Where did horror films go so terribly wrong?
For those who grew up watching films by John Carpenter and George A. Romero, all of the most recently released horror films are a slap in the face.
Lets take, for example, all of these films that have been released about mutant hillbillies and such “creatures.” First off, aside from their lack of education and grooming, what is so scary about hillbillies? And mutant ones, at that.
My guess is that they’re trying to make horror films a little more believable, as if, during a trek through some random deserted area, we will all, inevitably, be ambushed by mutant hillbillies.
Not only are the hillbillies mutated, but they’re also clever, considering they seem to be able to trick every last person in the movie. It’s as if the radiation that totally wiped away their dashing good looks and ability to reason that sleeping with family is not okay had somehow kept their ability to trick even the most clever of characters intact.
The closest thing anyone would have seen to a mutant hillbilly would have been my late Uncle Tom, who was from Arkansas and had part of his face shot off by a woman fresh out of an asylum with a shotgun (I wish I were joking).
Still, even if Uncle Tom got the crazy urge to try to hack people up and eat them, all you would have to do is wave your arms really fast, and he would probably pass out because he was so drunk most of the time. Real clever stuff.
Another kick to the groin to any good horror movie fan is all of these horrible remakes that are coming out. People seem to love to redo movies by John Carpenter, like “Halloween” and “The Fog.”
Is anyone familiar with the term “if it’s not broke, don’t fix it? The movies were fine to begin with, and the remakes straight up suck. I can’t believe people even bother.
My last complaint about recent horror films has to do with these torture films. I am sure that being tortured sucks major, but that still isn’t going to scare me nearly as much as a hoard of zombies would.
I think that the filmmakers are trying to make their plots more believable and frightening. Again, I don’t buy it, and it really isn’t frightening at all.
Mutant hillbillies, old men with nothing better to do than to try to torture college students and evil-genius-plotting psychopaths simply aren’t an everyday worry, and they’re fouling up the market for horror lovers everywhere.
I am well aware that zombies and alien monsters aren’t an everyday worry, either, but at least there is some imagination and reason to be a little freaked out, as it’s more about the unknown. This can put the viewer in a more vulnerable spot, which makes the experience much more worthwhile.
We all know at least one hillbilly, we all know at least one pathetic old man, and we all know at least one person who would be much better off if they took their meds.
People do not need to be reminded of these characters while trying to get the sense scared out of them, do they?