A Decline in Horror – What Happened?

I remember growing up and watching Horror films and being completely scared and terrified for weeks. I’d be completely shocked and terrified of simple things like taking a shower or being alone in the dark. I’d be “scarred” for a while until I could get over it quite later. I’m 20 years old now and I know more than ever that these simple gimmicky things don’t really shock or scare me as it did when I was 12. However I do know now that there’s something missing from horror films in today’s society compared to my movie watching days when I was 12. I just wonder wonder what’s missing?

A shift away from suspense

I think one of the biggest things that more modern mainstream horror movies do is they shift away from the suspense. What do I mean by suspense? I think there isn’t enough build up behind many scenes or action within a horror film. The scariest thing isn’t what we see, but what we imagine in our own heads. I think many horror films forget this simple idea and they try to show us ourselves what is the most shocking, grotesque, thing we can ever imagine. Although we do have a imagination we sometimes do need to be led into the right direction. I still believe though that many movies don’t lead us and just downright tell us what’s scary.

More gore doesn’t necessarily mean scarier film.

No average human being gets their kicks from watching pools of rushing blood, brains, and explosions of limbs and carcasses. Everyone cringes when we see the scene where a killer is comes from behind and decapitates the lonely victim, but it’s not scare that lasts for long. More horror flicks seem to include more gore because of this small scare. I think many film directors think that certain scenes require more limb crushing, blood spilling, and more CGI to make us actually believe that this person is actually suffering and being tortured by the dark omnipresent villain. I think however the more gore there is in a film the more I feel like I’m watching a movie. More gore doesn’t necessarily mean a scarier film, I can tell you several old films that have little to no gore that could keep me awake at night listening to the bumps and creeks outside my door.

Poor Characters, they’re getting killed, but that doesn’t give them a excuse.

I’ve seen the trailers for the new movies “Sorority Row” and “Step-Father” and both movies remind me of movies like “I know what you did last summer” and other generic flicks where the main conflict is just “Who’s killing us?” or “Is this guy the killer?”. I understand that movies can’t be completely original and these sorts of conflicts are found in every single horror film. I’m not complaining about the plot I’m complaining about the poor characters. We understand what is going on in the movie: campers are getting killed; people are trapped in a house; etc. etc., I just don’t understand why the characters are so damn dumb or so underdeveloped. I’m not expecting a whole masterpiece with intricate characters but most characters come off as just stereotypes: the toking black guy, the white blonde ditzy cheerleader, and the dark loner, maybe I’m asking for too much when I want something more.

This is all my own opinion and I don’t really think that many people will agree with me. I do enjoy horror flicks, but I’m far from a die hard connoisseur. I just miss those films that really did shock and scare you.

Thank you for reading, Captain Kim.