Horror doesn't always mean scary. Also, horror is extremely subjective. It's pretty hard to judge horror in general, especially years later.
-
Ever wanted an RSS feed of all your favorite gaming news sites? Go check out our new Gaming Headlines feed! Read more about it here.
-
We have made minor adjustments to how the search bar works on ResetEra. You can read about the changes here.
Isn't it weird that the all-time most popular horror movies...aren't actually scary?
- Thread starter Cybersai
- Start date
Sinister for me.
That film stayed with me for like a week after I watched it at the cinema, on the at back me and my friend saw a guy appear on the grass verge by the road just waiting to cross, he appeared out the dark from nowhere and we shat ourselves.
Paranormal Activity 2 kitchen scene scared me senseless too. Fuck me. Me and the GF have never had that hair stand up on the back of your neck before that scene to any film.
The next generation is going to laugh at what you call a scary movie, too.
I just love how James wan directs, his films seem to pull off scares and jump scenes in a reverse way.
Such as the police scene, i expected that when the police came in nothing would happen... but the chair flew across the room.
I go to movies to be entertained and his movies do that for me :) cheesy or not
Disagreed entirely with the OP, this post best sums up a big reason why
Unquestionably scarier films have been released since these films' time. It in no way diminishes their impact in the genre's legacy or negates the prior effects they had on audiences
I move that we should now post this instead of the Pinocchio "dead" GIF.
I haven't seen sinister, will defo check that one out.
Haha yes I forgot about paranormal activity, that one has me hiding like a baby!
Speaking of the exorcist, the new exorcist tv show season 1 & 2 were amazing!!
I wish they had gained more traction as they were really well done
Wait. What's laughable about Psycho? It may not be horrifying but it's still a fantastic thriller.
Of course you don't think they are scary, you didn't see them when they first came out. To you, Sixth Sense was scary because you were an impressionable 12-year old and it scared the shit out of you, so you kept a part of that deep inside you. I admit, years later, a lot of the movies you listed are tame, but back then, they literally SCARED THE FUCK out of audiences. Like, I got to see the first A Nightmare on Elm Street as a child, and it literally made me run out of the room screaming. I was afraid to go to sleep for MANY nights and literally had REAL nightmares of Freddy stalking and KILLING me! I remember hearing my aunt and her friends went to go see Halloween and walked home from the theater and kept hearing noises and thought someone was following them. They psychological terror lasts. It's want keeps you from looking into the backyard during a pitch black night when you hear something fall over (like a trashcan or rake). It's why when you are a kid, you wake up and RUN to the bathroom, then RUN back to bed so nothing "gets you".
For me, Night of the Living Dead isn't scary, but I can appreciate it more as a film that broke ground. I could also understand, if you haven't seen something like that before, you could have your mind blown and that shit would put your imagination on overdrive. Hell, like I said, I wasn't SCARED of it as a child (saw it WAY after it was made), but I did think, visiting a cemetery, how creepy it would be if I looked to the distance and saw a zombie slowly shambling my way). I think that's something with horror. In real life, something like that wouldn't happen, but, what if it did? What if, beyond logic and rational, it happened and you were put into that situation. That WOULD be scary. That's just how I love to see horror movies (What if I was there? What if that shit was happening to me?).
First one's supposed to be horror. Army of Darkness is more of a dark comedy. Evil Dead 2 and the TV series are somewhere in the middle.
Time and place
My mom remembers seeing The Exorcist in theaters when she was a kid, and the movie had a serious effect on her. She left the theater literally shaking. She had her younger brothers with her as well, and they felt the same. I remember her telling me that they huddled close together hugging each other outside the theater because of how scared they were.
My mom remembers seeing The Exorcist in theaters when she was a kid, and the movie had a serious effect on her. She left the theater literally shaking. She had her younger brothers with her as well, and they felt the same. I remember her telling me that they huddled close together hugging each other outside the theater because of how scared they were.
Nothing about the quality of the film. I'm talking about watching it and expecting to get frightened or scared of anything that happens in it. Psycho isn't going to make anybody run out of the theater in terror nowadays.
I was told that certain scenes in Disneys Snow White were frightening to audiences back when it originally came out. Not just to kids either.
I'm guessing it is because modern audiences handle movies differently than they did many decades ago.
My dad told me stories of seeing The Exorcist in theaters, and how people ran out of the theater screaming. When I saw it I was disturbed but not frightened.
I'm guessing it is because modern audiences handle movies differently than they did many decades ago.
My dad told me stories of seeing The Exorcist in theaters, and how people ran out of the theater screaming. When I saw it I was disturbed but not frightened.
The original was better and that's not saying much. They were both pretty run of the mill and formulaic.
Out of the ones you mentioned, I watched Halloween, Sixth Sense and Carrie for the first time last year and thought they were all great.
I don't remember the last time I was scared watching a film, it might have been Lights Out because I had trouble discerning what I was looking at, and not understanding adds to the fear, kind of like "what the fuck am I looking at?"
I don't get people going into horror films already in the mind state of "I'm too macho to be scared", like, you need to be open to caring about the characters and hoping they live, wanting the atmosphere to drag you in, letting your imagination play along and maybe even playing the films at normal speed.
If you're not willing to be invested there is no point.
I don't remember the last time I was scared watching a film, it might have been Lights Out because I had trouble discerning what I was looking at, and not understanding adds to the fear, kind of like "what the fuck am I looking at?"
I don't get people going into horror films already in the mind state of "I'm too macho to be scared", like, you need to be open to caring about the characters and hoping they live, wanting the atmosphere to drag you in, letting your imagination play along and maybe even playing the films at normal speed.
If you're not willing to be invested there is no point.
The thing that worked for Six Sense was the tension and how unsettling it felt, other than a few scenes it wasn't trying to be typically SCARY!
Like an immediate thought for my all time creepy/scary scenes would be
I haven't rewatched the movie in 15+ years but i'd never forget that scene.
Like an immediate thought for my all time creepy/scary scenes would be
I haven't rewatched the movie in 15+ years but i'd never forget that scene.
I can't get scared by conventional horror movies as they are too silly for me to suspend my disbelief.
Unsettling movies with psychological impact do far more for me in a scary sense.
Eden Lake was a tough watch due to how real it is.
Can also add off the top of my head:
Martyrs
Salo
Funny Games
Begotten
Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer
Unsettling movies with psychological impact do far more for me in a scary sense.
Eden Lake was a tough watch due to how real it is.
Can also add off the top of my head:
Martyrs
Salo
Funny Games
Begotten
Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer
The thing that worked for Six Sense was the tension and how unsettling it felt, other than a few scenes it wasn't trying to be typically SCARY!
Like an immediate thought for my all time creepy/scary scenes would be
I haven't rewatched the movie in 15+ years but i'd never forget that scene.
The scene that does it for me is when he's in the tent and little Mischa Barton is doing a spook on him.
I hated Hrefitary, character motivations, logic, etc were all over the place. I feel like it has its priorities in tbe wrong place, and horror fans love that apparently. That always bothers me. The horror films I really love are infinitely rewatchable, Great, charismatic pefformances, interesting characters, drama that makes you think, mood and atmosphere. That doesn't always inherently lend itself to being as scary as fucking possible, but I'd rather have a tight, smart horror film than the scariest thing possible.
For the record I think I was pretty unsettled through It Follows. But again, the plot and characters are gripping. If it de-emphasized that in an effort to truly scare you I would be annoyed. Its also why I dont show up for most of the cheap horror films made through the year, outside of a plan to scare you their characters and drama are always severly undercooked and abandoned for a good jump scare or "fucked up" moment
For the record I think I was pretty unsettled through It Follows. But again, the plot and characters are gripping. If it de-emphasized that in an effort to truly scare you I would be annoyed. Its also why I dont show up for most of the cheap horror films made through the year, outside of a plan to scare you their characters and drama are always severly undercooked and abandoned for a good jump scare or "fucked up" moment
Wait... are you saying that aside from watching stuff at 1.5x speed, you also skip through slow points in movies? Why do you even watch movies?
I think the first Evil Dead was meant to be a horror, Evil Dead 2 and Army of Darkness are clearly more comedy than horror.
This thread just reminds me that I somehow missed The Sixth Sense entirely and now I feel I would waste my time watching it because the ending has been spoiled to me many times over.
OP
OP
I play movies regularly on 1.5x speed, when the action or "important" scenes come on, I lower it to regular speed. Then switch back up. I mean seeing extra seconds of a character walking down a hallway or walking through the streets isn't going to make much difference, and I save my free time this way.
When I was a kid a LOT of movies gave me nightmares. All those movies would have fucked me up. Even when the movie wasn't scary to me at the time of watching it. One day though, it just stopped, not sure why because the change was pretty abrupt. At one point I think I was more scare of having the nightmares than the content of said nightmares.
As someone who used to feel the same way, it was still worth the watch. In a similar fashion, I haven't seen Citizen Kane because I know what Rosebud is, but I'm sure there is more to the film than just that. Same with Soylent Green.
It's a solid film, a classic at this point. Knowing the ending doesn't make watching the film worthless. The film is far more than the ending. Although I don't find it particularly scary, but horror is subjective, more so than comedy even.
Only two movies ever had me shook
Exorcist
Resident Evil
Exorcist because of the devil. I used to be really religious and was so afraid of the devil that even thinking about it made me shit my pants
Now? I don't give a fuck about the devil, come at me bro.
Resident Evil was just too spooky once the licker shows up.
Exorcist
Resident Evil
Exorcist because of the devil. I used to be really religious and was so afraid of the devil that even thinking about it made me shit my pants
Now? I don't give a fuck about the devil, come at me bro.
Resident Evil was just too spooky once the licker shows up.
Watch it and see if you can pick up on the clues before the reveal.
They sure as shit were scary back then, when all your descriptions of them were from your friends and not the internet. I'm not much of movie person but aren't there memes and parodies of them all? That takes out some of the steam too.
Movies aren't scary anyway, they're just movies. I feel like good horror movies build anxiety instead.
Horror relies completely on deliberate pacing. I can't imagine being scared either if I'm in such a rush to get through the movies.
Horror specifically is all about the slower moments though, they build up the tension. Good horror is all about the pacing. Fast forwarding through those ruins that, in which case I can understand why you wouldn't find any of them scary.
Also, what's up with the 'save my free time' stuff? If you value your free time that much and clearly don't consider movies to be a good use of that time, why do you watch them?
So you completely fuck up the intended pacing and rhythm of an entire movie and then complain that it doesn't set the right mood?
This is the scariest thing in this thread.
It's like you lack all self awareness of what film techniques actually lead to suspense, atmosphere, and...horror... In a horror thread of all places.
The reason you're getting such incredulous responses is that in a horror movie, arguably the genre where pacing matters the most, you're killing the pacing. Those extra seconds are in there for a reason, and you're getting a worse experience to finish the movie 10-20 minutes earlier.
^ Beaten while I was typing my response, but I think it needs to be restated ad nauseam.
