Before we start, let’s get this out of the way: on the whole, modern horror is shite. In a move coined by critic Nigel Floyd as ‘cattle prod cinema’, horror films these days seem more concerned with sudden loud noises and having things pop up on screen to say ‘boo’, than creating an actual atmosphere of fear and dread. Sadly, this has become what the vast percentage of cinema audiences have come to deem ‘horror’, with films like the Parasnoremal Inactivity series getting a panning but doing great at the box office, while the few critically acclaimed horrors don’t get any attendance and are generally hated by idiotic civvies.
Fair enough, it can be fun to watch a dumb, meathead quiet-quiet-BANG film, and people do indeed flock to the multiplexes to have a shriek and a bit of a laugh with the lads, rather than out of respect for the genre. Take away the abundance of jump scares and show them a real horror film, however, and they’ll likely say it is slow, boring and rubbish. It seems that true fans are being neglected, with potential future masterpieces doubtless being sidelined by the studios to make way for the next generic Insidious or Annabelle because they know they’ll make them a lot of money. The world is mad.
Like Jack Torrence freezing away in the maze of the Overlook Hotel, the horror genre appears to be dying a painful death. Thankfully, there are some diamonds in the rough – a small number of truly iconic horror films released in the past decade that can stand proud next to the classics of the glory years. Here are my top 5 modern horror films that don’t suck ass. (more…)
The Word of Tom 