The Horror genre have been home to some of the most critically acclaimed and culturally iconic movies in cinema. Classic horror movies from jaws to the exorcist have never ceased to entice audiences. Unfortunately, recent horror installments have been dragging the entire genre through the mud and gradually cutting out creativity. The upcoming horror film “Rings” (which is a continuation in the rings franchise) is taking the exact concept of the original movie and updating it slightly. These movies are not only unnecessary, but just another addition to the many unoriginal and disappointing horror movies as of late.
Many horror movies tread on tropes and cliches rather than trying to tell a good story. Take for instance the jump scare technique. The trick of having something jump out and scare the audience is momentarily frightening, but it is not an excuse for not creating any real fear. This genre has such an amazing opportunity to evoke fear, one of the most powerful of human emotions, but decides not to utilize the kind of power they have. The movie “lights out” had the opportunity to use the fear of the dark to create suspenseful horror, but instead relied on figures jumping out at you. The point of a horror movie is not to make people jump out of their seat it it is to make them truly unsettled after they leave the theater. The suspense that all of the great works of horror is missing from modern movies. Alfred Hitchcock was the master of suspense and his films are some of the scariest ever conceived. It’s not the fall that kills; you it’s the sudden stop. That is what horror movies today don’t understand is that a movie needs to build up suspense in order to have the sudden changes and jumps that they have become so engrossed with it. The fact that this fact is completely lost in modern movies exemplifies the decrease of quality in the entire genre, and the lack of effort that is put into the story.

Not only do modern horror movies use old techniques they use old ideas as well. As I previously mentioned previously the same plots and ideas are recycled throughout the genre. Completely aside from flat out reboots, horror movies continually steal ideas from each other and slap a new name on it. For example the movie Ouija had e plot of almost any haunted house movie and the only difference was a adding a ouija board. It had its differences, but it didn’t make provide anything truly new. Even movies like cabin in the woods which flip the genre on its head are too ingrained within it to make anything that is truly original.
The scariest part of all is the threat all of these terrible and frighteningly unoriginal movies is that they threatens the entire genre. These movies have been inspirational to many filmmakers and have made such a lasting impact on cinema that preserving their credibility is a necessity. If Hollywood doesn’t take a step back it is going to burnout the bright light of creativity that has made horror shine.