MovieChat Forums > Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954) Discussion > Requiem for Innocence

Requiem for Innocence

posted 18 years ago by pygmalion6
7 replies | jump to latest

Edited 11/3 to take out some unkind comments about slasher film fans.

I am cross-posting this message on about 30 old horror films from pre-1980 in the hopes that somebody out there shares my despair. I am feeling very lonely from my experience of the last few moments:
It is nearing midnight on Halloween 2006. This evening I've been flicking through TV channels and getting very depressed. True I have my DVDs to rely on, but I find it sad that there are no good old-fashioned monster movie marathons. You would think you'd be able to rely on the Sci-Fi channel, but for some perverse reason they are showing some wrestling federation. What "professional wrestling" has to do with sci-fi is quite beyond me. Any other movie channel acknowledging Halloween is showing slasher films.

For most of the past 25 years, the fun, the spookiness, the elegance, and the CLASS are all gone from horror films. Frankly, I hate to think what films I'd be watching if I were as "jaded" as today's audiences. I am in mind of a quote from the late Boris Karloff, the Grandmaster. A recent book on horror films recounted Boris talking to author Robert Bloch at a party, and Boris said: "There is nothing pleasant, nothing appealing about the word 'horror.' It doesn't promise entertainment. You and I, each in his own way, have devoted careers to providing chills, shocks, shudders. But we've done so only to amuse, to fulfill the same function as the time-honored teller of ghost stories who offers a few cold shivers to his audience in front of a warm fireplace on a winter's evening. No harm in that, surely. But I'll be blasted if either of us ever deliberately set out to horrify anyone. All this violence and brutality today, shown against a 'realistic' background -- now that's downright horrible!"

If you find these wonderful old horror films "lame", it's nothing to boast about, and I'd keep it to myself if I were you. To the contrary, it's quite sad if you find them so. Most today think the only merit to a film is how good the CGI special effects are. Or how many times they employ the cheap "cheat" where they play an obnoxiously loud chord of music to jolt the audience out of their seats (whether anything frightening is happening on the screen at the time of the loud music blast is immaterial). How lazy the creators of good horror films have become and how sadder still for those who watch them. They've desensitized themselves in a way that denies them 50 years worth of classics. There is no sadder word to describe someone than to say they have become "jaded."

[–] clbowman-1 17 years ago

I heartily agree with you. As a broadcasting student at my college I have often lamented to my roommates that all the new "horror" films are poor on plot and try ro drag their adolescent boy audiences in with graphic sex and pointless violet. It makes me sick. Whatever happened to good storytelling?

[–] tcshan 17 years ago

While you guys have a point, the thing to remember here is that times change, and everything changes with them. Me, I embrace the CGI and shock scenes.

[–] clbowman-1 17 years ago

I never said that I didn't like CGI. It can be a very useful tool when it is called for. However, I think that too many movies are using it as a crutch. If I ever make a movie, which I probably won't, I intend to use CGI only where it is necessary and let more realistic looking REAL LIFE take over the rest.

[–] Veturbo 17 years ago

I heartily agree with you. Modern "Horror" or "SCi-fi" films are for the most part absolute garbage. The true classics of the genres ( from the 20's, 30's, 40's and 50's) knew how to tell a story with atmosphere. They are not all great, but the best of the best were created with solid directing and fine acting. These films did away with needless exposition and got on with the plot. Today's semi-realistic CGI effects are a given. I'll take innovative hands-on effects any day even if they do appear unrealistic.

Take the 1925 Phantom of the Opera as an example. Could a movie with that mood and tone be made today? Definitely not.

[–] 17 years ago

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[–] pygmalion6 17 years ago

I too miss AMC's monsterfest before AMC became just another useless TNT like channel. I miss Sci_fi's channel's festivals before it became an exclusive and BORING network.

I agree, and that's become true of most cable networks. Sci-Fi channel's been the most disappointing since most of their "new" shows do nothing but prove how much better the older material was. Their newer series and movies suffer from the same rules used in making most films these days:

1. Special effects trump everything.
2. Don't hire any actor over 25. If you do, give him dialogue to make him sound like he's in high school.
3. Don't allow any dialogue between actors to last more than 2 minutes, without some action or explosions (the more absurdly disproportionate, the better).
4. Failing showing action, jiggle the camera to simulate it. After all, our camera work is more important than plot or acting, and it also may distract from the fact that our writing sucks eggs.
5. Make sure the incidental music drowns out all dialogue, for the same "sucks eggs" reason.

And you're right about the movie networks morphing into each other, but it's even worse for the others networks. Cable's best days were in the mid-80's when each network truly was distinct. Back then MTV meant "MUSIC television". TLC meant "The LEARNING Channel" (when's the last time they aired anything worth learning?). A&E USED to mean "ARTS & Entertainment" but I doubt they've aired anything even remotely artistic in the past 15 years (they once did...quite frequently). History Channel has now become "Mystery-Mongering". Cartoon Network is clearly bored with itself. Now all the cable networks have morphed into each other so there is little difference between them. It's all the same "scripted" reality shows and Top 50 this-or-that "documentaries" with a bunch of also-ran stand-up comedians mugging to the camera...regardless of what network you're watching. For some time I had been resorting to TV Land network to remind myself of a time when audiences had attention spans, but they too have taken aboard those same in-house documenataries that seem to come pre-fab out of a bottle. So now DVDs are the only escape.
It's a good thing all channels now include that stupid little graphic in the lower-right corner of the screen (another reason to not watch movies on TV anymore), otherwise you'd never guess what channel from the programming content.
A wealth of channel choices and they are now all the same. Thank you marketing and demographic experts...

[–] No_Big_Fan 17 years ago

I agree - it seems audiences today need to be jangled and throttled in order to get a reaction.

I am by no means a "horror fan", but I can appreciate how the old monster movies built up suspense and atmosphere. It was more subtle, it required a lot more attention of the audience.

Today's movies more often take the "cheap" way of providing thrills.

Maybe it's because I DON'T watch a lot of movies, but I want to be told an engaging STORY, dang it!