What Makes A Good Horror Movie?

Halloween is just around the corner (it literally is, go look) and that means its time to dust off all the scary movies and hide behind the couch while you try to watch them. But not all horror movies are really scary. A really scary movie is one you can barely watch and then later makes you leave the lights on when you go to bed.

What makes a movie like this?

Many newer mainstream horror movies aren’t like this. They lack that lingering horror that many classic movies have. It is the unknown that makes you scared. When there is an evil murderer on the loose (which seems to be a classic horror plot) it is more scary if the murderer is a tall shadow that hides around corners then if he (or she) is seen in full from the beginning (in a mask, or occasionally you actually know who the murderer is). This is because only your mind knows what makes you scared. If you see the murderer then your mind knows what is happening. If you only see a shadow or get the suggestion that there is something hiding around the corner then your mind creates something which is scarier to you then anything that can be created by something else.

Let this be a lesson to movie writers, only you can truly scare yourself, there is always an initial fright but true horror lasts longer then the movie.

Movie Remakes: Good or Bad?

Are remakes of classic movies better then the originals? In a word, no.

Of all the remakes I’ve seen I haven’t found one better then the original. They might be better visually but there aren’t any where the story is better. Mainly because the story is the same. Also because they aren’t true remakes. The new ones might have the same name and might resemble the old movie but they aren’t the same. Wether the person who updates the script changes scenes or modernizes movies, they just can’t compare. Too much changes. All we’re getting is new movies.

Then there are the people who think they know something about the classic movie because they saw the remake and then talk about scenes that weren’t in the old version. Ask anyone who knows anything about movies. They’ll probably agree with me.

Remakes can be good movies. But they aren’t better then the original.

What do you think?

Social Media I Just Don’t Get

On the Internet today there are countless types of social media. There’s twitter (my favorite), facebook, google+, YouTube, news site commenting and of course, blogging. I have tried all of the above. All but one I have been able to use properly and do relatively well in. That one is blogging.

Blogging is the one form of social media I have just never managed to get the hang of. I write and write but get about a month or two in to it and then just stop. Don’t know why. Perhaps it’s because all the others don’t require much thought or time. Twitter is only 140 characters which is a thought with perhaps a picture or link. Blogging on the other hand requires more than a couple of seconds thought. It needs an idea and then you have to expand on it slightly. Then add a picture and links.

I guess I’m just a bit too fast paced for blogging but I’ll try my best. Let’s do this.