"Classic" Horror Films You Don't Consider Classic

[When_MP_Attacks]

Dawn of the Dead.

Night of the Living Dead is probably one of the five greatest horror films ever, maybe the only great zombie movie.

For years I'd heard and read that Dawn might even surpass Night - never has the consensus been so galactically wrong. Dawn doesn't work as horror, satire, comedy, or action.

What explains this utterly incorrect praise? Are people just such suckers for anything against consumerism, man! that it doesn't take much for their artistic and storytelling instincts to become subsumed? Is it run-off praise from Romero's general resume? Or maybe the fans have had their brains eaten by zombies?

[Robert Adam Gilmour]

Geez, where do I start? Probably 90% of the classics. It's not that they're all bad but most of them just don't have enough quality or impact to be justified classics. Mostly just overpraised.
A lot of horror film fans will label classic on anything that is old enough.

I love the overall style of Universal and Hammer films but I think very few of them were what I'd call good films, many are pretty awful.
The Mummy in particular is terrible, it has a few great shots in it but that doesn't disguise the grinding slog that it is.

I think Dawn Of The Dead is okay.

[ChildofOldLeech]

- Even if it means aligning myself with the mindless shambling hordes, I will proudly proclaim my eternal love and appreciation for Dawn; to my mind it is not only Romero's best film, but one of the best horror movies of the '70's, and one of top ten horror movies of all time. (Martin is a close second, however.)
- Personally, nothing from Wes Craven's ever really impressed me; Elm Street, Hills Have Eyes, and Last House left me pretty cold. Near Dark didn't leave much impression (although I'm big fan of screenwriter Eric Red's Hitcher), The Descent seemed quite forgettable, High Tension patently ridiculous, and Paranormal Activity an unmitigated snoozefest; and, despite my love of over-the-top gore comedies, Reanimator has never done it for me like the early movies of Raimi and Jackson. I'm hesitant to call them 'classics', but the works of Zombie and Roth arouse my ire like few others. Also, while I certainly don't hate it, I've only watched The Exorcist once and have never particularly felt any urge to see it again.

Reanimator is a film I'm not especially passionate about. As far as Stuart Gordon films go I much prefer From Beyond, Castle Freak (underrated!), and Dagon.

Paranormal Activity wasn't very effective for me, and I'm somebody who frequently defends the 'found footage' genre of horror films. When it's done well, it's the cinematic equivalent of the epistolary literary technique – but the lower budget all too often leads to a feeling of laziness. The Japanese film Noroi is a found footage film well worth checking out. In fact, I'd say that damn near all of the best ghost films I've seen have been Asian. There's a real undercurrent of the untamed, enduring supernatural in their culture, which isn't as prevalent in western society.

[Stu]

Dawn of the Dead -- It may be a case of high expectations combined with the fact that I only saw it for the first time a few years ago but I was really disappointed. I actually prefer the Zack Snyder remake. Although to be fair I've seen the Snyder version a few times now but the Romero only once so the original may grow on me.

Wes Craven -- I found Scream smug, unfunny, hammy, only fitfully scary and actually quite dull. I forget how many of the Nightmare on Elm Street films Craven actually directed but none of the ones I saw were up to much. That said, the original probably looks a lot better now after all the dreadful sequels.

Hellraiser -- Probably would've enjoyed this more if I'd seen it around the time it came out. As it was I didn't see it until the 2000s and couldn't figure out what all the fuss was about.

John Carpenter -- Again, it's probably because I didn't see his classic stuff until ages after it all came out but Halloween and The Thing left me cold. (And I really, really, really wanted to like The Thing.) Funnily enough, I get on better with his non-classics such as They Live or Halloween III, probably as there's less expectation. In fact with Halloween III all the kickings the film has taken over the years actually did it a favour, it made a so-so film feel much better than I'd been led to believe.

Oh, I can't get enough of Hellraiser, despite certain dated 80s -chic elements. Barker's novella The Hellbound Heart is even more exquisite due to being uncompromised. The Scarlet Gospels is something I'm looking forward to immensely, as I seem to rate Clive Barker much higher than many who dismiss him as another Koontz or Lumley. I truly believe that when the hype has settled he'll be looked back on as one of the greats of horror literature – from not just this era, but any.

Argento has lost the plot now, but Suspiria, Inferno, Deep Red, and Phenomena, are eminently rewatchable for me.

[miguel1984]

The Blair Witch Project. Even though I liked it when I saw it in the movie theatre, I quickly discovered it does not stand a rewatch and that horrid sequel did not help matters at all. I hardly remember the movie nowadays, even though it was a phenomenon when it was released.

And the recent "classics" impact like Paranormal Activity or Saw was surely diminished by the endless sequels. I only saw the first Paranormal Activity, which was OK but nothing to write home about, and the first two Saw films, which was nothing more than glorified torture porn.

[Nicole Cushing]

I love some of the Universal classics of the '30s and '40s, but I think many film buffs / "monster kids" forget that there were some real stinkers in the mix. For example, some of the later Mummy sequels (The Mummy's Ghost, etc.)

[Robert Adam Gilmour]

It gets worse than The Mummy?!
Either The Mummy or The Invisible Ray are the worst old Universal horror I've seen. I thought both Dracula's Daughter and Son Of Dracula were close to that badness.

Poltergeist is another I don't believe deserves the acclaim. Aside from the awesome ghosts I don't think it has much going for it.

Blair Witch Project and REC stand mostly on their very strong last 15-20 minutes. I don't think the films as a whole are brilliant. But I think Blair Witch is a much better film and it's a favourite of mine on the strength of the ending.

[Robert Adam Gilmour]

Also, Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 starts off promising because it's so stylistically different from the original, it has Dennis Hopper starting to go nuts and that road scene is great; but it falls to pieces and drags out like Hooper is doing an extended homage to his own film.