Horror: Is it dead or has it entered a new renaissance?

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courtesy of Universal Pictures and Blumhouse

The Effects of Horror

We all know Halloween has enjoyed its run as a franchise and holds plenty of good films in its library. We also know that it’s had some real stinkers. Like a dead hooker in the trunk of a car left in the junkyard kind of stinkers.

They tried to remake it for a new generation. It was given a nice-sized budget and helmed by the madman who gave us The Devil’s Rejects. In the end, though, the final result was met with dismay among hardcore fans.

Compare Rob Zombie’s Halloween to last October’s; the record speaks for itself. Fans flocked in droves to see the hellacious return of Michael Myers once again and ticket sales were through the roof.

I personally saw the movie three times, which I seldom ever re-watch a film at the theater. The old black magic of the slasher genre was back and we were spell-bound. Halloween proved that we don’t want reboots, rehashes, remakes, or re-imaginations of our beloved franchises. We want continuation.

Horror- Halloweenmovie-courtesy-of-Blumhouse-and-Universal-Pictures.

We were given familiar faces, faces now lined with age and with eyes haunted by a trauma that will never end, much like a nightmare that can never be awakened from. Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) is a damaged person. She not only bears the scars of a butcher knife, but she also carries the ghosts of a haunted past bearing down on her with every step she reluctantly takes.

She’s not a superhero. She’s human, flawed and shaken to her core. And that is what motivates her character.

It’s an ingenious study of the Final Girl archetype. It’s a movie that dares ask what would happen to those Final Girls. What would they be like decades after surviving a surreal catastrophe that left all of their friends and family murdered? What kind of guilt would they carry with them? And in the end, isn’t that the real horror?

Halloween dared to show us the depths of the human heart before cutting it out right before our eyes. It makes us uncomfortable. Kind of like how the horror films of yesteryear managed to do.

Horror- courtesy of George Romero’s ‘Dawn of the Dead’

It doesn’t take a lot to gross someone out. You can slice out tendons and burn out eyeballs to get a knee-jerk gross-out reaction from the audience, but that’s amateurish. It takes true talent and mastery of the genre to scare an audience to death. Horror in its purest form does that, and I believe we are seeing it’s renaissance today.

And it’s showing no sign of stopping anytime soon. Already Stephen King fans are looking forward to some exciting projects on the horizon. Pet Sematary, Doctor Sleep, and IT: Chapter 2 all have us on the edge of our seats already.

Is Horror Dead?

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In my manic opinion, no, horror is not dead. It’s not even sleeping. It’s a beast that is fully awake and running wild. It’s reaching out to all platforms.

Eibon Press is storming the comic book world with both original horror content and the resurrection of some of the exploitations’ absolute best (atrocities) cult classics. Already the third installment of the highly anticipated MANIAC is about to go on sale and fans of the film will not want to miss any that Eibon has to offer. Not to mention they’ve also announced the newest installment of Lucio Fulci’s Zombie comic is in the making.

Resident Evil 2 is being released this month, which that alone should perk gamers’ interest. Not to mention a World War Z game is on its way. I may not have liked the movie all that much, but wow! The trailer shows us legions of zombies piling into rotting towers to scour human safety zones. That is something I can get behind and I can’t wait to dive into that crazy world.

And let’s not forget how last summer one movie marathon (that was only supposed to be a single event) went on to become a thriving phenomenon. Joe Bob broke the damn internet!

That one-time-only event suddenly became a thing. We not only got to later spend the holidays with Joe Bob, but Shudder is giving him a regular spot this Spring.

Next. Edgar Wright is returning to horror. dark

Be it via video games, comics, or the cinema we are seeing a huge surge in the genre. There’s plenty to celebrate. So here’s to a great 2019 and let’s keep the genre thriving.

Fan of the horror genre? Thing fear films are having a renaissance? Let the other terror titian know what you think in the comment section below.

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