Is Horror Dead? A Poll...


I have continued to watch The After Dark Horrorfest, for the last 2 years.

I've been almost entirely disappointed, but being a young aspiring filmmaker, I'm intrigued by these experiments in low budget territory and I realize that films have a lot of obstacles to overcome.

I just barely started watching this years festival with Perkins 14,(I'm about 30 minutes into it) and it feels like 8th graders making a parody of a psychological thriller. Who knows, maybe it will turn around, but I'm doubtful.

Obviously everyone here has some opinion about modern horror films, and so I'm posting this as a poll to gauge your thoughts on the state of horror today. I'm currently working on my own sci-fi/horror film, and so your input is greatly appreciated.

Answer any or all of these:

1. What do you think makes a good horror film? Cite examples.

2. What are your favorite horror films of the last 5 years? Be honest!

3. What do you think needs to be improved? (Be specific not just "writing, acting, etc.")

Thanks in advance, and I hope to get some thoughtful answers from you guys, and will eventually write some of my own.

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Horror is not dead...it’s just taking a detour. It’s all based on money and apparently its teenage girls that really rake the money in because that seems to be the market for most horror films these days. There has been some good ones come out in the past five years. The Descent, Inside, Slither, Dead Silence, and High Tension would be my picks. I support the genre...and it seems that this means watching a lot of crap. I am not saying that the 8 films to die for are crap this year but I have only seen 4 so far.

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:: May Contain Spoilers


1. What do you think makes a good horror film? Cite examples.

I love a lot of different types of horror movies. Now, I haven't watched all of the Horrorfest movies, but almost everyone that I have seen I've liked. From Within by far is the best followed closely by The Deaths of Ian Stone.

Anyhow, it's the story that makes good horror movies. It doesn't have to be a teen slasher or a how many times can I scare you kind of deal. I love gore, don't get me wrong, but it isn't necessary. Example: Stay Alive didn't get good reviews, most people didn't like it. I enjoyed it immensely, of course most people don't choose to do term papers on Elizabeth Bathory either, which could be why people either didn't get it (because she wasn't well known) or thought the "gamer" part of it was ridiculous.

Another example: Penny Dreadful, it wasn't the greatest, but I haven't seen many movies that'll keep me watching with only a scared little girl in a car. It wasn't bad for what it was. Being a 'young aspiring film maker' I'm surprised you've been disappointed in the After Dark Horrorfest. Sure not all of them are box office worthy, and there aren't a lot of special effects, but I think that's what makes them even better.

2. What are your favorite horror films of the last 5 years? Be honest!

I'm just going to go with favorite horror movies. The Nightmare on Elmstreet series will always be my favorite of all time.

1. From Within (the minute I finished watching it)
2. The Descent and Stay Alive
3. Ginger Snaps
4. The Deaths of Ian Stone and The Hamilton’s
5. The Skeleton Key and From Dusk 'til Dawn
7. Borderland and She Creature
8. Supernatural (yes T.V. series, especially 01x05 Bloody Mary)
9. Storm of the Century
10. Dreamcatcher
11. Gothika

Honorable mention: The Devils Curse

3. What do you think needs to be improved? (Be specific not just "writing, acting, etc.")

I don't think I've seen a horror movie that I haven't liked in some shape or form, at least I can't think of any at the moment. Though I tend to stay away from the ones that appear cheesy, I can always find something good about them.

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1. What do you think makes a good horror film?

A good horror film has to be scary, atmospheric, with a good score, mystery,

suspense. An example is John Carpenter's Halloween.

2. What are your favorite horror films of the last 5 years?

[Rec], Saw, American Psycho, Hellraiser: Inferno, Toolbox Murders

3. What do you think needs to be improved?

The score, trying to do something original.

They'll say that I have shed innocent blood. What's blood for, if not for shedding?

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Favorite horror movies in the past five years.......
Not one mention of "Dawn Of The Dead 2004". Come on; I'm not usually a fan of gore but that movie was so well done how could you not love it? Decent acting, some well developed characters that I found myself actually caring about, outstanding soundtrack and I thought the editing was absolutely dead on, pun intended. I think the first 15 minutes of this film, up to and especially including the credits, were fantastic.
I have to plug this movie whenever there's an opportunity. I'm always surprised that this movie gets so little praise. Even after 6 or 7 viewings it still grabs me every time I watch it. If you haven't seen it give it a shot, if you have, try it again and pay particular attention to the editing.
Doug

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horror in general is nto dead, this horrorfest is.
you got in the wrong time. 3 years ago it was great, two years ago it went down, and not it jut keeps going down.
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I'm very responsible, when ever something goes wrong they always say I'm responsible.

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Dawn of the Dead remake = overrated. One of the worst sci-fi horror films i hav seen period. Slick production, special effects and a beautiful cast cant detract from what was essentially only a dumbed down version of the original. But this is only consistent with the other horror remakes that have also been recently made such as Prom Night, Texas Chainsaw and Halloween. However I think the re-imagining of the Rear Window thriller with Disturbia was ok... if not flawed.

I know one thing baby...you will survive

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I agree, the After Dark Horrorfest isn't that great. I actually steer clear of any of those movies until I hear differently. I just watched Perkins' 14 and it was all right but nothing special at all.. and it's still a notch or two better than most the other After Dark films. I really enjoyed The Hamiltons though.

1. What do you think makes a good horror film? Cite examples.

ORIGINALITY. Even the most cliched premise (stuck in a building with zombies outside, for example) can be fresh if handled in an original way. Splinter comes to mind. Other original horror might include Cannibal Holocaust (and Blair Witch after it), Devil's Backbone (by del Toro, basically a ghost story), and Repo: The Genetic Opera.

2. What are your favorite horror films of the last 5 years? Be honest!

This one's hard for me since I'm not too sure when they were released, but here's some recent ones:
Zombie Diaries
The Mist
30 Days of Night
Undead
The Signal
Feast I & II
Altered
Botched
Funny Games
[REC]
Dawn of the Dead
(remake)
Inside
I Am Legend
Slither
Dead Snow
Saw
(just the first one)

3. What do you think needs to be improved?

Fresh ideas. If there's a good story happening I can easily overlook crappy editing, lighting, even acting. I want a film to actually scare me, not just make me jump a few times. I want something that'll freak me out. Give me something with substance to it. Give me a good story!

The real trick to life is not to be in the know, but to be in the mystery. -Fred Alan Wolf

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Thanks everyone for your thought provoking comments! Everyone seemed to give serious weight to the issue (even though we're just talking about horror movies), and I appreciate that. Just goes to show that horror isn't simply enjoyed by silly adolescents, but also some mature adults (or wise teens) as well.

to thesnowleopard on the Perkins 14 board, I heartily agree with a good portion of what you said! This in particular:

Let the Right One In: I love the growing friendship (in all its screwed-up glory) and that pool sequence near the end is a jaw-dropper. I also loved that they had the balls to give it a "happy" ending.


That right there is exactly the point I've been trying to make on all these boards. Just cause it's a horror movie doesn't mean everyone needs to suffer horribly in the end. It seems so LAZY to me! Not to say that a movie has to have everyone skipping and holding hands in the end, but some release is always appreciated.

Anyway, thanks again for everyone's comments. I can't believe the next After Dark Fest is already here again. Hopefully the movies will step it up even more this year!

Cheers!

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[deleted]

The Others is not a remake of The Other. You need to research your movies before you post. The Others is much different from the 70's film. They have different titles too

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[deleted]

Horror is not dead, watchers are. in any horror movie board youll see hate and moans how the movie sucks. its not always true. i am what you may call hardcore horror fan, watching everything from the 30s frankenstein to the new remakes, from 80s classic to indie horror films of the 2010. and what can i see is that a lot of horror movies are underrated nowadays. seems that same elements that worked in 80s low budget horror movies (halloween, friday the 13th, hellraiser, nightmare on elm street) doesnt work anymore. when they create a movie that requires audience to think it doesnt seem to work either. it looks like horror watchers are so overwhelmed with amount of movies released noaday that they got no idea what they want and end up hating everything. but there are perls. probably the worst udnerrated movie i found was prysm, it has less than 2 rating though i found it quite amazing. ofc thats just my personal opinion.

ok time to do soem of your questions.
1. the movie the genuinely creeps you. not the gorefest of cheap jump scares based on loud sounds. the movie that leaves you staring at screen thiking about it after the credits are over. no wiat thats great horror film. just "good" horror film is lets say like the one im responding board in.


2. favorite is strong word. i try not to make lists, i dont think that we can trully compare one movie with another without a grain of salt. each movie is different, it cant be compared by same facts. if you want statistics, just look at my voting history, its public. over 500 movies there by now i think.

3. well first of all atmosphere should fit the movie, not like those cheap hollywood movies nowadays. hollywood hardly spans out anything good anyway, european market has became much better. not to forget the asian horror giants, though when it comes to asia it ends with just horror.
secondly the score shoudl definatelly get imrpoved. we sohuld get rid of the stupid soundjumps, finally get around making the sound level normal (how i hate when you got to max your sound to hear what character is saying and when there is some ambient it goes so loud you think your windows are going to break). score, ofc depending on movie, should make the atmosphere stronger and let it flow. im nto againt narroation either, it worked great in many movies.
also what they shoudl get rid of is stupid character decisions. sure they may happen in real life, but this is movie, watchers think about it without having to panic like characters, and often get offended by their stupidity, which is really because they are stupid. most of characters in nowadays horror are idiots. sure it drives the plot (weak as it may be) but it sohuld be get rid off, better go and get a decent idea for a movie isntead of slasher that is based on the fact that characters do exactly the opposite anyone with some sanity would do.

well this is a year too late bot whatever.

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"Common sense is not so common."
- Voltaire

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