[quote=“G”]Horror is dead IMO. No Fulci, no Romero (prime), no Bava, no Carpenter, no Argento (prime), etc.
Today no new ideas, all remakes, revisions, same ol’ zombies, vamps, etc.[/quote]
Nah, there’s still plenty of interesting stuff flying around if you look hard enough. From the straight to video Indie releases to the foreign market, there’s always something new coming out these days and usually with some flair, style and occasionally a new idea or two.
Right now, I’m currently digging on the more extreme side of things. Japan is kicking out some pretty outrageous gore flicks nowadays, centered on an American marketplace the films are just getting crazier and crazier. They’re far from anything one would consider “good” or an artistic endeavor, but they’re jam packed full of some of the most “out there” thinking you’ll see from a gore flick. Essentially, it’s as if some horror geeks got around a table and said “what’s the most messed up stuff we could do with latex?” then went out and did it - while throwing in some ninjas, yakuzas, guns, swords, etc. Guys like Noboru Iguchi and Yoshihiro Nishimura are really pioneering the stuff.
The Europeans are probably the ones to be looking at for developing star directors, as their films are a bit more mainstream - despite being incredibly violent as well. Still, the films are well paced, well shot and if you find the right ones are engaging with original ideas.
In America, as much as we all like to shit on them, we do have guys like Roth and Zombie who are holding down the fort. Although I think both filmmakers would do better to stop paying homage to the past and start developing new styles and original concepts - I do appreciate them keeping horror in the forefront and at least keeping those doors open. We’ve got guys like Coscarelli still pumping away making quality projects, we’ve had Frank Henenlotter come back from the film-graveyard and bash everyone over the head with a flashlight when delivering the absolutely bonkers/brilliant Bad Biology. Then there are some fresh faces out there, like Jon Knautz who hit one out of the ball park with Jack Brooks: Monster Slayer and I really liked Gregg Bishop’s Dance of the Dead from last year.
Horror is always there I think, it’s just a lot of the crap gets heaved on top of some of the really interesting stuff out there.
