As a fan of horror films I often pause and think to myself: “Why do the theaters get polluted weekly with generic, ham fisted, and worst of all boring horror films? Is it my fault? Did I do something to cause this stain of cinematic mediocrity?”. Yes, I did. You did too. Every time you go to the theaters and pay money to see ‘Saw XXXVII’ you are telling the producers, “This is good, give me more.” The same goes for every time you visit Blockbuster or Netflix and rent the newest throwaway remake. Even when you go to your favorite film news site and click “after the jump” to see which lucky actor will be playing the new Jason, you are fueling the machine.
It brings me great sadness then to see truly great tales of horror be financially thrown under the rug. The brilliant Swedish vampire flick ‘Let the Right One In’ grossed under $10 million worldwide despite being adored by critics and fans. ‘The Host’, another critically acclaimed horror film that was released widely in the U.S., barely made 2 million. Luckily the rest of the world helped its box office substantially. Unlucky for us, both movies are riding the American remake train,
and if history repeats itself they will be mentally neutered features. These film makers will look at the “bad ass” stuff of the original and try to replicate it despite not having a clue about what actually makes the story tick.
Studios do not hear you when you voice your opinions, when it comes to horror they do not read the reviews, and they definitely don’t give a crap about people bitching about the latest terrible remake on a blog. Studios only hear the sound of the almighty dollar. In the case of Sam Raimi’s brilliant new film ‘Drag Me To Hell’, he has given us a megaphone. The only problem is: are we going to use it?
‘Drag Me To Hell’ is the wet dream of horror movie lovers everywhere. From blood chilling terror to hysterical comedy to 93% on the Tomatometer, Sam’s new film is the horror movie to beat. Apparently no one believes me because after being around for two weeks the film has yet to break $25 million. Pathetic when films of the same genre, such as ‘The Grudge’, have made over $110 million. ‘Drag Me To Hell’ is still behind such sterling features as ‘Mirrors’, ‘Ghost Ship’, and ‘The Fog’.
If we don’t start supporting good horror films with our money our theaters will continue to be a dumping ground. I know you are poor, we are all poor. But now is the time to blow the dust off your wallet, wrench the thing open, pull out $12.50 and pay the box office attendant for what will surely become one of your favorite horror movies in the last ten years. If you’re still not convinced, here’s six reasons it’s worth your money.
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