Is anyone else tired of nihilistic horror films?

[Lighthouse]

I don't know how anyone else feels, but I'm getting really tired of these despairing, nihilistic horror films. I watched "The Strangers" today, and I left the theater wanting to kill myself. It seems to be a pattern with a lot of horror these days with movies like Inside, Wolf Creek, and Funny Games. I'm not saying there is nothing good about these films, or that every horror film should be entertaining(Funny Games does have a lot of social commentary), but it seems like the most raved about horror films are all bleak and depressing. The original Halloween scared the hell out of me, but I didn't want to hang myself afterwards. I had a good time. Can't me make decent horror films that scare and leave you feeling thrilled instead of hopeless?

 

[Nightmare]

Times have changed. The Horror Genre has been changed a lot over the passed 20 years. Thats probably why you see a lot of new types of horror/suspense/thrillers. Look at the torture porn crap coming out now. I think the studios are trying new things to scare people with.

 

[Lighthouse]

Times have changed. The Horror Genre has been changed a lot over the passed 20 years. Thats probably why you see a lot of new types of horror/suspense/thrillers. Look at the torture porn crap coming out now. I think the studios are trying new things to scare people with.

I'm just disappointed because for horror we either get these directors who try to make some commentary about society with ultra-serious nihilistic horror films, or guys who make B-movie splatterfest crap like "Hatchet". It just seems like no one can balance the knife anymore.

 

[SFII]

did The Strangers movie make you want to commit suicide? or are you saying that the movie sucked?

anyway, i'm not much of a horror movie fan. but Zodiac was awesome.

 

[Lighthouse]

did The Strangers movie make you want to commit suicide? or are you saying that the movie sucked?

I'm exaggerating. I'm just saying it leaves you feeling super depressed(at least I did anyway). Its a good tension builder, but I think its ripped off several other films. I'm not really specifying that one film with this thread, but a lot films that are like it.

And yes, Zodiac was awesome.

 

[Joker]

I hate movies with happy endings myself. Any movie where everyone ends up dead (Night of the Living Dead), or in a hopeless situation (Planet of the Apes), or makes a grisley discovery about something they have no way of fixing (Soylent Green), or hell, even getting beaten by the villain and having your best friend frozen in carbonite (Empire Strikes Back), then I'm a happy guy. This is what life is. It's a series of things that never, ever work out how you want them to.

 

[Nightmare]

I love "bad endings" Which usually result in people dying.

 

[Speedball]

I hate movies with happy endings myself. Any movie where everyone ends up dead (Night of the Living Dead), or in a hopeless situation (Planet of the Apes), or makes a grisley discovery about something they have no way of fixing (Soylent Green), or hell, even getting beaten by the villain and having your best friend frozen in carbonite (Empire Strikes Back), then I'm a happy guy. This is what life is. It's a series of things that never, ever work out how you want them to.

I like happy sad endings...
Like in Dawn of the Dead...or Final Fantasy X..or even Return of the Jedi...
Stories where the people are successful...but don't really get what they want in the end...

 

[Lighthouse]

I hate movies with happy endings myself. Any movie where everyone ends up dead (Night of the Living Dead), or in a hopeless situation (Planet of the Apes), or makes a grisley discovery about something they have no way of fixing (Soylent Green), or hell, even getting beaten by the villain and having your best friend frozen in carbonite (Empire Strikes Back), then I'm a happy guy. This is what life is. It's a series of things that never, ever work out how you want them to.

Thats another thing. I'm not saying I necessarily want a happy ending for a horror movie. I love Shakespeare. I like the endings to Planet of the Apes, Soylent Green, Night of the Living Dead, and a movie like the Descent. I wish they would have used the book ending to I Am Legend. But I didn't feel depressed and hopeless after those movies. They felt like they had a point and felt they had earned their endings. I just feel too many of todays horror films are exercises in brutal terror and hopelessness.

 

[Joker]

The Dawn of the Dead ending was a cop out. The original where the guy blows his own head off, then the girl decapitates herself with the elicopter would have rang much truer with the rest of the movie. Instead he changes his mind for no reason, and they fly away to...the rest of the zombie infested world, where they'll probably starve to death, unless they run out of fuel and crash in the middle of a field where they'll be eaten alive, if they survive.

 

[xwolverine2]

the orphange was great and depressing too...

 

[thejon93]

I don't know how anyone else feels, but I'm getting really tired of these despairing, nihilistic horror films. I watched "The Strangers" today, and I left the theater wanting to kill myself. It seems to be a pattern with a lot of horror these days with movies like Inside, Wolf Creek, and Funny Games. I'm not saying there is nothing good about these films, or that every horror film should be entertaining(Funny Games does have a lot of social commentary), but it seems like the most raved about horror films are all bleak and depressing. The original Halloween scared the hell out of me, but I didn't want to hang myself afterwards. I had a good time. Can't me make decent horror films that scare and leave you feeling thrilled instead of hopeless?

I think people nowadays don't wanna focus on scares, like 'Exorcist' scares, instead trying to give people chills with explict violence and gore. The only way to bring back great horror films is to bring in the ones responsible for them in the first place. Like, I've always wanted to see an 'Evil Dead IV' every since I saw the first three. I loved those films, they had me laughing and even frightened me at times.

 

[The Apatow Crew]

I don't have know what the word nihilistic mean none the less how to pronounce it.

 

[Lighthouse]

the orphange was great and depressing too...

I thought the Orphanage ending was pretty bittersweet, much like the ending of Pan's Labyrinth.

 

[Majik1387]

The Dawn of the Dead ending was a cop out. The original where the guy blows his own head off, then the girl decapitates herself with the elicopter would have rang much truer with the rest of the movie. Instead he changes his mind for no reason, and they fly away to...the rest of the zombie infested world, where they'll probably starve to death, unless they run out of fuel and crash in the middle of a field where they'll be eaten alive, if they survive.

I disagree, and I'm talking about the original one as you are.

Though I do think it would have been better if the girl was able to escape and he was left alone in the mall and left you wondering what was going to happen.

But as for the whole depression thing the thread is about, I agree I'm a bit sick of it, mainly because it's so overdone nowadays, and only a few movies get it right.

I do like some horrors though, where it's not quite a happy ending, but its not quite an emo ending.

 

[Jolie_Desastre]

I like happy sad endings...
Like in Dawn of the Dead...or Final Fantasy X..or even Return of the Jedi...
Stories where the people are successful...but don't really get what they want in the end...

same here ^^^

 

[Lighthouse]

Bumping. I'm curious to know other peoples opinions.

 

[Crook]

I'm curious to know what exactly you'd expect from the horror genre. Yes, many films have had happy endings, but at the end of the day you just watched 2 hours of murder and gripping suspense.

If anyone walks out of it happy or excited, it's because of the thrill received from a suspenseful scary flick.

 

[Rando Aces]

i actually like the downer endings.

 

[MaskedManJRK]

The thing is, I doubt there's such a thing as a truely HAPPY ending in a horror film. Most of your main characters could survive, beat the monster with it never coming back, you could even have some laughs along the way, but for it to be scary there HAS to be some sort of consequence--some people have to die. At best, horror movies can only have bittersweet endings.

I don't have know what the word nihilistic mean none the less how to pronounce it.

Nai-al-is-tic. It's a philosophy that essentially means that there is no real reason for existence--it's random, with no point and no real free will.

Or, as the most fameous Nihilists in film said best, "We believe in NOTHING, Lebowski, and we're going to cut off your JOHNSON! "

 

[Rando Aces]

Nai-al-is-tic. It's a philosophy that essentially means that there is no real reason for existence--it's random, with no point and no real free will.

Or, as the most fameous Nihilists in film said best, "We believe in NOTHING, Lebowski, and we're going to cut off your JOHNSON! "

"Yeah, It's Not Fair!"

"FAIR! WHO'S THE F***ING NIHILISTS AROUND HERE!?!?!"

i love that line.

 

[Joker]

The thing is, I doubt there's such a thing as a truely HAPPY ending in a horror film. Most of your main characters could survive, beat the monster with it never coming back, you could even have some laughs along the way, but for it to be scary there HAS to be some sort of consequence--some people have to die. At best, horror movies can only have bittersweet endings.



Nai-al-is-tic. It's a philosophy that essentially means that there is no real reason for existence--it's random, with no point and no real free will.

Or, as the most fameous Nihilists in film said best, "We believe in NOTHING, Lebowski, and we're going to cut off your JOHNSON! "

"What's with the marmet, man?"

 

[The Dark Defender]

I think happy endings have a tendency to be out of place in horror films and kill the mood...extreme downer endings don't put me in the mood to kill myself since part of why I love the genre to begin with is seeing people in the most horrible situations imagineable puts into perspective how good I really have it.

 

[bullets]

I'm not happy when I see a horror movie with a happy ending , that make me depressed ands want to kill myself .
Everytime you see a horror movie it should make you feel hopeless , scared , and afraid of your own shadow.
Im tired of seeing pg-13 omg that scary boo but the ghost is really my friend movies.

 

[hitmanyr2k]

I like downer endings for the appropriate films. My thing with horror these days is I would like to see a movie where the main characters don't have to act like complete idiots to help forward the killer's actions. For me, nothing takes away sympathy faster than watching someone do something completely illogical. Instead of rooting for that person I tend to get disgusted by him/her and don't really care when they eventually meet their end.