lucasorion

I've always had trouble watching horror movies where people get killed in particularly violent ways, and it has bothered me that I can't just sit there and have fun at a movie like "Dawn of the Dead" or "28 Days Later" - which I would like to see since I have a fascination with post-apocalyptic stories. My question is, how did you learn to not take these types of movies too seriously and just enjoy them for their entertainment value?

TomOpus

I always try to think how they did the effect... the technical side of it. Most of it doesn't look realistic to me anyways.

Jackskeleton

I learned how the film was made. Once you realize the how of things in the film then it's pretty much all gone.

Supermallet

Another vote for look to the technical side of it. However, I never really had to do this, as I have a pretty strong constitution for horror flicks. Even buying into the idea that it's real, I still don't have a problem with gore, and very few horror films scare me.

bjh_18

To tell you the truth, I really don't know. I can never remember actually being scared by a horror movie. I always thought they were just plain stupid and quite often funny because they were so bad.

scottall

When I was a kid, I could not watch horror movies since I would always have nightmares. My parents would tell me that it wasn't real, yet I would still be scared to death. I did not watch horror movies for several years and then I went back and watched a few. For some reason I wasn't scared and now I love to watch them.

In answer to your question, I think I just realized that there are many more things in life to be scared of than the fantasy of most horror movies, like the news. The only movie that has really gotten to me since I was a kid was Cannibal Holocaust, and I'm not sure if I want to see the other cannibal movies or not.

ArchibaldTuttle

most of the horror movies I watch have really fake fx, but cg fx are starting to catch up, plus it depends a lot on context, zombie gore doesn't bother me nearly as much as black hawk down gore for example

bjh_18

Yeah, the two are totally different, and really shouldn't even be compared. Horror gore has no effect on me because you know that it's all made up and fake and you can actually let the dark side of you enjoy it. But with films like Black Hawk Down or Saving Private Ryan, you know something very similar to that actually happened and there's a world of difference. It's more difficult to sit through that then something that's totally made up just for entertainment's sake.

Troy Stiffler

Little Monsters scared the crap out of me when I was 7.

I'm an excessively-imaginative, easily-scared guy. But no movie really keeps me going for more than a few minutes after the movie is over.

And, with the exception of House on Haunted Hill, I haven't really seen a good scary movie for a while. A couple got a little intense (ie Freddy VS Jason). But a lot of so-called horror movies lately are just trying to be too 'fun'. Most of these Joel Silver horror films are just killin' me here. I don't want a fake-looking, loud, obnoxious climax.

For good intense scare, I usually resort to Nightmare on Elm Street, and a couple older classics. The Wes Craven movies are probably my faves.

Oh, and for me, seeing behind-the-scenes stuff really takes away from the movie. I don't even watch DVD extras anymore. It just makes the movie expierence less magical. I'd rather have the shit scared out of me during a movie that be thinking about how an effect was done.

Giantrobo

Ahhh, but even a well done horror movie still works even if you know it's secrets inside and out.

Case and point:

JAWS

We all know the shark is fake....we have all seen the robot shark hanging in a room being painted... Most of us have been splashed by the robot shark that looks no better than the movie version at Universal Studios....

However, JAWS is still scarier today than the majority of horror movies made after it. Even THE DEEP BLUE SEA with it's very well done and realistically rendered CGI/mechanical sharks didn't scare nearly as much as that fake rubber robot shark from back in the 70's.

Obviously that triumph came from the horror YOU DIDN'T SEE......

Groucho

Odd you should say that. Black Hawk Down felt a lot like a zombie movie.

indy2029

The thing that upsets me is that most horror films these days are cheap thrills. Mostly a loud suspense sound followed by a killer who appears from the shadows.

What happened to the old days of horror and suspense? Halloween, Carpenter's the Thing. the Omen, Exorcist, even Friday the 13th all had thrills that developed and scared people.

I think Scream hurt the genre a lot with plot twists and dumb wit. The whole teen horror is really bad. Its a shame that all the franchises went this route (halloween, friday, jason).

I did enjoy Dawn of the Dead2k4 though. Great movie

Groucho

Huh? All those franchises have always been teen horror, and Scream was a loving homage/parody of those films.

Supermallet

Except for The Exorcist, and The Omen, and The Thing. So really, out of his list, the only teen horror films are Halloween and Friday the 13th.

I think Scream did the horror world a disservice by making it all tongue in cheek. Now there's something to be said for a self-referencing horror film, and Craven did it much better with A New Nightmare. There, the references were serious and took it out of its old context and made the material fresh. In Scream, they just make fun of old horror movies while still using the old horror cliches, so the audience says, "Oh, haha, I get it, wink wink, yeah!"

I don't mind humor mixed with my horror, just so long as the humor doesn't obliterate the actual horror aspects.

Horror Dude

the only movie that really scared me was Candyman, when it was first released, then again I was young...but it wasn't for the gore. I really don't think that horror movies really ever got to me, except when there is a dentist, drill, and some poor smuck's mouth open,,, For the most part I know that movies are fake, and that's that. For the record the more gore the better, and originality is key!!!

Rammsteinfan

I started watching Horror movies since I was 6. My parents didnt mind, they told me what was real and what was not while I grew up so it never bothers me.

NEUMANN

The horror movies that have scared me the most have very little gore in them(Halloween,Exorcist and the Ring)so i guess its not the gore that scares me its the suspense thats built up,NOTLD and Evil Dead are exceptions i guess because they where gory and scared me.I guess what i am trying to say is that it does'nt matter whether its gory or not to determine if its scary.If its well made it will be scary wether its gory or not.If its not well made it wont be scary whether its gory or not

Gyno Rhino

The only way I got over it is by murdering defenseless animals.

Well, either that or I've just seen them so many times I've become incredibly desensitized to violence.

Scot1458

when you are watching them and somebody dies, think of their parents raising them from a baby to a child to an adult, someone who is loved and treasured beyond belief.

Then they are murdered. It makes the pain go away.

Buford T Pusser

Question: How did you become 'desensitized' for horror flicks?


There's gotta be a joke about rubbing your member with VHS horror boxes.

Julie Walker

I agree with what what others have said. Basically horror films used to scare us to traumatizing lengths as kids. But today,we are more mature..& can take them better. So the fear aspect 'may' have diminished,but the fun aspect has not.

Yet then agian,it all depends on how the material is handled to really make an impact on ourselves in an 'awwwwww that was horrible!' reaction rather than "wow that was cool!".


I know some adults who barely watch anything above G ratings it seems,since they get upset at ALL acts of violence onscreen,right down to a tiny cut,they react in disgust & 'that is terrible..how could they film that?" which just blows my mind at their sheltered nature.

I think being 'that' sheltered is dangerous.


Anyway I still get upset at various slasher films deaths,since the key to making you get disturbed & offfended or horrifyed by what you view is,by placing yourself in the victims shoes. Imagine that happening to you,or someone you know/love. Really hits home & does the normal affect of getting under your skin.

Not all slasher films work that way. Halloween for example does not upset me,but it does frighten me. Meanwhile various Friday the 13ths,The Burning,Maniac & others really make me react badly('thats horrible!' to the gore scenes. Which is good,since it shows I am NOT desenstized to violence/gore in film. It is just a matter of how it is handled.

The new Dawn of the Dead has that as well,not all the gore scenes are 'funny' or 'thats awsome!'. A few of them are 'thats tragic,sad,just wrong!' since you may have actually liked the charecter alittle,or at least the tone of the scene was more serious & grim,than the previous scene.


I think the main problem with U.S. horror of the past few years,is not the gore or whatever. But the lack of actually attempting to scare you,creep you out...disturb & possible offend you. Instead,they shoved cleaned up,sanitized garbage down our throats that did their best to NOT scare or disturb us,all while selling us the latest shitty nu-metal soundtrack of one hit blunders with phony happy endings,or laughable 'jump scare' endings.



At least we are seeing a return of horror back to basics lately. Which is good,but things are still far from being as great(since many still fall into standard hollywood trappings) as the godern era of modern horror,which was the late 60's-early 80's.

But I will say the Dawn remake kicked ass..& I was alittle haunted by the opening credit sequence. I loved it,as it showed the whole apocalyptic end of the world,society crashing down...all to the beat of Johnny Cashes Man Comes Around,which is a song about the coming apocalypse. Really haunting stuff,I loved it!!!


So see the film & if you are disturbed,turned off,freaked out or whatever by the gore or tone of the film. That is GREAT...since horror should not make you feel safe & happy. It is meant to disturb,unsettle & possibly give you nightmares & I think Dawn brings that aspect out best out of all the new horror films.

Rypro 525

the only disturbing and scary horror movies are texas chainsaw massacre (original), and last house on the left.

lucasorion

I've got a confession to make - I saw a little featurette of Texas Chainsaw Massacre donewith Lego figurines in stop-motion and even that creeped me out.

I have no problem with medical gore, I've seen some pretty gross things in real life. The problem is with the senseless violence that people do to each other, like the curb-job scene in "American History X", which affected me as much as anything I've seen from a horror film. I'm not bothered by anything I've seen in a war movie, even with limbs being blown off. Maybe it's because I saw those wars as having some purpose, as opposed to depictions of senseless graphic violence. I guess I just haven't developed an immunity yet.

Buford T Pusser

Have you seen "I Spit On Your Grave"?

Rivero

Watched Peter Jackson's Dead Alive(Brain Dead) three times in a row when I was 6.

"This party's over!"

"I kick arse for the Lord!"


Makes the gore in the new Dawn of the Dead look like Sesame Street.