Horror:Besides The Remakes, Is There Anything Else?

[Mitch Henessey]

Most fans of horror movies love to see iconic characters such as Freddy Kruger, Michael Myers, Jason, and Leatherface on the big screen. And over the years, we've seen plenty of remakes and new films involving these horror legends, but do we have anything new or fresh to look forward to?

The only big name horror franchise I can think of now a days is Saw. Personally, I think this series has been shit since the fourth movie, but Saw remains a pretty popular horror franchise. There's always plenty of gruesome kills in a Saw movie, and they do have Jigsaw who can be looked at as different type of horror villain. Hostel seemed as if it might be on it's way too achieving some sort of fame, but the second film was just terrible. I have the same feelings about Jeepers Creepers. I thought the first one was very good, but the second one was terrible. The Ring is another franchise that looked like it might be going somewhere, but the second film sucked. Also, if you're into watching people die in a really gruesome way, then maybe you've enjoyed the Final Destination films. But when it comes to this series, the acting usually isn't good, and the story is always the same.

Then we have the VERY overrated horror films. I'm of course talking about The Blair Witch Project(Book Of Shadows was also garbage), and Paranormal Activity. Both of these films were boring, and for some reason people went into a frenzy over both of them.

Now that brings me to the remakes. Most recently, A Nightmare On Elm Street hit theaters, and there was a good amount of buzz surrounding this film. This was also a bad film, and I almost want to put on the same level as Jason X as far as being horrible goes, but that would be a grand insult. And when it comes to The Texas Chainsaw Massacre remakes.....they were okay, but the best thing in both of those films was R. Lee Ermey. Then there's Halloween. I'll stick with the two most recent films.....Halloween(2007) and Halloween II. I really liked Halloween (2007). This film did a great job of showing how a young Michael Myers grew into a sadistic killer. And then Halloween II had to be released. I'll defend Rob Zombie on the first one, but he truly lost his mind while making this film. Friday The 13th (2009) was pretty okay. I really tried to get into it, but I just couldn't. And of course years ago we had two horror icons square off against each other. I'm talking about Freddy VS Jason. This might have not been the greatest movie, but still, it was cool to see these two on the same screen together, and the ending did leave room for a sequel, but it never happened.

What are your thoughts?

 

[kissfan85]

I think the Re-makes are killing the movies.
There is no need to re make them because most movies nowadays are remade for the intent to add the visual technology of today and true horror movies weren't made to be visually stunning and innovative...all this cgi blood and stuff is just got to go.

I think it defy s what horror movies are supposed to be

 

[Cena's Little Helper]

Besides the late 70s and 80s, horror's never been better. Unfortunately, you're not going to be able to find much watchable horror without also needing subtitles. Good English-speaking horror is essentially a thing of the past; America was eclipsed by Japan and South Korea about 10 years ago, and in the past 5 or so years Spain, Mexico, and France have also surpassed the good ol' US of A as well.

 

[Fire Marshall Bill]

Love the thread Mitch.

As a huge Nightmare On Elm Street fan I won't even watch the remake. If it's not gonna be Robert Englund I don't wanna see it. You can't replace that man as Freddy. He became the perfect blend of fright, creepy, humor and awesome. I'm not saying the movies are the greatest, but the character can never be replaced.

As a child of the 80's I have yet to really see an era that can compete with it. At least in the American culture. You had Freddy, Jason, Michael, Hellraiser and Chucky. They tried since the late 90's to really bring horror back but have failed. The original Scream was a decent enough movie, but wasn't really horror. Yeah it was classified as it, but wasn't scary AT ALL. The sequels just got worse. I Know What You Did Last Summer was a joke. I saw the first Grudge and still wish I had that part of my life back. I liked Saw and Saw II, but after that it just was making itself too complicated to be entertaining anymore. It's like they were trying too hard. I saw part of Staying Alive on Sci-Fi the other day. Looked like it should've originated there. I never liked the Ring either. Feard dot com, if anyone remembers that got horrid reviews, even for a horror movie. Final Destination had a cool idea going, and the first movie wasn't bad, but you're right in saying after that it was just like asking yourself "how are they gonna kill the next person?"

The one that surprised me that you mentioned was the latest Friday the 13th. I never used to like Jason just because I was such a huge Freddy fan, but this movie I thought was actually cool. They made Jason scarier by actually having him RUN people down. I hated in the originals, and even FVJ that he would just slowly waddle after you while you fly to europe, get on a space shuttle, go hide on the moon and he's there waiting for you. Made no sense.

But really, as far as potential good horror series', Jason is the only one I could maybe see. But that would still make it a remake, which is definitely not as good as an original character.

 

[Mitch Henessey]

As a huge Nightmare On Elm Street fan I won't even watch the remake. If it's not gonna be Robert Englund I don't wanna see it. You can't replace that man as Freddy. He became the perfect blend of fright, creepy, humor and awesome. I'm not saying the movies are the greatest, but the character can never be replaced.

Its bad. There's no doubt about it. The trailers for this movie led me to believe that I would be seeing something different, but this film just seemed like yet another generic mainstream Hollywood horror movie. The acting from almost everyone was shit. Although, when it comes to Kruger, I thought Jackie Earle Haley brought something new to the table. His version of Kruger was more dark and creepy, and there wasn't as much as humor as Englund's version. But if you're a fan of the originals, then there's a good chance you'll hate this one. Oh, and Michael Bay is attached to this film(as a producer) and well, everything he touches usually turns out to be shit.

As a child of the 80's I have yet to really see an era that can compete with it. At least in the American culture. You had Freddy, Jason, Michael, Hellraiser and Chucky. They tried since the late 90's to really bring horror back but have failed. The original Scream was a decent enough movie, but wasn't really horror. Yeah it was classified as it, but wasn't scary AT ALL. The sequels just got worse. I Know What You Did Last Summer was a joke. I saw the first Grudge and still wish I had that part of my life back. I liked Saw and Saw II, but after that it just was making itself too complicated to be entertaining anymore. It's like they were trying too hard. I saw part of Staying Alive on Sci-Fi the other day. Looked like it should've originated there. I never liked the Ring either. Feard dot com, if anyone remembers that got horrid reviews, even for a horror movie. Final Destination had a cool idea going, and the first movie wasn't bad, but you're right in saying after that it was just like asking yourself "how are they gonna kill the next person?"

Hellraiser used to scare the shit out of me when I was a kid. I thought Pinhead was one creepy dude. The Hellraiser films took your mind on a ride, and the stories in a lot of those films weren't too bad. I have Hellraiser:Inferno on DVD, and this one is by far my favorite Hellraiser film. Good acting, and this film had one of those jaw dropping endings.

Chucky was fun to watch, but I hated Bride Of Chucky and Seed Of Chucky. They were just terrible films. Especially Seed Of Chucky. I'm sorry but the entire film was just weird, and if you've seen this movie , then you know what I mean.

I never really liked any of I Know What You Did Last Summer films. I thought they were cheesy, and the only good thing about the first two is seeing Jenifer Love Hewitt in her prime. And what ever you do, please avoid I'll Always Know What You What You Did Last Summer like the plague. I had a chance to catch this on TMC one night, and man was it an abomination.

When it comes to The Grudge, I thought the first wasn't that bad, but just like The Ring 2, The Grudge 2 was a piece of shit. The plot was bad, and this movie just felt like a carbon copy of the first one. I haven't seen Grudge 3(I think this one went straight to DVD) and I don't plan on seeing it.

I had such high hopes for Saw when the first film was released years ago. I liked the first one, and the second one has probably been the best out of the entire series. Saw III was passable, but things started to go down hill on the fourth one. As you already mentioned, things just began to become soooo complicated. In Saw V and VI, they spend so much time trying to explain what happened in the previous films, you can't even focus what's going on in the current film. Also, I feel there has been too many of these made. They should've stopped with the third one, and I miss Amanda Young She was one of the best characters.

I made a thread about Final Destination not too long ago in here. When I was younger, I thought these films were cool, but after a while, seeing people die in so many different ways gets old. The acting in these films are never usally good, and the story is always the same. And the most recent one( The Final Destination) was horrible. The only thing that made this one watchable was the 3D in theaters.

The Scream series was just fun to watch. Very good acting from everyone, and the ending to the first film was just awesome. I remember how these films were IT back when they were released, and you weren't cool unless you had seen a Scream film. Although, I wish we could've seen more of Jada Pinkett-Smith in the second one.

The one that surprised me that you mentioned was the latest Friday the 13th. I never used to like Jason just because I was such a huge Freddy fan, but this movie I thought was actually cool. They made Jason scarier by actually having him RUN people down. I hated in the originals, and even FVJ that he would just slowly waddle after you while you fly to europe, get on a space shuttle, go hide on the moon and he's there waiting for you. Made no sense.

Friday The 13th wasn't the best remake, but it wasn't bad either. Solid acting, and Jason 2009 was more active. The opening scene(Jason's first appearance when everyone's camping, looking for weed, and doing other things) was excellent.

When I think about Freddy Vs Jason, I just think about enjoying seeing two horror icons on the screen at the same time. I had a good time watching this one, but I did hate the cheesy one-liner at the end. Chessy one-liners are also used in The Ring 2 and Orphan, except Orphan was actually a good film.

But really, as far as potential good horror series', Jason is the only one I could maybe see. But that would still make it a remake, which is definitely not as good as an original character.

Friday The 13th Wasn't bad, but I wouldn't be surprised if we saw another Nightmare On Elm Street film, because the movie might have been bad, but it did rake in a ton of cash, and the ending was just so wide open.

 

[Fire Marshall Bill]

Remakes of horror series will almost always make money. For multiple reasons really. For one, even I'm curious as to how they recreate the movies with much better effects nowadays. Movies like Friday the 13th there isn't much demand for it, but they could do some cool stuff with A Nightmare On Elm Street. Another reason is just people who are fans of the originals wanting to see what they've come up with the second time around. Finally, you've got the younger crowds who might not even have seen or really know the originals and it's just another horror series to them. With nothing for them to compare to it would be easier to like remakes.

As far as the new Freddy goes, the one thing I did like about the previews was that Jackie Earle Haley has a good voice for Freddy. Scary and creepy the way he was portrayed in the the original movie. If you know them at all you know the 1st and 2nd were made to be real horror movies, but the 2nd was so bad they changed a lot after that. The 1st is actually rated a good horror movie. And it really is, especially with the originality of the plot.

As far as the new one drawing a lot of money well I think he's a bigger draw than Jason because between his character and the dreams you can do so much with them. Jason is a pretty one dimensional character. And of course the ending left it wide open...it's Freddy

With Saw, Amanda Young's plot twist at the end of the 2nd one is what made me like the movie so much really. The first I thought was just a good movie, albeit very dark.

And Seed of Chucky was terrible. But I think it was made because Bride of Chucky drew more than expected. The one thing I can say I liked about Bride of Chucky was the banter between him and Jennifer Tilly. I thought they were funny together.

Scream was fun to watch. Entertaining but I still can't really see them as horror movies. They were huge at the time though. I think mainly because they were different than regular horror movies. It wasn't so cheesy, they had a decent plot behind them, and like you said the acting was actually pretty good. A good blend of characters as well. You kind of want to like and hate Courtney Cox's character all at once (good heel? haha). Definitely one of the better made horror series in terms of the quality itself.

 

[Fallen Angel 21.3]

Awesome thread though, I wouldn't put Nightmare on Elm Street (the new one) on the same level as Jason X, though it wasn't the Orginal Freddy the actor did sound a little like him. Also whoever said the the newest Friday the 13th was decent, are you fucking kidding that movie sucked sooo bad. It was Parts I, II, and III all mixed into a steamy pile of shit. Also that movie broke the rules of horror as i like to think.

Rule 1. You have sex you die
Rule 2. Virgins always make it till the end
Rule 3. You do drugs your fucked and your going to die
and that movie just sucked, total snor fest.

the Chucky series kinda went downhill during bride of chucky even though i love the chick who plays Tiff, (Jennifer Tilly is a total hottie)but really even she couldn't save that movie.

With Saw okay now its just getting stupid okay we all know that Jigsaw died like in the 4th one and somebody else is carrying on his work but really how long can they keep this going.

The Rob Zombie Halloween I and II, the first one scared the shit out of me and really showed Michael before he transformed into the psycho killer. What really made him snap and how it ended was just great with the bullet going through his head. There really wasn't an ending for a sequal. They the second one comes out, really, really Rob no human can live though a bullet going through his skull. it is impossible, then the ending was just sooooo stupid. First you had Michael speak I mean in the orginal series Michael never spoke once and this one after 20 plus years he speaks it was just stupid then he gets mowed down by police, and you have his sister end up in the nut house really doesn't suprise me.

 

[red ass skull muhfukkah]

Have to agree with poonpoon.

American Horror is dead. Only Japan, Korea, and several other countres, Spain, Mexico etc. are making anything new and refreshing that is still frightening. The scariest American movies to come out the last ten years or so have been Re-makes of Japanese and other foreign films.

The main problem with horror these days is nothing shocks anyone anymore and there aren't many new ways to scare people, we've seen it all. Almost everything has been done before, and the only way to make something different is to go way out of the fucking box and hope people catch wind of it.

 

[The Mark of Zur-En-Arrh]

I'll tell you what, I am so fuckin' sick of these Blair Witch style horrors that are being spewed out these days.

Movies like Rec. and Eli Roth's upcoming 'The Last Exorcism' where the camera is held by one dude who's constantly running through rooms so dark you can't even see what's attacking him. Maybe some people are scared by shuffling noises and screaming, but personally i'm not.

It just makes the film look really cheap and tacky and personally, i've not seen one horror film shot in that style, that even remotely entertained me.

Then there's films like Saw and Hostel, which don't try to tell a traditional horror story, they just do all they can to make you shit yourself at the sight of ridiculous amounts of torture and gore. Guess what? That's not scary, it's just sick.

Following on from that you have the constant Zombie movies that suck a wad of cock being churned out every six or so months. George A. Romero has actually managed to make his film making reputation worse by making another 3 zombie movies that were atrocious.

With zombies being used (poorly imo) in the usual ways, you've got all the classic horror movie stereotypes i.e. Vampires, Werewolves, being made to look like Teenage heart throbs that every 15 year old girl should want to love, when 20 years ago, these were the things that nightmares were made of. 'From Dusk Til Dawn' (the first one mind, not the other two) seems to be the last decent Vampire movie to come out from the US. Some people might think 30 Days of Night was good, but personally, it didn't do anything for me.

Basically, i think the horror genre has evolved into something gawdy and overall, really, really, shit. It's no longer is it about scaring the audience with suspense and atmosphere, but with guts on every wall and torture to compensate for a total lack of dialogue and character development.

There's only one 'horror' based franchise that i'm anticipating in the near future, and that's the televised version of Robert Kirkman's 'The Walking Dead' comic book series.

For those who've enver even heard of the books, the story follows Rick Grimes, an American Cop who gets shot one fine day and wakes up to find that the entire world has been overrun with Zombies and he has to find his family and any other survivors who've gone to Atlanta. He finds them quickly enough after getting his head on straight and the story goes from there.

This series will NOT spend 30 out of 45 minutes, showing people being eaten and running around in the dark. It WILL however focus on Rick and co. as they slowly but surely get eliminated as a result of their own inability to survive while remaining sane in a world where life is a constant struggle.

"In a world where the dead have risen, we are finally forced to live.......'

And just a couple of side things......

-I actually really liked Jason X. Freeze a chick's face and smash it in with the corner of a table? Class-ic! Beat two girls to death using.... each other?!? Class-ic!

- Saw II, imo, was the worst of the entire series, and Mitch i'd very much like you to explain why you think it's the best one. 1 + 4 are my favourites, but 2 and 5 are just plain awful imo. 3 was ok, and i haven't even bothered to watch 6.

 

[Mitch Henessey]

- Saw II, imo, was the worst of the entire series, and Mitch i'd very much like you to explain why you think it's the best one. 1 + 4 are my favourites, but 2 and 5 are just plain awful imo. 3 was ok, and i haven't even bothered to watch 6.

Besides having a great triple twist at the end, I feel Saw II was the best as far as suspense goes, and the "you don't deserve life, if you don't appreciate it" theory hadn't become stale just yet. Also, the verbal dueling between Jigsaw and Donnie Wahlberg was just awesome on so many levels. This was only the second film, so the mystique behind Jigsaw's character was still alive, and we also were able to see the rise of Amanda Young here. She was by far Jigsaw's best disciple, and one of the best characters in the entire series.

I thought Saw III passable, and I mainly feel that way because of Young of course. Her psychotic breakdown towards the end was fun to watch. Shawnee Smith's acting during that entire sequence was so good. If you ask me, the Amanda Young character made that movie.

After the first three films, the Saw series started to go down hill very quickly. Saw 4, 5, and 6 spent so much time trying to explain what happened in the previous films, and how Jigsaw and his disciples came to be through numerous flashbacks. Everything just had this clusterfuck feel to it, and by the time they reached the climax of the current film, you became even more confused than you were before the film started. Also, these Saw films just weren't good. They focused way too much on the torturing and gruesome kills, and most of the time, the acting was terrible.

Saw 3D(Saw 7) is coming out soon, and I'm not excited about it at all. I think the Saw franchise is relying on the 3D to draw people to theaters, because this series has become stale as stale can be. I have these same feelings about The Final Destination film that was released last year. The Final Destination series has grown stale, and they used 3D to hopefully resurrect it. Well, as far as money goes, it did work. Oh, and Mark, as far as you not seeing Saw 6 goes, don't bother. It's not worth it.

 

[Gregor_Samsa]

The Halloween franchise is my favorite. The original John Carpenter film is amazing. Especially considering how little money they had to make it. The subsequent films weren't as good but they were all pretty solid. Halloween 3 doesn't count because it had nothing to do with the other films.
Rob Zombie's remakes are deplorable. I respect the opinion Mitch expressed about how Zombie showed the development of Michael the killer. I, however, hated this aspect. It was much cooler when there was no explanation. No one knows why or how this little boy became a monster. Showing Michael Meyers in a dysfunctional family situation creates a certain level of sympathy for him and we begin to see him as less of a monster and more a human being. I understand how this can be satisfying for some people but I like the idea of a kid becoming an inhuman killing machine with no explanation. It's much scarier.

The Friday the 13th remake was terrible. Horrible acting and unlikable characters.

The Last House on the Left remake wasn't that bad. It wasn't allowed to be as perverted as the original but the look of the film and the performances were solid.

I don't plan on seeing the Nightmare on Elm Street remake or any of the inevitable sequels to the remake. I liked Jackie Earl Haley as Rorschach in "The Watchmen," but no one can replace Robert Englund as Freddy.

The first Saw movie, I felt, was a real shot in the arm for a genre growing increasingly dull and repetitive. It was original, clever and had a unique look. Saw 2 was hilarious. The following movies haven't been very good. They should either end the series or take it into a completely different direction.

A recent movie that I liked was "The Collector." On IMDB, it appears that people either loved or hated this movie. I liked it and think it could merit a decent sequel.

One of the biggest problems I have with modern horror movies is the amount of computer effects used. They just don't look realistic at all to me. Real good make up effects artists like Tom Savini were able to create realistic looking, flesh ripping, gore with tangible materials.

I know they're making a Scream 4 right now and I'm looking forward to it. Some don't consider Scream a horror film, but regardless I like the mystery of these films. The first one scared the hell out of me though. I saw it when I was 10.

Hostel sucked.