I recently read an article Screencrush.com about the 10 biggest Horror Movie Cliches and the one that really stand out was 2. "Car never starts" instead of 1. "everyone is an idiot". Why is it that the cars never start? Do the batteries on the cars magically die, or do the car just decided not to start. Maybe the car is scared too. And 3 "Bad Cell Reception". In the time before cell phone I would have believe that the phone will not work, but now it is hard to believe. Is the killer/ monster messing with the cell towers or something? I enjoyed watching horror movies but whenever I see some of there cliches it really ruins the movie for me.
Read the whole article here http://screencrush.com/horror-movie-cliches/
Horror films for the sake of horror itself. Therefore, implausibility ensues. Need to call the police? Fuck it, there's no reception! Need to construct a well thought out plan to capture/defeat the killer? Well, too bad, because this pretentious jackass in the group says do something else! Are you a woman who is usually strong and independent, but can't seem to fight back against the killer unless you has a conveniently placed gun in hand? Well, hooray for sexist portrayals. Can't seem to gain the upper hand over the killer, even though there is no indication that he is intelligent in any sense? Well, sucks to be you then.
ReplyDeleteI would have to disagree somewhat with item number 1 though. It is still possible to create horror if your main character is actually very intelligent. And if the villain also happens to be intelligent, it becomes a mind game and an ever-growing tension in the background. Take the movies "Silence of the Lambs" and "Red Dragon" for example. Though they're not entirely horror, there are very strong elements of it in both of those movies.
Totally agree. Is why I never cared for the Hack and Splash flims. Horror is in the mind and it is in the imagination that finds its most fertile ground. Movies where less is shown and more is left unknown, at least till the end, are able to generate the real spine tingles.
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