Remember when Scream came out and suddenly there were a ton of self-referential slashers? Or how about when Paranormal Activity came out and we were suddenly inundated with all the found footage films imaginable? Or what about when we were getting seemingly nothing but J-horror remakes?
Horror follows popular trends, just like the rest of Hollywood. When something is popular we get slammed with nothing but that until they start performing poorly OR there are simply no ways to make it even remotely unique or interesting anymore.
But that doesn’t mean we don’t hope for a specific trend to make a comeback or even a brand new one to emerge! And if you had the decision, if you had the power, what would you want that trend to be?
Well, I’ve come up with a few trends that I’d like to see come back that I want to share below. Check ’em out and then let me know your thoughts in the comments!
Serious horror that isn’t sadistic
Examples: The Shining and Session 9
Look, we don’t always need horror to be gory, violent, and depressingly bleak or hopeless, right? The struggle for survival is often the best part of a horror film! It gives a feeling of hope, a light at the end of the tunnel that we desperately hope the main characters will reach. By actually having an opportunity to empathize, we, the viewer, get to be a part of the story rather than just a voyeur.
Enough of films like Rob Zombie’s Halloween, Hostel, the Saw franchise (after the first one, of course). Bring on films that ditch the gore and actually make me terrified of what’s coming next.