MovieChat Forums > Knock Knock (2008) Discussion > where i think all these new slasher film...

where i think all these new slasher films fail...


Yeah, i too wasted $7 dollars in this dvd. Some points i've noticed that keep repeteadly being done in most 'modern' horror films (specially slashers):

1. Almost every new film looks extremely sharp / clean... Seems like all are being made in digital video or with similar techniques (i miss grainy 16 mm old independent films or even 35 mm old ones, which look raw and somehow add a really creepy feeling)

2. Everyone is pretty... even killers, violators, etc. Almost all these young actors / actresses don't show any personality at all... they all seem 'arranged' by plastic surgeons... Take a look to old Friday the 13th movie series, or rape & revenge flicks like Last House on the Left, I Spit on your Corpse, etc., and learn! Those look alot more like 'real' people!

3. That stupid video-clip editing. This particular movie (Knock Knock), has some really decent gore, but every killing is wasted with that 'oh i'm really modern & cool!' style of editing (so used nowadays)... Good gore looks better when shown directly (short or long shots), instead of this MTVish crappy editing (See old Dario Argento or Lucio Fulci films for example).

4. All the common restraints and poor qualities of most modern filmakers: bad script, bad photography, bad acting, bad directing, etc. I know that many 'so bad its good' movies lack of these, that's why i'm putting these at the end. The first 3 points are for me the worse, 'cause they've become a cliche trademark of most of the modern horror flicks. Sometimes one good thing in this last aspect can save a whole movie (bad movie but with good actors, bad movie but nice photography, etc.). Oh, also a little personality or originality always helps!

This is only a personal opinion, i think anyone could make their own conclusions or points where you think new horror films are failing.

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I love the older horror movies, particularly the slasher movies that isn't to say modern horrors aren't bad because some are rather decent. Like Penny Dreadful I watched yesterday! This one was a semi-decent affair! Nice original touch with the killing the kids of the father's who burned the actual killer in the mould of the profession that the father does.

But it does seem from your post that you are longing for oldie movies to continue being made. I'm afraid that won't happen. We have to get used to modern horror movies being created to make the generation of the 20th century happy. Technically I think it is wasted as today's generation doesn't know what true horror is about.

For example, Dawn of the Dead (1978), one of my all time favourites, if you asked someone into today's horror genre, they will mention the 2004 remake being better. Although for a remake the 2004 version was pretty good, it doesn't even scratch the surface of what the 78 version was about, the tension (showing the survivors of the mall gutting it out for months). Today's generation just want non-stop action from start to finish and nudity! Without any story.

I only axed ya for a smoke - Jack Frost

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Yes, there are some good new films out there. Sometimes the love for the genre in some new directors shows and that's very welcome. I understand that generations do change (damn, i'm becoming too old? ha), but also there are a few new moviegoers who are looking for older stuff because many of the new horror flicks are just plain boring (But of course, not all of them).

I hate remakes for what it implies: some brainless studio wants to make fast money so let's remake a movie. Or when a Hollywood studio buys the rights of a succesful foreign movie to re-make it for american audience (doing this is an insult to intelligence, but... while there be a lot of people diggin' this kind of remakes they will keep producing them).

In the other hand... Yeah, there have been some really good remakes as the one you mention, Dawn of the Dead... it was like revive the zombies!... i mean, revive the zombie genre... (but of course the original for me has many other interesting aspects besides the effects and the action). And of course the remakes made for the love of doing them (Inglourious Basterds from Tarantino, not exactly a remake but an hommage and respect to the original Inglorious Bastards of 1978 and all those war movies).

I just wanted to notice some common points that for me are making new bad movies. The good thing is that there are also some good films being made by independent filmakers (the problem is there are also a lot of really bad ones!).

Also something i think new north american filmakers should learn is what directors from other countries are doing right now (France, Sweden, Spain, different Asian countries are realising quite interesting and refreshing new horror films). That kind of creative feedback could help to bring new and different ideas for good horror movies of this generation.

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love how you know that the original dawn of the dead is a LOT better than the remake. I for the life of me can't understand how anyone can actually think the remake is good. I was pretty much completely unaffected by it. it was so weak and boring and unaffecting. the original from 1978 is amazing. it affected me on a primal, personal, and profound level. I mean it was at the time really close to the most disturbing film I had ever seen. It still is one of my top 5 most disturbing film experiences, watching it. It was so raw, so in your face, and so relentless, and so dark. It was such an upsetting experience watching it. it was even more disturbing than night of the living dead(1968)!

so, what are you saying, are you saying that today's movie watching generation doesn't know what true horror is about?

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the problem with horror movie remakes and every remake is that it's lazy, by the numbers, dialing it in movie making. there isn't any reinventing, or reinvigorating the movie industry going on with remakes nowadays. filmmakers of nowadays who make horror movies need to add something to them which make them their own and don't just copy the tried and true methods of horror films and even more so slasher films. don't you agree with me about why horror movies of nowadays aren't as good as they were in the '70s and '80s?

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