It seems to me that horror is going very well these days. Yeah, it's October and it's our busiest month, but things have been coming regularly for a while now. I saw three in the last month or so.

I doubt that you''ve heard many good things about The Apparition, and I can't add much to its credit. Except to say that I had a decent time while I watched it. Sure, it was horribly contrived, and the people in it were contemptible, and it wasn't scary or involving at all. But at least I plunked down my money (my debit card, really) and saw for myself.

The Possession was considerably better, if still not exactly praiseworthy. At least this movie was skillfully made, and there was an attempt to create credible, sympathetic characters. The effects were reasonably impressive, and I was entertained. You could do a whole lot worse.

Last night I went to see House at the End of the Street. You just have to ask yourself: WHY, after such successes as Winter's Bone and The Hunger Games, did Jennifer Lawrence's agent sign her on for this messy movie? Well, it must have seemed like a good idea for the teen market. Take your basically good, but slightly rebellious, pretty teenage girl in a new town, add in a sexy, broody guy with a secret, toss in a little suspense and romance, and voilą, you have hit! Well, not exactly. House has made its money back and then some, but it isn't in the Twilight league. Which it seems to have been shooting for. This movie has plot holes you could drive a semi through, and a laughable twist at the end. Relativity Media must have known that they had a hot turd on their hands because they didn't have critics screenings.

But you know what? I enjoyed House at the End of the Street, too. It helped that I had good company with me, but I probably would have had a good time anyway. The simple truth is, I like to go to the movies.

It's fashionable for people to dump on current Hollywood genre projects. Especially for people in or near my age group. It's always been that way, though. Grown-ups hated the slasher movies of the early 80's. Older fans loathed the big bugs and atomic mutations of the 50's. The reality of the situation is, a lot of the stuff we like isn't really very good. We have fond memories of seeing the movies when we were young. By and large, genre movies have always been pretty shitty. They're junk, but for some of us, they're magic junk.

I saw some trailers for upcoming horror movies, and while they all do not look terribly exciting, I'm really looking forward to seeing them.

Smiley is a contender for the next slasher franchise. The trailer isn't that impressive, but who knows? It could be the next big thing in the genre.


The Collection
is a sequel to the grueling 2009 torture opus, The Collector. I wasn't a huge fan of The Collector, but I'll probably get out and see this sequel. Its trailer looks as dark and harrowing as first one.

Paranormal Activity 4. Some like these movies, others do not. I place myself securely in the first group. I like the low budget nature of them, and I am not embarrassed to say that all three of the previous PA movies scared me. The third was my favorite so far. Fourth time might be the charm.


Lords of Salem
. I will never comprehend why so many love Rob Zombie, yet hate Eli Roth. For me there is no contest in which is the more talented filmmaker. But the fans eat that Zombie crap up. You even see some d-bags dressed like Rob at horror cons. The Devil's Rejects was the high point in Zombie's grimy career so far. Please let Lords of Salem be more like it than those abominable Halloween remakes.

Sinister looks like it will be a frightening time at the movies. This one seems to be in a similar vein as 2010's Insidious. I have reasonably high hopes for it.

And the one that has me the most excited is Mama. Even though he has nothing really to do with the movie, Guillermo Del Toro's name usually guarantees at least a modicum of quality. And yes I liked Don't Be Afraid of the Dark. Mama appears to be original and terrifying. I'll be all over it when it reaches the multiplex.

And best of all? None of these are remakes. So you can stop crying.

When I go to the movies, I go with the intention of having a good time. And I almost always do. Sure, some movies rub me wrong, but most of the time the experience itself is a blast. I'm not saying that we have to like everything, but isn't the whole cynical thing getting boring? I want to go back to the times of my youth, when any horror movie was an electrifying experience. I want to put the fun back into it all.

So please consider seeing some of these.Take your girl or guy to these movies, and leave your critic's hat at home. Make a night of it and if you let yourself, you're liable to have a good time despite the things many of us hate about modern movies. If slices of crap like The Apparition or House at the End of the Street are profitable, maybe better screenplays have a chance to get the greenlight. See them, support the genre, and decide whether you like them after you leave the theater.

Then again, if you don't give a shit and won't get yourself out and see at least a couple of these, you can go suck on the Friday the 13th remake.

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