Blogtoberfest Guest Post #2, by Sara Wentworth

Gone are the days of once looking forward to seeing any new releases, gone are the days of quality film. When it comes to the Horror genre, you can always expect the same old ideas regurgitated and lots of CGI or special effects, alongside poorly constructed content all around.

When I was a little girl, I would get excited every Saturday evening to watch Alfred Hitchcock Presents with my family. Though they were reruns, (they were new to me) I would always anticipate one of the true great filmmakers of all time inviting all of his enchanted listeners with a “Good Evening.”

Alfred Hitchcock knew how to tell a story, he created the scenery, knew how to capture perfect lighting, and captivate his audience with proper old fashioned editing, and intense music to manipulate his audience into actually using their imaginations. He also made appearances in the background of every film so it was like a game to find him in each one.

Though there can never be another Alfred Hitchcock, this is merely a plea to the entertainment industry from a person so passionate about the lack of integrity and imagination in today’s film making. Please STOP. You’ve ruined everything that was already done to perfection with remakes. I’ve seen remakes for almost every classic horror film, and they’re always a waste of time, money, and NEVER compare to the originals.

Please, stop making sequels. Not only does this water down the original content, but very often sequels are done by another director with another vision. The only exception to this rule would be Evil Dead/Evil Dead 2/Army of Darkness, which were meant to be scary, hysterical, and cheesy. Sam Raimi did the best with what he had, and made it better each time.

Take for example, A Nightmare on Elm Street. Freddie Krueger was no longer a horrific sex offender, he was cool and people started to cheer for him.

Jason Voorhies was no longer scary and the story line became less crucial and more comical.

Michael Meyers the silent stalker started becoming more of a sad lifetime movie about a deeply disturbed boy with a horrific upbringing.

Chucky the serial killing doll was straight comedy and couldn’t possibly be considered horror after the first one.

The next example would be the “inspired by” movies. Inspired by means certain films inspire you to make your own. Inspired by these days often just means “rip-off, unoriginal, uninspiring.” House of 1000 Corpses, why didn’t you call it Last House on the Left with a scary clown and a bimbo?

Everything has too many special effects and computer generated gore. Gone are the days when aspiring actors and actresses actually got their hands dirty. Gone are the days of great low budget film, where you had to be a true genius to make a great film.

Today’s film is more about shortcuts and instant gratification, re-selling the same old ideas and modernizing them, which has led to watered down non-digestible product versus passion, and true vision which is personal and full of imagination and truly important in original film making.

The business of entertainment once again, has only contributed to deviating from risk taking, and only mass produces and over produces for new generations that may not know any better. The quantity versus quality is what is promoted, and is bought and consumed.

So, I say good bye to what I have loved, because I still hold close the memories and have an amazing collection of truly wonderful horror films that inspire me still. I still hold hope, that maybe somebody will read this that may be an aspiring filmmaker that shares my passion, proves me wrong, and actually utilizes their own imagination to make people think again.

 

Sara Wentworth is an artist, writer, and status-quo-bunker based on Cape Cod. She and her husband Adam are the crazed minds behind Secret Society Art.   Check out their stuff – but the Aldous Huxley portrait is mine.