Is Horror Dead? A Poll...

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I'm only speaking for myself, not laying out some "universal truths:"
1. There's gotta be something that I'm personally scared of - pick on a phobia (confinement, the dark, the unknown, potential pain, loss, etc.) Where possible, show the reason for the horor (why is the guy evil? why are the ghosts out to get me? why do the zombies need to eat brains so badly? why are the zombies even zombies? etc.) Avoid cliches at all costs: military experiments run amok, the killer in the woods, anything having to do with aliens... Stay awy from hackneyed characters - the authority figure (police, parent, babysitter, whatever,) who won't believe the protagonist, people who PANIC, screamers, etc. Give us some decent, intelligent characters who we care live or die - don't have them do stupid things. Let them be afraid, but let's see some human intelligence. If I have to see another panicky idiot hurt everyone's chance for survival, and the rest of the characters don't off the moron in the first act, I'm turning the movie off. I can go on, but this answer's getting long enough.

2. My favorites? "Martyrs" was pretty good. "May" was a nice change of pace. So was "The Orphange," no that I think about it. I'm kind of a sucker for the "Saw" franchise, and then movies like "Dorothy Mills" and "Exorcism of Emily Rose" were alright, too. Oh, "The Poughkeepsie Tapes" stuck with me for a bit, too.

3. Improvements: Better characters (see above,) abolition of pointless T&A, pink blood, (really, if you can't afford enough red dye for the syrup, don't make a horror film,) the actors don't have to be pretty, they need to be able to act - if you can only afford one, go with the latter. Flashing lights, strobe lights, whatever, are cheap and hard to watch. Lights on or off, pick one. In fact, here's a good place to inject a bit of realism - back-up lights leave shadowy areas without flashing all the time when the power goes out. Give 'em a shot, but show the movie - if I have to imagine what's happenning, I can read a book.

Sir I can go on all day. In fact, if any of this feedback has any chance of ever influencing someone who's actually maybe going to make a horror flick, I'll be glad to.

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1. What do you think makes a good horror film? Atmosphere, good acting, nice story, some character development, intensity, some thrills and entertainment and sometimes sadness and brutality, so u could be pretty disturbed.

2. What are your favorite horror films of the last 5 years? Be honest!
[REC]
Inside(2007)
Eden Lake
The Skeleton key
High Tension
Martyrs
Identity
Silent Hill
Danika
The Orphanage
Alice Sweet Alice
The Descent
May
Saw
Them(Ils)
Frontiers
P2
Vacancy
The Strangers
Penny Dreadful
The Abandoned
Storm Warning
3. What do you think needs to be improved? (Be specific not just "writing, acting, etc.")
Some stories could be more original. 2 many remakes wont help to improve the genre(although i enjoy some of them), the intensity in horror films for me is a very important factor, some movies are boring instead of being intense and thrilling. U know the bad decision from characters, some killings and cliches should change a bit. And i dont think anything else should be improve cause really, i love the genre and i think that there are many great modern horrors and this genre will never die!

WHATS IN FU CKING INSIDE ME!!!!!

You know, I do think horror is dead. I spend a lot of money renting movies saying, "This MIGHT be Saw or Blair Witch or Audition" ...but I'll answer your questions anyway.

1. What do you think makes a good horror film? Site examples.
Horror is a very specified genre. If you look at the 80's there was Michael and then Jason...and then Wes Craven took it to a new level with NOES by adding humor. Then we get the parody, Scream. It's all about NOT DOING WHAT'S BEEN DONE BEFORE or in someway subverting the genre. Lynch did it with Twin Peaks.

2. What are your favorite horror films of the last 5 years? Be honest!
There really haven't been any. Cabin Fever I found very creepy (pancakes!) but Hostel, while I enjoyed the pun, was just mean and not necessary. I'm not sure if it came out in the last 5 years, but the last horror movie I REALLY enjoyed was Session 9.

3. What do you think needs to be improved? (Be specific not just "writing, acting, etc.") I think it's ok to nod to the genre, but you can't repeat what's already been done. The ghost story, to me, is dead. The "it all happened in my mind" genre is dead (Vacancy).

Good luck with your venture!

Frankly the usa is not making ANY horror movies!

Not REAL horror, at any rate.

Most so-called 'horror' flicks are social comment wrapped up as horror... or they're an opportunity for bloodthirsty teens to get off on seeing limbs and heads amputated! Do movies HAVE to be training films for future serial killers, already? =8)

Most of the things/people you are supposed to be afraid of in modern movies are actually metaphors for some aspect of 21st century life that scared some executive in an office in Hollywood and so he thought it would make a good basis for a movie targetted at largely ignorant teens and so picked that script from the pile. Don't beleive me, hur?

For example;

Zombies = Drug Addicts
One 'bite' (snort/sniff/jab/pill/inhale/etc) and your ONE OF THEM! lol
Overdone and not scary any more!

Aliens = Foreigners/Non-americans
Only the usa has this obsession with fear of weird foreign ideas, foreigners with their alien/unamerican concepts that MIGHT have undue and damaging influence on the untainted, wholesome us of a. Not very frightening and most of us ARE weird foreigners so we don't share that fear!

Vampires = Sex
Been done and said already. Not scary. Google it.

Werewolves = Violence
Been done and said already. Not scary. Google it.

Serial Killers = Serial Killers
Training manuals in how to be one (dunno why? Hollywood sadism, perhaps?) or how to be a victim of one. For instance, ALWAYS split up when you are trying to avoid getting a gory death! =8) Lame and not frightening any more.

Cannibals = Other People
Be afraid of your fellow man... like EVERYONE is out to eat you, right? Public Fear Maintenence, is all that is!

Maneating Indestructible Animal Creature = Nature
Nature is scary, right? What? You want everyone in their cars and locked in their houses? LOL! Sooo unimaginative and when said creature is indestructible, a laugh riot to boot.


If ANY movie avoids this collection of overdone garbage, I watch it.
Sadly, the Asians and the Europeans are the only ones doing 'other' kinds of horror movies and so those I tend to watch. American horror is buckets of blood, idiotic scripts and conveyor-belts of oven-ready victims... OR BAD REMAKES of said Asian/European flicks which they never really understood in the 1st place!

It ALL comes down to scriptwriters and us scriptwriters are mainly illogical, uneducated and lazy and so their scripts are mainly... QED!

Be inventive. If the scariest thing you can think of is a stumbling zombie or a serial killer in a mask, you need to walk ourdoors more, see something of the world and grow an imagination!

Hope this helps!

BTW blood isn't frightening...

I believe Horror isn't dead... yet. It's getting very close though. It is slowly fading into nonexistence. Horror should be scary, but it has just become laughable. Sad. Anyway the questions.

1-What makes a good horror film:
-You need character development. Don't go drama on it, but I feel the audience needs to connect with characters. Good/decent acting should be a must. Have some standards guys. We need to actually care that they are dying/etc.
-The atmosphere of the movie needs to be kept "serious". You need to believe that the film is actually possible. That is key in horror. If the events couldn't happen, even the faintest possibility, then there is no fear instilled in the audience. They should go home and feel creeped out by an open closet door/etc.
-Oh! A story that makes sense! Just with two plot holes or less please. Today's horror is like swiss cheese.
-Psychological horror is good, but it has been watered down to it's own catagory. Seeing the "evil thing" constantly is not necessary. Look at 'Alien' for a reference.

2-Favorite Horror Films:
Drag me to hell - breath of fresh air! (Raimi we need you!)
Orphanage
Devil's Backbone - Really good!
Identity
Midnight Meat Train - Surprisingly, almost as good as the story.
Mr. Brooks
John Carpenter's Vampires - Had to add it... I just love this movie. It's fun.

3-Needs improvement:
-No more jumps/Flashes. Cats in lockers, shadows out of focus, knock on the door that ends up being a needy neighbor. Boring! I haven't jumped in years.
-No more remakes! Come on! They where either great the first time, or sucked so bad why bother. Some originality please.
-Story, Story, Story. I have fallen asleep or just turned off a lot of horror movies because I lost interest. Even its "scares" won't keep me watching.
-Really bad character decisions in the script. 'A scary monster has killed three of my friends, so we'll group up. Oh wait. I heard a bump and scratch over there. I better check it out by myself. Someone might need help.' It's just sad.
-No more Saw movies! The first one was entertaining(pig suit). It never should have had a sequel. Let alone 5. I think number 6 comes out this year. Oh and a video game. It's just sad. And no more hand cams: blair witch, Quarantine, and Cloverfield.
-And lastly because of many combinations of the above horror has truly become comedy. I feel awkward in the theater when I am the only one laughing. No more corny unintentional humor.