02.11.07
Horror Movies Today
Damn, whatever happened to horror flicks? Late last night I went and saw Hannibal Rising at the near-campus theater. It was the most tedious movie I’ve seen recently. I fell asleep at a movie about A GUY WHO EATS PEOPLE! I suppose it’s an encouraging sign that the smart, engaging directors are not interested in making horror movies, but as a fan of a lot of older horror flicks, I’m disappointed in the direction that the genre has taken.
From all the way back to Nosferatu and forward through Psycho and Night of the Living Dead, horror movies were about scaring people, rather than trying to make them vomit. There was more suspense, less gore, and you left the theater feeling genuinely creeped out.
I’ve heard the modern crop of horror films described as ‘horror porn,’ and Hannibal Rising fits that bill perfectly. There’s a ton of gore, but I don’t care who lives and who dies here. You could’ve just tossed everyone off in a giant exploding airplane and it would’ve meant the same to me. The only thing to be involved in here is just how people die, and it’s a tedious, boring exercise.