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cyberdude611 -> Horror movies galore! (1/24/2007 1:46:32 PM)
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It appears to be a good time to be a horror movie fanatic... Zombies, serial killers, and evil spirits will continue to roam the movie theaters from quite some time to come. Excuse the length, but I wanted to throw this out there and see if anyone has any thoughts on this...
Looking over the past few years and into the future, there seems to be at least one new horror movie out every month. "The Hitcher" was just released last week. And in the coming weeks and months, there is a parade of horror movies that include, "Dead Silence," "Hannibal Rising," and "The Messengers."
And sequals galore as well. Another Texas Chainsaw Massacre is in the works. Talk of a sequal to Wolf Creek is being discussed in Australia. A sequal to The Hills Have Eyes will be out later this year, as will be the sequal to Hostel which includes scenes of women being tortured. There will also be sequals to the zombie movies like Resident Evil, Silent Hill, and 28 Days Later. If that is not enough, Lionsgate Films has greenlighted another sequal to add to the popular Saw franchise. Rob Zombie is getting in on it as well by saying he will do a restart to the Halloween franchise by remaking the original and possibly a few sequals.
It appears hollywood has found their new cash cow. Horror movies have officially made a comeback in cinema. And hollywood loves it. Horror is cheap to make, some films costing less than $5 million dollars. So the risk involved in financing a horror movie is very low. And the industry wont skip a beat even if a few of them bomb. In a time when overall box office numbers are down, hollywood is looking for anything to get people to the theaters. And horror seems to be at least the short-term answer.
The popularity and success of these movies have sparked some controversy among social psychologists who say that America is becoming a sick society that thrives on violence. Their concern is that horror filmakers continue to try and one-up each other trying to see who can put together the most goriest, disgusting, and bloodies film. And also that the movies many times have the killers or the evil winning in the end.
But horror isn't alone on this...A movie attracting a lot of controversy right now is "Hounddog," which isnt a horror movie at all. It is a drama that includes a rape scene of a 12 year old girl.
But really, is all this that new? Looking back over the decades, movies were not much different than they are today. Sure they were nowhere near as graphic, but you watch some of the old horror films and you will still find all sorts of implied violence. Even though we dont see it, our minds figure it out. Alfred Hitchcock was a master at causing that effect. But even movies in the 70s started showing graphic scenes of violence and rape. Perhaps the major difference is that movies today are much more naturalistic. They feel much more real. In the past, the acting and directing styles were very different. It was to a point where you knew they were acting. The goal of those movies was entertainment. Today, movies are made much more natural. The goal of the filmmaker and the actors is not to only entertain, but to make it feel like it is real or that you, the audience, is really there witnessing their actions.
Despite controversy, people continue to pay money and go see these movies. And until that changes, dont expect the horror section of your local video store to shrink. And with each release, these movies will only continue to push the envelope. Horror isn't going anywhere...
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