Today's Horror Trend
I am somewhat disturbed by the current trend in horror movies, that of the "torture flick". Saw, Hostel, Captivity, etc-- these are the horror movies that teenagers flock to see today. I wonder if this could be a result of the actions our government has been taking in its war on terror. In 2004, the thought of torture was horrific and the public decried it when it was brought up. Nowadays, if you mentioned torture to someone, they'd probably tell you which trap from the Saw series was their favorite. Are we being systematically desensitized to inflicting pain upon other people? Every victim of Jigsaw in the Saw movies is given some reason for their suffering. They were a murderer, or they were a prostitute, or they were a drug dealer. They deserve what they got, we are told, and so we feel no remorse for them.
It used to be the case that horror movies served the purpose of teaching morality. 80s horror tried to give teenagers the idea that sex and drugs lead to a man in a hockey mask crushing your skull or a guy with knives for fingers tossing you about the ceiling of your bedroom in your underwear. Teenagers were discouraged from partaking in these deviant habits out of fear for their lives. In the 90s horror took a turn toward self parody. Movies like Scream, I Know What You Did Last Summer, and Urban Myth all played off the old tales of death, either through mocking old films or the stories exchanged around campfires. But the horror of 00 is shameful. It has no plot beyond inflicting damage to people and making the audience scream more in disgust than fear.
There are exceptions to every rule, but for the most part, today's horror is awful. Horror producers these days seem to think, "Why scare a person with their imagination when you can just traumatize them by showing someone get their chest torn open or their head explode?"
It used to be the case that horror movies served the purpose of teaching morality. 80s horror tried to give teenagers the idea that sex and drugs lead to a man in a hockey mask crushing your skull or a guy with knives for fingers tossing you about the ceiling of your bedroom in your underwear. Teenagers were discouraged from partaking in these deviant habits out of fear for their lives. In the 90s horror took a turn toward self parody. Movies like Scream, I Know What You Did Last Summer, and Urban Myth all played off the old tales of death, either through mocking old films or the stories exchanged around campfires. But the horror of 00 is shameful. It has no plot beyond inflicting damage to people and making the audience scream more in disgust than fear.
There are exceptions to every rule, but for the most part, today's horror is awful. Horror producers these days seem to think, "Why scare a person with their imagination when you can just traumatize them by showing someone get their chest torn open or their head explode?"