Horror movie slump?

[Minerva_Zombi]

Recently at the box office, horror films have bombed left and right. Hills Have Eyes 2, Dead Silence, and now Grindhouse. What is going on? Are people tired of being scared? Or is it the fact that they are rated R and teenagers can't get into the theaters to see them and instead go see another horrible Eddie Murphy movie?

[zombie04]

Hills Have Eyes 2 Not a necessary movie, and it happened to have a Texas Chainsaw Massacre-The Beginning vibe to it. Not shocked it underperformed. Dead Silence A movie about killer dummies, what could they lose? Grindhouse A movie that is definitely not for everybody and was damn near impossible to market and expect huge returns...unfortunately. Hopefully it will pick up in the coming weeks or find the right audience on dvd. Plus there's always merchandising, where the real money in the movie is made (to quote the great Spaceballs).

[MikePizzoff]

I'm fine with the slump. It'll get all these producers/directors/writers that don't know shiv about horror to stop putting out the crap we see so much of.

[MinionZombie]

Slump? There's no end in sight for the moment. Grindhouse, like zombie04 said, was a difficult one to market. There's too many retards in the world who can't be bothered to Google search or even read the bit of text before the trailer, somehow they don't "get" it...also, Easter Weekend release - doi, dumb idea. And, not everyone's cup of tea ... and somehow I doubt there's parents willing to take their underage kids to see it in the cinema. Hills 2 (2007) was a complete load of cock-cheese, no wonder it did badly, it flat out sucked and doesn't speak for the quality of current horror films at all, it's so below par it went back up to the top and fell right to the bottom again...

[DVW5150]

"What hump?"-Igor , Young Frankenstien . Americans can be (not all) thick , abit slow to catch on. American & International (horror) film makers are ahead of that curve. Pete Townsend once said ," You have to assume that audiences are a bit thick , you must bash the sh!t out of their senses .You have to be completely obnoxious , loud & downright offensive sometimes." I certainly agree with previous opinions that 'Hills 2' is a turd .They made the premise look good though , Army doing training or something and run into the atomic freak family. However ,we have alot to look forward to, "Diary of the Dead" , "28 Weeks later " & "Young Frankenstien 2". Igor goes on a chainsaw spree , because he got the bill for 'hump removal' ...

[capncnut]

I don't think it's a matter of people being tired of getting scared, these movies just DON'T scare people period - that's the problem. Every week I open the film reviews there's always a couple of crappy horror films staring at me. Some remake or another turd floater by the once almighty Wes Craven. People need to be physically scared. I was telling a friend of mine (who's in his early teens) about The Excorcist and how the story and FX shocked the world to it's very core. He was like "The Excorcist? Bwaaahahaha! That film ain't nothing compared to The Passion." You know what, in a dumbass way he's right. We are being fed gore by the shovelful in stupid meaningless stories that nobody's going to give a flying f**k about 2 years from now. The Passion may test people by showing JC getting the s**t kicked out of him for 2 hours but where was the real terror in that flick? You can have Leatherface mowing down 50 people in a row with the biggest and baddest chainsaw ever made but without cold realistic fear then it just falls on the Blockbuster bonfire pile. Let's have some real horror for once.

[Bongholio]

looks in pocket If I had a job and serious bills I wouldnt waste it on stadium seating for movie of the week which is what all movies are now its the length we have to stretch our fake money stupid brother can ye spare a dime? Speaking of when did dollar lottery scratch offs turn into a cost of 3$?

[bassman]

I wouldn't single out horror films only. I would say that there's a slump in all genres of film these days. Unfortunately, most people enojoy the regurgitated crap remakes and sequels to films that don't need sequels. There are a few gems here and there, but sadly they're overtaken by the junk. Maybe one day people will wake up and understand that they're just handing out money for crap. Original films like "The Fountain" don't do well while Ice Cube releases his 17th movie with the same premise.

[DVW5150]

I don't think it's a matter of people being tired of getting scared, these movies just DON'T scare people period - that's the problem. Every week I open the film reviews there's always a couple of crappy horror films staring at me. Some remake or another turd floater by the once almighty Wes Craven. People need to be physically scared. I was telling a friend of mine (who's in his early teens) about The Excorcist and how the story and FX shocked the world to it's very core. He was like "The Excorcist? Bwaaahahaha! That film ain't nothing compared to The Passion." You know what, in a dumbass way he's right. We are being fed gore by the shovelful in stupid meaningless stories that nobody's going to give a flying f**k about 2 years from now. The Passion may test people by showing JC getting the s**t kicked out of him for 2 hours but where was the real terror in that flick? You can have Leatherface mowing down 50 people in a row with the biggest and baddest chainsaw ever made but without cold realistic fear then it just falls on the Blockbuster bonfire pile. Let's have some real horror for once. Right you are Capt! I for one like Eli Roth , he makes some really creepy stuff ... the charater he played in his Cabin Fever was wierd "Scetchmotive!" I liked Hostel also , the preview for Hostel 2 , that looks good ... WE NEED TO SEE "DIARY OF THE DEAD ", NOW!

[MinionZombie]

Indeed, I'm a fan of Roth's stuff, I really dug Cabin Fever, it was a lot of fun (wooo!!! Dr Mambo!! ), Hostel was a good premise, but I was sorely let down, it wasn't the gore fest we'd been promised, it was mainly a teen movie with a bit of horror tacked on at the end, the premise was all hung around this torture thing, and then you barely see any of it. Hopefully Hostel 2 gets the vibe right, because there were still moments in the first that were good ... and yes, the chicks in it were really hot. The "Thanksgiving" trailer in Grindhouse (saw that trailer online) was quality too.

[Tricky]

because theres too many average to shiite horror films out there at the moment,there isnt many with the mythical status of,say,the exorcist that made people HAVE to see it!and i blame lack of censorship.The exorcist did so well because it was banned,when i finally got to watch it i found it quite mediocre but the build up to actually seeing it started before i'd even reached my teens when it was talked about in hushed corners & only a few had seen it in their dads pirate video collection.I was 21 when i finally watched it,but it had legendary status right up until it was finally re-released. These days horror films need to have more about them than pure shocks,because not much is held back by censors these days,so the majority are seen for what they are,badly acted gory crap.You cant shock an audience who's seen it all before,so horror is going to have to get clever,atmospheric & tell a decent story if it wants to enjoy success again. They need to stop using teenagers/20 somethings as the leads as well,a scared teen isnt that scary to watch,but a full grown adult who's past the age of 35 breaking down through fear on screen is!

[_liam_]

yeah, the exorcist and clockwork orange were both a bit "...is that it?" when our generation first got their hands on them, but i have to say the exorcist still has a slow burning creepiness that gets under my skin. i think the thing is, these days, with paedophiles, serial killers, 9/11, and being taught about the horrors of world war 2 at school (or not!), stuff as outlandish and as paranormal forces killing people or as lurid as a psycho mutant family just wont scare because it's not likely. there are exceptions i guess (ringu was probably the only film that ever truly scared me), but on the whole i think really horrific stuff is movies & shows like *man bites dog *irreversible *sex traffic *hostel *devil's rejects *men behind the sun basically, a more tangible evil, man's inhumanity to man sort of thing. something that could actually happen. i find the idea that my girlfriend might get raped far more frightening than the idea of being possessed by the devil or stabbed by a guy in a mask, and seeing something like that in a movie will scare me in the way old school horror movies scared me as a kid. so aye, no one really makes original horrors anymore, either remakes or retreads, and nobody's really got the balls to make a mainstream movie as disturbing as "sex traffic" or as horrific as "men behind the sun", which is what's required to scare most people these days, and that's why i personally think there's a slump in popularity. but of an essay, sorry about that

[Minerva_Zombi]

I mean to me it seems like it stared after Dawn of the Dead remake made so much money. After that, horror movies just ink at the box office. Not good news for Diary, 28 Weeks Later, and ESPECIALLY HALLOWEEN. Why do you release HALLOWEEN in the middle of August? Summer blackbusters are still going and will crush something like that. Atre The Weinsteins stupid? Do they need a calender? first Grindhouse opens on Easter Weekend, and now Halloween? These guys suck at timing.

[Eyebiter]

I'd guess the Halloween remake producers are hoping the movie can sustain through October. If it makes it that long = $$$$

[MissJacksonCA]

I thought the Hills Have Eyes 2 was pretty savvy though its not hard to spot who's going to survive in the end which dissappointed me but at the same time those are the rules of horror movies. On the other hand i'm kinda glad my boyfriend refused to see Dead Silence and dragged me to the Bridge to Terabithia because that movie for kids was ten times better than Dead Silence. His refusing to go didn't mean I wouldn't but i'm glad I only had to pay for myself because the admission for 2 simply wouldn't have been worth it. The end was predictable and the movie didn't even chain you to the screen to keep you watching it. If I hadn't been waiting out the rain and rush hour traffic I prolly wouldn't have stayed to watch it. This movie is the reason why movie theaters wont give you a refund if you dont enjoy a movie.