Its funny - the whole debate about whether the horror films are better now or then seems off the point. What seems interesting to me is that some of these films - no matter how "good" or "crap" made an impression on the audience. Case in point - the first American horror film, Dracula (1931) is, for all effect and purposes, crap - stagy, bad sets, all the action takes place off screen, etc. BUT, people in 1931 were blown away by it. I think the big problem with the internet and most of the books out there about horror is they either celebrate everything or condemn everything without really trying to think about why some of these films become so humongously popular. I mean, why Michael? why did those of us growing up in the late 70s suddenly get totally blown away by Halloween? Why did it spawn like a billion imitators? So I agree with the main point of this post - picking holes in any film or period of film is easy - the more interesting question is to think about why? Either why the film matters to you - or - why it matters to the broader culture.
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