Generic Saturday #3
18 February, 2012
In an aim to have a few more film posts, I’ve decided to try something I am going to call Generic Saturday. This basically means that every Saturday I will choose a specific genre of film and discuss some things about it, such as my favourite films of that genre, least favourite, some generic features of the genre, why others like it, etc,etc. Or, something along those lines anyway! Let’s see how well this works, shall we?
So, for the first one of these I have decided that we will discuss
horror movies*
*as chosen by this months blogger spotlight, Sarah
horror movies*
*as chosen by this months blogger spotlight, Sarah
Top Ten Horror Films*
* in no particular order
- The Haunting
- The Ring
- Gothika
- A Tale of Two Sisters
- I Saw the Devil
- Paranormal Activity
- The Grudge
- Let the Right One In
- When A Stranger Calls
- Hide and Seek
Problems I encountered when deciding:
– Lack of Memory (this seems to be a recurring problem, I should probably do something to rectify this, but yes, I couldn’t think of that many horror films)
– Not great (And then those I did remember, I don’t remember liking because they were too funny and not scary enough)
– Not seen enough (There are still so many horror films out there that I need to get around to watching!)
Ten Awful Horrors
- Saw (all of them)
- Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning
- Amytville Horror
- The Hills Have Eyes
- Halloween
- Drag Me to Hell
- Signs
- The Others
- Jeepers Creepers
- The Haunting (Double list, what?)*
Problems I encountered when deciding:
– Lack of Memory (We knew this was coming, didn’t we? :p)
– Definition of “awful” (I still like some of these films – hello double lister! – but they’re not exactly what I would call “horrifying” films)
– Not Seen Enough (I just haven’t seen enough horrors. Not because I don’t want to, I usually just have no one to watch them with!)
so how do we DEFINE a horror film?
According to Wikipedia;
Horror films are a movie genre seeking to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience’s most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus they may overlap with the fantasy and supernatural genre. Horrors frequently overlap with the thriller genre.
So, horror films play with our most primal fears, yes? Well, that’s a bit difficult and is probably why they are so difficult to get right. Because everyone has different fears. What I find scary, someone else probably won’t.
Let’s face it, I bet very few people were scared by the BIG-ASS bugs in King Kong were they? Me? I couldn’t physcially look at the scream without squealing (and not in delight) But King Kong is not a horror.
It is probably due to my knowledge that horror films are just films that makes them less scary for me and in fact a hell of a laugh! But what I find funny is very likely to cause someone else to scream. Interesting isn’t it?
So then, what makes horror films good?
Is it their ability to scare a majority of people? What about the ability to produce nightmares in some people? And why do people even bother going to see horror movies if this is how it affects them?
Personally I think that what makes a horror movie good is something that keeps me entertained. One that doesn’t make me laugh out loud but actually keeps my attention and makes me want to continue. Ones like The Tale of Two Sisters which are just mind-boggling, or I Saw the Devil which just kept me wanting to know more, to witness this sicko go down for what he had done.
But it’s a very personal genre, isn’t it?
What are some of your favourite horror movies? What do you like/not like to see in them? Do they make you laugh? Cry? Scream? Have Nightmares?
And would you recommened any horror movies for me?
Faye
7 Comments
Jessi (Geo)
Silent Hill will always be my favorite horror. I just saw Woman in Black, and I must say it was actually pretty scary. I rarely ever find movies scary.
Daydreaming_Star
See, I’ve never seen it! But will now be adding it to my ‘To watch’ list! So thanks! :D
I’ve heard mixed reviews about it with some people saying it was barely scary while others are scared to their wits about it! Curious!
Theta Sigma
(Cower) Not a big fan of the horror genre. I liked The Woman In Black, but that’s more of a chiller and the only other recent one is Let Me In late in 2010.
Coward and proud of it.
Daydreaming_Star
Haha <3
This kinda made me chuckle. But yay for being proud of being a coward! :D
Not that Let Me In was scary… :p
Melissa
Fellow coward here, like Theta Sigma. I’m such a wuss when it comes to horror movies. Even looking at the stills for this post creeped me out a little. The first horror movie I watched as a kid was Child’s Play. My older cousin made me watch it when I was like 8 years old and I was terrified.
Daydreaming_Star
I’ve not even HEARD of that film before! I’m guessing it wasn’t something an eight year old should see! Lol!
I know so many “cowards” it’s okay! Makes it hard to go see horrors in the movies though! :-( lol.
Sarah (saz101)
Whhaaa? How did I miss your post? I’ve been a bad blogger/commenter. I refuse to acknowledge your ‘awful’ list. You put SAM RAIMI ON IT! SAM EFFING RAIMI! MY HERO! RIDICULOUS HORROR FILM EXTRAORDINAIRE! Hehe! And Jeepers Creeper *shudders* OK, I concede this is NOT a good film, but it scared the bejeezus out of me. Ack! That scene with the holes through his skull? EEK!
OMG OMG OMG, THe Ring *twitchy eyes* you have NO. IDEA. how much this film scares me. STILL. I mean, I’ve told you, but SERIOUSLY. And Let the Right One In . *happy sigh* I swear: my version of cinematic perfection.
AND OH MY GOODNESS! I haven’t seen the Haunting in YEARS, but it is EPIC. YES.
Err… you know what I was saying about horror movies? Those are seriously the only ones on the list I’ve seen. Also, it seems you like Japanese remakes. Have you seen any of the originals?
Oh my goodness, what you’ve said about what make a horror movie good? YES! I mean… Let The Right One In? NOT scary… but still an extraordinary film and undeniably horror, right? And it SO personal… I mean, with a drama, even if you didn’t necessarily find it terribly entertaining, you can acknowledge that the acting was brilliant, and the screenplay was artfully written, but it just wasn’t your thing… if a horror movie isn’t scaring you, half the time it’s just FUNNY. And I mean, the Saw movies? Some people LOVE them. I’m not even interested in watching them.
Oh! Have you seen Wolf Creek? It’s an Australian one, and apparently it’s TERRIFYING! I haven’t seen it either.
Ugh, I don’t WANT to be a coward! I WANT to love horror, but I’m such a wuss! True story: I’ve only walked out of one movie in my whole life–Thirteen Ghosts. I know people will laugh at me on this one, but I was so scared 20 minutes in I was CRYING AND SHAKING.
*cough* Err, that’s a lie. I disliked King Kong (Peter Jackson’s) SO much, I walked out of it about 5 times. “I’m going to to go get a coffee”, “I’m going for a walk”, “I’m going… away from the horrifying animal cruelty *cries*”. But I kept going back in :P