What is "Horror"?

K

Kholi

Section Moderator
Hey guys n'gals.

So, in light of the newest, and probably the best yet to come, DVXuser fest... I wanted to start an open and FRIENDLY discussion on just what horror is?

Lets keep it friendly and valid. And, while some of us might think that it's self-explanatory, the genre really isn't as clear-cut as it once was. It might be difficult to discern between sci-fi, adventure, suspense, and thrillers that contain blood, guts and scares. Alien comes to mind when speaking on Sci-Fi. It's scary, but I don't know if that qualifies as a horror movie.

I'm no know-it-all on the subject. So, I'll start it off with a question...

Can PG-13 really not be horror? At the moment, I can't recall any PG-13 horror movies at all. Anyone have examples?
 
I know you see movies like Pirates Of The Caribbean [PG - PG/13] They say things like MILD horror. And some other kids films have things like mild horror. But havent seen any that have total horror.

(After checking some DVD's - War Of The Worlds Is moderate horror at a 12?)

Good point though.
 
Prime Example is What Lies Beneath. PG-13 and absolutely wonderful! Another Example is the Sixth Sense. And of course......"THE RING!!!" I love when horror movies use fear in the way these previously mentioned movies do. They play with your mind.
 
M. Knights are PG-13.

My take on horror is this. Are you scared through a large portion of the movie? Is the point of the movie to make you grip your seat?

Alien is not horror. Event Horizon is.

Any movie with zombies, vampires, werewolves, mummies (the Egyptian variety), lagoon creatures is horror.

Any movie that contains more than 4 british actors sitting around driking tea, discussing life, love and loss is horror to me. But that might just be me.
 
Well, some peopple might sit through Jurassic Park scared.. .does that make it horror?

Event Horizon wasn't scary to me at all. I actually thought it was a sci-fi movie, it's news to me that it's classified as horror.

It's hard to say what is and what is not.
 
Kholi said:
Well, some peopple might sit through Jurassic Park scared.. .does that make it horror?

Event Horizon wasn't scary to me at all. I actually thought it was a sci-fi movie, it's news to me that it's classified as horror.

It's hard to say what is and what is not.
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Event Horizon could be both. I saw the movie with horrible expectations so it turned out okay for me.

Jurrasic Park could be considered horror. I wonder if anyone will try to make a 6 minute movie with dinasours! That would be both horrible and awesome at the same time.
 
i think for a horror you have to be 'horrified' at some point when watching it. I would not consider M. Nights to be horrors but thrillers......thrillers i guess could be called the "feel good horror". You leave a thriller exillerated and a bit frightened, but you may leave a horror frightened and maybe a bit depressed. Depressed might not be the right word.....i think its just that the scary things you see it a horror should sink in more. Horror definatley is much more violent....and perhaps feels more real?

in jurassic park....which i think is more of a thriller.....you see the severed arm of samuel jackson...its a scary jolt.

In the hills have eyes...which i consider to be more of a horror....(but which i didnt really like) one character gets locked in a freezer type thing that FULL of severed arms.......

one is frightening and one is horrifying.

thats my opinion anyway...
 
Blaine said:
Poltergeist was re-rated PG-13 after appeal (originally R)

http://yoursay.imdb.com/title/tt0084516/

and 'Salem's Lot was made for TV...twice.
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Blaine to the rescue. Poltergeist is definitely a horror movie in my book. There are supernatural going-ons and at some points, monsters.

Ringing toy telephones... etc. Great example.

On the subject of M. Night-- I do not consider his movies horror movies either. Though "The Sixth Sense" included moments-to-make-you-pee-pee, it was still more of a thriller. A "What's really going on?" kinda thing.
 
Also, Gremlins was PG and Tremors was PG-13. Both are listed as horror, though I'm not sure if I think Tremors is or not. Never saw Gremlins, so I wouldn't know. :undecided
 
So to get an idea, what would be the thinking man's horror? What are the prime example of great storytelling in horror? What are your favs in this respect?
 
Kholi said:
Hey guys n'gals.

So, in light of the newest, and probably the best yet to come, DVXuser fest... I wanted to start an open and FRIENDLY discussion on just what horror is?

Lets keep it friendly and valid. And, while some of us might think that it's self-explanatory, the genre really isn't as clear-cut as it once was. It might be difficult to discern between sci-fi, adventure, suspense, and thrillers that contain blood, guts and scares. Alien comes to mind when speaking on Sci-Fi. It's scary, but I don't know if that qualifies as a horror movie.

I'm no know-it-all on the subject. So, I'll start it off with a question...

Can PG-13 really not be horror? At the moment, I can't recall any PG-13 horror movies at all. Anyone have examples?
Click to expand...
The first PG-13 movie ever made, in fact, the one in which the code was created for was "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom." That to me, is the closest any PG-13 film has ever come to the horror genre.

True, it has all the goofiness and light-hearted romp chase scenes which break enough tension to keep it from being an actual horror picture- but go back and watch scenes where the damsel (K Capshaw) has to reach her hand into a hole filled with crawling bugs, skulls in a collapsing room with spikes, beating hearts ripped from chests, "chilled monkey brains" served ahi tuna style and bugs being slurped on the half shell... you get the idea.

More of an homage to the pulp fiction/horror genre of the 30's and 40's, but damn cool stuff nonetheless. Is it horror? Well... yeah, kinda. Is it slasher 80's horror? No- but who cares. Ultimately it's scarier than the ditzy blonde teen being hacked to bits after being dumb enough to go outside and look around saying "hello?.. Who's the-there?"

In TEMPLE, The scenes where the blood cult stuff happens (depicting a realistic human sacrifice scene) are unbelieavably scary- it is easy to see why they had to create this special rating.

It was really a testament to Spielberg's power at the time- He wanted to release an R rated style film packed with violence that kids could still see and get away with... thank goodness there were no shots of any naked breasts in it! It would never have passed for heaven's sakes dontcha know.

It worked and the MPAA (or CARA or whatever they call it now) went for it and we all won with a great movie. Problem is, they should have scrapped that PG-13 rating afterwards. Most other PG-13 stuff is really just PG. No need for the special rating.

I remember watching the Steve Martin comedy "The Jerk"- the first R rated picture I saw as a kid. Does this really rate a higher level of kid-no-see-it-ness to the PG-13 INDY TEMPLE DOOM? Nope. Just my 2 cents.
 
Kholi said:
Event Horizon wasn't scary to me at all. I actually thought it was a sci-fi movie, it's news to me that it's classified as horror.

It's hard to say what is and what is not.
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I agree ! I found this film an enigam that it was even liked. NOt scary and not interesting IMO
 
Blaine said:
Also, Gremlins was PG and Tremors was PG-13. Both are listed as horror, though I'm not sure if I think Tremors is or not. Never saw Gremlins, so I wouldn't know. :undecided
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I'd call tremors horror. Monster horror the way of Jaws or any 50's monster flicks- but yes, horror.

Gremlins would be too. Creatures killing people in a house at Christmas time. Hmmm. Yep- horror. Cute, cuddly Spielbergesque... but horror.
 
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Alex DePew said:
So to get an idea, what would be the thinking man's horror? What are the prime example of great storytelling in horror? What are your favs in this respect?
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Far and away one of the greatest horror films of all time... the Shining.
 
Alex DePew said:
M. Knights are PG-13.

My take on horror is this. Are you scared through a large portion of the movie? Is the point of the movie to make you grip your seat?

Alien is not horror. Event Horizon is.

Any movie with zombies, vampires, werewolves, mummies (the Egyptian variety), lagoon creatures is horror.

Any movie that contains more than 4 british actors sitting around driking tea, discussing life, love and loss is horror to me. But that might just be me.
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I would disagree and say that "Alien" is horror.

People say no, cause it's set in space, so it's sci-fi. That's like saying wine isn't alcohol when it's served at communion. Still alcohol.

Think of a traditional cheesy horror flick... You have an omnipotently powerful slasher chasing a scared woman around a creepy dark house in the middle of no where, and no one can help her... Horror, right?

Now consider Alien...

You have an omnipotently powerful alien monster chasing a scared woman around a creepy dark spaceship in the middle of no where (outer space), and no one can help her....

Sounds like horror to me. Its just the setting that has changed.

It's why many people called Star Wars a "Space Opera" or "Space Western"... but that's a whole other post...

And yes... Four brit actors sitting around talking about the unbearableness of it all while tearfully contemplating the joy of life's pain has got to be THE QUINTISSENTIAL horror flick....

:-)
 
Alex DePew said:
Any movie with zombies, vampires, werewolves, mummies (the Egyptian variety), lagoon creatures is horror.
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Like Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy, et al. :)

Hopefully, the definition will be broad enough to include things like thriller/chiller.
 
Classifying a movie in a genre is not that easy.
Partly because most movies aren't just one genre alone and partly because genres evolve like almost everything else.
So we tend to classify movies in the genre we think it belongs to most at the time it was seen.

I don't think horror can be defined very easily (excluding the obvious ones).
Movies get classified as (partly) horror for different reasons.

In my opinion most horror movies aren't scary at all.
Maybe I have nerves of steel :cool:
So I obviously don't think a horror movie should scare the audience.
It's just too subjective.
And even if a movie is scary it still isn't by definition a horror movie.

To those people that do think a horror movie should scare the audience:
Movies like brain dead, army of darkness etc.
I assume you classify that as horror and not comedy (correct me if I'm wrong).
You can't possible think I believe you to be horrified/scared by that :eek: (assuming you're older than... lets say 12)

It's the sum of a lot of different things that decide wether a movie can be classified as at least partly horror.
Possible my only two requirements of a horror movie are:
  • -It copes with a darker side of life.
  • -It copes with the main character(s) fear for something.
One of these or both requirements combined with other things decide for me wether a movie is horror.

Obviously that doesn't mean that every movie coping with a darker side of life and/or the main character(s) fear is horror.

Conclusion:
I don't really have a "logical" definition of horror.
Just some general guidelines that one of the above mentioned requirements is in it.
I just go with what my mind says when I see it.


A couple posts back someone said he didn't classify Alien as a horror movie.
How anyone can think that is beyond me, but if that movie doesn't fit in his definition of horror then that's fine by me.
I think the best way to do this horrorfest is to let everybody decide for him/herself what horror is and what not.
The horror genre is too beloved to limit :D
 
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