slasher by the numbers; evidence that the genre is at a dead end

Rating: Null/10 (17 August 2007)

It's symptomatical for the current state of the slasher genre that this is just a remake of Craven's 1977 classic. When this type of genre emerged in the 60s and 70s, it was a breath of fresh air for the film culture. But nowadays, it has reached a dead end and cannot move on anymore. Pretty much any splatter flick from the recent past relies on the same tired plot elements by the numbers. Watching the action unfold, you are bound to get bored because you can tell from a mile what's gonna happen: Throw in a few no-brainers, throw in a few hillbillies and inbreds and people are gonna do stupid things and people are gonna get killed one by one etc. It's just frustrating and annoying to watch people getting murdered especially since you've seen it a thousand times before. The only difference is the way the killings happen. Aja's remake relies on plenty of gore to make up for the lacking innovation but it doesn't quite work. Moments of tension cannot hide the fact that it's all been done before. The gore level is the only element the entire genre has been hinging on for a while. However, on the whole those movies have run out of steam because they are bogged down in their own stereotypes and predictable plots. They used to be engaging and punchy when they were new in the 60s and 70s. But now I'd much rather watch more subtle horror movies or dramas that provide me with new perspectives and food-for-thought instead of hip new ways to chop someone to pieces. Those splatter movies largely pander to teenagers and their immature tastes for grisly scenes of death but there comes a point where you grow out of it and plumb for something more to chew on. I wanna see a movie evolving around an hitherto untold story that is gonna make me discover a new world. But both HHE and its other splatter buddies have been grating on my nerves for a while now and it's time to move on from severed limbs and eviscerations.