Horror Films: The Good, the Bad & Why it Works as a Genre (or doesn't)

The only scary thing in that movie was my desire to watch until the end, simply because I had begun. I am not prone to stop, or leave a movie, once I begin watching.

 

...and this is sort of what got me thinking about this thread. I recently watched Hereditary, and for the most part I just let the movie take me away, despite some parts that I consciously thought were off.

When the film was over, I felt good about watching it, yet the more I thought about it, the more I began to pick it apart, only not in the usual way. That is to say, is it "insulting to the audience" to always fall back on similar horror movie tropes? Not to say that a trope is a cliche, but they can become cliche, yeah? A ghost or a spirit has to look vastly different from the living, or act vastly different. If the ghost/spirit/demon/devil or whatever doesn't look different from us, then you can bet it will, soon, in a gotcha moment that exposes its ugly face...usually with sharpened teeth, or eyes of all white, squiggly blue veins coursing through its face, etc. You get the picture. These ghouls especially love hanging around in dark corners, on ceilings, and in the chair you're about to sit in.

Then, we have this supernatural forces who resort to parlor tricks like automatic writing, or moving a planchette around, making a cool breeze, only speaking in a whisper, etc, etc. One would think that if a poltergeist is able to throw a toaster, or pick up a pen, or even open up a inter-dimensional portal then the same monster would be able to poke you in the eye every once in a while, or kick out a knee. Instead, if you're a dead person there are evidently these rules that you must follow, and they are all pretty much the same from film to film.

Also, if you're a spook, make sure that you move slowly, so very slowly...that is, until you get close to your victim, then you can put your foot on the gas.

Am I ruining horror films for myself? I hope not. It's not that horror is my favorite genre, but sometimes a desire a deeper sense of suspense, something darker and more sordid than the common human monster.

At the same time, I wonder why I dig a good scare flick now and again. I can't figure it out.

 

I thought Bram Stoker's book Dracula was though.

 

I liked Henry, but it's been long enough that I'm not sure what specifically drew me to it. I can see why it would put some people off. Now, I just recently purchased I Spit on Your Grave from Joe Bob Briggs who has done a commentary track on it. I got his signature on it, so I'm keeping it, but I have a sneaking suspicion that I'll feel unpleasant while and after viewing it. We shall see. I'm also curious to hear what his commentary adds.

 

You just made me realize something mentioning Hereditary. I saw that movie when it came out. About a month ago? And I couldn't remember anything about it...said to myself, that's a familiar sounding title. It was one of those rare current horror movies that I actually found original, interesting and scary. Had to do an IMDB search. WTF!?

How come I can remember the House On Haunted Hill creepy old lady scene that came out in 1959 but can't remember a really good horror film I saw a month ago?

 

I try hard not to get hung up on genres, but I don't think either of these is a horror film.

 

See "Drag Me to Hell" or "The Lady in Black" -- What works? Old People are scary! The crooked-nose crone or the drooling octogenarian. Always scary because that's the real face of death and eternity we all recognize.

 

Pardon me while I offer up an extremely unpleasant blast from the past Wes Craven film called "Last House On The Left". Saw it when I was 11 years old with my 9 year old brother in Falfurrias, Tx (a town in an area of Texas similar to Texas Chainsaw Massacre territory). The theater was not suppose to let kids see this movie due to it being rated R or maybe it was X. That's how outlaw Texas was back in the early '70's.

The realistic rape and later disembowelment scenes made me feel I wasn't suppose to be watching this. My 9 year old brother got up and walked out wimpering under his breath that he didn't like this movie. He stood at the back entrance of the theater to spot check if it got worse as I saw the movie to its end.

 

I prefer monster movies, too. Michael Meyers is a monster. But some sadist with a lot of booby traps, is not my cup of tea.

 

I went to see the The Abominable Dr. Phibes with a friend. We were 12 and he had to walk out of the theater during the sandblasted face scene. He was really freaked. Oh, course, I described it to him in detail.... what are friends for?

 

I just finished my 14th screenplay and it's a horror comedy. Probably more The Evil Dead 2 than Ghostbusters, but somewhere in between. A friend read it and mentioned the "scares, the suspense, and mystery" in the script, and I said, "I'm glad you mentioned those emotions are in there, because after working on it for four months, I sure didn't feel those things, anymore! Without feedback, the artist is flying in the dark, sometimes, especially when taking risks. Does it work? Who the hell knows? I like the combination or horror and comedy. I think it's a combo that works well because the scares and horror still work, but there's this instant relief by the next bout of comedy. That's why I chose to make this one a comedy, besides being sick to death of the formula that horror has fallen into, as Smilin Ed said. A new house. A scary closet. Basement steps. Possessed kid. All getting very dull to me, so I went for an over-the-top Evil Dead or Drag Me To Hell extravaganza. It'll cost too much to make and will languish unproduced, but at least I tried something new to break up the horror monotony.

 

That old lady in the House On Haunted Hill scene operates on a totally different psychological aspect of horror movies IMO.

The analytical mind whip lashed into the reptilian brain. You have an empty room where there's nothing for anything to hide behind. The viewer just sees a flat wall. The woman is using her analytical mind to investigate a trap door or hidden passage way behind the wall by knocking on the wall. The viewer's mind is with her and feels safe because it is also focused using the logical part of the brain that separates us from animals. We feel safe and superior being led to the right of frame...and then BAM!...the woman turns to the left and is thrown into the reptilian "fight or flight" part of her brain along with the viewer. That's a big jolt!

And then the camera jump cuts to a master shot and the old lady glides like she's on rails from left to right out of this room, not at the viewer as typical of ghostly apparitions do in current movies.

Current movies are too obvious on how they set such a scene up in order to lull the audience. You can't make them aware something is going to happen. You have to put their mind somewhere as far away as possible from scene that creates the jump scare.

 

I was going to say that about Henry. I agree.

 

I saw the Phibes movie, too, when it was first released in the US.

I still love the opening scene of Phibes playing "Sunny Boy" on a huge pipe organ-(still looking for the soundtrack on CD).

I thought that was really smartly made movie. Wasn't much as scared as I was enthralled in the look in set and costume design and Vincent Price's voice played through some mechanical voice modulator. It was more of "cool" scary movie to me.

 

Well, it is well-directed and well-acted.

All-knowing Wiki, FWIW, calls Henry an "American psychological horror crime film." And speaking of overly-broad genres and Wiki, Spit is labeled a "1978 American rape-and-revenge exploitation horror film." But I see your points, especially with Henry.

I no longer see Jaws as horror, but I reckon it is. Sure was when I was 10.

I assume the original The Hills Have Eyes is preferred 'round these parts? In the remake, the gore just starts piling up at the end to the point I'm no longer scared.

 

I find gangster / mafia based films more frightening than any horror film.
Horror films are all about atmosphere for me.

 

You've changed. What is it about you that's changed?

When I was a kid I couldn't imagine anything more frightening than The Exorcist. Now it's just a good film, genre excluded.

These days I was more afraid of the TV show, The Killing, as I have a daughter, and if something happened to her it would destroy me.

 

I hear ya. The last time I remember being actually scared in a movie theater wasn't a horror movie. It was Goodfellas when Joe Pesci did the "Funny how? Like a clown? I amuse you?" That scared the hell outta me.

 

I have no idea because now I just came across a '60's Bava horror movie I didn't see during that era I now saw recently I can't get out of my mind...


I was thinking early onset Alzheimer since I'll be turning 60 next year but it appears my memory is OK.

But Bava's make-up job on that dead woman in Black Sabbath I'll never forget and there's no jump scares.

 

Oh yeah, this is part of a horror trilogy show. that's the landlady;s ghost, right? Once again, there's nothing scarier that make someone look at what they'll become one day. Mirror, mirror...

 

I first saw BLACK SABBATH as a Creature Feature on our local TV station when I was 9 or 10. Bava was a master at creating atmosphere. Even as an adult it’s a wonderfully creepy film and one where Mario was able to let his imagination and talent run wild.

His father Eugenio, who was one of the pioneers of special effects in Italian cinema, made the figure of the old woman and it still makes quite the impression.

If you’ve ever seen SHOCK he takes one of the simplest trick shots ever in a hallway and makes it a jump out of your skin moment. Just brilliant!

 

Yes. Just as there were brilliant Westerns produced during the period I mentioned. Unfortunately, the majority are repetitive and cheap - and popular.

 

I have been watching horror films since I was a kid in the 1980s. I have never been scared from watching any of them. Over the years I have become less interested in them. It’s not that they are bad but rather I have seen the same stories replayed over and over. Many of them have become too predictable. Then again this seems to be the case with most genres.

 

It’s almost time for the 2018 SHF Halloween Scary Movie Challenge!