Really, that is not a lot. Which is good, because I'm doing a theme-ish month to help out this poor genre.
You may be wondering to yourself, "hey, self, what kind of horror films does jessel like?" And then maybe "hey, self, that's a stupid question, what do you mean what 'kind'? there's more than one?" And then perhaps "hey, self, maybe we can learn about some different types of horror films in a blog entry on some dude's site that is filled with both opinions and solid objective reviews!" Well you are in luck, even if you don't capitalize anything. Yes, Virginia, or whatever your name may be, there are lots of types of horror films. In fact, I'm super picky about one of them, and give it its own genre: Thriller.
I know I've talked about thriller before ... or at least, I think I have, but here's my justification: a horror film is made to scare its audience. Its purpose is to shock and awe with terror, through a few simple means: gore, fright, or terror. Gore is just that, a whole bunch of blood and guts. Think Evil Dead franchise. Fright is about getting that jolt of terror out of the audience, sometimes called jump scares. Many movies have them, but there are a lot of horror movies that only focus on jump scares, like the Paranormal Activity franchise. Terror is about the build up of suspense and unease to finally get paid off with imagery, call back, or dialogue that truly shatters you deep inside. Most of my favorite horror films are "Terror" horror films.
A thriller is very similar to a "Terror" horror film. The difference is, it's goal, instead of being to shock and awe the audience, is to leave a permanent impression. Horror films can leave a subjective impression, certainly, but a thriller is built from the beginning to stick with you. A horror film is over when the credits roll. A thriller is over when you finally get a nights sleep without thinking about it. It is a ... almost completely arbitrary difference to make, but to me it really does feel like two separate types of films. Silence of the Lambs isn't a HORROR movie, but it has a lot of similar elements, hence THRILLER. Not all thrillers are appropriately close to horror, though. It is an odd little genre, but quite possibly my favorite. That said, I'm going to be touching on a lot of thrillers this month as well. Here's a nice list of the (applicably horrific-ish) ones I've reviewed on the site in writing as well:
What is the purpose of this little entry before we get to the movie reviews? Is it really just to be a bank for my previous reviews?
Yes. Yes it is.
But also as a nice buffer to get us in the right mindset! I have a lot of great films coming in and that I've already bought, waiting to review, including all seven Saw films as the next franchise review! I also want some requests from you folks for things specifically within the Halloween mindset to review. I want a Reader Request each week, at least one, so leave some comments and the first four I receive (that I can get a hold of) will get reviewed, regardless of quality! Hold on tight, boys and ghouls, we'll have slashers, psychological stuff, zombie stuff, crap-your-pants jump-scare-fests, and everything in between! See ya tomorrow for the first review .. Saw!
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