The weekend of September 10th was a very important one at the box office. The top three films, "Stigmata", "The Sixth Sense" and "A Stir of Echoes" brought in a combined total of over $40 million. But more importantly, all three are supernatural horror films. The last time that the top three films were all horror related was... well... I'm not much for doing research, but I can tell that it hasn't happened in a very long time. Along with "The Blair Witch Project"(which I must tell you, I thought was complete crap), this has definitely been a summer for horror films. Many people are surprised by this. My response to that is, why? Horror films have always been popular and successful, it just seems to take some people longer to realize this.

So, what am I saying, that horror films are profitable? Sure horror movies are profitable. If you go back and look at the late '70s -- early '80s when everybody was making independent films, you'll see that most were horror films or T&A movies, because they could be made cheaply and turn a profit. Yes, that's part of my point, but my bigger point is that it is time for horror films to receive the respect that they deserve. Horror films have been around since the birth of motion pictures (Edison did his own version of "Frankenstein!"), but they have long since been treated like an embarrassment to Hollywood. At times, horror films were only slightly above pornography on the respect scale. And today, with all of the debates about the effects of movie violence, horror films are once again under fire, despite the fact that they are excelling at the box office.

So, why don't horror movies get the respect that they deserve? I really don't know. As we pointed out earlier, this has been a big summer for horror. People were astounded that during the summer of "The Phantom Menace," a no-budget film like "Blair Witch" could come in and do such great business. People are obviously forgetting that in 1980 with "The Empire Strikes Back" was ruling at the box-office, while a little film called "Friday the 13th" was sitting in the number two position. The success of the summer of '99 for horror films is not unprecedented. The problem is that these things come in waves and people quickly forget about yesterday's successful fright-fest.

If you're reading this column (and I thank you for doing so) and visiting DVDReview.com, then you probably have more than a passing interest in film. But, let's think about the casual film fan for a minute, who is only drawn towards what is "hot" at the moment. I know so many people who don't consider themselves horror fans and actually look down on horror, but if you name the big ones, odds are that they've seen and enjoyed most of them. "Psycho", "The Exorcist", "Jaws", "The Omen", "Halloween", "Alien", "The Shining", "Friday the 13th", "Poltergeist", "Jurassic Park", "The Silence of the Lambs", "Scream" -- this is not meant to be a complete list of successful horror films, but this list is a good representative of films that were successful at the box-office and have become a part of our national collective. To overstate the point, everyone has seen these films. And now, we have "The Sixth Sense". Once again, people who usually spit on horror are rushing to see it. Why? Because it's good. It's just that simple. Bruce Willis + supernatural horror + great trailer + good movie = big bucks. It makes sense to me.

Then why were people surprised by it's success? I feel that it all goes back to horror's bad reputation. Horror films are thought of as being for degenerates or sick people, and of course, now the popular rhetoric is that they cause violent acts. I'm not going to get off on that subject, but I can tell you that I've seen 'em all and I'm that most mellow person you'll ever meet.

Going back to the films I listed earlier, I made a point of saying that these films were successful at the box-office -- that is on their initial theatrical run. Often horror movies are thought of as being "cult films" that gain popularity on home video or at midnight screenings. And yes, many films have become popular that way, but many more made money by being accepted by the mainstream.

Another problem is that many people associate horror with violence. When I tell people that I love horror movies, they often say, "I don't like gore." Who said gore? Was I mumbling? Yes, many horror films feature violence and blood, but many don't. Look at "The Sixth Sense" and "Blair Witch", they were effective without gore. And of course, you have classics like "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" and "Halloween", both of which show basically no blood, and rely on pacing and performances to scare people. On the other hand, when you think of classic scenes from films like "The Exorcist" and "Alien", the ones that stand out are the ones that deal with special effects. (Would the "chest-burster" in "Alien" have worked if Ridley Scott had only hinted at what was happening? I don't think so.) For some horror films, no blood is necessary to produce the desired effect. For others, calculated use of special effects scare the audience. The general public needs to realize that the majority of horror films don't rely solely on blood to get by. I think that too many people were exposed to too many Jason movies in the '80s and the genre has been paying for it ever since.

So, what is my ultimate point? My point is that we need to keep supporting the good horror films so that Hollywood will keep making more. I'm ecstatic that "The Sixth Sense" and the others are doing so well. Let's hope that this sends the message to the producers that America is hungry for well-made scares. Let's also hope that this success doesn't trigger a batch of poor imitations. But don't just support the films in the theaters. Try to find the hidden gems that show up on home video occasionally. We here at “DVD Review”, try to present a mixture of big movies and more obscure ones, so that our readers can have a wide variety of films to choose from when it's time to rent or buy. The bottom line is that if you are a horror fan, like me, keep pushing for a higher-quality product and maybe it will become the standard.

And let's all hope that the announcement of "Halloween: H2K" was someone's idea of a sick joke.

 September 28, 1998

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