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Scary Movies Standards Over Time


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Life shouldn't seem to be scarier than it was ten or twenty years ago, at least not in the U.S. Actually, the homicide rate has declined to levels last seen in the in the late 60's. But then again, seeing Michael Moore's face is pretty damn scary ::.

I'm not sure, since I didn't live in those decades, but maybe they are showing more of these homocides on TV.

I'm not saying the news freaks me out or anything, I'm just saying it kind of decensifies this generation.

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Here's a nice vampire.

pdSUEMD0001.jpg

Seriously, though, I can't say much about today's 'horror' movies, because I don't watch them any more. I burned out on them probably when I hit twenty-two or so. There's only so much gore a person can watch before it gets repetitive.

It seems today's version of 'horror' is go scare people with what 'might happen to you' films, i.e., natural disasters, nuclear holocausts, etc. And people pay to see it. As long as that happens, people will make the movie.

So, with seeing all the 'real horror' in the world today up on the silver screen, yesteryear's version of horror seems campy and comical. Vampires, and ghouls and such. Ha Ha, titter titter. Funny stuff, right?

Anyway, I don't know where I'm going with this, but brother, I'm on my way!!LOL.

Personally, if I'm going to watch something for a scare, I'd rather it be supernatural. Now that scares the bejesus out of me. The Sixth Sense is probably the best in that category in the last 20 years, (Of course, I haven't seen many, so I could be wrong)

The Gift was a pretty good movie, as well, but I thought it could have been much better.

Anyway, I'll leave you with a few of Russ Meyer's gals. Why? Who cares! faster-pussycat_car.jpg

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I'm not sure, since I didn't live in those decades, but maybe they are showing more of these homocides on TV.

I'm not saying the news freaks me out or anything, I'm just saying it kind of decensifies this generation.

I think you mean "homicides" ;) I'm sort of ambivalent towards the thought that we live in a more desensitized society (it's more like we live in a time of information overload...). I'm gonna go with the fact that some parents keep tabs on what their kids are watching. When I first saw The Exorcist, it was by accident at my friend's house and I was almost 7. It scared me s***less for the next couple of years. Pretty much the horror films I saw before I was a teen scared me to a certain extent, but the older I got, the less effective they seemed to be when it came to being frightening. I attribute that to maturing and gaining knowledge that helped demystify some of those old, childhood notions I had. So, unless you're 10 or 11, I wouldn't be so quick to judge horror films as ineffective on an audience. I mean, the more mystical you tend to be in your thinking (i.e. that you believe in ghosts, in angels, in the "devil," evil spirits, magic, the chupacabra, and crap like that), I'd think the more effect horror films will have on you until you begin to think rationally and objectively.

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It seems to me that the horror movies of old tended to be over-the-top and mostly unrealistic. Meant to strike fear into a younger crowd and spook them through the course of the movie and maybe for a week afterward. But horror movies nowadays try to be more realistic given killers that seem more like real people that have horrible minds and could be representive of any person walking this Earth today. Instead of scary we get into more of a creepy feeling that this could actually happen, though not always likely.

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What would be considered recent by our standards :beatnik:

M (1930)

Eyes Without A Face (1959)

Peeping Tom (1960)

Psycho (1960)

A Clockwork Orange (1972)

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)

Salo (1975)

Emanuelle In America (1976) (8MM isn't even half as disturbing...)

I Spit On Your Grave (1978)

Cannibal Holocaust (1979)

Maniac (1980)

Anthropophagus (1981)

Cannibal Ferox (1983)

Beyond Darkness: Buio Omega (1984)

Emanuelle And The Last Cannibals (1984)

Blue Velvet (1986)

Mangiati Vivi (1986)

Men Behind The Sun (1988)

Henry: Portrait Of A Serial Killer (1990)

The Vanishing (1991) (made over 10 years ago and I'm not talking about the Hollywood re-make).

Benny's Video (1992)

Granted, a lot may not scare one out of their seats, but I'd hardly call the yesteryears of cinema less violent and revolting or that they wouldn't explore the darker side of horror. Most of these films were made before some board members were born, so it's not a recent phenomena. Again, because Brad Pitt is in Se7en (in itself not a very recent flick), that one will garner more attention by to-day's standards and that will be seen as the shocking and disturbing level that exemplifies our entertainment. Even weirder is that classics like The Vanishing are remade for US audiences and alter the scary parts to make them "softer" for us :beatnik: Something like Ichi The Killer and Oldboy are the exception to the rule. That stuff will hardly get major distribution here and only those who want to take the extra step to look for it will find it.

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