Being as how this is my blog, this is of course only my opinion.
I often wonder why horror films have such a loyal niche market. The genre is undoubtedly, except for porn, the worst of any. The vast majority of horror are incredibly bad. If you take a look at the films which are serious contenders for the worst of all time, the majority are (intended to be) horror films. Manos. Plan 9. Robot Monster. Off the top of my head, Glen or Glenda is the only non-horror film of that caliber (it is also, I will say, my vote for the worst film of all time).
I like the idea of horror films, so I keep trying. The number of great ones I've seen has got to be less than ten. The vast majority of so-called horror "classics" are crap. Last House on the Left - shit. Halloween - mediocre. The Haunting - dull (except for the loud banging scene). Romero's Dead films - all shit. The Exorcist was garbage. And so on.
Recent times haven't been any kinder. I saw Cabin Fever because it was hyped. It was unbelievably bad, one of the worst films I've ever seen. Dog Soldiers was mediocre. The Descent started off alright, and got worse and worse the longer it went on, until the completely disastrous ending (that's the US one - the UK one sounds even worse). The Devil's Backbone - crap. All the Japanese horror films I've seen were on the boring side, although some of them were at least scary. Hollywood's recent attempts at horror films...the less said the better.
Check out this list of the 50 top rated "horror" films on IMDB (I've seen about 42 of them I think). There are certainly good films on that list, but note how many of the best wouldn't actually count as horror to the average, say, Fangoria reader. Jaws? Les Diabolique? The Night of the Hunter? Even The Vanishing ("Spoorloos") is questionable.
Sorry horror fans. I just don't get you!
P.S. #13 (as I type) on IMDB's list, Onibaba, is a relatively obscure Japanese horror film that's really good. You should see it.
P.P.S. I know it's blasphemous to say it, but am I the only film fan who thinks that Psycho really isn't that great? It's only a middling Hitchcock to my mind. Better than his very late stuff, but not as good as The Birds, and certainly nowhere near such heights as Rear Window, Notorious, or Rebecca.
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