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What makes a really good horror movie? |
| Date: |
31/10/07 (420 review reads) |
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Advantages: When you find a good one.
Disadvantages: Aren't many good horror movies.
Ahh yes the horror genre. We either love it, or hate it. I personally love the horror genre and have seen my fair share of good horror movies and bad horror movies. I suppose the question I should be asking myself is why do I like them so much? Is it that I like to see people being ripped open and gutted? Do I like seeing people running for their lives? Do I like the jumps and chills? I don't know, but whatever it is makes me excited whenever I hear of a new horror film coming out.
I decided to do a little research on the horror genre, just out of interest really and I found out that the very first movie that showed supernatural events was Georges Méliés 1896 silent movie called 'Le Manoir du diable' (The House of the Devil). This movie is sometimes known as the very first horror movie. I have not seen this film, or ever heard of it before, but it would be very interesting to compare it to horror films these days. I continued my research and read about horror films in the 1930's all the way up to the present day. Back in the 1950's, horror films were more about mutants, zombies, monsters and ghosts, and it wasn't until 1960, when Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho came out, that the horror genre did not portray a monster or a creature. We move to the 1970's where towards the beginning of the 80's, John Carpenter began the slasher film with his big hit 'Halloween', which has become one of the most succesful independant film ever made. We then had our ocean scare when Steven Spielberg released 'Jaws', which became a massive hit at the cinemas and still leaves people afraid of going too deep in the ocean.
Moving to the 80's and this is where we had films such as Stanley Kubrick's 'The Shining' and Wes Craven's 'A Nightmare on Elm Street'. Not much has change since the 60's, only that the 'monsters' become less and less frequent, and the portryal of horror is a psychopathic human being. When we look at the 90's, this is where alot of people jumped onto the 'horror' bang wagon and films such as Wes Craven's 'Scream' and 'The Blair Witch Project' were released. Another film that was released that did surprisingly well with the audience was 'Cube', a film based around being trapped in a giant cube with deadly traps and no obvious ways of getting out. For me, the horror genre didn't start getting good until after 1999.
'Final Destination' was a change from most horror movies making the 'horror' something you cannot see ever. The idea of cheating death and it coming back for you just scares me when I think about it, so this film was definitley one that stays in my mind. Alot of the films made after the millenium are re-makes of old classic horror movies such as 'The Evil Dead', 'Halloween' and 'The Hills Have Eyes'. Having seen the classic original for all three of these films and then watching the re-makes, I am half and half as to whether or not a re-make is always the best route to take. I enjoyed the re-make of The Hills Have Eyes, but I did not enjoy the remake of Halloween, I think it's all down to personal choice.
Lets move on to 2002 and to the film that probably brought zombies back, yes I'm talking about '28 Days Later', now although I did not like this film, it certainly brought back the old zombies, but rather than them walking with their arms out and displaying terrible make-up, the zombies in this film are alot more scary and possesed. Zombies, for me, do not make a good horror movie, it's too silly to take seriously. So what do I like then? What is close to being the perfect horror movie for me? Well, lets move over to 2004, to a low budget movie that could've never expected the kind of reaction it got, yes I'm talking about 'Saw'. For some of you, this might've been an anti-climax, but for others, like myself, I absolutely loved it. I found out recently that all four of the Saw movies have managed to gross $50 million, putting them in the top five highest total gross for Lions Gate films. Another film that was close to perfect and delivered excellent scenes of tension and horror was 'The Descent' in 2005, this movie gets rave reviews and I can understand why.
So, after doing my research and having a good old think about horror movies in general. Which ones have scared me the most? Which ones have given me nightmares? Which ones stand out from the rest? What makes a good horror movie? Some of you may or may not agree with me, but for me, a good horror movie needs to have huge tension, scenes where everything suddenly goes quiet and you are just waiting for 'that' part to make you jump. Scenes of gore and torture but not too much so that the film is completely focused around that. A film needs to be your worst nightmare. For some, this is 'Jaws' or 'Psycho' or ' The Blair Witch Project', but for others, there hasn't quite been THAT film yet. There are too many films where the teenagers get lost on the road and they ask for help at the strangest of places, and there are too many films where people 'split up'. No no no no no!!! Thats corny, and it's tacky, and it's just asking to be murdered!
For me, a good horror movie needs to be a cross between horror and thriller. I personally get confused sometimes between the horror and thriller genre because they are too similiar sometimes, but it would be great if the two were mixed together so brilliantly, it made history. I need to have that tension, I need to have that chase, that gore, that torture, but most of all, I need to be convinced. If the film has a good plot, but the acting is poor, this makes the overall film a flop. Do I want monsters or zombies? Do I want a killer or a nice guy psychopath? Do I need to see the horror? These questions are hard to answer, and again, it's all down to personal choice, but for me, sometimes the 'horror' is best not to be seen, or never found out. When I am left guessing, I like it.
I suppose what i'm trying to say is that what makes a good horror movie is all down to personal choice. The directors of certain horror movies think they have created an excellent horror movie that will scare all, but there are always people out there that have a special preference and that we aren't all scared of a man with a knife (although we would be if it was real), and we aren't all scared of a zombie coming out of the ground or a guy with a chainsaw. We all have different ideas of a worst nightmare situation, and for me, being trapped is probably the worst, which is why 'The Descent' and 'Saw' are excellent horror movies in my opinion. What makes them brilliant is they have an excellent story, there is no 'pointless gore' like the films Rob Zombie makes, and most importantly, the acting is believeable.
Too many films are out now-a-days that contain pointless gore, pointless female actresses that are only their for the eye candy and too many films think that by copying Michael Myers, they will make as much money as John Carpenter. The reality is, we want to be shocked, we want unexpected scenes and we want high class scares that give fully grown men nightmares. Trouble is these days, is that film makers can only go so far, otherwise it's TOO scary and too controversial. I say balls to that, make me scared! Saw 3 had to be cut 7-14 times before it could be given an 'R' rating. There are too many people that say the horror movie is not suitable and it's too scary. If it's too scary and you don't like, don't watch it! Don't spoil it for the rest of us that WANT to be scared and WANT to be disgusted.
I suppose I could go on forever arguing what I think makes a good horror movie, but the most important things to rememeber is that they have to be unexpected, original, tense, have brilliant acting, and involve your worst nightmare. Too many films have jumped on the 'Saw' band wagon, such as 'Hostel' and 'Captivity', two films which only get the reaction of "They took that bit from Saw". There are too many good horror films to mention here, and also too many bad ones, but whether they are good or bad, they are in the right genre for making abit of money and publicity because the horror genre will forever be delivering more and more movies in the future because the audience likes the feeling of being scared. We like the adrenaline pumping through our body, making our heart race and reaching for the cushion. We all like a good scare.
I hope one day somebody can make a film that has not been inspired by another recent release and I hope this film can deliver something like no other movie. I'll probably have a long time to wait, but I can only hope.
Summary: I like to think I know what makes a good horror movie.
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