The rebirth of horror

Rating: 9/10 (10 November 2013)

I know a lot of people are going to read the title of this review and scoff, but hear me out. Every generation has a movie that defines horror. My generation had Saw and the birth of torture porn, the 80s had Jason and Michael, and the 90s had Scream and the "smart" horror movie. To understand how important this movie is think about where horror was in 96. Jason has visited New York, then we sent him to hell. Freddy had a daughter, and Michael was the product of Druid cults. Sweet God WHAT HAPPENED? Horror was in the toilet and all the "heroes" were dead. The second stringer's weren't much better. Hellraiser was on his way to DVD and Leprechaun was... well that was something else. This came out with smart, self aware characters, strong writing and known actors who could convey terror. And these 3 things were copied for a decade. Those simple things made this movie a success and the money it made revitalized horror. The scares are good, the tension is good, the ending (I think) is good. Also, it STILL has one of the best opening scenes in a horror movie to date. Saw it when i was 12, and funny enough, before I saw the movies it mocks/loves. It got me hooked on horror and I've seen hundreds of horror movies since because of it. I'm giving it a 9 not because it's the most terrifying horror movie, because it's not. This is no Alien, The Exorcism, Halloween or The Thing. This is a smart, fun, scary movie that kickstarted a dead genre. Wes Craven at his best. Enjoy!!