Why is it that modern horror films are less scary?

[martok2112]

I just YouTubed "Amelia" from Trilogy of Terror (the Zuni Hunting Fetish Doll sequence). First time in 38 years. I can see why I was so scared of it when I was but a youngling.

But watching it now, as effectively done as it was in the '70's, it looks more like a Road Runner/Coyote cartoon with some of the things that happen in it.

Still, even to this day, a pretty damn good short story.

 

[Redfern]

Thinking of the fetish doll, I have a co-worker/friend who though 61 or 62 will NOT watch the episode of "The Twilight Zone" starring Agnes Moorehead terrorized by tiny "spacemen" in her farmhouse attic. Even when I explained they were just (rather adorable) "glove puppets", the performers doing the "two fingered walking schtick" to animate them, she just won't watch it. Yet, some of the films mentioned in this thread, she could catch without batting an eye. It's fascinating how different (seemingly innocuous) things will totally unnerve some people.

If I were a cruel and utter b*st*rd who didn't care about my career, I could have purchased a "bobble" replica and placed it at her desk. Thankfully, she and I are close friends.

Sincerely,

Bill

 

[Phantom]

You mean this?

Thank you ever so much...

 

[Phantom]

During that time, even movies like Carrie...

Speaking of, I've seen all three versions (70s, the TV version from the 90s (?), and the recent remake). It's interesting how in the 70s version Carrie was the innocent victim of her mother, of the bullies, etc. The most recent version still has those elements, but Carrie doesn't so much snap as she deliberately chooses to use her powers (that they go out ofthe way to show her practicing with) to gain revenge. It makes her far less sympathetic a character, more like a Trenchcoat Mafia type.

 

[Gary Mitchell]

^^You're welcome. That one used to freak me out a little too.

 

[Tulin]

Speaking of things that creep us out - as a kid every Saturday afternoon on tv there was an Elvis movie followed by a Martin/Lewis comedy.

One particular Elvis film, "Tickle Me" saw Elvis and his girl of the week having to spend the night in an abandoned hotel in a ghost town. Basically, the girl had something the bed guys wanted so they could locate treasure (or something), so there were all these attempts to scare the couple. One of them involved a man in a werewolf mask suddenly and shockingly appearing at a window during a crash of thunder and lightning.

That image burned itself into my little eight year old brain and came to haunt me to this day. I cannot find the clip anywhere but I'm sure if I saw it again, I'd be that little boy laying on a 1970's bean bag, terrified of the wolfman at the window who wanted to get him.


It's fascinating what affects us.

 

[Gov Kodos]

Speaking of things that creep us out - as a kid every Saturday afternoon on tv there was an Elvis movie followed by a Martin/Lewis comedy.

One particular Elvis film, "Tickle Me" saw Elvis and his girl of the week having to spend the night in an abandoned hotel in a ghost town. Basically, the girl had something the bed guys wanted so they could locate treasure (or something), so there were all these attempts to scare the couple. One of them involved a man in a werewolf mask suddenly and shockingly appearing at a window during a crash of thunder and lightning.

That image burned itself into my little eight year old brain and came to haunt me to this day. I cannot find the clip anywhere but I'm sure if I saw it again, I'd be that little boy laying on a 1970's bean bag, terrified of the wolfman at the window who wanted to get him.


It's fascinating what affects us.

It's in this trailer at about 1:37. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzSzWpc12N0

 

[Tulin]

LOL - I love how we're all trying to creep each other out.



Edit to add: Thank you for linking me to that - it's friggin' hilarious! You just did what years of therapists might have tried to undo but would'be cost me thousands of dollars!


Now let me go and draw the curtains....

 

[Gov Kodos]

LOL - I love how we're all trying to creep each other out.



Edit to add: Thank you for linking me to that - it's friggin' hilarious! You just did what years of therapists might have tried to undo but would'be cost me thousands of dollars!


Now let me go and draw the curtains....

Don't Be Afraid of the Dark. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APVorO5x27g

 

[Tulin]

I'm glad it's 8:30 Friday morning here!

 

[eyeresist]

Speaking of Twilight Zone, remember the movie? The middle story is wonderfully nightmarish, particularly the girl with no mouth.

 

[BigJake]

And age, age, age. I saw a film called Trilogy of Terror when I was pretty young on TV. To this day, I cannot rewatch it because of the Zuni Devil Fetish Doll segment. I wouldn't sleep for at least a week after that.

I was terrified by Ghostbusters when I first saw it as a kid (I think I was eight). Slimer in particular.

But OTOH it's not just age. The old man was in his thirties when he first saw The Exorcist and he still couldn't handle it. (He didn't need quite the number of tries to get through it that martok describes in his case, but OTOH maybe he would have been better served by taking it in stages. )

The Exorcist is of course legitimately scary and deserves the hype, but I couldn't say it ever got in my head to that extent. Honestly The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (the real one), The Poltergeist and The Blair Witch Project all stuck with me just as much or more. Cannibal Holocaust much moreso.

But honestly the most horrifying films aren't even necessarily "horror" films, per se. Often they're war films, which are about the inescapable horror of the real rather than about jump scares and the supernatural. Russian war films especially: like Come And See or The Chekist. (The latter, with its repeated images of firing squads and bodies being dumped, burned itself into my brain like almost no other movie ever has with the possible exception of Schindler's List.)

 

[galleywest]

I think you have to do more weeding out of crappy horror movies today than in the past, maybe. For every 10 low-budget slashers there's maybe one well-constructed, eerie gem that tries to build a decent plot and take the viewer out of their comfort zone.

I think The Orphanage is my favorite modern horror movie, I remember being really blown away by the ending. I did really like Insidious, although I know that's not a popular opinion--I appreciate that they tried to take the movie in an interesting and imaginative direction, even if it didn't 100% work. The Others really gave me the heebiejeebies.

Funny horror movies worth a watch: Housebound, Tucker and Dale vs. Evil.

Classic horror: the Exorcist (the scene where he's dreaming about seeing his mom across the street and she's saying something but he can't make it out--that freaks me out). The Haunting--this film is just so creepy. Rosemary's Baby, again, for the creepy factor.

Some other ones I've enjoyed:
The House at the End of Time
Triangle
Stir of Echoes
Thesis
The Pact

 

[BigJake]

The Others really gave me the heebiejeebies.

The Others was emotionally affecting for sure. Though ultimately in a saddening rather than a scary way, still a great movie.

 

[martok2112]

During that time, even movies like Carrie...

Speaking of, I've seen all three versions (70s, the TV version from the 90s (?), and the recent remake). It's interesting how in the 70s version Carrie was the innocent victim of her mother, of the bullies, etc. The most recent version still has those elements, but Carrie doesn't so much snap as she deliberately chooses to use her powers (that they go out ofthe way to show her practicing with) to gain revenge. It makes her far less sympathetic a character, more like a Trenchcoat Mafia type.

I can appreciate that differential between the two. I didn't really see the remake quite to the Trenchcoat Mafia connection, but I can understand it.

 

[Starkers]

I think you have to do more weeding out of crappy horror movies today than in the past, maybe. For every 10 low-budget slashers there's maybe one well-constructed, eerie gem that tries to build a decent plot and take the viewer out of their comfort zone.

I think The Orphanage is my favorite modern horror movie, I remember being really blown away by the ending. I did really like Insidious, although I know that's not a popular opinion--I appreciate that they tried to take the movie in an interesting and imaginative direction, even if it didn't 100% work. The Others really gave me the heebiejeebies.

Funny horror movies worth a watch: Housebound, Tucker and Dale vs. Evil.

Classic horror: the Exorcist (the scene where he's dreaming about seeing his mom across the street and she's saying something but he can't make it out--that freaks me out). The Haunting--this film is just so creepy. Rosemary's Baby, again, for the creepy factor.

Some other ones I've enjoyed:
The House at the End of Time
Triangle
Stir of Echoes
Thesis
The Pact

The Orphanage is wonderful, damn well brings a tear to my eye at the end!

And age, age, age. I saw a film called Trilogy of Terror when I was pretty young on TV. To this day, I cannot rewatch it because of the Zuni Devil Fetish Doll segment. I wouldn't sleep for at least a week after that.

I was terrified by Ghostbusters when I first saw it as a kid (I think I was eight). Slimer in particular.

But OTOH it's not just age. The old man was in his thirties when he first saw The Exorcist and he still couldn't handle it. (He didn't need quite the number of tries to get through it that martok describes in his case, but OTOH maybe he would have been better served by taking it in stages. )

The Exorcist is of course legitimately scary and deserves the hype, but I couldn't say it ever got in my head to that extent. Honestly The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (the real one), The Poltergeist and The Blair Witch Project all stuck with me just as much or more. Cannibal Holocaust much moreso.

But honestly the most horrifying films aren't even necessarily "horror" films, per se. Often they're war films, which are about the inescapable horror of the real rather than about jump scares and the supernatural. Russian war films especially: like Come And See or The Chekist. (The latter, with its repeated images of firing squads and bodies being dumped, burned itself into my brain like almost no other movie ever has with the possible exception of Schindler's List.)

Yeah I have to say there are certain non horror films that contain moments that disturb me more than some horror films. For example the bit in Saving Private Ryan where the German stabs one of them, it's just the way he says 'shush' like he's easing the guy to sleep, made my flesh creep!

 

[Phantom]

^^You're welcome. That one used to freak me out a little too.

Sarcasm is lost on you, isn't it...

And, for the record, I had a little trouble falling asleep after seeing that..again.

 

[Phantom]

LOL - I love how we're all trying to creep each other out.

The other one that I hate re-seeing because it just sticks with me is the 90s "Tales from the Darkside" episode "Inside the Closet" because of the closet monster.

Come to think of it, that may be why I don't like rewatching the original Fright Night, because when the gf "vamps out" the makeup is very similar...

And no, I don't need to see either of those images again, thank you very much...I'm getting the wiggins just thinking about them.

During that time, even movies like Carrie...

Speaking of, I've seen all three versions (70s, the TV version from the 90s (?), and the recent remake). It's interesting how in the 70s version Carrie was the innocent victim of her mother, of the bullies, etc. The most recent version still has those elements, but Carrie doesn't so much snap as she deliberately chooses to use her powers (that they go out ofthe way to show her practicing with) to gain revenge. It makes her far less sympathetic a character, more like a Trenchcoat Mafia type.

I can appreciate that differential between the two. I didn't really see the remake quite to the Trenchcoat Mafia connection, but I can understand it.

It's often said that horror movies in particular often reflect the changing fears and mores of the times they're made in. In the 1970s, society was very concerned with understanding how and why outside pressures made people react the way they do, sometimes tragically so (which presaged the "falling down" phenomenon of the 90s).

In the 2010s, society in general has come to the general conclusion that people snap and do bad things because of a fundamental badness within them.

 

[beamMe]

I think horror films have become way too dependent on jump scares that the much more genre savvy audience these days can see the set-up for and know they're coming a mile away. Oh, the character opened the refrigerator door and looked inside for a long time; I wonder if the killer/ghost/alien/monster is going to be standing behind the door when it closes?! Or if it's a slightly smarter genre movie, it'll use that scene as a decoy for the villain actually being behind you when you turn around from where the obvious killer behind the closing door shot should have happened.

I think a creepy atmosphere goes a much longer way than predictable surprise attempts do. To this day the scariest scene I ever saw in theaters is a night-vision wearing Buffalo Bill reaching his hand out to stroke Clarice Starling's hair and face in the pitch black basement of his house in Silence of the Lambs. That was intense and freaky as hell in the theater. That got me even more than Lector's reveal in the ambulance.

You are right.
The most frightening things are those we don't see. Popular example: Jaws

And another good examination of what you said:

[yt]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_mqxP9AflI[/yt]

 

[EnriqueH]

I really enjoy a good horror film, but good ones are so few and far between.

I don't consider myself a horror elitist either because I love "slasher" films (Friday the 13th is my favorite) and "found footage" when done well (I thought the first and third Paranormal Activity films were very good.

Nor do I consider myself an iconoclast horror film fan that scoffs at the classics, such as "The Exorcist" and "Halloween", in favor of the rare and seldom seen films almost nobody has seen. (Among film buffs, we all know that guy that says, "My favorite Harrison Ford role was The Frisco Kid." or "My favorite Woody Allen film is "What's Up Tiger Lily.")

I find that anything respected and loved today is bound to be rejected and mocked by attention-seekers and iconoclasts.

Anyway, I love The Exorcist. That's my favorite and most effective horror film ever. I saw when I was 17 and didn't sleep well for days. While my Catholic beliefs growing up has a role in that, I still think there's lots of scary stuff in The Exorcist even for atheists. All that stuff in the hospital, all the mom's worry (played excellently by Ellen Burstyn), the realistic, human portrayal of "Father Karras" by Jason Miller, and to this day, I think Max Von Sydow genuinely looks like an old man.

Fighting Michael Myers, Jason Voorhees, Freddy Krueger? That's easy. That's a walk in the park. I can do that with my eyes closed and a pair of nunchakus.

But how the hell do you fight invisible spirits and entities? (Unless you have a proton pack.) You have to have an iron will and be impossibly brave. Two of the bravest men I ever saw in the movies were the two priests walking up the steps into Regan's room towards the climax of the first Exorcist and those demonic taunts and moans, dripping with psychological warfare, were emanating from the room.