Just watched Dawn of the Dead last night and had the realisation that horror movies today just plain SUCK! The only good new horror movie I've seen recently is Dog Soldiers. I see flicks like Scream or I Know What You Did Last Summer and I just wish it was the seventies or eighties again. We need more Re-Animators or Evil Deads or Halloweens (OK we don't actually need anymore Halloweens. Stop making the damn things already!). Hell I'll settle for a Zombie Holocaust right now. It's awful but at least it's gory. We don't need any more plot twists or big budget Hollywood "scary" movies (don't get me started on Jeepers Creepers. My hatred for that movie knows no bounds!). We need more movies with ropey plotlines and over the top gore. PLEASE!
But remember that they never really made 'em like they used to in great quantities. Dawn of the Dead came out in 1978; what other American horror movies were made in '78?
"Dark Secret of Harvest Home, The" (1978) (mini) TV Series
Alien Zone (1978)
Are You in the House Alone? (1978) (TV)
Attack of the Killer Tomatoes! (1978)
Barracuda (1978)
Bees, The (1978)
Blood Stalkers (1978)
Bog (1978)
Clockwork (1978)
Cruise Into Terror (1978) (TV)
Damien: Omen II (1978)
Dawn of the Dead (1978)
Day of the Woman (1978)
Death Moon (1978) (TV)
Devil Dog: The Hound of Hell (1978) (TV)
Dracula's Dog (1978)
Effects (1978)
Evil, The (1978)
Executioner, The (1978)
Faces of Death (1978)
Fury, The (1978)
Halloween (1978)
Initiation of Sarah, The (1978) (TV)
Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)
It Lives Again (1978)
Jaws 2 (1978)
Jennifer (1978)
Killer Fish (1978)
KISS Meets the Phantom of the Park (1978) (TV)
Laserblast (1978)
Legacy of Blood (1978)
Magic (1978)
Manitou, The (1978)
Mardi Gras Massacre (1978)
Martin (1978)
Mirrors (1978)
Night of Horror (1978)
Nightmare in Blood (1978)
Petey Wheatstraw (1978)
Piranha (1978)
Redeemer: Son of Satan!, The (1978)
Shadow of Chikara, The (1978)
Sisters of Death (1978)
Spawn of the Slithis (1978)
Stranger in Our House (1978) (TV)
Swarm, The (1978)
Terror Out of the Sky (1978) (TV)
Till Death (1978)
Toolbox Murders, The (1978)
Within the Woods (1978)
Compare that to the 2002 releases:
13th Child (2002)
2001 Maniacs (2002)
28 Days Later (2002)
American Nightmare (2002) (V)
American Psycho 2 (2002) (V)
And Then They Were Dead... (2002) (V)
Attack of the B-Movie Monster (2002) (V)
Battle-Axe: The Making of 'Strait-Jacket' (2002) (V)
Below (2002)
Blade II (2002)
Blood Feast 2: All U Can Eat (2002)
Blood Reaper (2002) (V)
Body Shop (2002)
Brotherhood III: Young Demons, The (2002) (V)
Bubba Ho-tep (2002)
Cabin Fever (2002)
Callous Sentiment (2002)
Cannibalism (2002) (V)
Carrie (2002) (TV)
Cheerleader Massacre (2002) (V)
Crawling Brain, The (2002)
Cryptz (2002) (V)
Curse of the Forty-Niner (2002)
Dark Tomorrow (2002)
Darkness (2002/I)
Daughter (2002)
Dead Above Ground (2002)
Dead and Rotting (2002) (V)
Death Island (2002)
Deathbed (2002) (V)
Demon Island (2002)
Diggin' Up 'Bones' (2002) (V)
Each Time I Kill (2002)
Eight Legged Freaks (2002)
Erotic Time Machine, The (2002) (V)
Essence of Echoes (2002)
Familiar Stranger (2002)
First to Die (2002) (TV)
Ghost Ship (2002)
Ghosts of Edendale, The (2002)
Grandma's Secret Recipe (2002) (V)
Grasp (2002)
Greenskeeper, The (2002)
Halloween: Resurrection (2002)
Haunted (2002)
Haunting of Slaughter Studios, The (2002) (V)
Hell's Highway (2002) (V)
Hellraiser: Hellseeker (2002) (V)
Horror (2002)
Human Beeing, The (2002)
Imagination (2002)
Infested (2002)
Inheritance (2002)
Insaniac (2002) (V)
Jennifer Is Dead (2002)
Killjoy 2: Deliverance From Evil (2002) (V)
Knight Chills (2002)
Last House On Hell Street (2002) (V)
Liberata Me (2002)
Lobotomy, Lobotomy (2002)
Lost Skeleton of Cadavra, The (2002)
Love Object (2002)
Mark of the Astro-Zombies (2002) (V)
May (2002)
Midnight Mass (2002)
NightThirst (2002) (V)
No Tomorrow (2002)
Nursie (2002)
Octopus 2: River of Fear (2002)
Project V.I.P.E.R. (2002)
Psychette: William Castle and 'Homicidal' (2002) (V)
Puppet Master vs. Demonic Toys (2002) (TV)
Pythons 2 (2002) (TV)
Queen of the Damned (2002)
R.S.V.P. (2002)
Rachel's Attic (2002)
Rebel Fish (2002)
Red Dragon (2002)
Reincarnation of Martin Gregory, The (2002)
Resurrection Mary (2002)
Return of the Living Dead 4: Necropolis (2002)
Ring, The (2002)
Road From Erebus, The (2002) (TV)
Saint Sinner (2002) (TV)
Scary Tales: The Return of Mr. Longfellow (2002) (V)
Severed (2002) (V)
Shadow Realm (2002) (TV)
Shredder (2002)
Sightings: Heartland Ghost (2002) (TV)
Stakes (2002) (V)
Stash (2002)
Subspecies 5 (2002)
Swimfan (2002)
Taboo (2002)
Taking the Punishment Poll (2002) (V)
Tales From the Mist: Inside 'The Fog' (2002) (V)
Terror at Tate Manor (2002)
Time Machine, The (2002)
Trance (2002)
Transamerican Killer (2002) (V)
Underdogs, The (2002)
Unstable Minds (2002)
Urban Gothic (2002) (V)
Vampires: Los Muertos (2002)
Wishcraft (2002)
Wishmaster 4: The Prophecy Fulfilled (2002) (V)
I don't know that there's really a quality disparity when compared head to head. It's just the "good ol' days" syndrome -- all of the forgettable movies of the past are, well, forgotten.
(I think I win the award for the longest post today.)
Horror today seems to be on life support. Gems like The Ring are very few and very far between. We either get "supernatural" thrillers that, by law, must have obligatory twist endings and cheap slashers so bad I actually prefer the early 80's ones named after holidays. I liked the original Scream, but I wish it hadn't been successful. It should have been a flop, like it was supposed to be, and people should have discovered it on video. We need a really good, gory (sorry to use the naughty word, Hollywood) zombie film to kick everyone's ass and bring back the glory days.
yeah, im hoping that will take form if Rob Zombie's House of 1000 Corpses is ever frickin released.....
J.R. wrote:
>
> We need a really good, gory
> (sorry to use the naughty word, Hollywood) zombie film to
> kick everyone's ass and bring back the glory days.
I'm with you on that. I mean, Hollywood keeps on going to the "man in so-called scary mask who stabs and slashes dumb teens who look like they are in their late 20's" when in fact that market on horror is just dead. On can say the same thing with a zombie film. But the reason why we haven't seen a zombie film lately is because NO COMPANY has tackled that idea. True, we had RESIDENT EVIL. But it really didn't kick off any zombie craze because it was so-so in the box office (also, the MPAA 's force of removing the flesh eating scenes reduced the films effect-hello MPAA, THAT IS WHAT A ZOMBIE FILM IS ALL ABOUT) and had very little impact. Therefore, Hollywood feels that a zombie film is just not "marketable" for this day and age. It's sad really.
Right now, Hollywood is catching up in the craze of "war pictures" and "war releated themes" due to pre-September 11th. We already had BLACK HAWK DOWN, THE SUM OF ALL FEARS, and WINDTALKERS. And thus, another is on it's way when I saw a commercial for an upcoming film (I forget the title) about "terrorists". Again, Hollywood is catching the newest craze. Is it tiresome? In my opinion, yes.
Like you said there J.R., we need better horror. Unfortunately, we are living in a society in which horror is said to be for "selective audiences" and every other film genre is for "everybody" (quite untrue, for some films like TITANIC, BRAVEHEART, and BLACK HAWK DOWN, which have been labeled for "everybody", are not liked by some either so no film, no matter what genre, is for everybody).
Other zombie hopefuls are Dead Reckoning (let's just hope it's not another project Romero has pulledout from under him), P. Jackson's proposed film after he wraps LOTR and Danny Boyle's 28 Days Later, which is already out in England. One thing I've read is that horror and action are out for the time being because of "9/11 sympathy" or some crap. I consider gory horror flicks my comfort movies.
I don't have much of a thing for SCREAM-style flicks but I don't hate them. I just wish movies had more balls these days but thanks to Hollywood, blood-soaked tits are politically incorrect and we normal men have to suffer.
True, we had RESIDENT EVIL. But it really didn't kick off any zombie craze because it was so-so in the box office (also, the MPAA 's force of removing the flesh eating scenes reduced the films effect-hello MPAA, THAT IS WHAT A ZOMBIE FILM IS ALL ABOUT) and had very little impact.
***** Resident evil wasn't about zombies, it was about video game sales, special effects, and Milla Jovovich. The pacing of the movie was all wrong to kick off a zombie craze. It was paced like an action film... actually, it was paced like a video game. Zombie films need to be slower and more deliberate. A good zombie movie, like the zombie menace itself, needs to creep up and build momentum toward the finish line. Resident Evil was straight adreneline, poorly delivered, and running in over the red line the whole time. No finesse.
I know there are good underground horror flicks coming out but they are seriously hard to find and they are killed off a bit by the Hollywood war machine. Making me think about old school horror flicks just means that it was better when the films had a higher appeal with movie execs instead of the current generic teen slash trash that keeps being churned out. 28 Days Later was a bit of a pleasant change and Resident Evil could have been a lot better (OK did any of the people behind the movie actually play the damn game? It's a gorey game. Gore! Do I have to spell that one out!? G-O-R-E! It must be the new zombie battle tactics. Don't eat their brains, just pile on top of them and smother them to death!). Hopefully Rob Zombie's flick will be released but everything I have read has said that the company behind it refuses to release it. It must be good then. I am interested in seeing the Hollywood remake of The Ring though and see how it compares with the original. That is a good movie so hopefully Hollywood hasn't urinated on it from a great height.