Quote:
Originally Posted by _____V_____
So, the other day, my cousins came over to visit and were rummaging through my collection. Both are fairly new to horror films and asked me for recs on the scariest horror films I have ever seen.
I gave them the DVDs of The Exorcist, The Evil Dead, Alien, The Changeling, and some others.
They returned them some days later and said they weren't the least bit scared of any of them.
Exorcist - slow, and effects looked fake.
Evil Dead - Very cheesy effects and not the least bit scary.
Alien - Had some "tingly & jumpy" moments but slow as well.
The Changeling - Not scary at all.
What was more worrying was that they thought the more recent lot of Rec & Rec 2, Silent Hill, Paranormal Activity 1 & 2, etc. were more scarier than the above.
Glad I didn't give them any of the vintage ones - House on Haunted Hill, Dracula, etc. God knows what their reactions would have been like.
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That's a very common reaction for today's viewers who occasionally likes to watch horror films or new to the genre.
Agree with HF. The thing is sometimes or often I think this growing new breed of "horror movie fans" carry a preconceived idea about "old", "dated" or classic horror films like these films going to be slow and as they're old they would have pretty cheesy effects & tomato sauce look like bloods etc. etc. And thus they goes & check out a classic horror while already making some pretty negative viewpoints of that film before starts even watching it. Horror films means only about "Horror" to them & that "Horror" comes with plenty of jump scares & over the top gore, tortures & sufferings all over. A good story with good characterization & atmosphere doesn't add that much value as they're very much immature as a film viewer, IMO. I've known people who only likes to watch only those films that can make into US or UK top 10 lists or if they see a there's a big colorful article or segment about the films in the newspapers, magazines or in a TV show. Most people in our so called "DVD Stores/shops" I see they only want to rent, buy or know about the newly released films whether horror or not. I guess today some people likes/wants to get so much up to date & "modern" that they don't even like to hear about some good old stuffs.
I never give real gems of the genre to any of my "occasional genre fan" friends or cousins as I can guess or know what will be there response after seeing it and I couldn't take them as a rational human being and thus will lead us to a fight for sure!:D
This is frustrating but what I sometimes think can work for them is to give them some ideas about "How to watch & enjoy a Classic Film" tutorial. First of all, they need to respect & honor the film, its dvd disc/VHS & even thankful to you for the chance that you gave them to see that true classic. Then you can tell them about the success & influence the film still have on today's genre films. The best is to make them watch it with you. Then you can determine the factors or moments they find weak and clarify the viewpoints that differs from us. It's long, lengthy & boring process but as we know sometimes we need to take the matters into our own hands...:D