What happened to SERIOUS horror films?

[Unaboner3000]

I see all these lame horror movies coming out these days claiming to be scarier and having more gore but ALL these films (Saw, Hostel, all those sorry remakes, etc...) seem to be lacking in several areas, but mainly three:

First, acting. My god! I know you can't getting friggin' Tom Hanks or someone like that to star in these sadistic mutilation type films, but you gotta at least get someone with a little acting talent. I honestly haven't seen a major horror release in 10 years that had a great cast (not necessarily big name, but just acted their roles well).

Second, plot. It is either something VERY unoriginal or VERY unbelievable. Enough said on this.

And third, villain/monster. Nowadays we keep getting these unscary/lame villain/monsters. Honestly, who was scared of the Creeper? :rolleyes:

I really think the horror/thriller/sci-fi fans have become a little too tolerant of all the crap movies coming out of Hollywood these days. There was a time when good (if not great) horror films were being produced. Now it is all about making money (and making sequels/remakes) rather than being innovative.

One of my fondest memories was seeing the movie ALIENS when it was first released 20 years ago in theatres. Great acting, great plot, AWESOME monster.... And all these lame death scenes today do not compare with the shock the audience was in back then. I remember the exploding chests really upsetting people. But then this one REALLY took the cake:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4vB7DZQrTk (Bishop speared by queen Alien, spews whitish fluid, then the queen breaks him in two, sending one half left, one half right). Not sure why this non-human death made people so squeamish, but I remembered the ausience was uncomfortable with it. :D

LOL! What has happened to horror today? :mad:

[The_Return]

Originally Posted by Unaboner3000

One of my fondest memories was seeing the movie ALIENS when it was first released 20 years ago in theatres. Great acting, great plot, AWESOME monster.... And all these lame death scenes today do not compare with the shock the audience was in back then. I remember the exploding chests really upsetting people. But then this one REALLY took the cake:

Too bad its not horror, eh?

[joshaube]

Jeepers Creepers 2 DVD, the menu alone.
He fucking breathes on the screen, and I swear it still terrifies me.
The creeper does scare someone. I'm sure I'm not alone.

[LadyFrost]

Jeepers Creepers 2 DVD, the menu alone.
He fucking breathes on the screen, and I swear it still terrifies me.
The creeper does scare someone. I'm sure I'm not alone.

the creeper scares the shit out of me! that movie scares the shit out of me! no offence Unaboner3000 by "Aliens" wasnt a very good movie, or set of movies (especially since they're science fiction and not horror). I think i watch about forty minutes of each movie and got bored with it. I mean it may be your favourite movie but its not my cup of tea.

And you have to remember that things that scared people twenty years ago will not necessarily scare people of today or even ten years ago. Two many things have happened and changed in the past twenty years for people to be afraid of the same things....but i will agree on you with one thing the new horror movies like Saw and the like arent very good...i dont think its all to do with plot or acting...i just think they're trying way too hard to be gory and horror.

xXLadyFrostXx

[Elvis_Christ]

Well the Creeper bores me to death which is kinda scary.

[The_Return]

Originally Posted by LadyFrost

the creeper scares the shit out of me! that movie scares the shit out of me! no offence Unaboner3000 by "Aliens" wasnt a very good movie, or set of movies (especially since they're science fiction and not horror). I think i watch about forty minutes of each movie and got bored with it. I mean it may be your favourite movie but its not my cup of tea.

How the heck could someone be bored with Aliens??

Not horror, but easily one of the best action movies Ive ever seen.

[Elvis_Christ]

The Special Edition of Aliens is kinda slow.

Fuck there were some cool Sci-Fi/Action flicks in the late 80s and early 90s.

[urgeok]

aliens was a great movie by my standards ... but if we're going to judge horror movies by this time worn measuring stick - 'did it scare you' then i'd have to say all horror movies are bad because i havent been scared by a film (other than An Inconvenient Truth) since i was a kid many years ago.

i have different criteria than that now ... i still enjoy a well made horror film but i dont expect to be scared.

[slayer666]

When I saw the title of this thread, I thought the topic was going to be about the unfortunate injection of comedy into horror. I wish we'd have more serious horror in that sense. This is one of the main things that led me to start watching Asian horror.

Oh yeah, and Jeepers Creepers was going great until they showed the stupid Creeper. Then it went downhill fast.

[The Flayed One]

Originally Posted by Unaboner3000

First, acting. My god! I know you can't getting friggin' Tom Hanks or someone like that

If they did get Tom Hanks, I wouldn't watch it. One of the most overrated actors in history, IMHO.

So do you just like monster movies? If so, I understand. They're my favorite, and there has been an incredible dry spell for original monster. Although The Descent looks promising. Then again, I like the Creeper.

Basically, as far as being scared goes, I'm going to have to go with urge. I still enjoy atmospheric, creepy movies, but I haven't really been scared by one for years. I take solace in letting myself push the other extremes: being grossed out/disturbed. Some people don't like these kind of films, some do.

@Slayer - Have you started a topic on the subject? I'm sure you would get some interesting, well thought out posts before the thread turns into sexual innuendo.