toyed with horror clichés, making it look like they were going a stereotyped way and then turning things around and making it new again (admittedly, the sequels didn't do as good a job, but they're still interesting). And again, I agree that nothing but gore sucks, but many people act like this is what all horror movies do even when it really isn't the case. I can tell you if classics like Nightmare on Elm Street, Hellraiser, Evil Dead, Brain Dead, the Exorcist or Cube were released today, they'd be immediately dismissed as "torture porn" by people who want to sound clever. And it pisses me off even more when the same people tell me that stuff like The Cabin in the Woods is nothing but torture porn but worthless, insulting crap like Cannibal Holocaust or Funny Games are clever social satire.
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The Ichi
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Post by The Ichi on Jan 21, 2013 6:39:23 GMT -5
Yeah, as said, gory movies have always existed (there was a whole era known as the video nasty era, afterall). Over reliance on jump scares and "found footage" movies are the problem, not gore.
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Post by kidglov3s on Jan 21, 2013 7:12:43 GMT -5
Hostel ruined horror. It showed gore was a popular money making option. Saw ran with it. The came Paranormal Activity showing that really cheap "real" stuff could be be done. The missing thing in both of these types? Writing. It's easier to make a movie if no one cares what's in it. I haven't seen any of the Paranormal Activity movies (even though I want to), but based on your description - I'd say The Blair Witch Project popularized the idea that that could make money way before the PA series did. You don't want to see Paranormal Activity 4, lol, no one wants to see Paranormal Activity 4.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 21, 2013 8:46:23 GMT -5
I'm curious, if you would consider horror movies to only be one that include supernatural elements, how would you classify films like Psycho or Texas Chain Saw Massacre, as those are usually considered "definitive" horror flicks? I guess they're suspenseful, but there is surprisingly little gore in the latter, even though it is heavily implied. Not knocking your views at all, I'm just genuinely curious.
If you're watching them on Netflix, I give my highest recommendation to the movie "Rubber." There's some gore, but it's mostly for comedic or surrealistic effect. It's a film that breaks the conventions of film storytelling like nothing I've ever seen.
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Post by Baldobomb-22-OH-MAN!!! on Jan 21, 2013 11:22:23 GMT -5
the idea of legit horrific imagery and building a scare are largely gone (at least in terms of North American movies). they're more concerned with slapstick-level gore and nu-metal instead of a soundtrack that's legitimately scary.
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