1 thing you'd still like to see in a horror film.

[crabapple]

Fortunato is correct...It's not so much "genre blending," really, as just taking a piece in the horror genre and giving it depth and resonance and roots in aspects of culture other than this "universal fear of death" which being basic to everyone's consciousness is an "easy out" for a horror filmmaker and an excuse to make something that's basic, simple and boring.

Take a movie like "The Howling," that's a really interesting flick and a lot of fun to watch. Not only is it rather funny but there are strong elements of pop psychology and marital infidelity in the story--not to mention some strong dashes of post-traumatic stress disorder in the main character--

...and all of this detail is taking place within a story that also delivers on the solid meat-and-potatoes horror goods like monsters, violence and suspense. It gives you the elements of a basic genre product but also much, much more, and arguably it is a very good film. I think it's good because it gives your brain much to think about; you are not merely "feeling the fear."

The price of such a movie? Well, it takes time and effort to write something like that. I would love to see more people delivering not just the bare minimum but a bigger and tastier enchilada. One gets the impression that many in the audience have never tasted a really tasty enchilada, and don't know what they're missing!

[sfear]

I don't see anything wrong with it. Isn't FRANKENSTEIN a blend of sf and horror?

[The Villain]

Scifi is a little different then blending let's say action or comedy. They're both pretty close to each other.

There's nothing wrong with blending genres at all, i just don't think it's necessary for every horror movie.

It would be nice to see more horror movies that created an element of fear though. An atmosphere that what you're watching is actually scary and could potentially frighten you instead of just endless jump scares and annoying horror "action" sequences.

[sfear]

Originally Posted by The Villain

Scifi is a little different then blending let's say action or comedy. They're both pretty close to each other.

There's nothing wrong with blending genres at all, i just don't think it's necessary for every horror movie.

It would be nice to see more horror movies that created an element of fear though. An atmosphere that what you're watching is actually scary and could potentially frighten you instead of just endless jump scares and annoying horror "action" sequences.

Yeah, I agree with much of what you say, but something like comedy and horror can work if done right. Check out Abbott And Costello Meet Frankenstein to see what I mean. I don't think sf and horror are all that close to each other however. SF is to varied and versatile to be a close cousin of horror. But as THE THING and ALIEN have proved the two are easily meshed.

You're right though, not every horror movie need be blended with another genre to be original, but blending can be a way to avoid stagnation by, say, dumping ghouls on the Somme or sneaking vampires into the O.K. Corral.

Your last point hits the thumb right on the nail, which is why Robert Wise's THE HAUNTING just might be the scariest movie ever made, at least to me.

[fortunato]

Originally Posted by The Villain

There's nothing wrong with blending genres at all, i just don't think it's necessary for every horror movie.

I'm definitely not arguing that horror must be blended with another genre to be great. I don't believe that at all, but like crabby was saying above, it must be grounded in something more than genre tropes. Nosferatu was rooted in Germany's fear of the rest of the world, of foreigners; Godzilla was a reaction to the atomic bomb; Rosemary's Baby played on the anxiety of its generation; etc. This is what I would like to see in popular horror cinema today, films that are fueled by and deal with latent societal and cultural fears, that in being contemporary in that way, they become timeless.

[The Villain]

Originally Posted by fortunato

I'm definitely not arguing that horror must be blended with another genre to be great. I don't believe that at all, but like crabby was saying above, it must be grounded in something more than genre tropes. Nosferatu was rooted in Germany's fear of the rest of the world, of foreigners; Godzilla was a reaction to the atomic bomb; Rosemary's Baby played on the anxiety of its generation; etc. This is what I would like to see in popular horror cinema today, films that are fueled by and deal with latent societal and cultural fears, that in being contemporary in that way, they become timeless.

Ok now that i will definitely agree with.

[Doc Faustus]

I think Kevin Smith's Red State deserves some credit for at least trying that.

[fortunato]

Originally Posted by Doc Faustus

I think Kevin Smith's Red State deserves some credit for at least trying that.

I'd still like to see it for that reason. I know that I've heard complaints that the film rather lazily and facilely makes a spectacle of religious fanaticism. Do you think that's the case at all?

[The Villain]

Originally Posted by fortunato

I'd still like to see it for that reason. I know that I've heard complaints that the film rather lazily and facilely makes a spectacle of religious fanaticism. Do you think that's the case at all?

I think that movie just lost it's point entirely as it went on

[twoguysandafilm]

Red State was good for the most part. I thought it started strong and faded as it went on. The one thing I do love is how it was distributed. As an indie filmmaker myself, its great to see an evolution in the system.

--
@2guysandafilm