Article: Resurgance? Is Old-School Back?
There have been several films come out lately that have sparked a light of hope within the hearts of horror fans across the globe.
Is 'old' school' horror back on the proverbial wagon again? With new films like '28 Days Later' and 'House of 1000 Corpses', which just pop out of the woods and take audiences by storm, a resurgence of that old type horror we love may just make a comeback.
There have been a number of recent horror films that have mildly succeeded or attempted to deliver 80's type features with an ever-growing popularity in 'retro-mechanics'. This all makes since in certain ways. With new venues like the internet and the ever-so-popular Independent magazine like 'Are You Going' or 'Rue Morgue' or the worlds #1 horror magazine 'Fangoria', people can finally vent their frustration o'er the fact that most new horror sucks!
Even as a hardcore horror-fan, I have had to re-establish my views on the horror film in general. Well, the last sentence is somewhat of an overstatement, since the only thing thing that I have actually re-opened my mind to is new-school horror. Even after trying to grasp the concept of CGI and an over-surge of WB stars, I still find it hard to understand or gain a real liking to new horror. A lot of people, even old school horror fans are happy with the recent slue of 'bad horror' films, and condone the whim of bad-movie-making for the simple fact that it's horror. If a film is bad, it's bad. There's no way around it. I can't make myself like something or the off-spring there-of if it doesn't feed my taste for 'true horror'. It's true, I may already have a perceived notion of what lies ahead, but 9 times out of 10, I am usually right, and wind up wasting 20 bucks on a ticket and popcorn. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. I guess this gives reason to why I wait for everything on video, except on the rare occasion that my present girlfriend wants to go catch a flick. (I know it's just for the juju-bees, but I don't let on)
Session 9
'Session 9' is a brilliant film which delivers 'uber-atmosphere' with a side order of genuine creepiness. There's an absolute 'no-way-out' feel which is reminiscent of something from the 70's. At first, I actually hated the movie, but after sitting down and actually examining it, I soon discovered that I had another favorite on my hands. But it's new horror you say! Well, like I said earlier, I have indeed opened a small gap between my wanton dislike for new horror, and the elaborate hoax 'Hollywood' calls a horror film. 'Session 9' revives anything typical from your old school haunted house themes, with Fulci-esque qualities of some-what gothic representations, with a benevolent feel of an early 80's slasher film. All in all, it's the perfect well rounded horror film which Hollywood should take lessons from.
As much as I am a fan of, and as much as I hate to admit it, the beloved 'Slasher' film and its sequels were amongst the soul reasons why the horror market just seemed to die out during the late 80's and early 90's. Everyone had already got their feel of backwoods killer movies or masked maniacs running around the suburbs cutting up everything in their path with a big-ole butcher-knife. After Paramount gave us 'Friday the 13th', it was all-she-wrote regarding every wannabe film maker and their desire to base a horror film around some Holiday event. People were finally tired of Valentine's day massacres or Christmas slayings, and their appetite for something new was dying to make itself known to filmmakers.
House of 1000 Corpses
There certainly was no shortage in horror ideas as the 90's regurgitated a few classic gems like 'Silence of the Lambs' and 'Se7En', but as many horror ideas that were conceived via restaurant table or park bench, there were as many absolutely terrible films hiding behind the wall of horror.
In 1996, Wes Craven gave us one of the most blatant rehashes of 80's Slasherdom that the horror entertainment world had ever seen.(I'm not even gonna say the name) As much as it re-kickstarted the love for the horror genre by preceding numerous spin-offs and imitators, it is as much responsible for muting the horror world from 1999 until the present, as the 'bad slasher flick' did from 1989 to 1995.. With a gratuitous look at what Hollywood will do to relive or cash in on the golden days of horror, the fire the audience held for horror's supposed 'comeback' slowly burned out into a pea sized flame about three ft. tall...just enough to burn my a$$.
28 Days Later
So, all this seems to bring us back to the point why I started typing this in the first place.. Has 'old school horror' really regenerated itself into a a future horror marathon? As skeptical as I am, I must say that the future looks bright. There's rumors emerging everyday of the looming projects producers have lined out for potential zombie films or movies with dark apocalyptic overtones. Wouldn't it be great to relive the days of zombies and the un-dead with hidden homage's to films like 'Dawn of the Dead' or Fulci's 'Zombie'? I have awaited the aforementioned days for years now. I have my fingers crossed and a somewhat open mind, accompanied with a stern restraint of hidden pre-conceptions, but if newer films with qualities of 'Session 9', '28 Days Later', and even Brian Clement's 'Meat Market' and 'Meat Market 2 surface, even on a minimal scale, I'll be happier than I was 28 days ago.
