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[ForAcademicPurposes]

The house(s) in Paranormal Activity are gigantic fuck you mansions complete with a garden and a pool and a driveway. Is this the American Dream? Minus the Poltergeists?

 

[The Cockatrice]

Is this the American Dream? Minus the Poltergeists?

Yes, including the Poltergeists.

 

[ForAcademicPurposes]

Yes, including the Poltergeists.

Would you risk it?

 

[The Cockatrice]

Would you risk it?

For that big of a house? Hell yeah, I'd be eating the ghosts ass as well.

 

[ForAcademicPurposes]

For that big of a house? Hell yeah, I'd be eating the ghosts ass as well.

Just a normal Tuesday

I'd watch the shit ouf ot this film

 

[Clear]

On balance, its unquestionably the 1970's, because that decade had the broadest variety of trends and styles.

Consider that at the start of the 70's we're at the tail-end of the era of Hammer and Amicus, the "technicolor" gothic horror boom that superceded the era of the Universal Monsters starting in the late 1950's.

In Europe, again coming in from the 60's we have the peak of the Giallo sub-genre, bringing a less fantastical flavour to accompany the traditional gothic and supernatural product.

Meanwhile In the US, we have the next revolution in horror - starting with The Exorcist in 1973 that killed Dracula and the rest of the traditional monster pantheon more decisively than any stake through the heart!

Following this initial cycle of possession/satan movies we then get the birth of the modern slasher movie; movies that kinda took the black-gloved killer of the Giallo and mostly dispensed with the "whodunnit" aspect to focus on suspense and shocks.

All across the board boundaries of extremity and taboo are being pushed, Cannibal movies (essentially spinning out from revisionist Westerns like A Man Called Horse), Nazisploitation movies, Zombie movies (following Romero), Sexploitation crossovers that made the most of relaxation of censorship and the viability of hardcore... I could go on, but I think the point is made.

If you like horror, pretty much of *any* style, there are classics to be found in the 1970's. Not to mention the fact that its the either the birth or heyday of so many legendary genre film-makers... I could list them but it'd be pretty redundant as more or less every big name was active during the decade.

Honestly, on reflection the 70's is absolutely untouchable.

 

[Hawk The Slayer]

Easily the 80s even as someone born after it.

Night of the Demon
Friday the 13th series
Nightmare on Elm Street
Maniac Cop
Sleep Away Camp
Phenomena
Hellraiser
Gremlim
Child's Play
Terminator
Return of the Living Dead
Maxiumum Overdrive
Ghoulies
Critters
Creature
Forbidden Planet
Slumber Party Massacre
Halloween movies
The Thing
Prince of Darkness
Motel Hell
Killer Klowns
Fright Night
Reanimator
Star Crystal
Aliens

And many many more. The 70s had some good ones too like Suspira, Tenebrae, Deep Red etc. And 90s but none of them stand close to the 80s.

 

[NeverYouMind]

On balance, its unquestionably the 1970's, because that decade had the broadest variety of trends and styles.

Consider that at the start of the 70's we're at the tail-end of the era of Hammer and Amicus, the "technicolor" gothic horror boom that superceded the era of the Universal Monsters starting in the late 1950's.

In Europe, again coming in from the 60's we have the peak of the Giallo sub-genre, bringing a less fantastical flavour to accompany the traditional gothic and supernatural product.

Meanwhile In the US, we have the next revolution in horror - starting with The Exorcist in 1973 that killed Dracula and the rest of the traditional monster pantheon more decisively than any stake through the heart!

Following this initial cycle of possession/satan movies we then get the birth of the modern slasher movie; movies that kinda took the black-gloved killer of the Giallo and mostly dispensed with the "whodunnit" aspect to focus on suspense and shocks.

All across the board boundaries of extremity and taboo are being pushed, Cannibal movies (essentially spinning out from revisionist Westerns like A Man Called Horse), Nazisploitation movies, Zombie movies (following Romero), Sexploitation crossovers that made the most of relaxation of censorship and the viability of hardcore... I could go on, but I think the point is made.

If you like horror, pretty much of *any* style, there are classics to be found in the 1970's. Not to mention the fact that its the either the birth or heyday of so many legendary genre film-makers... I could list them but it'd be pretty redundant as more or less every big name was active during the decade.

Honestly, on reflection the 70's is absolutely untouchable.

The amount of bad vampire and cult movies should disqualify the 1970s even if there are quite a few shining stars. I am also not a fan of the really fucked up shit that leaked over to the early 80s.

---

I really like the flavor of 90s horror myself. I like the characters being more self aware and cliché without being cheesy. 90s horror has many surreal elements and a lot of great adaptations. Some of my favorites:

Jacob's Ladder - A man's life unravels when the delayed effects of an experimental military project take effect.


I Still Know What You Did Last Summer - A survivor of a 4th of July massacre is stalked by a hook wielding serial killer during a tropic getaway.


In The Mouth of Madness - To deliver a new novel to a publisher, an insurance agent tracks down a reclusive author of books said to drive the audience mad.


Additional 90s Horror: Arachnophobia, Braindead, Bram Stroker's Dracula, Candyman, Cemetery Man, Cronos, Cube, Event Horizon, Disturbing Behavior, Flatliners, From Dusk Till Dawn, Halloween H20: 20 Years Later, Graveyard Shift, I Know What You Did Last Summer, Leprechaun, Night of The Living Dead (1990), Misery, Ringu, Scream, Silence of the Lambs, Sleepy Hollow, Stephen King's It (1990), Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight, The Exorcist III, The Faculty, The Haunting, The Lawnmower Man, The Ninth Gate, The People Under The Stairs, Thinner, Tremors, Urban Legend, Wishmaster.

P.S. For sheer spectacle, I don't think the 2000s can be beaten with their amazing effects. Films like Final Destination, Dagon, and Cloverfield are still jaw dropping to this day whereas the high-end special effects of 90s and 80s films look sorta funny.

 

[Clear]

You guys are crazy...

Obvious mainstream titles, bigger and more influential than practically anything else in history.

The Exorcist
Jaws
Alien

Then we have;

Prime Argento: Suspiria/Profondo Rosso
Tobe Hooper: Texas Chainsaw Massacre / Eaten Alive
Early Craven: The Hills Have Eyes / Last House On The Left
Early Carpenter: Assault on Precinct 13/Halloween / The Fog
Romero at his best: Dawn Of The Dead / Martin / The Crazies
Fulci when he still got decent budgets: Don't Torture A Duckling /Zombi 2 (aka Flesh Eaters)
Early Cronenberg: Shivers/Rabid/The Brood
Early DePalma: Phantom Of The Paradise / Carrie / The Fury

How about:

The Wicker Man
Don't Look Now
Phantasm
Invasion Of The Body Snatchers
Cannibal Holocaust

And this is disregarding all the late era Hammer, and Amicus movies, all the great later Vincent Price (AIP UK) movies like the Phibes movies and Theatre Of Blood.

From Italy we have the entire giallo phenomenon! From France Rollin's oddball arty sexploitation stuff, from Spain Serrador's Would You Kill a Child and Avati's House with Laughing Windows.

Seriously, if you think there's any argument in terms of quality and impact, you need to learn more about the genre.

Sorry, that's the plain truth from someone who generally consider's himself an 80's guy.

 

[NeverYouMind]

You guys are crazy...

Obvious mainstream titles, bigger and more influential than practically anything else in history.

The Exorcist
Jaws
Alien

Then we have;

Prime Argento: Suspiria/Profondo Rosso
Tobe Hooper: Texas Chainsaw Massacre / Eaten Alive
Early Craven: The Hills Have Eyes / Last House On The Left
Early Carpenter: Assault on Precinct 13/Halloween / The Fog
Romero at his best: Dawn Of The Dead / Martin / The Crazies
Fulci when he still got decent budgets: Don't Torture A Duckling /Zombi 2 (aka Flesh Eaters)
Early Cronenberg: Shivers/Rabid/The Brood
Early DePalma: Phantom Of The Paradise / Carrie / The Fury

How about:

The Wicker Man
Don't Look Now
Phantasm
Invasion Of The Body Snatchers
Cannibal Holocaust

And this is disregarding all the late era Hammer, and Amicus movies, all the great later Vincent Price (AIP UK) movies like the Phibes movies and Theatre Of Blood.

From Italy we have the entire giallo phenomenon! From France Rollin's oddball arty sexploitation stuff, from Spain Serrador's Would You Kill a Child and Avati's House with Laughing Windows.

Seriously, if you think there's any argument in terms of quality and impact, you need to learn more about the genre.

Sorry, that's the plain truth from someone who generally consider's himself an 80's guy.

I have watched many of those in the last year and I did not think they held up well outside of cinematography. Most characters in these films have a stage actor vibe and that took me out of the moment. Also, Cannibal Holocaust was released in 1980 and is part of what I disliked most about some 70s horror (the macabre just for the sake of it).

I will still to this day enthusiastically rewatch the Carpenter films, Black Christmas, Dawn of the Dead, House, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and Seven Notes in Black but that does not mean I like the decade in horror as a whole.

 

[Clear]

I have watched many of those in the last year and I did not think they held up well outside of cinematography. Most characters in these films have a stage actor vibe and that took me out of the moment. Also, Cannibal Holocaust was released in 1980 and is part of what I disliked most about some 70s horror (the macabre just for the sake of it).

I will still to this day enthusiastically rewatch the Carpenter films, Black Christmas, Dawn of the Dead, House, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and Seven Notes in Black but that does not mean I like the decade in horror as a whole.

To be honest I'd class most anything released in 1980 as being "of the 70's" given that some sources use year of production as opposed to year of release, as its the more definitive date due to calendar variances and release patterns. A good example being Friday the 13th which was shot and finished in '79 despite not releasing til May 80.

I mean if we're talking about cinematic decades I think what we're really getting at is the general vibe of the product as a whole, and what people tend to think of as emblematic of 80's horror I think only really was a thing '81 onwards. I mean, stuff released in 1980, like F13, Maniac etc. still have a late 70's grit, whereas by 1981 and certainly 82 the look and music of the 80's is way more apparent.

And then of course there are cases where a single movie creates a sea-change in what horror is. I mean like I wrote in my first post, The Exorcist killed gothic horror practically overnight. We go from Exorcist in '73 to The Omen in '76 to The Amityville Horror in '79... all huge hits that are thematically and culturally of-a-piece and entirely different to what's come before.

Much as I love 80's horror, in retrospect it feels to me like the genre started on a steady downswing past the middle of decade, a process that continued well into a 90's with movies that tended to be fun but nothing classic, and certainly not revolutionary.

Great discussion btw. We're all entitled to like what we like, and as Clive Barker sagely noted back in the 80's Horror reinvents itself for each new generation.

 

[ForAcademicPurposes]

I've got room for one more (large) poster in my bedroom and I'm trying to decide which one to get. Leaning hard on Event Horizon because I already have a science fiction theme going on in here.

I've always hearted Wes Craven's Nightmare on Elm Street. I consider it to be one of the best but it wouldn't compliment the others.

 

[Artoris]

I cant pick a decade the was a lot of good stuff from 80s to 2010

 

[Days like these...]

90's-2000's were the worst decades followed by 80's but at least the 80's had some of the best classics. 90's were mostly trash with good films few and far between. What even classic came out in the 2000's? Kairo and a few other Asian horror movies?

 

[NeverYouMind]

I've got room for one more (large) poster in my bedroom and I'm trying to decide which one to get. Leaning hard on Event Horizon because I already have a science fiction theme going on in here.

I've always hearted Wes Craven's Nightmare on Elm Street. I consider it to be one of the best but it wouldn't compliment the others.

I am not a big sci-fi fan but the Aliens poster always looked cool as hell to me.

90's-2000's were the worst decades followed by 80's but at least the 80's had some of the best classics. 90's were mostly trash with good films few and far between. What even classic came out in the 2000's? Kairo and a few other Asian horror movies?

Autopsy, Joy Ride, Wrong Turn, Hatchet, FeardotCom, Ginger Snaps, Gothica, Tales of Terror: Haunted Apartment, Pulse, Art Of The Devil 2, Dark Water (2002), Apartment 1303 (2007), Insidious, Phobia 2, Cloverfield, Shutter, The Grudge, The Signal (2007), The Collector, The Mist, Session 9, Cabin Fever, Hostel, Saw, The Skeleton Key, Dagon, Los Otros, 28 Days Later, Frontier, and Final Destination. We have had this conversation before though.

 

[ForAcademicPurposes]

I am not a big sci-fi fan but the Aliens poster always looked cool as hell to me.

A good option. I've thought about it too. The blue also compliments the Ghost in the Shell poster that I have. Thing is I already have an Alien (1979) poster. It's not big but it's Alien.

 

[ForAcademicPurposes]

I suppose it would make more sense to frame something Cowboy Bebop related next to it. Not horror but absolutely legendary.

Here's Jordan Peele's Nope which I'm very fond. Again with a blue color scheme.

 

[Days like these...]

I am not a big sci-fi fan but the Aliens poster always looked cool as hell to me.

Autopsy, Joy Ride, Wrong Turn, FeardotCom, Ginger Snaps, Gothica, Tales of Terror: Haunted Apartment, Pulse, Art Of The Devil 2, Dark Water (2002), Insidious, Phobia 2, Cloverfield, Shutter, The Grudge, The Signal (2007), The Collector, The Mist, Session 9, Cabin Fever, Hostel, Saw, The Skeleton Key, Dagon, 28 Days Later, Frontier, and Final Destination. We have had this conversation before though.

The best films during those decades were all Asian Kairo, Dark Water, Shutter, the Grudge, (Ringu and Noroi which you didn't mention). In terms of American horror you have Paranormal Activity, 28 Days Later, Insidious and Blair Witch Project which were good not a real strong list across 2 decades imo

 

[NeverYouMind]

The best films during those decades were all Asian Kairo, Dark Water, Shutter, the Grudge, (Ringu and Noroi which you didn't mention). In terms of American horror you have Paranormal Activity, 28 Days Later, Insidious and Blair Witch Project which were good not a real strong list across 2 decades imo

I was only addressing 2000s and I did not like Noroi or the American adaptation of Ringu enough to mention them. My favorite horror films of the 2000s were Spanish (Dagon, Los Otros, and [REC]) and American (Cloverfield, Final Destination, and The Skeleton Key). I would also mention Pan's Labyrinth (Spanish), but it was not really horror per se. As far as the 90s are concerned the American horror films were dominant. The Asian ones were super niche and an acquired taste.

Dark Water (2002) is really the only one I would rate highly of those you listed. I much preferred Art of the Devil 2 (TH 2005), Apartment 1303 (JP 2007), and House (JP 1977) to it though.

P.S. Blair Witch Project and Paranormal Activity are trash-tier to me. Streamer garbage before streaming became mainstream.

 

[ForAcademicPurposes]

The best films during those decades were all Asian Kairo, Dark Water, Shutter, the Grudge, (Ringu and Noroi which you didn't mention). In terms of American horror you have Paranormal Activity, 28 Days Later, Insidious and Blair Witch Project which were good not a real strong list across 2 decades imo

Not many pop culture icons were born in the 90s. From the top of my head, Ghostface and Candyman, Sadako etc.

Some good films though:

• The Exorcist III
• Jacob's Ladder
• In the Mouth of Madness
• The Faculty
• Candyman
• Tremors
• The Sixth Sense
• Event Horizon
• Cube
• Scream
• Species
• Blade
• Deep Rising
• Predator 2
• Army of Darkness
• Night of the Living Dead
• From Dusk Til Dawn
• Vampires
• Funny Games
• Ringu
• Audition

 

[Days like these...]

I was only addressing 2000s and I did not like Noroi or the American adaptation of Ringu enough to mention them. My favorite horror films of the 2000s were Spanish (Dagon, Los Otros, and [REC]) and American (Cloverfield, Final Destination, and The Skeleton Key). I would also mention Pan's Labyrinth (Spanish), but it was not really horror per se. As far as the 90s are concerned the American horror films were dominant. The Asian ones were super niche and an acquired taste.

Dark Water (2002) is really the only one I would rate highly of those you listed. I much preferred Art of the Devil 2 (TH 2005), Apartment 1303 (JP 2007), and House (JP 1977) to it though.

P.S. Blair Witch Project and Paranormal Activity are trash-tier to me. Streamer garbage before streaming became mainstream.

Different strokes. I respect your opinion even though I disagree. Yeah, I loved REC, Pan's Labyrinth and Devil's Backbone too. If you take away the Asian and Spanish horror then the situation was even more dire during that time.

 

[NeverYouMind]

Different strokes. I respect your opinion even though I disagree. Yeah, I loved REC, Pan's Labyrinth and Devil's Backbone too. If you take away the Asian and Spanish horror then the situation was even more dire during that time.

Despite a larger quantity of films of varying origins coming out today I would prefer the non-Asian/Spanish releases of the 2000s to the last decade of horror.

 

[ForAcademicPurposes]

I am of the opinion that old horror should be watched in standard definition and nothing higher than that.

 

[jason10mm]

I think the 80's had a lot of 70's style horror films but with better budgets/effects, so they are more rewatchable. REAL low budget stuff suffers for it. But for atmospheric horror it was 1000% 70's era directors who cut their teeth on proper shooting techniques that then got the tech to do proper effects.

Then somewhere in the 90's directors got too lazy, too many jump edits, CG took over from practical, and it all fell apart. Plus we have really lost the sleezy/pervy camera eye that helped many a horror film bridge the gaps between moments of suspense and terror. Playing lust and terror off each other is a vital ingredient to lots of these films (IMHO).

 

[ForAcademicPurposes]

Plus we have really lost the sleezy/pervy camera eye that helped many a horror film bridge the gaps between moments of suspense and terror. Playing lust and terror off each other is a vital ingredient to lots of these films (IMHO).

I know what you mean but can you indulge me nonetheless? What are you favorite examples from the past?

 

[Big Baller]

 

[jason10mm]

I know what you mean but can you indulge me nonetheless? What are you favorite examples from the past?

I feel like a lot of more recent horror films are fairly sterile. You have guys like Eli Roth, the Terrifier guy, or Ty West with the Maxine films where there is flesh on display, (mostly) women being put in very uncomfortable, dangerous situations, a salacious element with sex, peeping tom type views of women undressing, a stalking element, all that kind of thing that adds titillation and arousal that then gets carried over to horror and fear when folks get killed. This was in full swing back in the 70's and 80's with Wes Craven, the FXIII films, Halloween, etc as well as the italian stuff. Yeah, it's gross and pervy when you look at it objectively but I think in the viewing experience its a crucial element of why these films worked so well for me.

It can be taken to excess, certainly the Terrifier films are a bit overly obsessed with tormenting women (or maybe as a father my tolerance/enjoyment of it is lower) but if you just have rando teens acting all Gen Z getting wacked it doesn't generate real fear. You gotta have that innocent girl, the slutty one, the element of corruption, temptation, desire, seduction worked into or around the terror. Does exorcist work nearly so well if it isn't a young girl at risk? Jaws without the young woman being hunted? If you have blood and guts but everyone sleeps and showers fully clothed, wtf? Vulnerability in body and mind is a part of these films.

Obviously often these films are just excuses to get girls naked and provide some low grade porn in a time when that was a harder thing to experience, but that element has to be replaced with something else and I think a lot of horror writers forget this when they go for a pg-13 film in all ways except violence.

 

[NeverYouMind]

I am of the opinion that old horror should be watched in standard definition and nothing higher than that.

Nah. Only black and white films don't benefit from higher resolutions. Anything else is better at 720p or more. I watched Dawn of the Dead in 720p sometime back and it looked fantastic. I was noticing details that I missed before.

P.S. The only thing that bugs me about some HD films is how blacks look washed out or too uniform, but that is a problem in some SD footage on CRT too.

 

[ForAcademicPurposes]

This was in full swing back in the 70's and 80's with Wes Craven, the FXIII films, Halloween, etc as well as the italian stuff. Yeah, it's gross and pervy when you look at it objectively but I think in the viewing experience its a crucial element of why these films worked so well for me.

Often necessary. You want to get into the pov and see it through their eyes. You don't want to feel like you're watching actors on a screen and be closer to realism. That is actually why most people are morbidly interested in these films in the first place. But yeah, some directors have a knack for that and executing it.

 

[ForAcademicPurposes]

I gotta see this marvel.

 

[jason10mm]

Just watched Hellboy:The Crooked Man and its a low budget horror flick in the BEST possible way. You see every damned dollar they had on screen, it's simple, stripped down, no wasted space whatsoever, and all the casting is on point. Sure, the Hellboy actor doesn't have the punch of Perlman but I think he is as good, if not a little better, than Harbour. It's pretty faithful to the comic with some changes and a new character (who adds diversity but gets in universe comments about it that are well done). Saw it on amazon so unless its on some other service piped through that app it should be pretty available.

 

[Days like these...]

I can't believe 80's are winning you people have lost your goddamned minds. Alien, Texas Chainsaw Masacre, Exorcist, The Omen, Halloween all classics were from the 70's. Even Friday the 13th and The Shining can be considered 70's cause they were released in 1980.

 

[IAmRei]

I never had difficulties to accept horror, as lonf as they are not cheap jump scares. I don't like trriller slasher like scream tho... It's not logic at all, as usually the killer is weak. I guess that almost my less fav era, but the ring is in that era, which nullified my disfavor in there. Recent horror which i like is Smile and i forgot the name, but irs about demi moore and her trouble in age.

Speaking of which, is there any horror movie but not in horror way. Like a manga which i read before, i forgot the name. Slixe of life about school girl, which she actually can see the ghost, but choose to not care, even tho its kind of scary

 

[jason10mm]

I'm watching a korean "action horror" flick called Project Wolf Hunting and it is about the most violent and gory thing I've seen in a loooooooong time. Folks just getting butchered left and right and they don't spare the cute girls either. It doesn't male a lot of sense but its kinda like Halloween meets Die Hard on a boat (ok, maybe Jason goes to Manhattan meets Die Hard?).