So I watched The Haunting of Molly Hartley the other day. It was actually pretty good, but it had a bad ending. Do you ever find yourself frustrated when a good movie ends bad? I knew going into it that it'd probably end badly. I have no one to blame but myself for being upset by it. In my mind, I tend to always think the best though, I kept hoping that somehow it'd go a different route. It didn't. No surprise. LOL
I think the worst for me is when evil wins. It bugs me when evil triumphs over good. Doesn't that just seem wrong?! I always want evil to get the crap beat out of them. But this happens in movies so often, you'd think I'd just give up watching these types for good.
The worst ending award goes to Fallen. Oh wow. I sooooo wanted that to go a different way. And they keep you hanging on, waiting, hoping...only to be disappointed.
A true thriller is different. You expect them to end with a twist. You know things won't go as you want them to. And usually it doesn't bother me. It's just when I watch a movie that I personally consider suspensful, that I'm left frustrated.
A scary thriller with a really twisted ending would be Descent. It's still one of the most frightening movies I've ever seen. I can't even watch it twice, it freaked me out that much. And it did NOT end happy either. It was a great 'shocking' ending. And I walked away feeling as if I'd gotten my money's worth.
And now there's a new movie coming out. The Last House on the Left. Not so new really, as it's a remake of a very controversial film from the '70s. I think I'll skip this one. Torture isn't my thing. A good suspensful thriller is one thing. Movies like Ring, The Messengers, The Others, What Lies Beneath. Those are good movies to me. They make you think. Gross violence such as movies like Saw, Hostel, or the one below...nope. It just turns my stomach and makes me worry about humans in general.
Thing is, I used to like watching a scary movie. But more and more it seems we're turning away from 'edge of your seat' and moving toward downright sick. Am I the only one who doesn't need blood and guts and torture to get a good scare on?
7 comments:
The overly gory stuff actually makes me sick. Can't watch at ALL. I like a scary suspenseful movie like Silence of the Lambs and paranormal things like Sixth Sense. To me,that's scary enough.
Blood and guts isn't scary. Some of those movies are gross for the sake of being gross, not for being scary. STuff like Saw doesn't scare me (which is the reason for a scary movie, IMO). I do watch some scary movies but not the ones that are just about gore. LIke Reg said, love stuff like Silence of the Lambs.
I can't stomach B&G but Thrillers, oh yeah, bring them on.
I haven't seen The Ring yet, but I want to. One day I'll get the time.
I tend to stay away from Horror films and the like. I have been known to wander around in graveyards and don't need Hollywood's phony scare tactics setting me on edge.
BTW - movies have the whole ghost/spirit world thing totally wrong. Entities from the other side NEVER jump out at you. Well, they never have with me, anyway.
;)
G.
I hate the gory ones. And the tense thrillers bother me too much. I can't watch them. Makes me jittery for weeks afterwards.
Great post, unusual topic but a really good one! Thanks for talking about it.
Hi Anne,
I also worry about people who enjoy watching movies like Saw or Nightmare on Elm Street. The subtlety of tense suspense is dying. It takes less brains to watch the blood and gore. because everything is laid out for, so to speak. THAT is the focus of the movie, never mind the plot.
Even with remakes, like Psycho, the highlight of the remake is the blood and gore. The first one is better because of the 'fear factor.' Does anyone remember "Happy Birthday to Me" ) or The EYes of Laura Mars." They were either in the late 70's or early 80's. Those two movies have stayed with me because of the suspense and twist at the ends.
When it comes to movies and the escape they provide, good NEEDS to win. Otherwise, the expectation was not fulfilled, such as in The Mist.
Even a movie like Arlington Road," which was more suspense than gore, evil won in the end. Most people want to believe that good will win.
With the standard blood and gore that's come to be expected on t.v. and in movies and the increased amount of movies in which good does not win, it appears that society is being programmed to be more desensitized.
Julie
Julie
correction: the expectation IS NOT fulfilled.
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