The release of Scream 4 April 15 got me thinking about where the horror genre is today. It’s hard not to dismiss it nowadays with all the remakes, sequels and just plain old poorly written films.
As a fan, I can’t help but find myself annoyed at the half-baked horror movies made the past few years. These days, a horror movie is more likely to make you puke than make you scared. God forbid a horror movie actually be frightening.
Films like Saw and Hostel stand out as examples. Don’t get me wrong, I like my gore. But what I don’t like is when that is all the film has to offer. Movies are a form of storytelling and are supposed to entertain and illuminate at the same time.
Take the film Carrie, for example. Carrie unleashed her telekinetic power and killed everyone at her prom by the end of the film, but can you blame her? Even if you were to take away the supernatural elements of the film, it’s still a thought-provoking coming-of-age story about a teenage girl bullied by everyone in her life before standing up for herself.
Classics like Night of the Living Dead, A Nightmare on Elm Street and Halloween succeed because they are not only genuinely scary, but they manage to make viewers care about and root for the respective heroines. You want to see them survive and avenge their dead peers.
Another thing slowly but surely killing the genre is the string of remakes. Friday the 13th, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Halloween and countless other classics have all been remade into subpar films by directors who cram as much nudity, partying and drugs into the film as they can. Newsflash, idiots: No amount of boob shots takes the place of character development.
Some would say horror movies have declined because there aren’t any fresh ideas in Hollywood. While that would certainly explain all the remakes and sequels that repeat a story over and over, I don’t think Hollywood is trying hard enough to come up with fresh new material.
Maybe if studios focused more on making quality films instead of trying to make a quick buck, they could put out quality movies that not only they can be proud of, but fans of the genre can be as well.
