When will horror movies become "scary" again?

[terry78]

Just see Martyrs if you have the chance. It's coming out to DVD in March, but I'd really advice to catch it in theaters. About 20 people walked out the showing where my friend was. They couldn't take it. Quite disturbing and oppressive stuff.

And don't spoil yourself. It's hellofalotta better if you don't anything about the plot.

Chick on the left has got collarbone for days.

 

[Thundarr]

How bout we don't even have stereotypes like the **** and the jock and we get rid of that whole problem in the first place. I hate the teen dominated horror movie. Sure it can work but it's much scarier when it can happen to anybody.

It's not so much about the stereotypes, but the predictability. If a horror movie's gonna have a large bodycount, each character is going to have to have a different personality because making them all the same would be boring. If you are going to use the same old stereotypes, I say switch things up so that the people who usually die first (like the jock, the @$$#0le, the *female dog*, the practical joker, and the ****, etc) actually last longer and one of them winds up as the obligatory sole survivor. I somewhat agree with you on the whole "teen dominated" aspect, it becomes too predictable itself. Wrestlemaniac had an interesting story in that the victims were the cast and crew of a porno movie. So they were breaking all the horror movie survival rules (drinking, drugs, sex, etc). Of course the formula also changes in that none of them survives. The movie would've been much better if it were more suspenceful. But a Halloween or Friday The 13th sequel where a porno movie is being shot on location at Camp Blood or The Myers House and the cast & crew are the victims would certainly shake up the whole stereotype problem big time. As long as at least one character survives the film, that's what's important. End the stereotypes, end the predictability, and bring back the suspence.

 

[Sarge 2.0]

Chick on the left has got collarbone for days.

Yeah, that's the scariest thing about that poster.

 

[Doctor Jones]

If I were to make a horror film, it would have to be original, something completely new, but suspense leads it. Frankly, I'm sick of the teen characters. Why can't there be adults in there that aren't just the oblivious parents? I know horror films are aimed at teens, but having adults gives it better acting. Adults have learned everything form their teens, now how do they approach this?

 

[Figs]

If I were to make a horror film, it would have to be original, something completely new, but suspense leads it. Frankly, I'm sick of the teen characters. Why can't there be adults in there that aren't just the oblivious parents? I know horror films are aimed at teens, but having adults gives it better acting. Adults have learned everything form their teens, now how do they approach this?

Couldn't agree with you more.

That's why to this very day, no matter how many times I've seen it John Carpenter's The Thing is still hands down one of my top 3 favorite horror films.

Even though I know who is The Thing and who isn't I still love watching it all play out with their paranoia. That movie wouldn't have been a quarter as great as it was if it had teens and wasn't out in the middle of the arctic.

 

[BlackLantern]

'The Thing' still freaks me out, especially the scene where they go into the kennel and see what has happened there....still makes me cringe

 

[Octoberist]

i think the idea is to keep horror movies simple; no MTV cuts, have effective scares and good believable actors. You want the feeling of "What happens if I was in their (characters) shoes".

CGI, if used, has to be super realistic; if it looks off, then bye-bye scares. That's why it's best to go old-school and use make-up/prosthetics.

 

[BlackLantern]

i think the idea is to keep horror movies simple; no MTV cuts, have effective scares and good believable actors. You want the feeling of "What happens if I was in their (characters) shoes".

CGI, if used, has to be super realistic; if it looks off, then bye-bye scares. That's why it's best to go old-school and use make-up/prosthetics.

1999 called, they want their angsty complaining back....

 

[Octoberist]

I'm okay with CGI as long as it's good in the film.

did you not read my post, dude, or are you just putting me into a category for the sake of arguing?

 

[Figs]

i think the idea is to keep horror movies simple; no MTV cuts, have effective scares and good believable actors. You want the feeling of "What happens if I was in their (characters) shoes".

CGI, if used, has to be super realistic; if it looks off, then bye-bye scares. That's why it's best to go old-school and use make-up/prosthetics.

Yeah, CGI can help movies out but when it comes to horror it's usually best to stick with make-up and prosthetics.

Look at Land of the Dead whether you liked it or not, Romero came back and IMO put to shame a number of the CGI/CGI-enhanched zombies in the Resident Evil films using good old fashioned prosthetics.


I agree Blacklantern about the dog kennel scene in The Thing. Creeps me out when he's standing there and then one of the dogs jumps out from the dark and then he sees the alien.

Man, it's been too long. I'm going to have to watch it again sometime this week.t:

 

[BlackLantern]

I'm yanking your chain....I think there are times when digital is a great tool, and times where a more practical approach is needed (Midnight Meat Train does both fairly well)

 

[BlackLantern]

Yeah, CGI can help movies out but when it comes to horror it's usually best to stick with make-up and prosthetics.

Look at Land of the Dead whether you liked it or not, Romero came back and IMO put to shame a number of the CGI/CGI-enhanched zombies in the Resident Evil films using good old fashioned prosthetics.


I agree Blacklantern about the dog kennel scene in The Thing. Creeps me out when he's standing there and then one of the dogs jumps out from the dark and then he sees the alien.

Man, it's been too long. I'm going to have to watch it again sometime this week.t:

I agree and I don't....I didn't like Land of the Dead, but I thought Diary of the Dead was great....I think when you give a director like Romero too much money, he goes overboard...but you look at the minimal approach of Diary of the Dead and its fantastic

 

[Figs]

I agree and I don't....I didn't like Land of the Dead, but I thought Diary of the Dead was great....I think when you give a director like Romero too much money, he goes overboard...but you look at the minimal approach of Diary of the Dead and its fantastic

I've had my friends copy of Diary of the Dead for about 2 months now and still haven't gotten around to watching it.

I think it was because I heard mixed things about it. That and I was surprised but mainly dissapointed that Romero would jump on the bandwagon and do the whole 1st person perspective film like Blair Witch, Cloverfield and [rec]/Quarantine.

Another friend of mine who is also a big Romero fan says he absolutely loved Diary of the Dead. But I've heard alot of other Romero fans say that it's crap...I need to get off my ass and check it out one of these nights.

 

[BlackLantern]

I've had my friends copy of Diary of the Dead for about 2 months now and still haven't gotten around to watching it.

I think it was because I heard mixed things about it. That and I was surprised but mainly dissapointed that Romero would jump on the bandwagon and do the whole 1st person perspective film like Blair Witch, Cloverfield and [rec]/Quarantine.

My

I felt the same way and then I watched it, it is done very well though

Explanation below

Spoiler

its basically a group of students filming a horror film in the woods when everything goes down and they just use the cameras they have....

 

[Majik1387]

I've had my friends copy of Diary of the Dead for about 2 months now and still haven't gotten around to watching it.

I think it was because I heard mixed things about it. That and I was surprised but mainly dissapointed that Romero would jump on the bandwagon and do the whole 1st person perspective film like Blair Witch, Cloverfield and [rec]/Quarantine.

Another friend of mine who is also a big Romero fan says he absolutely loved Diary of the Dead. But I've heard alot of other Romero fans say that it's crap...I need to get off my ass and check it out one of these nights.

Romero did it before those movies.

And its worth a watch, the only negatives for me was that I didn't care for the two lead characters, and the voice over/semi-flashbacks were annoyingly dreadful.

 

[BlackLantern]

The radio/TV voiceovers were done by Simon Pegg, Benicio Del Toro, John Carpenter...just a tidbit

 

[Figs]

Romero did it before those movies.

And its worth a watch, the only negatives for me was that I didn't care for the two lead characters, and the voice over/semi-flashbacks were annoyingly dreadful.

My mistake then, those all started coming out close to each other I forgot which came out first.

 

[ABleedingCorpse]

Ramero....Though I respect him as a director and he's come up with a LOT of interesting stories (mostly from Tales from the Darkside), but the guy seems to be lost in his own creature. He's the guy that started the Zombie movement, and he seems to hell bound to be the guy that leaves a mark in Zombie films. He's already left his mark, carved out, photographed and framed along with a signiture. What he's doing now is just pointless to the max. He has Island of the Dead coming out soon and that movie looks to be the most pointless angle to take now. Interesting with the idea that people can't let go of their loved ones, but not needed nor will it go anywhere.

I wish Ramero would let go of the Zombie films and do other projects. I wouldn't mind seeing a remake of Monkey Shines. Or a completley new movie. I don't know where else Ramero can go with Zombie's unless it's just completely zombie and all human live is dead and coming back to life. Zombies vs Zombies. Just go all out and finish the series because he's become too attacted to that idea that I don't think he see's the point that it needs to end. Why not go out with a I Am Legand angle with one person alive and the entire world is zombies?

He's left himself in a corner where he has no where else to go but backwards (Diary Of The Dead) and recount a different story that is basicly the same one we've already seen.

Land of the Dead was the end of it for me. After that I felt either he needs to go full out and end it or stop there. But that's just my opinion.

 

[BlackLantern]

Never. The movies are the same, it's we the viewers that changed. We have just seen to much.

maybe....it's a cynical and scary world we live in, and that's without the movies

 

[ABleedingCorpse]

Never. The movies are the same, it's we the viewers that changed. We have just seen to much.

Agreed. The only way people can get scared again is to make it simple again. In our new world age, we've seen pretty much everything and though some stand out, they aren't anything we haven't already seen and sadly, that's how it's going to be unless we go very very far out there into bizaaro land. Chipmunks that feed on flesh or something. haha

Scream was the start of the end. By that point, it was too genius for the time and it just ended that whole 'we're living that world' now. Before, people like Michael Myers and such were of our dream nightmares, but with each and every waking day we hear more and more about the real psychos living around us that we're not scared of fiction. That'll change one day, but not this year.

 

[The Apatow Crew]

As many of you hate this guy, he make's a good point. And when I saw this video I thought of a thread like this.

[YT]zxeIaGadw[/YT]

 

[ABleedingCorpse]

cant' see video. who is it of? Rob Zombie?

 

[The Apatow Crew]

cant' see video. who is it of? Rob Zombie?

Eli Roth.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FzxeIaGadw

 

[ABleedingCorpse]

ah, Eli. He's alright. I've seen his interviews and he makes good points here and there, he just is too slow for me in making his points proven.

 

[StylishHokie21]

Tough question. Over the years, I've had video games scare me more than these so called "horror" movies.