From horror to gorier
The ceiling began to cave in. Father Merrin's breath penetrated through the bitter, cold room, as he attempted to condemn the demon back to hell. The demon that had possessed young Regan MacNeil slowly twisted her head around her shoulders, smiling malevolently, reflecting on the chaos that it had brought upon the MacNeil family.
Arguably, the most horrendous and terrifying scene from William Friedkin's "The Exorcist," this act fully displayed the sheer horror that is near nonexistent in an era of movie remakes and simple-minded terror.
Since the 1973 classic, horror has diluted itself from bone-chilling suspense and true fear to a simple competition of who can spill the most blood or blow the most heads off.
The seemingly never-ending "Saw" franchise is a perfect example of the change in what a horror movie is supposed to entail.
The entire series seems like an endless array of skinned flesh and blood spatters. The antagonist throughout the series puts his victims through nearly impossible obstacles that reside between life and death, and the death is usually not very clean.
The "Hostel" movie series falls further down the line. The continuous acts of eye gouging and throat slitting portray Eli Roth's creation as a series less intended to scare, and more suited to make viewers vomit what they had for lunch.
I am not out to say that these movies contain no value to the new generation of movie fanatics, nor are they poorly created. However, what people value now is a shell in what was once a flourishing genre.
People now plead and cheer for hearts being ripped out and tongues being slashed in almost every aspect of the virtual world.
Movies such as John Carpenter's 1978 film "Halloween" were created in brilliant fashion. They were as perfect a mix of thrill, suspense and horror as a horror movie can have.
Michael Myers, the serial killer, would stalk his victims, hiding in the shadows with his blank stare mask, waiting to strike. The victim would hide, falsely hoping he or she would be able to escape an inevitable death. When it was least expected, the killer would strike. Yes, there was death, but there was a story being told.
The cat-and-mouse game was in full effect and did not get drowned out by unnecessary gore with no real addition to the scene other than to disgust.
The art of storytelling within a horror movie is no longer a top priority in this genre. People might say that today's horror is made more for shock value, but the shock value is gone. The horror genre is predictable now.
I no longer slide down my seat, wondering when the killer, ghost or ghoul will strike. I know when the killer will strike, and I know what he, she or it will most likely do.
Still, within all of the chaos, there is a thin glimmer of hope. Movies like James Wan's "The Conjuring" can be seen as nostalgic for the old-time horror fanatic, as the carefully-molded film is the best movie of its genre in years.
It did not survive on spilling the insides of its characters, but on the story of a husband and wife, devoted to conquering the demonic entity within a small town home
— simple and sweet.
Television has also joined the fight with its own "American Horror Story," which tells a new terror tale each season. Its large amount of creativity and complexity is enough to keep viewers in their seats, not allowing them to miss a second of the award-winning show.
With the horror genre being stripped down of its roots, moviegoers should not expect captivating stories that will glue their eyes to the screen. They simply need to keep in mind how long they eat before watching one of these movies because the food might not stay in there for long.