There’s a certain romanticism about the fall. It makes you want to curl up with the one you love, ingest anything and everything pumpkin flavored and watch an absolutely terrifying movie.

Although it’s not very close to Halloween, some surprisingly good horror films have been coming down the docket. But horror movies are no longer the quality, cultural sensations they once were. This past weekend’s release of “Insidious 2” got us geared up for the fall, but fell short of the autumnal thrills we so crave.

Despite the hoards of the teens rushing to the theater, horror movies don’t shake us out of our desensitization anymore. They’re self-parodies, and sometimes more funny than they are scary.

There was something different about scary movies when we were younger. “The Blair Witch Project,” “Scream,” and the “Child’s Play” series incited cultural obsessions. They made awesome merchandise, decent sequels and tons of money. Many have tried and failed to have a lasting effect.

There’s an incredible cash cow in the modern day horror film. Studios value money rather than quality, especially with the horror genre. The producers and studio heads know we’re scared so they know they’ll make a bundle on large groups of people, especially young people, at the box office.

But when movies all become the same, it’s difficult to care or be swept up in the sensationalism that we used to.

Films like “The Strangers” and “Insidious” tried to change this trend. They featured solemn story lines and esteemed actors like Liv Tyler, Rose Byrne and Patrick Wilson. They were reminiscent of the older horror dramas like “The Silence of the Lambs.”

But ultimately, they’re boring and don’t captivate us.

Although people continue to go out and see them in droves, it’s clear that they’re tedious to sit through. They’re much lower quality than the Oscar-winning “Silence of the Lambs” or the “The Exorcist.” They are flat, one dimensional and the more I go to see, the more I sit there in uncomfortable suspense waiting for the antagonist to pop out and the movie to end so we can all go home.

Our impatience with media combined with the lackluster quality of the storytelling in scary movies these days, makes it less fun to go see the horror films we are dying to see this time of year.

In contrast, horror television is really perfecting the genre. “American Horror Story” came out of nowhere and was so much better than everyone thought it was going to be. Complex magazine called the show’s fall premiere one of the most highly anticipated returns in primetime. It’s attracting amazing writers and cast members.

The miniseries, returning for its third season, keeps coming back because it provides the viewers with the thrills we seek, but on a weekly basis.
Horror sequels may keep the fandom alive, but they’re not special. They remain derivative and we beg for them to end even more than their originals.
The days when scary movies win Oscars may not be completely behind us, though. The genre could remain boring and stagnant, but this quality could push future directors to work outside of the mold.

To be scared and amazed by filmmaking isn’t an emotional artifact of the past. It’s entirely possible and we should all be holding out hope.

Cassie-lee Grimaldi is a senior television, radio and film major. Her column appears weekly. She can be reached at [email protected].

Published on September 16, 2013 at 1:12 am