Anyone remember...?

[Mister Chrome]

Anyone remember the Great Zombie Movie Dry Spell of the 90's? You know, when there was like nothing new in the world of zombie flicks for almost a decade? Yeah, that era sucked. Although, I will say that during that dry spell I watched all the old classics like a ba-zillion times. M.C.

[axlish]

I remember that era well. Not only was it a dry spell for zombie cinema, it was a dry spell for horror in general. It almost succeeded in derailing my fascination with all things horror. Scream came along and changed it all back for us though, whether we want to thank it or not.

[Svengoolie]

Actually, boys...I think that dry spell might have caused more damage than most of us even realize. We went through several years with very few contributions to the horror category, and almost none in the zombie category...and, as a result, like my old friend Mister Chrome said--we watched the classics, both old and relatively new, over and over again... Now, what I think that might have done is made us, as fans, almost totally resistant to change...and this resistance to almost everything new has been felt right here at this very site. Do the classics that we so revere deserve to be revered? Sure they do. But, it's gotten to the point were alot of horror fans, and Deadheads in particular, take all of this a little too seriously...and personally--especially in regards to the wave of remakes we've seen over the past couple of years. All too many of us see this remake trend as a slap in the face to the originals, that they're allegedly out to replace...which couldn't be farther from the truth. What this sentiment has done to the next generation of horror fans (the guys and ghouls born during and after the "Golden Age of Horror: 1978-1983")is to force alot of them to live in the past...OUR past...in regards to their taste--simultaneously hero-worshipping the neo-classics while blindly blasting anything new just because it's new or different. Now, do I like the new stuff? For the most part, no. But, I'm 32 years old--at that age where alot of the new stuff stops talking to me. My own reaction to these changes in horror is to accept that change while keeping primarily with the old stuff I like. I don't blast the new stuff just because it's new...I just stick with what I like. And, if something new comes out that I dig, I still dig it...even though lately I've been rediscovering the older, lost classics (that are so old, and nearly forgotten, that they're like new to me). I think this resistance to change has caused more damage than anything, as it keeps us in a state of stagnation. There's an old Klingon saying: "Nal komerex, khesterex"--that which does not grow, dies. And, I think that's right where we'll be if this keeps up. Your views, sports fans.

[hseiken]

I'm not even going to touch the klingon reference... I think it hurt the audience, yes, but in a different way...the older movies were quite shocking. They showed lots of onscreen carnage that simply doesn't exist today, even with better effects for cheaper (computer manipulation of a cutshot of a real guy and a fake guy being decapitated is so easy and cheap nowdays yet completely convincing...remember that commerical for the Terminator game with the guy walking that gets hit by a bus?) that can make the images even more gruesome. Modern movies seem to be overjoyed to make you think about what disgusting event just took place rather than let you see for yourself...I hate a tease and lots of new movies are just that. On that note, though, that's why I loved Silent Hill...the director knew what his audience wanted and gave us some memorable carnage (such as the guy ripping all the skin off the girl in one pull and chunking it at the people running away). It's been a while since Hollywood's had such cool stuff on their horror films.

[creepntom]

some of us were trying to forget, thanks for the reminder

[Brubaker]

Anyone remember the Great Zombie Movie Dry Spell of the 90's? You know, when there was like nothing new in the world of zombie flicks for almost a decade? Yeah, that era sucked. Although, I will say that during that dry spell I watched all the old classics like a ba-zillion times. M.C. People were too busy trying to be fashionable or cool in the 1990's and trying to wash their hands of anything that seemed "dated" (70's/80's). That included not only movies but even tv shows, music, video games and magazines. For the horror genre, what this meant was that directors had to hide out for awhile until the climate was a little bit better or rethink the way they did movies. The one or two people who tried something neat during that era probably got ridiculed in reviews for being cheesy, using too many cliches or being trapped in the 70's/80's. I'm surprised somebody here would admit to enjoying Scream. So did I Funny thing is that it seemed to do the trick. Next thing you know, all this stuff like Strangeland, Valentine, Bride of Chucky, new "Jason" films, two or three new Michael Myers films.....all sorts of stuff ends up surfacing. Granted, not all of these may be blockbuster hits, quality films or related to the zombie genre but they did get released after Scream, primarily because it seemed to open up the market again. At least in the US.

[zombiegirl]

I am not resistent to change as far as new movies go but there are many that are made today that I do not like. My reason is that it's all flash now. It's made to draw in the bucks rather than tell a story. Hollywood puts nudity and gore in their movies now to replace the actual story. That stuff is meant to help progress the story and maybe make it realistic not become the story itself. This is just my opinion though. As for the remakes, no they will never stand up to the originals, yes I wish they would name them something else, but that will not stop me from being there opening night with a coke and popcorn in hand ready to enjoy some zombie fun.

[EvilNed]

Well, we did have The Dead Hate the Living.

[darth los]

It seems that Dawn 04' and 28 days later are at least in part responsible for the resurgence of Zombie flicks just as scream did for thrillers and horror films in the 90's.

[TheWalkingDude]

Yeah i remember the dry spell glad i had all the classics on tape

[Danny]

*shudder* yes i do, and when your a youngster around the ages of 8 thru 12 you wanna sneak downstairs to watch horror films and all we had was .....*sigh*...scream... what a pile of crap.

[Rolfus]

Night 90 was the first zombie movie i saw i would have been about 13 when my brother hired it and watched in on video so there was no dryspell form me when i got older and started my own collection in the late 90's

[Svengoolie]

One of the things I’ve touched upon with my old buddy Chrome Dome over the tenure of our friendship is the idea of repeating trends in horror--of how horror history can sometimes repeat itself. And, since this subject is connected to what we were talking about earlier this week--where we talked about that dry spell in horror and its effects on the fans, I thought I’d bespeak my mind a little on the subject once again…. Almost thirty years ago now, we experienced a revolution of sorts in horror films, called “The Golden Age of Horror: 1978-1983”…which was explored once in an issue of Fangoria. It alleged that everything going on in contemporary horror owed something to a flick that was produced in that era--whether it was a sequel of something made then, a remake, or an out and out rip-off. While 1978 was widely considered the start of that era, there were ground breaking films produced here and there in the decade or so before that year as well that also helped move horror into the modern age in terms of SFX and subject matter--flicks like NOTLD, The Exorcist, Jaws, and TCM…among others. The fans’ reaction to this revolution in horror is very similar to what we’re experiencing today, and overall it reflects that resistance to change that we were talking about in this thread. In those days, the old timers’ camp was represented primarily by the old B&W flicks of the 30s through the 60s. Its horror icons were the classic Universal movie monsters that we’re all familiar with (Dracula, Frankenstein, the Wolfman, etc), and the men that played them (guys like Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, and John Carradine). They reacted to this change in horror trends the same way a lot of the fans now are reacting to the new stuff coming out--they blasted it….saying it had no heart and soul; that it was vulgar, cheap, and sleazy; and that it was NOT scary. Now, the old timers of today are really just the kids of yesterday--they guys who welcomed this change in horror with open arms. The classics of yesteryear, they argued, didn’t speak to their generation anymore. They wanted something new and different from the 30 and 40 and 50 year old flicks the Universal monster movie camp had to offer. They wanted sex, violence, hard core gore, faster moving plots and complex characters…..and stuff that was actually scary. What they got were the very films we revere today as “the classics”--Dawn of the Dead, Friday the 13th, Halloween, and others. As is the way of the world, the new overthrew the old…and we heard less and less from the Universal crew and more and more from guys like GAR, John Carpenter, Tobe Hooper, Wes Craven, and others. In time, the characters they came up with became the new icons in horror, and the monsters of yesteryear got pretty much shoved into obscurity. But, over the last few years, new trends in horror have come on the scene…and this time the new wave consists primarily of remakes of those neo-classics, foreign flicks, and remakes of foreign flicks. The new “Old Guys” are reacting to this new wave the same way their forefathers did in the late 70s--they constantly blast it while holding on to the classics of the past for as long as they can. Is this attitude constructive? I don’t think so. After a dry spell in horror that lasted just over ten years, we’re seeing a resurgence in the genre that we haven’t seen since the Golden Age started. But, the problems facing this resurgence are two-fold: 1. The old timers of today are really just the kids of yesterday. They feel a lot of reverence and nostalgia for the stuff that came from their era, and a lot of the contemporary stuff just doesn’t speak to them anymore. 2. The kids of today are split into two camps--one that had that dry spell to contend with, and spent most of that time going over and over the same stuff; and the other that’s embracing these new trends. I wonder how this will all play out. Will the old timers of today eventually get shoved to the wayside in favor of what we’re seeing now? Or, will a totally new face of horror emerge from somewhere ( a “Nirvana” of horror, so to speak) to kick them all out on their collective asses? Only time will tell. Your views, sports fans….

[DjfunkmasterG]

I remember that era well. Not only was it a dry spell for zombie cinema, it was a dry spell for horror in general. It almost succeeded in derailing my fascination with all things horror. Scream came along and changed it all back for us though, whether we want to thank it or not. I thank scream because it brough horror back in a big way, but hollywood has managed to mess it up again. So we will go through another dry spell for 10 years soon and have to find another scream, or... ahem DAWN remake, to bring back the zombie/horror genre.

[rikimaru]

im not to big into new horror movies ether and im only 20 i kida enjoy the stuff from before i was old enough to watch horror now i can and do often watch them but some movies that came out recently i enjoyed. i liked saw alot ans saw 2 to a lesser extent and will likely fork over the dough for the third installment (not a fourth though 3 is enough for me lol) aside from that i cant say i have seen much in the way of horror movies in the last few years. I see trailers for them like hills have eyes and hostel and stuff but it seems like they just have overtly gory stuff in them and no real substance so i never bother to see them. I think i like saw (espeshally the first one.) because it was gory enough to be realistic but still had plenty of plot behind it and you feel like you get to know the characters and the ending is one of the better i have seen in a horror movie i litteraly said ...wtf outloud when i saw it the first time. Thats my 2cents on recent horror.