Horror Just Isn't Scary Anymore

[downside]

Just to get the rabid dogs after me, I pose the argument that horror movies just are not scary any more, nor have they been for a long time.

It's different from person to person, this I'm not denying. But is there any universal "that movie scared the shit out of me" flick out there? I'm so sick of people bringing up the horrible "Scream" series, or any other "I'm a pissed off teen turned slasher" movies. Teens aren't scary. Humans are rarely scary. I guess what I'm looking for is another unstoppable evil force...not someone that can be taken out with a pocket knife to the eye.

Freddy scared the hell out of me as a kid, and even to this day, his story seems frightening. Here's a demonic creature who, in his past life, murdered children. Now, he has the power to kill you in his dreams, and despite numerous attempts, he just keeps coming back. To top it all off, he loves what he does.

The only problem with Freddy in the later years is his knack for comic relief. I really respect New Nightmare due to it's lack of this. But alas, in Freddy vs. Jason, he was back at his joking and "one of the guys ways". To put it simply, the man that use to make millions of kids wet themselves at the thought of dozing off is now the guy that I could have a beer with.

Is this what happens as we get older? The things that use to scare us no longer do. So I guess I'm really just begging for a good horror flick that appeals to me now. Something that will make me not sleep again. I should never go to a horror flick and hear laughter at what is probably the movies most dramatic scene.

Horror flicks are just not what they use to be.

[Killer Clown#1]

Who cares if there not scary I find 90% of old horror movies not scary but I still love em. Most of the new horror now a days is pretty scary though, the ring, signs, Tcm. Frankly I don't care if a horror movie is scary or not I just want to enjoy them:)

[ChaoticMinister]

Originally posted by downside
To put it simply, the man that use to make millions of kids wet themselves at the thought of dozing off is now the guy that I could have a beer with.

Funny association!

I do think you're right that human villains aren't exactly desirable in horror movies, but I also believe in certain cases humans can be acceptable because you can associate with their problems and their pain and their whatever... I say this while thinking of Hannibal and Leatherface primarily, and not of teens ("Scream" did blow balls)... I fell in love with Hannibal the first time I saw him and felt he deserved more screentime in the prequel (it could be argued that he got enough in the sequel ["Hannibal"] but I still can't get enough of him) and to feel Leatherface's pain like I did moved me in a way when I was watching the remake of TCM...

But in regards to monsters, supernatural foes, etc. I think they appeal to our more subconscious fears (as opposed to human villains who we consciously consider if they could or could not exist somewhere near us and whether we should lock our doors more securely at night). Monsters break down that wall of reality in a way that makes us totally feel out of control (only really shitty monsters break down the reality barrier too much, making them unbelievable and not worth watching).

Fear is a delightful emotion...

I can't say which makes for a better villain, because they both have their equal sides and such... I could make a chart or something... but that would probably be a waste of time.. i did make a thread for this...

http://horror.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=591

About 2 weeks old, but still relevant I think...

*FADE OUT*

[MichaelMyers]

I think part of what makes us so fond of Horror is that some of these characters we want to be like. We wish we had the power of Jason to take out the bullies at school, or the cleverness of Freddy to outwit our co-workers. They appeal to the dark side.

I guess I like it because it's comparable to ancient storytelling tradition. Othello's villain Iago was also presented as purely evil but emerged to be more complex than that. In fact villainous characters often prove to be the most interesting.

As for not being scary.....well, you're not watching the right movies. ;)

[_Leatha_Face_]

its not the fact of "wetting myself" its just the fact i like watchin movies where u dont knnow whats gonna happen or who the killer iz or how they r going to kill the killer but i do knonw this im 19 yrs old and if i watch a scary movie that i havent seen b 4 and i knows its not a low budget movie and i watch all lights off no1 home i will get freaked out

[moonsorrow]

i guess you got alot of good points there, new horror movies are not scary, its been a long time since iv seen one, the ring was good though, it apealed to your psyche and made your mind kill you off.
why arnt they scary anymore? because we rely to much on showing of the demon\killer or whatever it is with cg fx insted of sugesting things thrugh a good story line?
maby were alla hardened against horror from all the nerve wrecking things weve seen in horror movies? some people shit theyr pants watching teenslashers but personaly i dont realy find it scary, blair witch on the other hand just messed with my mind, it always made me wonder what was out there, one of the few movies i lable as scary. so are there any upcoming movies with potential any one knows about? when it comes to scary horror movies that is...

[SoUl SuRvIvOrS]

I must agree with everyone to some point. However,just opinion, I kinda like the idea where "humans" are the evil I feel it's more "believeable" I know humans can be evil, I think there are supernatural things out there.. But humans feel more nerve racking with twists of homicidial rages and physciatric issues. Dont get me wrong I like a good immortal evil being every now and then just like the next person...But human nature seems to scare me a little more...I know it is a possiblity in reality.

[DarkwingMantis]

as they say "freddy scared the piss out of me when I was a kid" I believe that part of the reason was that they were kids. Today as we watch horror we know that it is not true or not gonna happen to us when we fall asleep etc... we have become desensitized to the horror aspect because we know that we are safe in our homes or in our rooms watching this stuff on TV. I remember when I was young that TCM 2 just came out. I lived in a part of Indianapolis where there were a lot of motorcycles and everytime I heard one start I panicked thinking that they were chainsaws. Now as an adult I know that the dead dont come alive ( ROTLD where it says that it is based on actuall events) and that freddy is not gonna kill me in my sleep. That is why that I dont find them scary anymore. I get "shocks" from time to time but that is only fleeting. True horror and scaryness live in my childhood from my vulnerability and left when I started growing up. A sad sude effect of the aging process to be sure but one that cant be avoided, but I still love horror all the same

[Voorhees]

For me, watching horror-movies is best in the dark, with my head-set at full volume. And you have to be nude of course.....(hehe, just kidding)

[meetthecreeper]

I agree that over the last few years horror films have gotten less scary, thanks to CGI and movies like I know how you screamed last summer at your Final Destination bullshit. I still love horror films but I think that the violence man can put on each other is going to be the next wave of horror flicks. More realistic killers are what we need to be really scared, ever see Henry Portrait of a Serial Killer? The guy could be your nexr door neighbor.

[abbycomix]

I think serial killer movies and books are more genuinely scary because they could really exist. But the more fantastical monsters and wild scenarios fascinate and interest me more. For instance my friends and I can get into long conversations about the Hellraiser or Phantasm movies. They're just so bizarre and it's fun to try and figure out the rules and alternate realities of those kind of movies. If they're well done they can be really scary too!

[Ritualistic]

Horror movies have never really scared me but I have found that some of the scenes are creepy or spooky. Meaning if that were to happen to me in real life I would be scared shitless. But sometimes what people find scary as a kid dont scare them when they get older. I have spoke to many people that was scared of TCM, Nightmare on elm street, etc... as a kid and after watching it today they said "what was I so scared of?" I do prefer more gore over supernatural flicks and gore is more funny to me. this is just the type of horror I prefer though.. Someone mentioned they dont care if the horror movie scars them , I feel the same way. I think all horror fans feel like that, But I do love watching people get scared by them .. :D

[Killer Clown#1]

Originally posted by Ritualistic
, But I do love watching people get scared by them .. :D Thats why I love going to a movie opening night so I can watch everybody scream at shit thats not even scary, and so my girl friend grabs me when she gets scared;)

[Colm O' Toole]

No doubt in my mind that the 90's was a bad decade for horror movies. Looking at my collection of videos and DVD's almost all of my horror movies especially the scariest were from the 70's and 80's.

The 90's horror films especially since 1994 or 1995 onwards seemed to be obsessed with producing crappy teen horror movies like Final Destination and Scream 2 and 3 and I know what you did last summer and not classically scary movies.

These movies seem to me to be more about jokes than horror. But hopefully this decade looks to be shaping up a bit better with genuienly scary movies like The Ring (American Version) and the remake of Texas Chainsaw.

PS. The Scary Movies seemed to sum up just how ridiculous the 90's were in terms of horror.

[Ritualistic]

Originally posted by Colm O' Toole
No doubt in my mind that the 90's was a bad decade for horror movies. Looking at my collection of videos and DVD's almost all of my horror movies especially the scariest were from the 70's and 80's.


I have to agree with you on this. 70`s and 80`s were great years for horror...

[moonsorrow]

where hellraiser first saw light....or was that early 90`s?...hm...never mind, im tierd and im hitting the sack, god natt og søte drømmer, før du ser meg

[Ritualistic]

Originally posted by moonsorrow
where hellraiser first saw light....or was that early 90`s?...hm...never mind, im tierd and im hitting the sack, god natt og søte drømmer, før du ser meg

hellraiser came out in the 80`s :)

[moonsorrow]

ah the memorys...the mullets....

[Ritualistic]

Originally posted by moonsorrow
ah the memorys...the mullets....

Business in the Front Party in the Back... LOL what sux is the US has a new show called "the mullets" it is about these two guys that have mullets and pretty much live in the 80`s. dont know if it was cancelled though. I know this has nothing to do with horror but who cares seems a lot of the threads here have nothing to do with horror ... :D

[crazy clown]

the problem with the new horror movies is that no one can think of any new characters (hence all the remakes). and all the horror movies they make now are teen horror movies that just get boring.

[_Leatha_Face_]

i dont know hollywood stepped up this year with FvJ and TCM so im not really disapointed this year and next year the new haloween movie comes out, i kant wait!

[crazy clown]

yea man i cant wait either

[billbundix]

i believe there are several reasons why horror movies arent scary anymore. i will try to list some of them in no particular order. first, we arent kids anymore. in this day and age of technilogocal advances, we have lost our ability to suspend our disbelief. we know whats on mars, for heavens sake, why would we be afraid of whats under our bed. second, we have been pounded repeatedly with endless gore, redundant movie plots, and sequels. i mean after a while you start to catch on. the same goes for fx. some of them are so good that they show too much. i start watching them. finally i think we have confused shock with horror.let me explain. lets say you take your family to the texas chainsaw massacre. three quarters of the way through the movie a man with a mask and a chainsaw comes busting through the door. it would shock the devil out of you but if you didnt run out you would soon relize that it was just a jerk with a mask. on the other hand if you go into the same movie with your family and 3/4 of the way through it it became pitch black and when the lights come back up your family is gone. that would be horror. and its hard to get that kind of effect while spending millions of dollars on fx.

[avenger00soul]

Originally posted by billbundix
i believe there are several reasons why horror movies arent scary anymore. i will try to list some of them in no particular order. first, we arent kids anymore. in this day and age of technilogocal advances, we have lost our ability to suspend our disbelief. we know whats on mars, for heavens sake, why would we be afraid of whats under our bed. second, we have been pounded repeatedly with endless gore, redundant movie plots, and sequels. i mean after a while you start to catch on.

I completely agree with what you just said. Especially the kids part. Nothing is going to scare us like it did back then.

[Ritualistic]

Originally posted by billbundix
i believe there are several reasons why horror movies arent scary anymore. i will try to list some of them in no particular order. first, we arent kids anymore. in this day and age of technilogocal advances, we have lost our ability to suspend our disbelief. we know whats on mars, for heavens sake, why would we be afraid of whats under our bed. second, we have been pounded repeatedly with endless gore, redundant movie plots, and sequels. i mean after a while you start to catch on. the same goes for fx. some of them are so good that they show too much. i start watching them. finally i think we have confused shock with horror.let me explain. lets say you take your family to the texas chainsaw massacre. three quarters of the way through the movie a man with a mask and a chainsaw comes busting through the door. it would shock the devil out of you but if you didnt run out you would soon relize that it was just a jerk with a mask. on the other hand if you go into the same movie with your family and 3/4 of the way through it it became pitch black and when the lights come back up your family is gone. that would be horror. and its hard to get that kind of effect while spending millions of dollars on fx.
I have to disagree with this to a point. I know most of us on this forum are not really scared of horror movies(just certain things freak us out) BUT I have meet people that are deathly scared of horror movies and refuse not to watch them, and all of them are aduts. So there is people out there that are scared of them.

[billbundix]

yes but some people are afraid of cheese, too. but that doesnt mean its scarry

[Ritualistic]

Originally posted by billbundix
yes but some people are afraid of cheese, too. but that doesnt mean its scarry

here are some fucking awesome phobias

http://www.phobialist.com/reverse.html

[crazy clown]

there is a phobia of an erected penis. must suck if a guy has that phobia

[Ritualistic]

Originally posted by crazy clown
there is a phobia of an erected penis. must suck if a guy has that phobia

yeah I know.. man there is a phobia for bathing... WTF :confused: who the hell is going to be scared of bathing.. Now this is not talking about people that just dont bath, but shit how can ya be affraid of that... ??