Horror Movies Getting Less... Horrifying?

I went and saw Skeleton Key the other day, which is a pretty good movie, but it made me think about other recent horror films. I'm thinking particularly about The Ring Two and The Grudge. I kept hearing how horrfying these were, but when I went to see them, I was incredibly disappointed. They were terrible! They weren't scary at all, and all the really did was annoy with how stupid the main characters were (Not as much with The Grudge, but definately with the Ring Two.) And Boogeyman was a terrible movie all together. What do you guys think?

In my opinion, they seem to be heading towards the comedy genre. And movies that aren't supposed to be horror, for example Finding Nemo, seem to be leaning towards the horror genre. It's all messed up.

The Ring [Two] and The Grudge were remakes of Japanese films, so a lot is going to be lost in translation and culture shift.

You want a good horror movie?

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0...1.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

I'm going to have nightmares about that.

To me, it all has to do with age. Nothing on a movie can scare me anymore, although I was terrifyed with scary movies when I was younger. Hell, even crappy movies like Boogeyman would have scared me less at a certain age. But now, great movies like The Exorcist do nothing to me.

Flamethrower wins. I just don't like horror movies because they are so unrealistic as in the characters in the movie...not the fact that someone could survive a nuke being dropped on them. The characters are just so smurfing STUPID! I refuse to believe that 32 different strangers that all meet together could be that smurfing stupid. After you shoot the person in the head...and he keeps walking at you...RUN! Don't sit there and wonder why or try 45 more times. He could be supernatural, he could have a bulletproof mask on...but does it really matter as he is still coming after you. Run NOW and ponder later...dip s.

Personally, I just think it's a bit of a numbing effect. We've been horrified before, and it's going to take something really incredible to beat it -- and if it doesn't beat it, it does nothing. So many people told me The Ring Two scared the hell out of them... I saw it and was mostly irritated with how many times there were "Samara says BOO!" scenes. >.>

And at the same time, I thought The Grudge was one of the scariest movies I've ever seen. *shrugs* I dunno.

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Originally Posted by Jebus

You want a good horror movie?

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0...1.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

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Yeah, that was original and not at all a rip off of Scary Movie…

One day I'll make a horror movie about my nightmares. They're the only thing that scares me anymore. Sleepings become somewhat of a brown-trousers affair. Boy I'm messed up.

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Originally Posted by Jebus

You want a good horror movie?

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0...1.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

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*Rocks back and forth in the corner*

I won't sleep for weeks!

Some japanese horror films scare me, but I do admit, the characters are VERY stupid. Like, for example, they hear a creepy noise in one empty room, a sort of a creepy and hoarse whisper. But instead of running away and save your life in the process, they go with their curiousity and follow the voice, then poof! A zombie/ghost/ghoul/whatever appears and you die of heart attack or it kills you with one method. Wow... that's kinda boring...

I agree with the whole age thing. Things like the X-Files and Aliens gave me nightmares when I was like 5. They aren't scary to me at all anymore.

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Originally Posted by TurkSlayer

I went and saw Skeleton Key

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I thought is more as a thiller, cool twist at the end

As with horror movies, they all seem to be more of the Spooky feel instead of boo scares. I think they should make more movies like Scream.......

I'd agree that it's the idiocy of the characters that makes them more annoying these days. I saw the Grudge last night, and it was the first one I've seen in a long time that wasn't completely retarded. Some of the characters were idiots, yes, but that one chick who ended up running and hiding under the covers got it all right. The whole time she ran like hell and was fairly smart about it. It made the way she broke down and ran under the covers great.

Horror movies would be scary again if the characters were crafty and still got killed, rather than idiots being picked off one by one.

Horror movies lately suck, yet they make loads of money. Imagine how much money they would make if they were any good.

The grudge, was only a tiny scary, but I made jokes about how non-scary the Zombified Japanese lady in the attic for weeks, I mean, you could see its outline before it lunged.

I also laughed hystericaly when the guy jumped of the balcony.

Are you serious? The Grudge scared the ever living hair off of me. What horror movies do you like?

That new exorcism(NOT Exorcist) movie looks unbelievably scary.

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Originally Posted by ThroneofDravaris

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Originally Posted by Jebus

You want a good horror movie?

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0...1.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

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Yeah, that was original and not at all a rip off of Scary Movie…

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Pfft. I was scared of that movie LONG before Scary Movie.

If anything, they're ripping off of me.

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Originally Posted by Jebus

You want a good horror softcore porn movie?

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/B0...1.LZZZZZZZ.jpg

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Meh, maybe its just me, but I agree. "Horror movies" just aren't...well..scary. The only movie that even bothers me is Child's Play, because evil dolls are pretty damn scary.

I'm a huge George Romero fan, and I don't even find his film's to be at all scary. Maybe...maybe I'm just...too desensitized...or whatever that word is. :D

I will say though, that Ju-On is sooooo much better than that stupid ass Grudge movie. Its the same thing, but at the same time, its not.

Japanese horror flicks are way better than their american counter parts. A great horror movie coming out is called The Exorcism of Emily Rose. It's made like all the classics.

I don't think you guys are taking everything into consideration here. Age and maturity, yeah, maybe. But would YOU have been scared by Jason X as a kid? I'm pretty sure I woulda laughed at it then too. Our maturity might have taken the edge off, but let's face it, movies were seriously, just made to be scarier back then. I think there's too much catering going on now. I mean Hellraiser and Nightmare on Elm St might not scare me anymore. But I still think they're fairly well made for their time. Jason X and Freddy vs Jason, and us ripping off Japanese flicks are NOT well made for THIS day and age. Movies should be SO much scarier now. But they're actually LESS scary. Though I must say I still haven't seen the likes of SAW. But from what I've seen that's less an attempt to be scary, and more an excuse for gore. But I still stand firm. Scream and I Know What You Did Last Summer were thrillers. And Signs was a JOKE x_x;; I can't believe people were scared by that, or the Grudge.... my lord.

Personally I think the fact that horror movies aren't that scary has to do with how well you're imersed in the experience. The Silent Hill games scare the crap out of me. Not because they have a lot of surprises, or dogs crashing through windows, it's just this sort of nervous terror, wondering what surreal horrors you'll run across next. I get so into the games that they work, mainly because I'm actively participating, rather than observing the events that unfold. Horror movies fail because that same feeling of fear that a game like Silent Hill can create just can't be replicated when you're sitting back and watching a movie. You're just not involved on as many levels.

Of course there's also the fact that few horror movies take risks, and try to do something different, and truly terrifying. I think The Skeleton Key was a good example of this. Not only did it rely on cliched horror conventions to try and make the audience scared (and fail miserably), I had the movie pretty much figured out by about half way through which also helped take me out of it completely and ruin the experience. I found anticipating what would happen next rather than being swept along for the ride.

All that said though, I've never found horror movies very frightening, even the ones people might refer to as the classics. I find I just respond better to psychological horror than cheap scares.

And just one last thing: am I the only one sick of horror movies being rated PG-13? Horror movies should be rated R if you ask me, and preferably earn every bit of that rating. At least back in the day I could count on excessive amounts of gore to keep me entertained through even the saddest excuse for a horror movie, but now I don't even have that.

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Originally Posted by Buster Sword Strike

Japanese horror flicks are way better than their american counter parts. A great horror movie coming out is called The Exorcism of Emily Rose. It's made like all the classics.

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How do you know it's going to be "great"? Did you write or direct it or something?

Its Japanese. It has to be good. 'Cause, y'know, they don't make any half-assed attempts at anything. Everything Japanese is beyond excellent by default!

...'kay?

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Originally Posted by Vyk

Its Japanese. It has to be good. 'Cause, y'know, they don't make any half-assed attempts at anything. Everything Japanese is beyond excellent by default!

...'kay?

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"The Exorcism of Emily Rose" is not Japanese.

Well damn. My sarcasm just got murderized. Oh well I live under a rock I'm not supposed to know these things ^_^

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Originally Posted by Vyk

Well damn. My sarcasm just got murderized. Oh well I live under a rock I'm not supposed to know these things ^_^

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Well yeah, but I did get your point, which I definitely see all the time out of people, and I agree. =p

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Originally Posted by gibbi8

As with horror movies, they all seem to be more of the Spooky feel instead of boo scares. I think they should make more movies like Scream.......

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Scream is not scary, neither are the sequals

Dunno about the movies, but I've got my favourite series!
How about the interviews with this guy:

http://www.davidstuff.com/opinion/los-mjackson.jpg

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Originally Posted by MaxGrin

Dunno about the movies, but I've got my favourite series!
How about the interviews with this guy:

http://www.davidstuff.com/opinion/los-mjackson.jpg

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Im not gunna sleep tonight *sits + rocks in the corner*

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Originally Posted by Meat Puppet

In my opinion, they seem to be heading towards the comedy genre. And movies that aren't supposed to be horror, for example Finding Nemo, seem to be leaning towards the horror genre. It's all messed up.

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Surprisingly, I agree with MP.

I'm a big fan of the Horror genre, but nowadays I'm struggling to find "good" horror movies because none of them scare me or even make me jump even the slightest bit.

The only films that do make me jump are some of the Halloween films.

Now, watching all the Horror films, I'd say they are just losing their touch. I don't know if it's because people are losing their touch, or if all the scary storylines have already been taken. But regardless, horror is going down quite a bit.

What I find amusing, is how there are so many innuendos in childrens movies now aswell. I mean, whilst at Boris no no's in July, we watched Spongebob Squarepants with her and her friends. I found it humorously funny, but these are supposed to be film for kids. What's with that :S

Are they so desperate for viewers they have to make remarks that can be taken the wrong way or hint other than the correct term in use.

The movie industry is still coming out with good storylines, and good films. But they are losing their touch. We need more originality.

It even seems that the American films are getting more and more annoying, where as the British films that come out are "starting" to get more enjoyable. Shaun of the Dead for example.

There will never be as many good movies as the older ones. The new movies will come out, and I'd assume that about 25% of them will be decent and watchable more than once. But that's my opinion :P

Honestly, the only horror.....ANYTHING that scares me are the games. The movies seem to pull too many punches.

Haha Giga Guess I love you for saying that!!!!!

I love horror games, but when I play them I get so into them, I feel like I am the character then I end up getting scared at the slightest thing.

I mean I have Resident Evil 1, 2, 3, Code Veronica X, and also Silent Hill 2. Whilst staying at BoB's house for 2 weeks I ACTUALLY managed to complete Silent Hill 2 after having it for over a year and not getting past the first monster you meet! But I was still scared as anything from it. Especially cause of Pyramid head, wasn't I BoB? ^_^

But I've got the Resident Evil games, I've played them, never completed them because I'm so scared of the zombies I always panic and die :D

So the games are definitely more scary than the films <3

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Originally Posted by SomethingBig

Are you serious? The Grudge scared the ever living hair off of me. What horror movies do you like?

That new exorcism(NOT Exorcist) movie looks unbelievably scary.

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Halloween, Nightmare on Elm Street, Urban Legends is fairly frightening, and a few others. Shaun of the Dead is great, but that only technically counts.

I'm glad people agree with me on this. All the people at my school were scared out of there minds by these crap accuses for "horror movies".

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Originally Posted by TurkSlayer

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Originally Posted by SomethingBig

Are you serious? The Grudge scared the ever living hair off of me. What horror movies do you like?

That new exorcism(NOT Exorcist) movie looks unbelievably scary.

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Halloween, Nightmare on Elm Street, Urban Legends is fairly frightening, and a few others. Shaun of the Dead is great, but that only technically counts.

I'm glad people agree with me on this. All the people at my school were scared out of there minds by these crap accuses for "horror movies".

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Halloween and NMoES are absolutely brilliant. I'm in love with them.

As for Urban Legends, the first one was great, the second one let it down badly.

Mostly for the fact that the original bad guy (Rebecca Gayheart) was nothing more than an extra for it.

I believe that films with the "original" bad guy in it are far more exciting and powerful in their storylines. Where as when they change the cast or kill off a very important character which brings the storyline to its best, it's rather boring after that. (excluding the films that are just original films / not trilogies etc)

Wes Craven's They is a little creepy....but not overly scary.

That film is too funny for me. The aliens look like the ones from Mars attacks. It's hilarious ;o

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Originally Posted by Haunted

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Originally Posted by gibbi8

As with horror movies, they all seem to be more of the Spooky feel instead of boo scares. I think they should make more movies like Scream.......

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Scream is not scary, neither are the sequals

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I never said they were scary, Im saying they had the Boo formula.
And how dare you, Scream is scary ( well, the couple first times )
If not, then definatly one of the more scary ones
And Wes Craven is the man for Horrors........

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Originally Posted by bbomber72000

Horror movies lately suck, yet they make loads of money. Imagine how much money they would make if they were any good.

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We're on the same page.It seems that these days,the only movies that get made are "horror" movies,& I see them each as predictable.Whenever I see a commercial of one of those movies,I roll my eyes.But,it's my opinion,nothing scares me,except for heights,lol. :riiight:Whatever happened to the entertainment industry?

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Originally Posted by bbomber72000

I made jokes about how non-scary the Zombified Japanese lady in the attic for weeks, I mean, you could see its outline before it lunged.

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'Kay, that part right there was the scariest part of the movie for me. Of course you knew there was something up there, but seeing the outline of it as it crept (swirled?) closer... wahh.

I'm looking forward to seeing what they're going to do with the Silent Hill film. The games scared the bajesus out of me, and I can really think of nothing like it that's been done in a horror movie.

Chinese and Japenese horror films will scare you~~~

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Originally Posted by kyuzo

Chinese and Japenese horror films will scare you~~~

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That may be true, but I would have no idea what they were saying.

I always thought that The Ring was a different kind of scary. It was more of a film that would unnerve you and make you feel uncomfortable, instead of just going BOO! to make you shriek and jump off the seat. I saw the Japanese film Ringu a few months ago (thankfully it was subtitled) and that was much scarier :eek:

Just 'cause I'm wondering, how many people here have seen Psycho?

I have. not all that frightening in my opinion.

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Originally Posted by Germ Hamee

I'm looking forward to seeing what they're going to do with the Silent Hill film. The games scared the bajesus out of me, and I can really think of nothing like it that's been done in a horror movie.

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Agreed. All's I know is they can't pull any punches with it, or it'll be pure crap.

I fell asleep during The Ring xD. But you know what movie just freaked me out? House of 1000 Corpses. Serious. Gross movie.

Japanese horror and Western horror are very different.

Films like The Ring and Dark Water, they aim to capture the mysterious and make the viewer think and slowly freak out from there. It's not really scary by our western standards but it's freaky and spooky. When you watch these films you tend to be thinking, "what the hell's going on?" and if you do find yourself getting scared, it's because the film is SHOWING rather than TELLING. Films like these barely explain anything and let the emotions of the characters establish the fear.

If you compare this to something like Texas Chainsaw Massacre. You'll see that one features much more copious amounts of blood and running and sweating and dying and screaming. When you watch this, you're thinking, "that must really really really really hurt. *shudder*"

So it really depends on social and cultural context. Personally, I like both kinds although I'm not really a major fan of the horror film industry.