I’m more of a thriller type of person rather than a hack and slash because I mean gore is shocking and all but really its the what ifs that make you fear, that alongside with creep factor.
Did you see Barbarian (2022)
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nope. watched the trailer, I’ll give it a shot. i know what you mean about the thriller angle. i def don’t need the gore. shutter island is another good one that i feel falls into the exploring madness category. oh and Identity
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Hitchcocks’ Psycho (1960), is still great and has a solid twist in it.
yea hitchcock was the man. psycho had some interesting themes for sure.
just watched smile. it was good, i made it through. always one of the scariest parts of the madness angle is the whole part about no one believing you. i imagine that aspect would be just as terrifying as whatever the actual events were
I think the rise of streaming services encourages the turn around of half hearted productions just to get new content up and as horror already could suffer from this, the issue has just increased.
But on the flipside there have been some high quality horror series in recent years.
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I used to watch horror movies all the time like, name literally any decent horror movie from around the 80’s/90’s into the early 00’s, and I’ve probably seen it.
I slowed down a lot watching movies in general but I still get some horror flicks in when I can. I don’t know, I feel like the few I have seen from recent years have been really good.
I loved all of the Nick Cage horror movies that came out a few years ago like Mandy, Color Out of Space, Mom and Dad, Willy’s Wonderland… all bangers. Midsommar and The Lighthouse were both great. The most recent horror movie I watched was Barbarian and that was pretty fun.
There have been some great horror series recently too. Black Mirror (that counts as horror, right?), Love Death + Robots, Dark, Hellbound, Squid Game, Alice in Borderland, Brand New Cherry Flavor, to name a few.
I love some good horror. I think the main problem with the genre is that there has always been a surplus of them and it’s hard to differentiate the really crappy ones from the gems just looking at the box art or the trailer. It has always been that way, in my experience. Back in the day, if you rented a truly bad horror movie, you just had to suck it up and watch it because you already paid for it. At least now you can get them on a streaming service and just switch to a different movie if you don’t like it.
So, I would say there are a lot of awful horror movies out there but also some pretty amazing ones, same as it ever was. Anyone have some good recommendations?
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I’m a sucker for slasher schlock. I love a truly disturbing and thought provoking, artsy horror movie, but I always like seeing things do what they shouldn’t either. Terrifier is absolutely my jam, if only for David Howard Thorntons performance. Or maybe I have a thing for horror clowns? Pennywise, Art, Captain Spaulding, the clowns of Killer Clowns from Outer Space. Love me a good clown.
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funny you mention clowns specifically. i just watched an interesting vid yesterday. i love this channel too. monster lore is awesome
this is definitely true. I’m also starting to think as this conversation has evolved that at least part of it has been me not knowing what i want from the genre atm. not all of it has appealed to me at all times in my life so maybe I’m just going through a mid-horror-life crisis 
i think i need to revisit a few things and just make a new watch list
so of the last few years if you could pick one that stood out to you as a must watch, what would that be?
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What about the use of CGI in modern horror vs. ‘old school’ horror? Although I am not a horror aficionado, I have noticed that newer horror films seem to use CGI to create the horror vs the older films that had to use other devices such as shadow, lighting, scenery and sounds to create effect. The newer films tend to emphasize horror-in-action rather than trying to generate fear through passive apprehension and anxiety.
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agreed. i think it’s a weird 2 way street. the cgi allowed them to make effects that would have been less feasible with practical effects, but that has also led them into a territory of showing more and leaving less to the imagination
Practicals all the way.
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Agreed, although, I’d like to add a nuance: I’m not saying no CGI, but practical effects should be the centerpiece with sprinkles of CGI to finish complex effects, not the other way around (or total absence of practical all together)
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I wonder whether we are in a transition period where the horror makers are learning to use CGI effectively? The more that film-makers find they can create using computer graphics, the less they are leaving to the imagination and the story itself.
Some of the best horror films were based on a riveting-story like A Nightmare on Elm St and did not rely of special effects to scare the heck out of you. Hitchcock did not use a lot of computer-animation to do the same. Instead, they used something writers call a ‘story’. Sadly, modern film-making is not good at that kind of thing. Instead, we make eye-candy like Marvel films. Mr. Hitchcock probably wouldn’t even get a meeting at a modern studio.
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Very true. The sad thing is, there are good stories being written but big wigs that control the studios have zero vision or interest in the actual art and storytelling. They only see numbers. They know if they squeeze out another steamer in the Marvel universe, it’s almost guaranteed to make a return because the mindless drones will eat it up. They are too afraid to take any actual risks.
The independent circuit and smaller studios are where you’re going to find storytelling that isn’t piggybacking off of the same tired tropes or past successes of floundering franchises.The unfortunate part about that is that most of them don’t have a big enough of a budget to be able to afford the best equipment or actors haha.
There’s been a few exceptions though. The all hallows eve film, turned into Terrifier and that is now blowing up. Love it or hate it, you can’t deny how amazing the success it has been. Going from fully independent to breaking into the mainstream with a new horror icon / mascot. It’s beautiful to see! I’ve followed and even had the chance to talk with those guys before Terrifier 2 came out and it’s just so awesome to see the franchise grow and they are keeping it sick, keeping the practical effects and getting demented, yet keeping it tongue and cheeky. The formula of yesteryear that made films like Halloween, Friday the 13th, Re-animator, The Stuff, Nightmare on Elm st. etc, so great, has been preserved and brought into the modern era while still feeling nostalgic and giving us something we’ve been longing for. I know it may not be for everyone, obviously. It can be a bit over the top. But it’s exciting to see it evolve and to see there’s still a glimmer of hope for horror.
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10000% agree. Digital blood has no place in horror.
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Or you can be Hellraiser. Have a solid start, pump out three more movies, each more mid than the last, the last being the worst of the original series. Then, your production company keeps attempting to retain the rights by taking other stories, unrelated to the Hellraiser franchise, and just slapping Pinhead on the story, and call it a day.
Admittedly, the reboot was decent, but idk, it was missing something (I’d put my money on practical effects)
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I agree. The reboot was pretty decent but it definitely lacked something. I felt like it didn’t really have much development in the mythos department. It just felt like it was riding on the coattails of the first two films and a tiny bit of The Hellbound heart sprinkled in but it just lacked development allover. The way it ended, it just felt like there was going to be more, it definitely felt short and rushed a bit. I didn’t really get the design of the priest, like, she was cool but they didn’t go into any detail why she’s got vent holes all over her body lol. It just didn’t feel like it was really that thought out to me. There are murmurs of a sequel but who knows if it’ll happen. Hulu (and other streaming platforms for that matter) is notorious for killing off stuff if it’s not getting millions of views in the first week.
Really? I thought they went too far into it considering it’s (supposed to be) a refresh/reboot. Personally, I would have preferred a little less and to have waited for the sequel for more.
Specifically calling this out because 
I don’t recall the movies ever delving into the “why” all the cenobites have, let’s call them modifications, considering the site we’re on. I’m just glad the makeup department didn’t drop the ball on that.
I heard this as well and hope it’s true. Imo, Netflix is the worst offender, so much so that I refuse to use their service except for one show (that I watch with my wife; live action ATLA). Hulu is usually pretty decent about not canceling their stuff (Reboot (2022) notwithstanding; mega angry, but I think it was a pawn in the post covid/SAG strike world more than anything)
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