By tyranist
When I set out to start a horror film review page, I didn't think that deciding what is horror and isn't would be a part of the process. I have found that just reviewing the movies in the Horror section at the local Hollywood Video is probably not going to cut it. Alien isn't in the Horror section. Vampire in Brooklyn is. Can you see the dilemma?
Additionally, I have to wonder about certain science fiction shows. A lot of science fiction treads the border between futuristic thriller and high-tech horror. Take The Terminator as an example. 999 out of 1000 people would say that it is simply a really intense sci-fi show. I would contend that it is at least in form a horror show. A single, persistent killer who refuses to die, is methodically hunting people down with the express purpose of "terminating" them. Umm . . . Michael Myers, Jason Vorhees, Freddy Krueger, and countless others.
Then you have to consider the comedies. I can't watch Army of Darkness without laughing all the way through the show. And that isn't the worst example. The Three Stooges Meet Frankenstein and just about every other monster. Is it horror or isn't it? It has a monster in it. It has a lot of elements that would be frightening if they were delivered just a little differently. But this is the farthest possible thing in the world from The Shining.
I can't sit by and let someone else tell me what is and isn't horror. Still it would be nice. The next question that comes to mind is what about "psychological thrillers"? Cape Fear (the de Niro version) scared me. I have to admit that I have a particularly bad case of jitters when it comes to stalker stories, but it was a frightening experience. So does that mean any movie where a psycho is trying to ruin the lives (by death or otherwise) of the main characters is horror? In this case I would have to say yes. And there is a whole list of movies that will fall into this category.
So what is horror? As long as we are doing this page, I suppose it is going to be whatever we want. I am not going to go into long explanations when I post a movie to explain why it is horror, you will just have to believe that I found it frightening in some way or so full of horror conventions that it can't be classified any other way. And maybe just to show you we mean business, The Terminator will get reviewed.