Absolute Horror Film Forum

Now this is what I want to scream at the person who hands out the Genre titles.

Listen up people, Hitchcock got it right. Psycho is NOT horror. It's a Thriller - a good old fashioned who-dunnit, with a cross-dressing delusional psychotic at the heart of the story. Because the Killer is human - no matter how unhinged his psyche may be - that fixes it firmly in the Thriller genre.

Now, Vampires, Zombies, Ghouls, Witches & Warlocks, Creatures from the Black Lagoon, Blobs from outer space, The Grim Reaper, Death, every other monster and anything to do with the occult - IS Horror.

It seems to me the people in good old Hollywoodland would love for us to feel safe, and have therefore labeled the very human monster as Horror. Which, in our minds, disassociates it from the real world - because the world of Horror, is the world of make believe, whereas the world of the Thriller, is the world of reality and possibilities - and do you really want to think your next door neighbour is fantasizing about carefully removing your skin, so he can wear it at the next harvest festival?

Take The Texas Chainsaw Massacre - this was loosely based on true and real events - so the movie gets slapped into the Horror Genre and hopefully the chat you had with Mrs Charlston that morning doesn't scare you too bad when you remember she said "Oh, your skin is so soft and smooth." And with a smile she added, "I wish I had skin like yours."

Now, for me, because the perpetrator is human and it's based on reality it should be in Thriller. I hear you ask, what about the violence and the horror.

I say, Dear Hunter, Full Metal Jacket, Apocalypse Now, Schindlers List, and countless other war movies, where thousands are portrayed dead, you see soldiers cold-bloodedly shoot cowering mothers and children, you see innocents burned with napalm. Here is violence and horror on unparalleled scales - and none of those films made it into the Horror genre. War is far away (both in distance and in time), and we can sadly distance ourselves from it.

So The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a Thriller with very mature themes.

Now in the previous reviews of Black Christmas - I bring up the It's Not Horror thing - Though the films are relevantly similar to Halloween and Friday 13th (the sequel onwards - with Jason as the killer) I still say the latter two films are very much Horror films - the difference is simple - Neither Michael Myers or Jason Voorhees can be killed. They're unstoppable juggernauts.

One film series, which changed genre with nearly every new film is Alien.

Alien itself, is a Horror film set in space. Other than the giant spaceship Nostradamus, the Alien Planet, Ash the android, and the Alien itself (though in this movie it's portrayed as more of a monster) there is very little that shouts sci-fi. It's Ridley Scott's direction and the cat and mouse chase that make this a horror film.

Aliens is nothing more than an action film with side helpings of extra gore. James Cameron decides to leave the dark ambiance behind for the edge of your seat, "Get ready they're coming", flashing lights and quick sharp cuts - which, I thought deterred from what the film could've been.

Alien3 is more Sci-Fi based with moments of action to help it along. Again it's the direction that helped with the Genre placing of this film, it's slower than the first two, and the acting is relied upon more in this film, to tell the story.

Now that is how I feel and I'm glad I got it off my chest. Please feel free to agree or disagree with me, but please let me know your feelings - this is a forum, after all .

Come join me - We ALL float down here.
PENNYWISE.