I wrote this about two weeks ago but wasn't satisfied with it. I felt like it went on too long before getting to main points. So I decided to rewrite it. You can see some of my notes at the bottom. I'll publish the real one later.
Horror generally follows a simple equation: a good horror movie is made that redefines the genre, the movie becomes a success and achieves legendary status, then one of two events occur. Either a rip-off is made which destroys any status the original had gained, or the movie gets multiple sequels that lose any focus that the original had. These movies fall into what I like to call the "entertainment group." It's fun seeing Jason beat up an idiot that was too stupid to run away from him. It's fun to watch Freddy execute someone through a strange dream. You even have my favorite: the Final Destination series where people die in obscure and ridiculous ways. The deaths are so ridiculous and the dialogue is so bad that you can't take the movie seriously. We enjoy splatter films because they entertain us, plain and simple.
Horror is often considered to be on the same coin of comedy. Let's face it, if the audience doesn't take the premise seriously, it'll become a comedy. That has become the basis for many parody movies like the Scary Movie series or Shaun of the Dead. These are movies that make fun of the ridiculousness in horror movies. Let's say this is the "parody category."
On the flip side, we have the "gore category." These movies are there to make us cringe in our seats. Movies like Texas Chainsaw Massacre or Hostel are made to ratchet up the gore factor.
Then we have the classics: movies that had a meaning behind them. I believe these are some the best horror movies. Frankenstein, Dracula, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. All these movies had a message behind them, a moral to the story if you will. Some of them don't have a straightforward meaning but are still classics. Movies like The Birds or The Thing are great films but don't have a deeper meaning behind the tragedy. Seriously, did Hitchcock ever explain why the birds attacked. Let's call this group the "classic category."
Then we have the explicit movies. I'm not talking about gory movies (although I was considering Hostel for this category). I'm talking about the really sick stuff. Cannibal Holocaust, Salo, Men Behind the Sun. These movies go way to far to expose their viewers to epic amounts of gore and explicit content. Believe it or not, some of these flicks are based on books that are equally depraved. Perhaps it was the books' depravity that caught the attention of a producer that decided to make it a movie.
With that said, let's look at some horror novels, that really shouldn't be made into movies. These are the books that go way too far. For the love of all that is holy Hollywood, don't make these into movies.
Off Season-gory and torture
The Haunting-very human
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