Day 5 of 13 Days of Halloween

Trends in Recent Horror Films

     Today I decided to take a break from reviewing films and instead talk briefly about recent story trends in horror films. I've noticed how many of the horror films that have been released in recent years deal with evil ghosts/spirits wanting to cause harm or kill people. I am talking about The Woman in Black, every Paranormal Activity, The Conjuring, The Ring (both versions), The Grudge (both versions), and many others. Now, I'm not saying that this is a bad thing. On the contrary, I love a good ghost story as much as the next guy, but what I don't like is how all of these films involve evil and harmful ghosts. The only exception that I've seen is the recently released Crimson Peak. There the ghosts are trying to both help Mia Wasikowska and ask for her help.

     It's not that I don't understand the appeal of only telling stories using evil ghosts especially for horror. I just wish they weren't the only stories told. The Boy, release date in January, is a film that I feel would be much more interesting if the doll wasn't possessed by an evil spirit. The doll can still be possessed by the boy's spirit, but I believe that the story would be much more interesting if he wasn't evil instead his parents were the evil ones and he is trying to keep the heroine safe. It is still a horror film just without an evil possessed doll.

     Another recent film, The Forest, release date in January as well, would be much more interesting and complex if not every spirit in the forest was evil. I refuse to believe that every single spirit in a forest wishes to do the living harm. An idea would be to have the heroine's sister (who dies either right before the film starts or at the beginning) plus some of the spirits, not all, try to help and protect the heroine from some of the darker forces that have taken up residence in the forest. Again, still a horror film just with some depth.

     I'm not suggesting that horror, as a whole, needs to be more "highbrow" or anything remotely close to that. I just wish for horror films to have a more in-depth story and not just keep recycling the same old tropes.