Does It Annoy The Fuck Out Of My Fellow Horror Loving Schmoes When....

[Psychocandy]

....a director, writer or actor refuses against overwhelming evidence to the contrary that the HORROR MOVIE they made/acted in/wrote was anything but the HORROR MOVIE it so obviously is? It's this sort of attitude that feeds the general publics perception of the genre as something to be ashamed of rather than something deserving of no less respect than any other genre (the hit/miss ratio of any genre is heavily in favor of misses). I was just checking out a thread over on the Past Horror Movies forum when someone pointed out that Peter Weller refers to the movie Of Unknown Origin in which he stars as a Spiritual Thriller in the audio commentary. Is he on fucking crack? If it's a Spiritual Thriller i'm the second coming of Jesus so bring me your loaves and fishes so I can solve Third World hunger!!! Idiot!!! Anyone got any other examples of this curious and shameful form of self deception? I'll come up with some more later.

[XpatrickX]

I try not to read many reviews with actors of a lot of movies i like just because of that.

[pyscho dude]

Well I don't recall that much about anyone dening their film wasn't horror but I hate the fact that they try to do that.

[Cabrini Green]

I get a kick out of Steven Spielberg on the DVD vehemently denying that Gremlins is not a horror movie and don’t quote me on this but also on Jaws. One of the designers on Rosemary’s Baby also says it really isn’t a horror film. Of course it works both ways as Darren Aronofsky was quoted in saying that Requiem for a Dream is a horror movie. The genre borders out into so many directions and encompasses the supernatural and non-supernatural that drawing a line in the sand is damn near impossible.

[KillerKlown]

Hmmm, I'm sure I heard somewhere that the makers of 28 Days Later called it a zombie film... As far as I recall, it does not feature any re-animated corpses.

Anyway, I don't call it a zombie film, I call it a pile of dissapointing wank, but that's just me. ;)

[Pumpkinhead]

Oh, don't even get me started on this. This is one of my ultimate pet peeves, and I have tons of pet peeves. I find it amusing (well not really, I find it highly irritating) that the better a horror film is, the more likely it is to be considered something other than a genre film.

Take for example the horror films of this year.

The ones that received poor or average reviews (from mainstream critics).

Wrong Turn - I haven't heard anyone deny this is a horror film
Freddy vs Jason - See above
Darkness Falls - Again
House of 1000 Corpses - And yet again
Dreamcatcher - I've heard a few call it sci-fi, but that's about it
Final Destination 2 - Horror, of course

And now the horror films that have received mainly positive reviews

May - I've heard a few critics call this a black comedy. Well that's gotta be the blackest damn comedy I've ever seen. Others have called it more of a "character study" than a horror film.
Identity - It's been referred to often as a psychological thriller.
Willard - See May
28 Days Later - In his review, Roger Ebert calls it a science-fiction thriller
Cabin Fever - This is the only one this year that all critics seem to agree is a horror film.

And it's not just this year. It has happened many times in the past. I actually saw a quote on Imdb from some guy who was raving that Ringu is "too good a film for its genre". Okay, if he hates horror films, that's his choice, but he went on to say, "If you think about it, all of the best films of the genre, like The Exorcist and The Shining, aren't even really horror." The Exorcist and The Shining aren't horror? Yes...that's right.

Anyway, I'm overanalyzing things a little too much, but I think my point is valid. Some critics/people hate to give a horror film a good review, and as a result will do anything possible to deny that said film is indeed a member of the horror genre. It drives me insane, but what the hell can you do?

[Cabrini Green]

On The Omen DVD documentary Richard Donner also proclaims the feature shouldn’t be considered a horror movie. They are all in denial. :)

[Corpse Candle]

PhyscoCandy I feel for you,the truth of the matter is that some directors think that the horror genre is too low brow for them to be asscoiated with.
They seem to think that if they add more layers to the films intent it will somehow be viewed as work of cerebial truimph.

This complaint also fits in with a hatred I have for directors thinking that they have somehow created a new genre just because they say so....

Yeah right...

Also if I stop clapping all the fairies will die...:p

[frogmonkey]

This is precisely why, if I ever get to the point of getting my master's (I don't even have a bachelor's yet, so don't hold yer breath) in english I want to write my thesis on horror fiction. Even sci-fi and fantasy have gotten at least some intellectual credibility but everyone still looks at horror as fluff. Non-fans of the genre just don't see how goes on in a good horror film or story and how hard it is to create an atmosphere of dread or even really gross someone the hell out. To all those people, I always make them watch Angel Heart, an unabashed horror film that boasts full-on literary balls. They still don't listen tho so I have to hit them.

[ERIN_LoJ]

Due to Hollywood making horror seem embarrassing, directors and the like are trying to claim quality work just CANT be horror....they're wrong of course. And we know this. But yes, a major pet peeve of mine as well.

[Xipe Totec]

As far as I can remember no one behind making 28 Days Later have said it`s a zombie movie, maybe except one actor with a really tiny part.

Otherwise, yeah it`s kinda annoying how makers tend to avoid calling their movie a horror movie.

I had a couple of examples, but I forgot them.

[bowieee]

I've said it before and I'll say it again. Thriller more times than naught is a cheap cop out word that producers use to mask the fact the movie is of the horror persuasion. It's really annoying and what annoys me even more is that the public full on supports that type of type casting. I know plenty of people who don't like horror but enjoy a good "thriller"


Ugh

[spacemonkey]

Yeah they did this with Seven too, were New line was marketing as a "thriller" when its obviously horror...

The truth is if you market a film as horror, less people will go to see it. So, when it comes to marketing time, hell they will say that it is a thriller just so those people out there who dont normally go see a horror movie, will take a chance and see it.

That and theres also directors like the ones mentioned above who are just ashamed that they at some point started out making a good old fashion horror movie.

[DaRkToOtH]

IMO. thrillers, black comedies, psychological thriller are basically ALL horror. there kinda like the sub-genres, if that makes sense..but all in all, its all horror

[ParileseMonster]

A suspense movie to me, are the kinds that are played on Lifetime.
If a movie has death and blood more than likely I would consider it a horror and if it has some sort of monster it is horror. I do have a slight objection to considering Gremlins a horror movie. Two reasons, I was a kid when this movie came out and it was marketed all over tv and such as a film for the family. Even Hardees hamburgers were selling 33 Record story books in their happy meals of Gremlins. It was a five part series and I collected them all. Horror movies are not generally marketed that way. They worked really hard at making Gremlins attractive to small children. I even had a Gizmo doll. I am stumped at what I would label that particular movie but I can tell you it would not be Horror because of the examples I just gave.

I like Peter Weller but that comment that I mentioned just made him look like a douche bag.:p

[ofmknockoff]

Sixth Sense and The Ring were "supernatural thrillers". Think about the words together, supernatural and thriller, that sounds like horror to me. I guess some older, better educated people know better than me though.

[SteveSzyk]

The Exoricst, as previously mentioned is the one that gets me the most. Not so sure about the cast and crew, but countless critics deny it's a horror film, while it's actually a prime example of horror and embodies all that is good about the genre. Pumpkinhead makes a great point: If a horror film get's good reviews it's something else. I've always noticed this and been sick. And what makes critics think a horror movie can't double as a "human study." "It's not so much a horror movie as it is a human study." I didn't know "human study" was a genre, I thought it was a theme seen in any number of genres, but of course what do I know.

Thriller is the vaguest term in the universe. Anything from Airplane! to Finding Nemo to I Spit on Your Grave can be considered a thriller.

Speaking of thrillers, here's an excerpt from a negative review for Kill Bill Vol. 1 I saw on metacritic:

"The really relevant defect of this thriller is that it isn't scary. "

Hehe, irrelevant to this subject but it just made me chuckle...

[countchocula]

Originally posted by ofmknockoff
Sixth Sense and The Ring were "supernatural thrillers". Think about the words together, supernatural and thriller, that sounds like horror to me.

It sounds like horror, but we're frustrated with the refusal to use the actual term, "horror." If it's horror, it's horror. There's no need to fabricate classifications that dance around the true classification.

And I'm with Parilese in that Gremlins isn't quite horror.

[DaRkToOtH]

for one...gremlins IS horror. theres so many pop out scenes and all kinds of scvary shit and gore that i dont know what else to call it...and for seconds..perhaps they just dont call it "horror" cuz than it sounds menacing and might have a few ppl turn away...but if they called it a "psychological thriller" it sounds more intriguing and more ppl would go. its just a thought

[ERIN_LoJ]

I find Gremlins comedy/horror myself. Or "kiddie horror".

But besides that, can't believe I saw misery at blockbuster in the DRAMA section.

Even the book it's from was labeled horror from Stephen King. I mean, come on!

[WamphyriNate]

King's books are always in the horror section, even "Eyes of the Dragon" which is fantasy. Definatly pisses me off when people refuse to call a horror film a horror film. Makes me want to grab my nice sharp Highlander katana and hunt them down.
(P.S. If I behead a mortal instead of an immortal, instead of a quickening do I only get a quickie?)

[spacemonkey]

This is why I constantly check out the "mystery" and "thriller" or "suspense" sections when I go to blockbuster. Sometimes they have flat out horror movies under suspense, and here I was going crazy looking only through the horror section.

[Juice]

Originally posted by Pumpkinhead
May - I've heard a few critics call this a black comedy. Well that's gotta be the blackest damn comedy I've ever seen.

It is actually, next to a horror movie, a black comedy. Just like American Psycho.


I also get annoyed by directors thinking their movies are too good to be called horror. They often call it 'supernatural thriller'.

Dude, shut up! Supernatural thrillers simply DO NOT EXIST. At least there hasn't been one made yet. Every movie called supernatural thriller is a horror movie and nothin else. The Sixth Sense? Horror. The Blair Witch Project? Horror in its purest form.