I used to be very into gore myself, because I was a lot younger and the movie didn't require a lot of thought (some people, even very intelligent people don't like movies that require that), and I started liking movies with storylines, plot twists, etc. So, I got more into films that had to do more with supernatural elements, even if they're lame, I'll give them a try. I've gone so far as to watch documentaries about ghosts, supposed demonic occurences, due to the fact that America still seems to lean more towards the gore and shock factor.

That being said, I'm still a fool for zombie movie.

Another thing that's changed me is this forum. I've been exposed to so many different types of horror films. I'd loved horror films since I was a child, but when I got here I realized I was a horror movie virgin (if you'll pardon the expression).

When I watched Suspiria I hated it, because the plot sucked. Zwoti set me straight. He told me that Italian horror was rarely based on plot, but rather on the cinematography...imagery...lighting...ambience. That's where you find the genius in the film and the horror as well. Incidentally, those were the elements of the film that I found absolutely wonderful. So, going over it again, it was incredible. I would have never known that let alone understood it. (Shit, I probably would've never even heard of Suspiria if it hadn't been for Z).

I still enjoy slasher films such as Nightmare On Elm Street and Halloween, but that's as far as it goes anymore. I still find my favorites are the classics though. I've been watching horror right at 10 years now, and I must say, the classics never die. And when I say classics, I mean 1920's and forward. Not the new shit.

I gave up on horror in the late 80s. The first two or three slasher franchises were fun, but I could never stomach the mindless repitition of it all, and in that respect I missed a few gems here and there - which I've since rediscovered through references and discussions here on HDC:) . I still don't like most of it.

My tastes have grown and broadened of course - I still keep finding little subgenres to geek-out on - but I don't think there are any films that I ever LOVED that I don't still hold in some esteem. If anything has changed about my taste it is that I'm more willing to accept extreme cinema than before - simply because their purpose is to stretch (and essentially establish) the boundires of taste.

And how the public defines bad taste, where that amorphous line lies, that's a subject that truly fascinates me.

Yeah I do. Maybe the Canadians are too calm to fluctuate like this, but down here everything is in constant flux. Cable and the internet have made all medie global - the amount of time for a fad to rise these days id hours, not weeks, so the wierd and the inaccessible is now fast and easy. The mainstream is quick to co-opt anything that makes a blip on the consciousness of thier target demo (teens-thirties), which inevitably creates an instant backlash in one little group or the next that thinks people need to be protected from big bad ideas

The result:

V-chips get introduced, smoking gets banned, Politicians in NYC now want to make wearing an ipod in public illegal, because it might distract you and you might get hurt. We're moving into a "nanny-state"

The Result:

More pissed off people making more extreme cinema...it's quite a fun little loop

We get THAT many???:p

I had no idea so many people disliked Suspiria!

I think of it as one of the most stylish, slick horror films ever made- and Argento's second best, right after Profondo Rosso and right before Tenebrae.

Even if you set aside the brilliant set-designs and the horrifying color schemes, the plot (IMO) was original and exciting. Typical Dario plot, but that's a very good thing.

Example -

The crazy Astronaut chick who tried to "eliminate" her romantic rival. Big news. As the media swarms for fresher angles on the story (to feed thier never-ending need for content) it gets reported that she was wearing adult diapers to expidite the process.

Jay Leno and Letterman both did Depends jokes that day.

I read an entire article devoted to the brand and style of "maximum absorbtion unit" that NASA uses.

And just a few minutes ago I'm flipping around and hear a commentator on one of the cable "news" shows bitching that "I don't want to know about that, come on, that's just in bad taste." That whole evolution took two...three days?

I don't like it either. It's pretty and I appreciate it, but it does nothing for me. The others, real Gialli I like, but that one...:(

Yeah...I wasn't very impressed...I mean, it's okay...But, not what most people make it out to be...Certainly not great