What Happend to Making Great Horror Films?

I love scary movies. Films like "The Shining", "Psycho", "Halloween", and "Jaws" have stood the test of time for good reason. Characters like Michael Myers, Jason Voorhees, Freddy Krueger will always remain in our psyche. What happened? Where are todays boogeymen?

The first thing that I'd like to point out is the obsession with glamorizing horror. Paris Hilton in "The House of Wax"? Maybe that's why it was one of the biggest flops of the year... Bring back the awkward girl from "A Nightmare of Elm Street" with her nappy hair, ugly sweater and alcoholic mother. What happened to the typical suburban family terrorized in "Poltergeist"? Everything is so manufactured now, and the characters have no depth.

Then there's the whacky, b-rated 80's flicks. They try to be serious but are often ridiculous, like "C.H.U.D" or "Critters", for example. The filmakers were obviously having fun, but the movies themselves weren't trying to be funny. Lately though, even low budget projects have taken the route of using gore and guts to make an impression. That doesn't really entertain anyone. Suspense, menacing sounds, and a simple plot is all you need. "Halloween" was made on a budget of $325,000 and that was low even in 1978. Michael Myers stalks his sister and kills anyone who gets his the way. He's slow, wears a simple rubber mask, and never says a word. He's not meant to be percieved as human, and that's what made him so frightening. The performances by Jamie Lee Curtis and Donald Pleasence helped to make this an awesome movie. There isn't much blood, no sex, and it scared the hell out of people.

"Halloween" has remained one of the top horror films for almost 30 years.

I hope the future of the genre doesn't go the direction of "Hostel", "Saw" and remakes that just throw in more gore while taking out the soul of the original. "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" was much scarier in 1974, and was also produced on a very low budget. The new one is just over the top. Updating a classic isn't always bad, a good example is the 1990 version of "Night of the Living Dead". The makeup was better, the script was edgier, the personalities of the characters were stronger while staying true to the original. Gus Van Sant tried reviving "Psycho", but how can you update Hitchcock and then make it word for word, scene by scene identical?

"Psycho" made people afraid of their own shower just like "Jaws" kept people from sticking so much as their big toe in the ocean, and that was the point. Have recent horror films had this effect? Speaking of "Jaws", it was made before technology got in the way. A mechanical shark can't do all the twists, turns and elaborate tricks that a computer generated shark can do, but it was scarier because it was tangible. The sets and actors used to look more authentic, too. The spaceship in "Alien" was dark, dingy and water dripped from the bowels of it. The actors were not manicured because if you were in space for years at time, you're not going to have perfect hair and makeup!

Horror shouldn't be complicated. Some of the classics I mentioned are still loved today because great care went into making them seem real, yet the filmakers kept it simple. A horror is supposed to draw you in, and make you feel like you're a part of it. Too many movies these days that market themselves as horror, thriller or even sci-fi have no substance. It's no suprise they're so quickly forgotten.