Guythatnooneknows Has Opinions

Over the weekend I did a lot of watching TV into the early am at my apartment. I watched two classic horror movies during this time that I would very much like to talk about at this time. The two movies I watched were American Werewolf in London and Carrie. Now, I'm not talking the stupid American Werewolf in Paris, the remake in the late 90s that didn't live anywhere up to par of the original, I'm talking the original, American Werewolf in London.

Those of you that know me in real life may or may not know that I love horror movies. I love them. Not because they are neccessarily great movies, but because you'll never watch a horror movie that isn't entertaining. Most movies that are coming out lately that are supposed to be scary, I wouldn't classify as horror movies. I would call them more along the lines of psychological thrillers. Now, there are a few exceptions to the aforementioned rule, such as The Grudge. However, even The Grudge is a remake of an old horror flick from Japan entitled Ju-On. Movies like "Saw" or "The Ring" I wouldn't classify in the genre of horror however. Why? you ask, well because my definition of a horror movie may be different.

I classify and rate a movie of its horrer classification if it meets two of my criteria. First off, it has to be generally scary in some aspect of the movie. Generally this is accomplished through cheap scares such as someone or something popping up on camera when the creepy music reaches a peak. It can also be accomplished through specific creepy noises, such as a girl walking through an old house and hearing a scream. It can also be accomplished through scary music, such as the music in Psycho. Please recognize that these are only a few examples of how something can be scary.

Another criteria that a movie must have in order to dub it a horror movie is, it must have imagery that sticks with you. What do I mean by that? I mean, after you watch said movie, when you go to bed that night, and everything is quiet and dark, and you lay down to sleep, and your laying there in bed, your wondering if something is in your closet, or your thinking about whether or not what you saw in that movie is in your room, or if you turn around it's going to be there next to you ready to take you out. Another criteria is, there must be killing. It doesn't neccesarily need to be grotesque, but that's a positive.

All that said, I'm a fan of horror movies. For the first time this weekend I watched both Carrie and American Werewolf in London and was significantly impressed. Carrie impressed me because that movie was genuinely scary. Most horror movies today aren't scary, and I can't figure out if that's the fault of their predecesors for taking all the basic scary moments in theater and making them trivial, or if the movies just aren't what they used to be in the 70s and 80s. I think it may be a healthy mix of both however. Carrie scared me because it took it's time telling the story and the ending was hardcore it's match. The music in that movie helped a lot too. I'd definitly consider buying Carrie on dvd if I had the kind of money to be buying whatever dvd I wanted.

American Werewolf in London scared me more for it's imagery throughout the movie then it's general scare tactics. I think that's because I didn't grow up in an age where people were all like, "werewolves, huh??" I grew up in an age where people are all like, "werewolves?? More like Lycanthropes, am I rite??" The initial shock of a man turning into a wolf that kills people has worn off unfortunately. Had a grown up and seen this movie in theatres I would have probably been scared shitless.

Both of these movies are must sees for those of you that consider yourself horror movie fans. These are decent movies worthy of a good watching with your friends, followed by a good discussion.