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I'm only gonna go on a rant like this once. Well, no, I already went on a rant like this before, so this is time #2. But bear with me:
I know there's a lot of people on this forum that haven't seen the older stuff. People who really have been CGI'd to death. People who don't remember that the "Star Wars" films didn't feature digital creatures, originally. But really, do yourself a favor, and watch some old films. Go back to the 20's and see "Nosferatu" and "Cabinet of Dr. Caligari." (Heck, go back farther than that and see some of Georges Melies' films. See "The Great Train Robbery," too.) See the Universal horror classics of the 30's and 40's. And try to imagine how completely scared and freaked out the audiences of those times were. Because they were. And these films are all still legit.
These "old" films are all still effective--if you can place yourself in the mindframe OF THE AUDIENCES OF THE TIME. If you can do that, you will see that horror films have a tapestry of marvelous history. Today came out of yesterday. Yes, do yourself a favor and see some nice old films. It takes an effort to do the research, the homework. And it also costs money. But it's worth it. The craftsmanship of these older films is, I'm sorry to say, better than the majority of what is being made today.
Nowadays horror films tend to rely on 1. Loud noises on the cool digital soundtrack. 2. Startling MTV-style flash cutting--boring as hell. 3. Media hype that convinces you that the film is good before you even see it.
"Dawn of the Dead," back when it came out, freaked out audiences very seriously. It gave some people nightmares. Many, many people were shocked and startled, because they hadn't seen anything like it before. And it was good.
That's my rant! Wishing everyone a great holiday season!
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