In your opinion, when horrors were actually scary? In 80-90s or now?

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But to say in the 70s they could show anything they liked, and that's what made it better, aren't a lot of horror movies nowadays more gory and graphic than the 70s and the 70s look tame by comparison now? For example, the Texas Chainsaw Massacre remakes, are more gory in than the 70s one, etc?

So I didn't think the reason why 70s horror was better, was because they could show more, especially compared to what is shown today.



I'm not a huge Horror fan, so I can't really comment on whether I feel 80's/90's Horrors were generally scarier than modern ones, but part of that depends on the specific film in question; I mean, I'm not a fan of certain A24 releases that use an auteurist aesthetic to try to cover for their overbearing tones or over-reliance on genre cliches, or when they rely on obnoxious jumpscares (like IT), but you also have other efforts that actually unnerve in fresh ways, like Annihilation (particularly during its climax), so it all depends.



I'm not a fan of certain A24 releases that use an auteurist aesthetic to try to cover for their overbearing tones or over-reliance on genre cliches, or when they rely on obnoxious jumpscares (like IT), but you also have other efforts that actually unnerve in fresh ways, like Annihilation (particularly during its climax), so it all depends.
See, the irony is that this is probably what I like most about A24. And gorgeous as it is, I could never get into Annihilation on an emotional level. So I would be on the opposite end of the spectrum.

The only scary part about IT is Georgie’s arm, which I keep being annoyed that they don’t shoot in a genuinely gory way as it is described.



Modern horror is awful and many are just gore filled to compensate for not being scary. I think atmosphere in a horror film is more important than scares. Many Hammer films looking back are relatively tame but they all boast great atmosphere to suck you in.
That’s a fair point, though I suppose most of them really constitute thrillers. It’s hard to comment on classics, especially when they are old, but I would not say Hammer films are disturbing in the least. It could be to do with exactly the ‘overbearing’ emotional intensity modern horror boasts that I like, or it could be some kind of social censorship with regards to attitudes.

Films like Hereditary where
WARNING: spoilers below
a mother admits wanting to kill her child
are extreme in terms of attitudes, rather than gore. I don’t remember those kinds of issues addressed in older horror, except maybe Angst (1983) and some genuine exploitation stuff. That’s part of it, too - that in the past, it was easier for horror to cross over into exploitation, which was detrimental to quality IMO.

I would say, however, that I find Psycho reasonable disturbing. I’m pretty sure it pretty much ‘got me’ first time I watched it. And yes, I know it is technically not a horror film (though I always find the idea horror has to be supernatural a bit peculiar), but something about
WARNING: spoilers below
Norman’s slipping wig
just doesn’t get old.

Re: gore, it has been said that gore has always been a constant. I don’t think you need to mention Eli Roth to discuss gore. Inside, Martyrs and The Descent all have plenty. Regardless if you’re a fan or not, with some it’s hard to deny they were trying to make a point, rather than just be gory.

Respect the viewpoint expressed in the other thread re: modern horror, but really can’t relate.

Even when I was a kid, I distinctly remember that moment of realising pre-late 80’s horror just doesn’t do it for me, despite my love for ‘70s films in general. I will concede the decade had some bat**** plots like God Told Me To, but not for me.



Watching an ad for a modern horror film is sad. Here is the monster. Here are the monster's rules. Don't break the monster's rules. COMING IN JUNE.
I gotta ask, is this a reference to something specific?



Welcome to the human race...
My guess would've been something like A Quiet Place where the whole gist is that making sounds will make the monsters find and kill you.
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I gotta ask, is this a reference to something specific?
Nope. Just mocking the general formula.



I forgot the opening line.
It depends what era you're living in as well. Threads was terrifying in the 1980s in a way that was too real. You had the feeling it could actually happen any year. Now it lives on outside of that constant threat, (not gone altogether, but not as high on the list of things we're afraid of today.)



I know I keep jumping from thread to thread, but upon reflection, I would say Cargo 200 comes the closest to actually instilling ‘fear’, if only fleetingly. I don’t know if it’s because the story is 100 per cent true and probably happened more times than you could count in the USSR, or thanks to the incredibly competent and pared-down manner in which the film was shot (I would be inclined to pick the latter). The man who made it was an Auteur with a capital ‘A’ and one of the smartest and most enlightened people in the 21st century Russian filmmaking community and a religious man at that, which is why the subject matter (‘torture porn’, some would say) jars so much and is, I would argue, so safe in his hands.

Another one which I found conceptually ‘scary’ but not well-executed is WAZ (The Killing Gene) (2007).



See, the irony is that this is probably what I like most about A24. And gorgeous as it is, I could never get into Annihilation on an emotional level. So I would be on the opposite end of the spectrum.

The only scary part about IT is Georgie’s arm, which I keep being annoyed that they don’t shoot in a genuinely gory way as it is described.
I like that aspect of A24 Horrors on their own, but the problem for me is, it's still not enough to make up for those films' flaws otherwise. Anyway, as for Annihilation, I wasn't really as emotionally engaged by it as I should've been either (particularly with the revelation of the affair, which didn't add much to my perception of the characters), but the more visceral, unnerving material still worked, especially the climax at the lighthouse, which was a great, Lovecraftian bit of mind-****ery, IMO.



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I think modern documentaries about people getting killed put most horror movies to shame. It really isn't that hard to scare people, i tend to like this genre simply on the merit that they "force" me to pay attention.


I just scared the **** out of my dog because i bumped my leg into a chair...she barked in the same threatening way towards the door when she senses a human coming on the property. I hope she doesn't forget that i give her food going into her own age! I hope i don't forget to feed her because serial killers can also be delivery people...and vice versa...



I tend to have a big thing for 80-90's production quality because that's what i grew up with. What are the best 70's horror movies?



Victim of The Night
I remember when I was a wee lad and the ads for Horror movies would scare the absolute **** out of me and I would run from the room. But I enjoyed it.
Trailers in question included, but were not limited to:
Phantasm - "If this one doesn't scare you, you're already dead." (6 years old)
Don't Go In The House - "Because the people who live there... aren't people anymore." (7 years old)
Curtains - "The ultimate nightmare." (10 years old)

Good times.