Horror Movie Hang-Ups

Why are horror movies so bad these days? Is it so difficult to come up with a good plot?

My sister and I recently went to go see The Visit, and while I will admit it had a decent twist, the movie just was not up to par. I will save the spoilers in case you truly have an interest in seeing it, but I will say it was pretty dull in action. It had me falling asleep at several different points (there was another guy snoring in the theater, so, not alone there), and the only “horror” aspects were jump scares, which were mediocre.

Jenna Kauffman Wilson Billboard Coeditor-in-Chief

Photo provided by Jenna Kauffman

I would not rate this movie as the worst horror movie ever, but I think it comes in a close second after the movie Scream 4. I do know for a fact that this is the one movie I’ve most regretted seeing in theaters. It wasn’t worth it, and my sister warned me it wouldn’t be.

Another movie I recently saw a trailer for, called The Final Girls, is literally about getting trapped in a cliché horror movie. My sister wants to see this movie because one of her favorite actresses, Taissa Farmiga from America Horror Story, is in it. I can honestly say that this movie does not look any more promising than The Visit.

So what is with all these crappy horror movies? For some reason M. Night Shyamalan has struggled to release good horror movies. At least he has movies like The Sixth Sense and Signs under his belt. I think he has at some respected credibility with them. But depending on the movie critic, even saying both of those movies are good is debatable.

I’ll be honest, though: I’ll probably be in the theater watching Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension since I’ve seen every other installment of Paranormal Activity. Which, oddly enough, I have not gotten tired of even though each film is similar in quality and plot line. I will have to see how the new one plays out on the list. In the meantime, I’ll stick to classics like Halloween and A Nightmare on Elm Street during this horror movie season.