Think about any major horror movie of the last decade – were you genuinely terrified? Or was it a waste of an Orange Wednesdays? Did it spook you for months? Make you flinch every time you heard a noise behind you? Or disturb you into oblivion? I feel that the answer to this universally is a general no.
It appears that the clock is ticking, I can speak for myself and many others in sharing the same opinion – we are bored by the predictably cringe worthy plots. We are definitely in the midst of an era where the originality of modern horror films is bleak and uncreative - and a downright predictable experience. They just aren’t what they used to be.
Take a prime example such as The Exorcist – controversial and sickening for its time, leaving scars in the minds of a generation and leaving them feeling like they’d never seen anything like it before – which is a key element for many horror fanatics. Now take a recent film such as The Devil Inside, though initially it was visually frightening and still managed to make even a 40 year old male squeal– it lacked originality and a gripping storyline, relying on stereotypical conventions to momentarily scare an audience and leave many disappointed sighs as the credits rolled. Is Hollywood running out of ideas? I believe so. Let’s face it; we’ve seen it all before - We live in a modern era that has become accustomed to gore galore, supernatural forces and cannibalistic crazies. Once controversial and shocking - slasher and blood-splattering movies are no longer squeamish to us due to creation of films such as Saw, which have been extremely ‘milked’.
When I watch any new horror, I want it to scare the living daylights out of me! Not leave me looking for plot holes and laughing hysterically at the dire acting. Yes there is the occasional success story, The Cabin in the Woods for example – was surprising and entertaining, with quite clever twists but not astonishingly original. So the question is to what extent can we push the boundaries of future horror flicks? Can the film industry pull itself out of this rut? Or are we bound to suffer with endless, forgettable movies that disgrace the very reputation of the horror genre – Hollywood – get your act together!
