Slasher Movies Resurrection! Good or Bad?

[AUSTIN316426808]

Originally posted by slasherman
cant see why everything have to be innovative all the time....when you are eating your breakfast its pretty much the same every day ....and that ok...so why expect so much from the movies ? ...Slashers are based on a simple formula and that whats great about it....:o

I don't compare my eating habits with my choices of entertainment. Life is boring for the most part and full of routine movies are supposed to get you away from all that for a couple hours.

With that being said, I personally don't have a problem with slashers they aren't my favorite but I enjoy them. I was referring to the people who don't like them.

[urgeok]

i cant watch the same thing over and over again..
there has to be a point where i say - thats enough ..
sooner or later i'll crave some origionality.

although there are always going to be some examples of a really good slasher film because it it is fresh enough to revive the genre, here is why i dont like them in general anymore :

1) the acting almost always sucks. it's all teenegers fresh from bad TV shows (usually soap operas)

2) the premise is always the same ... kill all the bad kids untill there is just the plain jane left. who 'kills' the bad guy. (until the sequel)

3) the exact same things happen in each one ... car wont start till the last second, fumbling with keys till the last second, etc.
(you cant build suspense if the audience knows exactly what to expect)

4) all manner of space and time is bent to the point of science fiction. The most time worn cliche is the one that absolutely drives me insane - where a girl can run pell mell through a forest and the killer shambles along at the speed of a snail ... yet will step out from behind a tree the first time she stops to catch her breath.

5) the things that should be fun about a slasher movie arent anymore :

- inventive kills ... they've all been done .. they arent inventive anymore
- when there is some gratuitous nudity - its allways fake grotesque hollywood boobs..


6) if the killer isnt the well known fiend from a series (jason, michael) then its the person you'd least suspect. So we always suspect them.


if a slasher comes along that works outside the things mentioned above - i'd probably enjoy it .. otherwise ... i'd rather watch something else ...

[slasherman]

:rolleyes: hmm many good points...
but you know the formula for slashers...so dont expect too much...now and then there gonna be innovation...but not all the time....

[Yellow Jacket]

I really like all you're guys' points of views on this topic. You all have your good points, the good and the bad. You've all made very good points. But here's one that I don't remember viewing.

Most slashers that turn into a series turn out to be a comedy than a horror after awhile. Examples: NOES, Child's Play, Friday the 13th, Scream (wait, that's always been a comedy/horror. Never mind then, sorry.) But you've got my point. Hell, even series with silent killers turn to comedy (even the killer who doesn't talk makes something look funny. Just watch Jason Takes Manhattan and u should know wat I mean.)

I hope to read more points of views about the so-called "resurection" of slasher flicks.

[slasherman]

:rolleyes: Yeah thats bad even for slashers...no horror movie needs much comedy...:mad:
Even though I'm not a "Scream" hater ....I would say that it has the "Independent day" syndrome : Putting many genre into one movie (Action, Lovestory, disaster, sc.fi, war)..it often becomes a bad soup....
.....maybe "Scream" is a splatter parody or something :confused:

[urgeok]

a small bit of comedy relief is good in a horror movie .. it gives the audience a small sense of relief .. but also a false sense of security.. setting them up for some big scares later.
If a horror relies of one mood of doom and terror throughout the film you can become desensitized by the end ..

with a bit of carefully placed levity you can keep the suspense rolling..

unfortunately filmmakers with limited vision see the humor in films as effective so they end up concentrating on it - not understanding what the true purpose was. Then it overpowers the film and leaves you with a mess you cant take seriously at all.

[Elvis_Christ]

Originally posted by urgeok
a small bit of comedy relief is good in a horror movie .. it gives the audience a small sense of relief .. but also a false sense of security.. setting them up for some big scares later.
If a horror relies of one mood of doom and terror throughout the film you can become desensitized by the end ..

with a bit of carefully placed levity you can keep the suspense rolling..

unfortunately filmmakers with limited vision see the humor in films as effective so they end up concentrating on it - not understanding what the true purpose was. Then it overpowers the film and leaves you with a mess you cant take seriously at all.

After studying film for the last three years I really enjoy trashy, shitty movies I don't have to take seriously. A lot of serious, critically aclaimed movies just give me a headache now. I'd still rather see a tired "has been done before" slasher than any shitty Ritchie Cunningham movie or anything with Tom Hanks in it. Cinema in general has been done before.

[urgeok]

Originally posted by Elvis_Christ
I'd still rather see a tired "has been done before" slasher than any shitty Ritchie Cunningham movie or anything with Tom Hanks in it. Cinema in general has been done before.

i'm the same way ... i'm not a fan of smug formulatic hollywood blockbusters either ...the only thing they may have over the b movies is a really good performance by someone - and i can enjoy that in a 'big movie' and ignore the rest ..

but in any genre i still look for the cream... its a real challenge as you get older and see everything you can get your hands on ... which is why i have a real thing for foreign film ..

[Vodstok]

I have to agree with austihn's point of view:

i liked the breakfast analogy, but as austin said, entertainment and sustenance are very different beasts. I try to be creative in all areas of life (food included), and i have very little patience for lazy writers and directors making the same bullshit over and over.

Modern slashers have also completely done away with all unearthly and supernatural elements (for better or worse). now it is always a disgruntled some or another, a pissed off fisherman, a couple of twisted high-school boys, a college girl who went crazy when her boyfreind died, blah blah blah.

Michael Meyers is my favorite, he is just evil. But i dont even like Halloween past the second one.

I dont like slashers in general, for the most part. I cant believe how often the villains in slashers are referred to as serial killers, they arent, they are spree killers. 5 murders in 1 day is a spree, not a series.

I prefer serial killers in my movies, they are more complex. John Doe from Seven beats any slasher, any day, he is infinitely more interesting.

[AUSTIN316426808]

Originally posted by Vodstok
i liked the breakfast analogy

I didn't think it was that clever, I don't eat breakfast and when I do it's not the ordinary bowl of cereal or plate of pancakes.