Monday Morning Quarterback Part II

By BOP Staff

May 4, 2010

Doesn't it look like the other two guys are plotting against #24?

New at BOP:
Share & Save
Digg Button  
Print this column
Kim Hollis: I have a really difficult time with this question because at some point, horror films became a thing I just stopped liking. I hate the gore and I hate the use of loud noises to scare the audience. It's so cheap. I'd like to think that at some point, we might see more psychological horror like Shutter Island (even though I'm not fond of the movie, I did like some things it was trying to do).

Tim Briody: While it was probably a once a decade phenomenon (see Blair Witch Project, The), how quickly we've forgotten that Paranormal Activity cost 50 bucks to make and made over $100 million. That, and the Saw franchise, while kneecapped last year by PA, will still rebound nicely this year. These remakes of everything under the sun are just here to pass the time and make a quick buck.
Michael Lynderey: Ah, new decade, new horror trends. Or here's hoping, at least. Torture porn died in 2007 (no complaints), Asian remakes in 2008 (still no tears), but the reboots have stayed sturdy and unimpeachable still (complaints and tears). As long as they're able to deliver these $32 million weekends, they're going to keep (re)making them, especially since the neat thing about horror is that you never quite run out of material. Remember, the '90s are moving further back into the past year by year, so you're de facto getting into Candyman and Chucky remake territory.

That said, I do think horror remakes will move aside in the coming few years (not so for non-horror remakes), but the next big trend is almost impossible to predict. I don't think it'll quite be those shaky-cam movies - if that was going to happen, it would've happened by now, and the really successful ones are always made outside of the studio system. Most horror series are sort of dead as far as sequels go, and if they've still got a pulse, it's one that's just about to peter out (see Saw VII, which I fully believe will be the last one). Nothing I've seen this year or last looks to me like it's going to inspire a lasting horror trend, so we're just going to have to wait and see on this one. It won't be long.




Advertisement



Reagen Sulewski: We know that actual ideas are out, but horror movie have done well when they've really captured a base, elemental fear and magnified it - Jaws, The Exorcist, Blair Witch ... I'd like to see some films in the environmental horror area, which could carry as much metaphor as the zombie movie seems to have been able to.

Matthew Huntley: I agree with Josh that 3-D seems to be the next big thing for horror movies. I also wouldn't put it past the studios to combine villains from various franchises and stick them together in one movie. Although, this too has been done before (Freddy vs. Jason). Unfortunately, because remakes and sequels are more bankable than ever, I don't anticipate an original trend to arrive any time soon. Like Kim, I can only hope that horror becomes more psychological and emotional (The Orphanage) instead gory and sensational, but until these prove to be less costly and more profitable, it might be a while before we see an original take and new direction for the genre.


Continued:       1       2       3       4

     


 
 

Need to contact us? E-mail a Box Office Prophet.
Tuesday, April 23, 2024
© 2024 Box Office Prophets, a division of One Of Us, Inc.