Hey Folks - David Schmidt guest-blogging today at Mildred’s request.

We’re in the middle of a Horror Movie Boom, (or Glut) right now. Several successful movies have done excellent box-office and it seems like every production company, great or small, is leaping on the scary band-wagon. Newspapers are once more writing articles about the resurgence of horror as a popular genre and making fairly obvious connections to current events and the social/political climate in North America and the world. It would be pretty easy to write a blog entry about all the crappy knock-off movies that are flooding the market made by people who have no understanding or real love for the genre, and about
the annoying trend in Hollywood to re-make anything that was even remotely successful or in any way recognizable by its title.

So - I’m not. I’ve been feeling like I’ve been a big ol’ grump about most of the scary movies I’ve been seeing lately, so I thought I’d mention Seven Good Things that come with one of my favorite genres going through a popular phase:

1) There are more horror movies out there.
Sure, 95% of them are dreck - pointless remakes, cynical cash-ins, or amateurish fumblings with lots of boobs & gore and no knowledge of how to tell a story. But there is that 5% that is worth you time and money, and with more movies over-all, that 5% has a chance to be a lot larger too. No - Really! It’s easy to grouse and complain about all the bad rip-offs of Scream, Blair Witch, The Sixth Sense or The Ring (To say nothing of all the 70’s Texas Chainsaw riffs) but I remember all too well the dry gulch that was most of the 90’s when everyone in the movie industry was declaring Horror as “dead”. Previous to the first three titles mentioned above there was damn little out there of note, beyond Silence of the Lambs and Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer. It’s nice to see the genre being recognized as always having a strong core audience, and that truly good work has an excellent chance at finding a wider audience. Lots of movies. Yea.

2) Good Horror Directors are getting more work.
This is a darn good thing. It’s a sad world where talents like George Romero have to scuff around begging for scraps to practice their art. Stuart Gordon and Don Coscarelli are getting some of the best reviews of their careers now for movies they would never have gotten financed before. I may have some issues with some of the names chosen as, Master of Horror‚ but it’s nice to see that series granting the filmmakers freedom to create and do work they believe in (even if, again, the results are mixed). And a new names are being given a chance to rise as well. I think in 10 years we’re gonna be looking back on a strong body of work from people like Lucky McKee, Brad Anderson, Larry Fessenden, and Ernest Dickerson. And who
knows - we may yet see another truly great movie out of Carpenter, Hooper, Argento, or one of the others getting recognition anew.

3) Fan review sites as a way to see through all the dreck and find the good ones.
It’s the dark side of media-saturation - everything is hyped to such a degree, and magazines and critics are so frequently bought or pressured that you can’t rely on much of anything you read in the mainstream media. But us geeks on the internet come to the rescue! Sites like Ain’tItCool still have some integrity, and more pointedly sites like MonstersAtPlay.com, BloodyDisgusting.com & DreadCentral.com (among others) are giving their honest opinion of the work out there and helping horror fans pick their way
through the deluge to find the quality work worth seeing and supporting. And, of course, there is  The Horror List!

4) More old movies looking great.
Anchor Bay, Dark Sky Films, Blue Underground and a lot more companies are making old movies available on DVD that have only ever been released before on awful old grainy VHS copies. Tartan Asian Extreme & Tokyo Shock bringing over all kinds of nifty stuff - new and old. And then there’s all that crazy stuff coming out from Mondo Macabro

5) Great horror movies from other countries are getting brought over to the U.S.
A big happy for those of us in the states - we’re actually getting a chance to see some terrific work from other countries. Not just the scary fun coming out of Japan, HK, Korea and Thailand; but challenging work from Russia, Spain, New Zealand, India, South America, and elsewhere on the globe. Not only coming here on DVD, but some even getting theatrical release! And Britain is seeing more good horror coming from its shores than it has since the glory days of Hammer and Amicus.

6) It’s easier for genre filmmakers to find financing and distribution.
Okay - this is a little more personal, but it’s a good thing for those fans with a drive and a dream. Most of the truly great classics in the last 30 years have come from outside the system, and digital age is making it ever more attainable. Who know what low budget classics we have in store for us? It might even be mine! ;D

7) Movies that seem worth looking forward to:
The Last Winter, Pan’s Labyrinth, The Descent, Isolation, Feast, The Roost, Gravedancers, The Woods, The Host, Death Note and, who knows, maybe even The Grudge 2? ;D

That’s my rant - it may be a glut, but amidst all the mainstream sludge, it may be a great time to be a horror movie fan.

Regards to all,
David