What is Digg?153 Comments
- inactive, on 07/05/2008, -0/+46I agree with Mr. King.
You don't need a ton of money to make a great horror film.
Halloween, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and Night of the Living Dead were all shot on a small budget and each and everyone of these entries are considered Horror classics. They all scared the crap out of me with their originality and vision.
All of these films have been modernized with remakes that are just complete garbage. These original films made me go to sleep with the lights on. The remakes and sequels had me waiting for the lights to go up at the movie theatre. - Dumbledorito, on 07/05/2008, -6/+45King skips over one key element that made a lot of his movies bad: The director has to make you care about the victims or there's even less of a reason to care about their ultimate demise.
This is especially needed when the monster, taken by itself, is ludicrous. However, if we know Dan and Betty well enough to know that Dan now has something to live for because Betty is carrying his child, and Betty has secretly been in love with Dan and is willing to leave her husband, Bruno, for him, then we don't care that what's about to eat them is a guy in a paper-mache and rubber outfit.
When the movie makes the monster the star, it's either science fiction or gore-porn, not horror. - Shiftgood, on 07/05/2008, -2/+39Korea can do horror. has anyone seen "A tale of 2 sisters"? Im 26 and i was doing the thing where i cover my face with my hands and watch thru the cracks in my fingers.
- rukeypoo, on 07/06/2008, -0/+30No. That pisses me off when the writer just sticks a pregnancy in there just to make the audience 'care'. Its a quick replacement for REAL character development/dynamic.
- bjs3171, on 07/06/2008, -0/+28i agree with most of the article. but i don't think the x-files show was ever supposed to be a "HORROR" show. Not in the sense that they wanted you to scream. It was more like creepy sci-fi. They used horror film elements, but the stories were really more about the mystery.
- gl77, on 07/06/2008, -1/+27"A Tale of 2 Sisters sounds like a nice low-budget korean porn flick to me.....
- albi123, on 07/06/2008, -1/+23Very true, 28 Days Later was awesome, and the second one wasn't nearly as good after being hollywoodized.
- Ricky81682, on 07/06/2008, -1/+18Wow, bitter, table of one. I'm pretty sure King has made plenty of money regardless of the ones made into movies. He does have a talent.
- Owwmykneecap, on 07/06/2008, -1/+18Because of great European and especially Asian cinema, that's less reliant on the tired BOO! formulae hollywood pump out
and Videogames.
Silent hill, Fatal Frame, Clock Tower and the earlier Resident Evil games scare me more than any movie could, because I am a part of., I am in danger...
Its the one Genre videogames have undoubtedly passed film in.
Next up, romance... - EssexTrain, on 07/06/2008, -0/+15I agree over all, but X-Files has almost never been horror to me, mostly sci-fi and maybe thriller
- estacado, on 07/06/2008, -1/+16Being a porn aficionado, K-porn is better than J-porn, especially soft porn. Koreans know how to inject sensuality into their porn. The Japs... well the Japs are the Japs.
- YodaJones, on 07/05/2008, -3/+18Stephen hits the nail square on the head.
- Arcae, on 07/06/2008, -0/+14He makes a lot of really good points. I do believe that most scary movies are low budget. The only thing I really disagree with is the fact that he even hints at their being a redeeming quality about "The Happening." The only redeeming quality of that movie was that it ended. Don't mistake that for "the ending," because the ending was terrible. Just the fact that it stopped at some point.
- xjohnmcclanex, on 07/06/2008, -0/+14remember The Descent? that movie ruled.
- Narthex81, on 07/06/2008, -2/+14As a fan of Mr. King I usually agree with him when it comes to his opinions on what makes for a great horror movie. However, the man needs to listen to his own advice and stop having that hack writer/director/producer Mick Garris turn his ingenious books into Made-For-TV schlock. The only good movies based on King's work have been created by major Hollywood companies for the big screen i.e. The Shining, Stand by Me, Shawshank Redemption, Misery and The Dead Zone. Yes, Hollywood has fumbled with some of his material (Dreamcatcher, Hearts in Atlantis, Pet Semetary) but I would still rather watch those films than sit through Desperation, The Stand, Sleepwalkers or any other Made-For-TV King title again (especially The Shining remake). Oh, and for those that care, Garris is currently butchering both Bag of Bones and From a Buick 8 as we speak (Tobe Hooper is directing Buick 8 so hopefully it won't be complete rubbish).
- wylddog, on 07/06/2008, -0/+11are you sure you dont get scared anymore because your older and wiser?
- dha07030, on 07/05/2008, -1/+10That made me crack the ***** up!
- ScottMitchell, on 07/06/2008, -0/+9Perhaps you've not seen Shawshank Redemption, Stand by Me, or Apt Pupil. All top notch movies. Those three stories actually come from the same collection of novellas (Different Seasons) and are definitely worth reading first and then watching.
King is an expert storyteller. His books aren't the most thought provoking or culturally significant, but, damn, that guy is one helluva storyteller. - Shipyaad, on 07/06/2008, -0/+8I'll make a good movie for $5000. I mean $100m.
- lostformat1125, on 07/06/2008, -0/+8Silent Hill 2...scariest game ever
- xXMetalJesusXx, on 07/06/2008, -1/+9If you thought Signs was scary...you've never seen true horror. I'm not trying to be a prick, or make fun of you, it's just fact.
But then again, if you though Signs was scary, maybe you should stay away from the Horror genre entirely. - etnin, on 07/06/2008, -0/+8Yeah, the Langoliers really scared the crap out of me. Way better than X-Files.
- kuppoppo, on 07/06/2008, -0/+7What's your deal man? Could you ***** chill please? He's writing about scary movies. Live a little. Have some fun. Unwind. Etc.
- Failchan, on 07/06/2008, -0/+6He had a hard drug problem at the time of filming. He doesn't even remember writing Cujo. What do you expect?
- DaHuuuuuudge, on 07/06/2008, -0/+6The expression is "Do not bite the hand that feeds you."
What the hell does "the hand that bites my employer" mean? Hands do not bite. - kaskoosek, on 07/06/2008, -1/+6Evil Dead is the best horror movie I have ever watched when I was young. It haunted for 10 years after watching it.
Have recently watched it again, it has aged a bit. - MaliciousKitty, on 07/06/2008, -1/+6"(and the poor misunderstood thing probably needs a juicy Earth woman to make sexy with)"
Everything is so clear now. - decyx, on 07/06/2008, -0/+5Actually, most Hollywood horror movies ARE made on a small budget; $30M or less is considered cheap in Tinseltown, especially when you consider the potential return on investment from ticket sales, DVD purchases, and future TV releases.
The fact that horror pictures are cheap to produce, have a built in audience and don't need a huge star to draw attention is part of the reason there's so much crap in the genre; it's a double edged sword. On one end of the spectrum, we have low budget gems like the already mentioned Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Night of the Living Dead while on the other, we have pretty much everything that's been adapted from Asian cinema by Vertigo Entertainment (The Grudge, The Eye, Shutter).
Stephen's heart is in the right place and I deeply share his sentiment regarding the lack of good contemporary horror flicks, but the man knows twiddly ***** about film making. A smaller budget =/= quality. By that logic, the Sci-Fi channel would be rolling in Emmy Awards by now.
"most really good horror films are low-budget affairs with special effects cooked up in someone's basement or garage."
I wholly disagree with this. Did he watch The Boogeyman? That was one of the worst looking creatures ever concocted and it did nothing to enhance the film (I sincerely regret watching that piece of ***** btw if anyone's curious). Good horror films rely on the audience's imagination to fill in the blanks. Jaws, for example, didn't even show the entire shark until the last third of the film. - dha07030, on 07/05/2008, -6/+11We all know you need 100 million to make a good movie, geez
/s - tweaq, on 07/06/2008, -0/+5So dumbledoritor, what happens to Dan and Betty? What about poor Bruno (even though he sounds like a douche). Does Dan know that Betty loves him? Does he know that she is pregnant with his child? WE NEED ANSWERS MAN!
- jgtg32a, on 07/06/2008, -0/+5Hey, I'll give king the benefit of the doubt, I'm going to assume that he knew it was going to be a *****-show, and it was just slightly less ***** so he was impressed.
- kuppoppo, on 07/06/2008, -6/+10Now I know we're all sucking Stephen King's dick already in the comments here, but I do have to say, he writes a good article.
:-) - dsmx, on 07/06/2008, -0/+4Things that are scary are not on the screen for most of the movie, the fear of the unknown is scarier than seeing what it is that is scaring them. It's why low budget horro films are scary because they can't afford to put the thing that is scaring them on screen for more than a few minute so they rely on atmosphere, lighting, noises stuff like that to create a feeling of terror in the film not special effects as hollywood would use.
- LilRabbitFooFoo, on 08/11/2008, -7/+11King was an excellent writer of short stories. Expanding each of them to 800 pages (yes, he gets paid by the word, so do the math) killed whatever respect I had for him in the early days.
PAD PAD PAD PAD PAD....continue this for 8 pages and you'll get the idea...PAD PAD PAD PAD PAD
PS ALIEN is a scarier and better made movie than anything being mentioned above. - inactive, on 07/06/2008, -3/+7Give me $100M and I'll make a good movie for $5000... and if you don't like it ***** you cause I'm rich.
- santaliqueur, on 07/06/2008, -0/+4We have to get away from that horrible cereal noise.
- mtrip, on 07/06/2008, -0/+4If King had never made any of those movies he'd still probably have 9-10 figures in the bank. You have no idea how well those books have done...he doesn't need hollywood, hollywood comes to him.
- leuksho, on 07/06/2008, -0/+4Still think that Silent Hill 3 stands out the most. But now the series is stagnating. The fact that Team Silent is not working on Homecoming - well, I don't know what to say, it looks kind of bad.
- Falldog, on 07/06/2008, -0/+4Try explaining this to the studio executives who are letting Michael Bay redo The Birds, Nightmare on Elm Street, and Friday the 13th.
- estacado, on 07/06/2008, -1/+4Watching Entourage = fail.
- HorseloverFat8, on 07/06/2008, -0/+3I've got to disagree with you there -- his longer books are quite often his best. Tell me which one of his short stories beats The Stand?
- cheezintern, on 07/06/2008, -0/+3Good article...I think a really good horror flick comes down to a good quality crew making it. Money and special affects really don't do much, which is all large studios have to offer.
- spawnfree, on 07/06/2008, -0/+3you all need to see REC.
it will bore you in places but the last fifteen minutes or so are worth the wait
dont look for the american remake trailer because it actually spoils the ending (idiots) - HorseloverFat8, on 07/06/2008, -0/+3Are you intentionally being an obnoxious moron?
- explnx, on 04/27/2009, -0/+3Those kinds of movies actually scare you? Sure, the idea of that sort of torture being inflicted on the viewer is disturbing but it does nothing like the suspense and payoff of a real horror movie.
- Niightwitch, on 07/06/2008, -0/+3I disagree, but oddly enough, the movies I've enjoyed the most of his were ones that weren't horror movies like "Stand By Me" and "Delores Claiborne".
- themightyhlp, on 07/06/2008, -0/+3I'm with both of you on this one
- TheBaronRides, on 07/06/2008, -0/+3So glad someone said this, I'm a pretty big X-files fan and feel the same way.
- HorseloverFat8, on 07/06/2008, -0/+3Stephen King is a legend. I'm entitled to suck his dick!
- jgtg32a, on 07/06/2008, -0/+3STALKER is up there too
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