How would some of our favorite horror films stand today?

[VicVega]

Now, tell the truth, if you saw the trailer for "Evil Dead" today and, of course, having never seen it before, would you think it was the biggest piece of shit ever?? To tell you the truth, I think it would be a bad movie. The same goes for all our other personal favorites: Halloween, Friday the 13th, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Phantasm, TCM, etc. What do u guys think about this? If you never seen any of these films before, would you like them if you saw them?

[stevereno]

i saw the trailer for the oridginal HALLOWEEN and it wasn't all that special

SHIVER ME TIMBERS

[Lady Summerisle]

Most of our films wouldn't fare wel, with MTV-pumped audiences who only want eye-candy.
NEAR DARK wouldn't have gotten past one day, because it is so slow, and different.

Point: Most of the oldeer slashers starred nobodies when they did them. Johnny Depp? Who?
Now, studios bank on big-name stars.
The only movie to the equivalent of great horrors like THE CHANGELING or LEGEND OF HELL HOUSE is THE OTHERS.

How would my faves fare:
THE RE-ANIMATOR-Not very well. Re-anmiating body parts seems not scary or funny. Although the head scene would be the talk of the town.
DAWN OF THE DEAD- Zombies, seen that done that. People wouldn't get the social implications, or the humour. I would go see it because I avoid mainstream.

I am an open-minded person,and beleive that LOST BOYS would still rake in the dough.

[countchocula]

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre-This flick still holds up, in my opinion. Mainly because it hasn't been duplicated a million times. The frenzied atmosphere packs a meatier wallop than anything out right now.

Friday the 13th-Believe it or not, my least favorite in the franchise. It's not Cunningham's fault that the film's blueprint has been cloned incessantly, but I can't draw any enjoyment from it whatsoever (apart from the impressive death sequences). The pace is lifeless. I mean, it barely has a pulse. No one would give it a second glance today.

Halloween-A good film, but aged. Again, it moves along too slowly to really grab me. Had I seen it in 1979, I probably would have loved it.

[Psychocandy]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Lady Summerisle:
The only movie to the equivalent of great horrors like THE CHANGELING or LEGEND OF HELL HOUSE is THE OTHERS.</font>

With respect, I have to disagree. There are more recent horror movies than just The Others that are comparable to the movies you mention (I actually don't agree that The Changeling and Legend of Hell House are as worthy of high esteem as you believe). If you don't believe me watch The Devil's Backbone, Ring, Audition, Session 9, Cronos etc...

You may have noticed a trend in my selection. They are all, except for Session 9, foreign movies. That's where the real treasures lie these days. The day European and Asian cinema becomes as commercially minded as Hollywood will be a sad day indeed.

[This message has been edited by Psychocandy (edited 06-07-2002).]

[Psychocandy]

I disagree. The real test of a good movie is if it is as capable of entertaining decades after it's initial release. Example...I recently saw a movie called The Night of the Hunter with Robert Michum. Now, this movie was made in 1955 and it just blew me away. It was one of the best movies I saw last year.

Halloween is a masterpiece of suspense and The Evil Dead has a truck load of energy and such a keen eye for brilliant camera angles and movement that I can't imagine not enjoying either one of them if seeing them for the first time today. On one level they are kick arse horror movies but more than just that they are good movies regardless of genre.

Here's what i'm gonna do. I have a friend who has never seen either Halloween or The Evil Dead. I'll ask her to watch them and find out her opinion of them. Should be interesting.

[countchocula]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Psychocandy:
I disagree. The real test of a good movie is if it is as capable of entertaining decades after it's initial release.</font>

Well, there's the problem. I wasn't as entertained by Halloween as everyone else was. I like it, and I like it more with each successive viewing, but I don't consider it to be a masterpiece.

[Psychocandy]

I respect your opinion but believe you are wrong. What Carpenter achieved with a limited budget was nothing short of miraculous. I always respected the movie and enjoyed it. That respect grew when I saw the making of documentary on the DVD. Given both the shortage of cash and the general inexperience of those involved in the making of the movie the end result should have been a shambolic mess. Instead you have a masterpiece of suspense coupled with some gutsy performances from a cast of unknowns. However...if everyone had the same opinion as everyone else then the world would be a very boring place. I hate Armageddon with a vengeance. I think it's one of the biggest turkeys i've ever had the misfortune of watching. All my friends disagree and enjoyed it. Go figure.

[thingsgoinon]

I agree with Lady S., the younger generation is so damn pumped full of visuals over substance and drama (I actually saw someone call Halloween slow in another thread...could not even comment)....it's almost a lost cause..BUT

All young ppl fortunately are not so jaded or obssesed with image. I have met several younger ppl on horror boards who are discovering the merits of "our" films.

One disturbing trend I see among younger ppl is how cool the "kills" are....thats not what watching a horror movie should be about (to me).Not that I have anything against gore , and I don't mind disturbing scenes, but it shouldn't be looked at as "cool".

Also France and Canada are putting out some nice old style horror.



[This message has been edited by thingsgoinon (edited 06-07-2002).]

[Lady Summerisle]

Older horrors had a combination of good kills and memorable characters, thingsgoinon.
BLACK CHRISTMAS
NOES series
TCM
HALLOWEEN

People have to realize that it is not quantity, but quality. THAT is why older horror fans exist to open the MTV soaked minds.
TCM would not compare favourably against URBAN LEGENDS, amongst a rounded up group of new "horror loving" audiences.

If I wasn't raised to love all horrors, I would scoff at EVIL DEAD, because it does look stupid in the trailers.

Most trailers back then didn't give away every good part, so people didn't know what to expect.

[Jason13thh]

Hey Vivvega that is exactely the topic I wanted to post !!!
I mean what are the old movies that would work at the box - office nowadays ?
I think Jaws would really work.
The Thing does not look dated at all, Rob Bottin did a great job !!! Carpenter is rarely old - fashioned according to me.
The Hitcher would also work.
Aliens from Cameron would work , too.

[Jason Voorhees]

I am in complete agreement with Chocula About Halloween. To me films can only make one real mistake, and that is to be boring. Halloween is a very slowly paced, and ultimately a boring (to me) film. How would we feel today about a film in which nothing notable happens until the final 15-20 mins? Also the actors (excluding D.P. and JLC) are somewhat annoying, And imo this film did not even have style, It basically consisted of some guy standing in the background while annoying teens talked, repeat ad nauseum. Nothing flashy, nothing exciting.

The Evil dead I believe, would hold up today, because it has a lot of style and energy, even if it didn't look as good as Sam Raimi wanted it too due to budget restrictions. Evil Dead 2 I believe, would fare even better. I don't know ED3 however, nopt saying I don't like it, I'm just not sure how well it would go over today.

[This message has been edited by Jason Voorhees (edited 06-09-2002).]