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It seems that everything coming out under the name of horror is either a remake, another sequel in a franchise, or a Stephen King adaptation. What new stuff there is is repetetive crappy rip-offs. I know this is true of most of Hollywood these days, but it seems to especially relate to horror.

There are some occasional 'revivals' to the horror genre (whether people liked the movies or not), such as Scream and 28 Days Later. They got more new ideas rolling. Then the 'Horror Rennaisance' ends and we're back at square 1. Dawn of the Dead seems to be a revival, but really it's just a rare thing we call a 'good remake.'

Anyway, what I'm asking is; has Horror run out of new ideas (genuinely new, meaning new but not trash) ?

Yes and no. For the most part horror films of late have been lacking creativity. But there are a few that are genuinely unique and/or truley great films.

Irreversible, 28 Days Later, Dog Soldiers, Audition are just a few horror movies of the last 5 years that have truley been outstanding in their own rights. There are several on the horizon as well...like Dead Reckoning, the long awaited 4th film in the Of the Dead series.

All in all, horror is much stronger now then it was, say, 3 years ago.

What ^he^ said............

And Bats was just a remake of Birds

and Dawn of the Dead is not a "good remake".........

It's quite possibly the crappiest remake ever............it just so happens to be a good stand alone movie in it's own right.

As I put in another post, Hollywood is only interested in making movies they know will sell. If "Dawn of the Dead" does well, you can bet there will be a part 2 within two or three years.

Trends come and go, especially in this genre. Remember following the success of "Scream" how many dime-a-dozen clones came out (i.e. "I Know What you Did Last Summer" and "Urban Legend"? Maybe zombie movies will a welcome change, ushering out the slasher sub-genre for a while.

You know what I'd like to see more of? Serial killer movies. Not gay ones like "Twisted" or "Taking Lives", but decent and suspenseful ones like "Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer" or "Bundy". Seems like the ones based on real people are the only ones that are ever done right (unless you count "Dahmer".

I think that as soon as Scream turned up and put horror back on the mainstream map, too many studios tried to copy the tongue in cheek horror formula that Scream presented us with and turned the whole genre into a joke. I think overall that horror movies have gone into a lull, but had the studios tried to make good horror films after the success of Scream the genre would be going strong by now instead of only lasting a couple of years.

Okay, then I rephrase: Dawn of the Dead was a good "re-envisioning" as it insists on calling itself

Just like Gus Van Sant's "Psycho" was a "re-visioning" of Hitchcock's???

Not just horror but Hollywood has lost a lot of originality period.

A slump is what is happening right now...people don't scare as easily as they use to, thats why sequels, remakes, and adaptations are all predictable to the people who had already read the book, seen the original version, and so on.......what directors need to look for in making the Horror franchise rise doninant above all others, like it was in the 80s, they need fresh new ideas......NO RIPOFFS!....and creative creatures and/or murderous madmen.....

Hollywood has never been the shrine of the contemporary horror film. It got lucky with THE EXORCIST and the other assorted tripe that followed. The great horror films have always been made by independent filmmakers. Irrespective of country or continent.

Chas Balun used to write a very interesting, cutting edge horror film publication called DEEP RED. THE DEEP RED HORROR HANDBOOK is a fine example of textbook fanboy publication - now what, 15 or so years old? -.

The latest edition IS but a childish whine to the good old days of THE REANIMATOR and other cutting edge American horror films. The guy has'nt moved at all. Well, maybe into Charlie Sheen territory but that's another story...

Look East....The Land Of The Rising Sun. That's where the great modern day horrors lie. Evolve. You ain't gonna find everything in your own back yard!

all horrors are comedies now-a-days, intentional or unintentional.
some directors just don't get it.

YOU HAVE TO PUT NO MUSIC IN A HORROR MOVIE. IT MAKES IT MORE INTENSE

YOU MUST NEVER HAVE A TEENAGER AGAIN IN A HORROR MOVIE

NO MORE F*CKI*G COMEDY

IT WOULDN'T HURT TO HAVE A GUY AS A PROTAGONIST IN A HORROR

NO MORE QUICK CUTS

AND ALWAYS USE NO-NAMES

obscure actors always seem to work better for some reason.......comedy is okay if it's used right, though

That was one of the things that freaked people out about "Psycho"; Janet Leigh was pretty well-known at the time, and her getting killed off within the first half-hour was quite unorthodox.

Years ago, I saw a documentary on filmmaking that talked about a scene in which a man was attacked by a bat. The movie was from the 30's or 40's, and the "bat" was one of the cheesiest rubber props I had ever seen.

The commentator mentioned that when the scene was screened without music, the audience laughed their heads off. After the dramatic score was added, however, audiences perceived it as one of the most intense, frightening sequences they had ever seen.

Yeah, a lot of poeple were surprised when Drew Barrymore was killed off in Scream during the first 10 min

Case in point, Evil Dead vs. The Haunting, which is infested with stars.

audiences have evolved from a stabbing and outrageous music playing in the background, loosens the impact. When there is no music, it alienates the viewer and makes it more, uh, depressing, making it more intense. Keep in mind, Psycho was a long time ago.

Krusty: "I could say the word "PANTS" back then"

I think that most of the good ideas of horror films have been done so many times before that directors screen writers and other such movie makers cant produce any new origanial ideas and they deffitnly cant remake movies that are obviously perfect to begin with so why even bother. Pretty soon they will want to remake the evil dead series. and when that day comes then I know horror films have gone down the drain.

And most of the great ones you cant even rent at you local stores because they are to viloent or is a bad image of the store to rent out to people which in mind is just obscene when you look at all the garbage on tv .

there are still numerous ideas for great horror movies.
it really is just that currently we are in a "slump"
movies think that there audiences are dumb.

i dunno if this has been said, sorry if it had, but i beleive people are simply more de sencitised to the scares and violence that makes people jump. movies these days are so much more extreme and you can movies like Cannibal Holocaust and what not, they make peoples used to it. harder to scare

I'm not one for horror re-makes or even sequels but DAWN OF THE DEAD looks the business. I think the original is a landmark work what with innovative splatter effects - Tom Savini please stand up - coupled with interesting, contemporary story telling. I think had the DAWN OF THE DEAD remake not been associated with the original it would've been THE landmark horror film of the new millennium with more main stream acceptability and plaudits.

All it takes is is a director or filmmaker to show some originality or style to transform the horror film. Case in point being THE BLAIR WITH PROJECT. It's a love it or hate it film but I thought it was excellent. Fascinating, to say the least, with an open ending that not alone makes one think but is very, very effective because of that.

There are tons and tons of excellent books out there that have never been even sniffed at to turn into a horror film. Screenplays almost already made, so to speak. The works of Ramsey Campbell, Clive Barker's THE DAMNATION GAME, JR Landsdale's books and the eco-horror of James Herbert immediately spring to mind.

The horror film is not dead. It just has to evolve and look into unchartered waters. The Oriental horror film is the new face of contemporary splatter and unease. There are loads I've yet to catch up with. Some maybe a bit heavy on sexual violence but don't let that that put you off. Others show little of nothing amongst their horrors yet are far more potent because of that.

Good point. Blair Witch Project, scared the shit out of people..(when younger, i thought it was somewhat scary, specially if you camp alot)...but it was effective... diehard horror fans probably hate the movie but it was a effective horror movie. also, i think that movies that dont rely on gore and extremem violence are somewhat alot more scarier.

Indeed! I'm with you! I'm off to watch DARK WATER later at midnight on FilmFour. A dark windy night...lights off...all by myself...hell, I'm building up quite an atmosphere of unease before it even starts already!

DARK WATER's from The Land Of The Rising Sun which bodes well for something potentially interesting. Those guys know their stuff. I'll let you know tomorrow whether it's worth checking out.