The Cinematic Generation Gap

I remember when I was young. My father railed against modern cinema, claiming that Hollywood forgot how to make movies. The situation seemed to be somehow my fault. Yes, I did love modern movies. Other than horror productions, I wasn't much of a fan of classic American films.

I came to love the movies even more. I was blown away by certified classics like Animal House and Halloween, and I beat a path to the many imitators that followed. I was at the drive-ins and hardshell theaters at least once a week. More so when I could afford it.

Slasher movies became huge favorites, and of course many older people reviled them. Critics I admired, like Siskel & Ebert and Harlan Ellison, not only hated the trend. They attacked those of us who loved the movies.

I wasn't angry or offended. Why would I be? I was amused by it all. In fact, a big part of the attraction to raucous youth party movies and slasher features was rebellion. The old bastards were out of touch. Let 'em have Bogie and Cagney. I didn't want Stewart or Gable or any of them.

I reveled in critically disdained action movies. T&A shenanigans. Masked killers and marauding monsters.

Then there were the teen movies of the '80s. Most reviewers dumped on them. I loved nearly every one of the Brat Pack opuses. I liked sappy Spielberg fantasies and mindless shoot-'em-ups.

I became kind of cool in my thirties. I delved deeper than horror had to offer, and I made dozens of tapes for people. Shocking shorts, oddball music videos you'd never see on MTV, weird documentaries, and foreign delicacies. I used to tell people that no grownups were allowed to watch the videocassettes I made. Just young people. Grownups were way too square.

Time sped up and I aged. You think you can fight it, but you change. It's inevitable.

I thought many of the movies from the 2000s were execrable. I particularly loathed the Dark Castle Entertainment pictures. They were, to me and every fan I knew, uninspired eye candy that substituted plot and character with visual effects and crude situations.

Funny. Today I see a lot of young adult fans praising these movies. These people saw the movies on DVD or cable when they were young and impressionable. Just as I was when I first started to seriously watch horror.

I've even seen people claim the 2002 Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake is better than the original. And we all know a generation preferred Zombieween to John Carpenter's trendsetting masterpiece.

I shake my head. Those damned kids don't know anything.

I got even worse. As digital overwhelmed and replaced film, I quickly became disenchanted with the field. Oh, I don't think I turned into Gene Siskel or anything that drastic, but I grew to hate the look of digital photography and editing.

Peak TV mostly flew right by me. I was told by so many people that I had to watch Stranger Things. Well, I tried. I sat through two whole seasons. I didn't hate it, but...I didn't much like it either. I'd rather go back to The Monster Squad or Explorers any day.

I'd hear that this show was amazing, or that show is essential viewing. I'd try to watch and be disappointed.

Is the problem me? Yes, almost certainly. I got old.

I don't dislike everything. I thought Hereditary and Midsommar were great. Ti West freaked me out in a good way with X and Pearl. The Black Phone is a really good one.

Then again, I didn't quite hate Halloween 2018, Scream 5 and 6, Dr. Sleep, or Pet Sematary 2019, but I didn't much like them either.

I did hate, loathe, despise, detest, and abhor The Stand 2020 miniseries.

The jump scare trend mostly irritates me. I've seen James Wan movies and their sequels. Eh. Most have effective moments, but I can't quite say I fully liked them.

And what will come of the screenwriter's strike and the advent of A.I.?

I can't imagine I will be enthusiastic about any of it. You never know. I've been wrong hundreds of times before. Perhaps I will be a big fan again.

Today a young guy at work said his new girlfriend loves horror. I asked what she liked the most. He said she doesn't like old shit. I asked about a movie and he said, "That's twenty years old. How's that going to scare me?"

It makes me sad. I'm not going to be the old pedant and try to win them over. I won't encourage them to watch Dawn of the Dead or Susperia. No attempts to get them to see The Fly or The Thing. Not even Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer. I'll let the kids be the kids.

I've had people shake their heads in pity when I say I'm not going to watch some new show. I smile. There's no need to feel sorry for me. I can and probably will watch old movies for the rest of my life. There are still plenty I've never seen, and I can revisit beloved pictures time and again. I am perfectly content.

The '80s and the '90s were my years. I of course like things from before and after, but those were the years when I was fully immersed in the love of filmmaking. My love of the movies of those decades overwhelms me. My heart swells at the very thought of American Gothic or Evil Toons. I get the vapors over Silent Rage, The Last American Virgin, Bad Dreams, The New Kids, and hundreds more.

I luckily meet young people who share my dementia. They buy DVDs at my dealer tables. They are jealous that I got to be there when the classics were happening.

We all have our given years in this life. I couldn't be happier with the times I have lived. The monster craze of the '60s, the post hippie '70s, the excessive '80s, and the nihilistic '90s. The movies, the books, the music, the whole thing. When it comes to all of it, I consider myself the luckiest person alive.

Written by Mark Sieber