Is the anti-Horror campaign gaining momentum once again?

A few months ago Bill O'reilly aired a show condemning todays horror films and recently I have come across these two articles.

http://www.thefirstpost.co.uk/index.php?menuID=2&subID=1556

http://bohemian.com/bohemian/03.28.07/gorno-cinema-0713.html

Is this the start of a second video nasty's era or do you guys think these detractors will eventually go away?

 

Of course horror films are going to bring about the end of decent society as we know it. Ban them! Ban them all!

This is a debate I have never really understood. Why not ban the films that really should be kept away from people, like John Tucker Must Die?

 

I found this article on Bill O'reilly. It's quite insightful and now I understand more where he's coming from:
http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=bill_oreilly

 

"sock-sniffer." Heh.

 

Bill O'Reilly is a great comedian, everything he says pretty much makes me laugh out loud. I hear there are people who take his ranting seriously, but surely they're medicated? Anyway, if he's against something, there must be something good in it.

 

Well, I do have to agree with the second article that it's irresponsible to have previews for extreme horror films in front of something family oriented.

Nothing wrong with extreme horror, but if we force it upon the general population, ya gotta expect a backlash.

 

By the same token, what's up with the "Land of Women" trailer at the beginning of Hills Have Eys 2?

 

I think to a certain extent they have won and are winning. NC-17 is considered death for any movie and when was the last time something like say The Wizard of Gore was circulated in theaters? Movies in theaters today are pretty tame, the real rough stuff is left DTV and can't even get into Blockbuster.

There's a perfect Christian review of Dawn of the Dead, where they went back to review the original Dawn and were surprised to find it scored "worse" than the remake. Made me proud, although it was close enough that I'm sure the uncut version of the remake would overtake the original. Still, in 1978, you could go to a theater in any town USA and see a movie that in today's contemporary views ranks lower than what they consider lowest of the low in today's theaters.

http://www.capalert.com/capreports/dawnofthedead1978.htm

Makes me very disapointed in the horror genre today. The movie was made almost 30 years ago and they can't top it. Sad really.

 

Well, first of all, the NC17 was killed pretty much before it even began. The newspapers refusing to carry ads combined with Blockbuster's refusal to carry NC17 titles destroyed it. This is going back to the late 80s, so it's a situation that hasn't changed.

And I would NOT use Capalert as a barometer on objectionable material in a movie. If you read the review, their biggest complaint was that Fran was planning to give birth to an illegitimate child, and that she was continuing to sleep with Steven. I think the reviewer was out snacking on wafers and holy water when Peter offered Fran the abortion, or his head might have exploded.

Finally, the reason you're not seeing movies in theaters like Dawn of the Dead or Wizard of Gore has just as much to do with the corporatization of theaters. Does ANYONE know of a local theater that is not part of a national chain? Only thing in my city are a couple of drive-ins. Back in the 70s, theaters were all independent, and could book whatever the hell films they wanted. Now it's whatever the suits dictate. And before you say they have an anti-horror agenda, they really have an anti-INDEPENDENT FILM agenda! They're just as reluctant to show Little Miss Sunshine as they are to show a small-time gore flick.

The best news is that there is a revolution coming. HV and the internet is creating a whole new legion of TRUE independent filmmakers. I work as a programmer for a film festival, and my first year (which was only 2004!), we barely got a handful of homemade films, and only one or two was worth exhibiting. Now, we get tons of well-made submissions, 'cause the technology and equipment to make movies is in everyone's hand.

So if you don't like what you see, make your own damn movie! When we get that shot-on-video marvel that really takes the world by storm, you will see a huge shift in our movie viewing.

 

-- Does ANYONE know of a local theater that is not part of a national chain? --

Having recently seen the documentary on the MPAA, it was shocking to see how the theater chains played their part in certifying movies in the US - thereby deciding what they'd show and not.

 

the is a local theater here not part of a chain, but they only show hollywood movies, sometimes because its just a small theater (two screens) they dont even get movies untill a week after they open or more, and they only play for a week. but it is cheap

 

Well that's the point. They let the MPAA tell how far to go and leave it at that. You don't see movie studios challenging the MPAA. PG-13 horror is being cranked out more now than ever before. At the same time though, even back in the day indie theaters couldn't just show "anything" they want. They have to make money. The Wizards of Gore of the world would. If The Wizard of Gore made money by the truck loads we'd see it in theaters today. But they don't, and the truth is there's a very limited market for gore films.

So The Wizard of Gore's of the world are being kept out of cinemas and rental stores all over America. Even the shelves of Best Buy won't keep uncut version of Thriller. Historically these films have made money in the theatrical circuits, uncut version sell well enough on DVD so there is interest. Yet the worst of the worst remains hidden from the public now more than ever. Even on this horror board Cannibal Holocaust, Thriller and Salo are charged with going too far. All films made before the 80's. You don't see that discussion even for today's shock films. These just aren't being made any more because of the public mindset at large.

That's my point, the more exploitive movies aren't getting support so big studio's dropped them. The bubble burst on Blue Underground for the very same reason. Because the population at large doesn't care enough about them. That's our fault.

And while I agree CAP Alert isn't a gage of the opinions of the larger populace it is a rather good gage of the people who want horror wiped off the map. My point was that movies made 30 years ago can be considered more shocking than their contemporaries. Escalation of what horror can get away with in theaters was climbing since the dawn of cinema and probably peaked in 1987, after that it took a steep dive. Perfect example would be what happened to the Evil Dead series over this period of time. The paradigm these guys try to feed everyone is that horror today is the "worst" it's ever been. CAP Alert still tries to feed us that line even when their own score rank the original as "worse." I believe literally seeing zombies pull intestines out of a person is more graphic than any CGI pasted bullet ever could no matter how "realistic" it may seem.

I don't disagree with a single thing you post. The things I'm saying aren't refuted at all by your post, they're confirmed. Instead ask yourself WHY is it that news papers trashed NC-17, why is it that major studios swear off all Gore/Shock movies (they could make their own and use to), how come HV/internet is the last refuge of these films?

One use to be able to walk into an average theater and see the likes of Cannibal Holocaust then see it on a shelf in an average rental store. You'd hear radio ads and see TV ads. Look at what's running at your average theater or on the shelf of your average rental store. Nothing even close will be there, none the less advertised. How is that not considered a good thing for those that decry horror films? They're doing a slow but sure job of eliminating these films from the publics' eye by making it too hot for big corporations to touch. This makes it impossible to gain any kinda of mass appeal. Exactly what they want.

 

Yes, of course there are absolutely nothing more important for conservatives to worry about than movies and video games corrupting everyone's minds...... Jesus, when all else fails, start a crusade against entertainment.

 

Yeah, it's all conservatives who are doing the crusading.:bs: Big government types like Hillary have been just as vocal.

 

And they can all kiss my libertarian ass.

 

That's quite true. I was going to mention her but you beat me to the punch.

Seconded.

 

haha classic!

 

Living in a city, I'm more frightened of guns, gangs and drug lords. So many people are too much into what they can get at any cost. Horror movies hardly qualify since they're fantasy.
Movies glorifying the mentioned, however...well, much youth is pretty desensitized to mortality. I don't understand why horror films are mentioned. Perhaps they're an easy target to those who can't think of the bigger picture.

 

Thirded, O' Reilly is a dickhead, a real mess of a human being.

 

That part about the anal sex, he stuck a dildo in his ass when he was on the phone with that secretary you know.

I always pictured his house with giant paintings of himself, and an underground basement fit with a sexswing and leather with sex toy likeings.