Are Horror Movies Becoming Repetitive?

[Guest Deadbolt]

Horror movies always have and will always scare the shit out of me, admittedly. Some are scary due to the unknown--others for the cheap scares--and others for mainly the blood and gore. However, they are becoming somewhat repetitive in my opinion and here's why--

 

Half of them have the same plot--people go into an old creepy house, which, suprisingly is haunted by ghosts. Or some kids go looking for some monster or something. The origionality is fading--and quickly. There are exceptions to the rule, but to me, the majority are all basically the same. All get the mark of 'the scarriest movie in years''--mainly because they are all basically the same movie, only with a few different actors.

[Jericholic82 0]

I agree. There hasn't really been an original concept in horror movies since Blair Witch, incidentally which I don't really like that much.

 

Freddy vs Jason was cool for nostalgia and lots of blood and gore but felt tired and played out

[Youth N Asia 0]

Horror movies suck now. And I wish I knew why every single horror movie I've seen in the 2000 has to end with the "it's not really over" ending. EVERY ONE OF THEM!

 

The biggest problem with the movies is most of the characters who you're supposed to want to live through this are incredibly unlikeable.

 

The last Halloween movie was the worst thing I've ever seen.

[NoCalMike 0]

If you look beyond HOLLYWOOD for your horror flicks, you will find greatness.

[Shanghai Kid 0]

I think it's true of all genres, not just horror. Action movies in particular are becoming repetitive. That's why your getting remakes up the yin yang.

 

I think honestly in the history of the world people are going to look back and say the 70's and 80's were the golden era of horror movies. That's when things were still fresh and original, and that's when directors didn't have the same kind of pressure from the studios to cater to a particular audience. Now you hear about a horror movie being messed up by the studios just so it can get a PG-13 rating.

 

I think every once in a while we still get a great horror movie, but todays special effects and all the unneccesary additions make everything seem repetitive. I think you CAN still make an effective horror movie by keeping it simple. The first Halloween was very simple and it remains scary as hell without needing a big budget. Now and days studios expect a crapfest like 13 Ghosts to be a quality horror movie? They expect Busta Rhymes karate kicking Micheal Myers to be scary?

 

Even a movie like the Grudge tries to come off like it's not worried about anything but being scary, and it works as a straight horror movie but it fails because every scare is predictable and proceeded with a huge music build up that makes it predictable.

 

Theirs still original horror movies to be made but I think the studios aren't doing a good job of going for creative ideas instead of stuff that sounds marketable.

[Nighthawk 0]

Well, if you really break it down, and I've thought about this probably more than I should, there are really only 3 or 4 basice horror archetypes. Name original horror movies from any period. They all basically fit into a few categories.

There's still plenty of good stuff, I think. What we haven't had in a while, is a true, iconic horror classic. You can see some of the shifts in the industry happening now. They're starting to move away from trying to be cool, which is good. The horror genre was never really bad, but it's going to get better soon.

[Guest El Satanico]

Horror has always been repetitive. Look at any era and you will see obvious trends. The 00's has been the best time for horror since the mid 80's, you just have to look past alot of the mainstream movies.

[Bruiser Chong 0]

I could've told you this long ago. Sorry, but I still don't find the enjoyment of watching some freak going around killing people in twisted ways that make a simple stabbing look innocent. For some reason, people think lots of blood = horror. Lame.

[Insane Bump Machine 0]

The majority of horror movies has always been a few ideas used over and over again. That's not a new trend. But you always get some great stuff amidst all the rest. Some recommendations out of the newer crop of horror:

 

Shaun of the Dead (obviously, although not a pure horror film)

 

Three...Extremes (three short films by three of Asia's best horror directors. Great stuff if you can get your hands on it)

 

Haute Tension aka High Tension aka Switchblade Romance (French slasher film with great atmosphere, plenty of blood and gore and some really creepy scenes)

 

Ju-On (the japanese TV original, not the lame US remake)

[Ravenbomb 0]

don't forget Kaïro, one of the best horror movies period (IMO)

[Gary Floyd 0]

How about "Audition". Sure, you know the girls crazy, but you don't expect her to be THAT crazy

[Insane Bump Machine 0]

Hadn't heard of Kairo until now, but I checked on IMDB and it looks interesting.

 

Edit: Audition is great of course, but also 5 years old.

[Guest Vitamin X]

Go to Japan for your horror/suspense movie fix. Or at least, watch more of them. They are so exceptional, we keep seeing watered-down remakes of their movies over here.

 

I saw this movie, Tomei, I believe it was called (I forgot the exact name) about this girl who kept being reproduced in a small tank and killing herself or something to that extent. I only saw part of it, but plan on seeing the whole thing soon.

[Jingus 0]

I've heard people raving about the Japanese horror movies over the past decade, but have only seen a few myself. Audition was good; DAMN good, and creepy as hell. Ringu was terribly overrated, and not as good as its own western remake. I haven't gotten the chance to see any more, but I would like to.

[NoCalMike 0]

I've heard people raving about the Japanese horror movies over the past decade, but have only seen a few myself. Audition was good; DAMN good, and creepy as hell. Ringu was terribly overrated, and not as good as its own western remake. I haven't gotten the chance to see any more, but I would like to.

Japanese and Korea are producing great horror films. Also, Italy has awesome flicks too, but generally, because of the style of them, it seems rather hard for American audiences to embrace them. If you haven't seen it, check out Suspiria by Dario Argento, and "Zombi 2" by Lucio Fulci. If you like either one, get back to me and I can recommend others, plus I think both of those DVDs have a handful of trailers of other films by their respective directors.

[NoCalMike 0]

Haute Tension aka High Tension aka Switchblade Romance (French slasher film with great atmosphere, plenty of blood and gore and some really creepy scenes)

Aren't they remaking that film in hollywood. I believe a trailer is out already...

[spman 0]

I've noticed lately that there have been a ton of Horror movies as of late. The Darkness and White Noise are still in theaters, Hide and Seek and Alone in the Dark open tomorrow, Boogeyman opens next week, smells like oversaturation to me.

[Guest Mindless_Aggression]

Takashi Miike films is all you need. Audtion, Ichi The Killer, Gozu and so on, it's all great great disturbing stuff.

 

Horror movies have always been awful and repetitive in general. The standout films are few and far between even more so in this genre than any other.

 

I'd recommend Dog Soldiers and even the Dawn Of The Dead remake as far as recent films go. The DOTD remake isn't what the original is and it never tries to be and it works. But yes, the recent trend of random dark images, scary children and violently jerking ghosts is officially old.

[Guest El Satanico]

Haute Tension aka High Tension aka Switchblade Romance (French slasher film with great atmosphere, plenty of blood and gore and some really creepy scenes)

Aren't they remaking that film in hollywood. I believe a trailer is out already...

That's the original as far as I know, but don't expect it to show up at the mega-plexes, it's being released in it's full NC-17 glory.

[NoCalMike 0]

Haute Tension aka High Tension aka Switchblade Romance (French slasher film with great atmosphere, plenty of blood and gore and some really creepy scenes)

Aren't they remaking that film in hollywood. I believe a trailer is out already...

That's the original as far as I know, but don't expect it to show up at the mega-plexes, it's being released in it's full NC-17 glory.

Well, good think there are two indy-theaters in town close-by~!

[Jingus 0]

Japanese and Korea are producing great horror films. Also, Italy has awesome flicks too, but generally, because of the style of them, it seems rather hard for American audiences to embrace them. If you haven't seen it, check out Suspiria by Dario Argento, and "Zombi 2" by Lucio Fulci. If you like either one, get back to me and I can recommend others, plus I think both of those DVDs have a handful of trailers of other films by their respective directors.

I bought my copy of Zombie several years ago, I've got The Beyond too. Argento... well, I don't wanna get into that argument again, let's just say that I've seen several of his movies and they didn't do anything for me.

 

I second the recommendations for Dog Soldiers and the DOTD remake, both of which I enjoyed very much.

[Nighthawk 0]

It's good that someone else doesn't buy the Argento hype. He's decent, but oversold.

[Placebo Effect 0]

Last Horror Movie, while not a traditional horror film, is pure genius. It's out on video now.

 

The majority of the films put out by MTI until their Redrum label (http://www.mtivideo.com/redrum/) are worth a look if you can forgive low production values.

[NoCalMike 0]

Japanese and Korea are producing great horror films.  Also, Italy has awesome flicks too, but generally, because of the style of them, it seems rather hard for American audiences to embrace them.  If you haven't seen it, check out Suspiria by Dario Argento, and "Zombi 2" by Lucio Fulci.  If you like either one, get back to me and I can recommend others, plus I think both of those DVDs have a handful of trailers of other films by their respective directors.

I bought my copy of Zombie several years ago, I've got The Beyond too. Argento... well, I don't wanna get into that argument again, let's just say that I've seen several of his movies and they didn't do anything for me.

 

I second the recommendations for Dog Soldiers and the DOTD remake, both of which I enjoyed very much.

I had the initial release of "Zombie" too. When they screened it here at one of the Trash Film Orgies down at the indy theater, my gf's brother was with us, and he loved it, so when the 2-disc 25th anniversary came out, I double-dipped and gave him the bare bones release.

 

Argento, well I don't expect everyone to like him. I don't even really argue about it, some people like him, some don't. Just as well.

[cabbageboy 0]

The Sixth Sense ruined horror movies in so many different ways.

 

1. It made popular the lame twist ending or "it's not over yet" bullshit that we see in every other film made today.

 

2. It started the excruciating genre of freaky little kids that are seeing ghosts or are possessed in some way. Yeah I know The Shining did it earlier but it didn't cause such mass imitation at the time.

 

3. It started every horror film/suspense film producer wanting to go for the PG-13 in a genre that has always been on the exact other end of the ratings spectrum.

 

There's also the recent zombie flicks like 28 Days Later, Dawn of the Dead remake, and Shaun of the Dead. I like Shaun best mainly because it actually grasps the concept of zombies.

[Guest CronoT]

http://www.eternaldarkness.com/films/movies1.jsp

[Lil' Bitch 0]

I don't like recent new idea (or rehash concept) of fast zombies / okay, they're not really dead, but they run almost faster than cars, but they're still kind of dead.