Something new and ground breaking in the genre has to happen. A similar lull happened in the early 90s. Once the 80s were over the horror genre dipped and studios were really making some bad movies. Then Wes Craven and Kevin Williamson came along with Scream and rejuvenated the genre and ushered in a whole new era of horror. Something like that needs to happen again. I agree that people need to branch out and watch new horror films, you can’t go through life wrapped up in some little bubble refusing to move on from things you enjoyed as a child. I disagree however that the quality of horror films being released today is anywhere near on par with the classics. (Splinter and Eden Lake were pretty great, the others you listed were mediocre at best IMO and Excision, to me is not a horror film, it’s a psychological thriller. You can choose to lump them together if you want but I don’t do that.)

One last thought on my apologetically long winded comment is this: Horror films need to be FUN again! Everything is just so damn serious now. the Hatchet series comes to mind when I think of fun horror but those movies achieve nothing other than that… They’re just terrible. But I can appreciate what they are trying to do. Horror films used to be scary but also fun. Especially the later installments of F13 and A Nightmare on Elm St. People can get together and party and watch these movies and have a great time. That’s what it’s about. That’s IT. Movies are about having a good time and being entertained. I myself am getting bored with the tiresome serious tone to these horror films as of late. I think most every horror fan is and I think seeing how well Cabin in the Woods was received is proof of this.

While I agree with everything you say and while I don’t immediately hate prequels, sequels, remakes and originals I do have to admit that I hold on tightly to my nostalgia blanky, in all things in my life really and I am afraid of new.

Looking over one of my recent posts ( https://halloweenlove.com/future-horror-projects-to-keep-an-eye-out-for/ ) you’ll see that I have absolutely nothing new and original on my radar and it is a shame, mostly for me.

For me at least, it’s not about conformity, I give my thoughts, reasons and choices ample critical thought and I often love things that everyone else hates because I simply don’t care what the majority thinks about anything, I’ve always enjoyed what I’ve enjoyed even despite being teased or not in the in-crowd for it, always true to my heart in all matters.

The legitimate concerns I have with “new” are time, money and so so much fucking noise! I suppose there has always been a lot of noise ever since the exploitation era, but with the advent of cheaper technology and the internet, the good stuff is drowned out more than ever before with an overwhelming plethora of releases.

So, it’s not a matter of just not giving them a chance, it’s a literal matter of finding the needle in the haystack.

Besides childhood nostalgia, I think it also quite literally takes years for some things to eventually be filtered out from the rest and gain a cult following because at the time of release it was just a blip on the map, no one saw it, no one cared.

I think Lady in the Water is a perfect example. A contemporary movie that I absolutely love that was hated almost as passionately by movie critics and mainstream movie-goers alike.

However, mark my words, I predict that when that movie is 20 years old, a new generation will discover it and think it’s this awesome cult fantasy movie how we do now with movies from the 80s.

But, there’s still some good stuff going on, as you point out. But there’s a definite sense that a door has closed.