casualraven said:Yeah, the absolute key takeaway from what you just said is... grown up 🙂
Once you finally stop getting pimples all over your face, your interest in slashers tends to evaporate... or at least, that’s how it feels to me. 🙂
Look, I’ve stopped watching them—it’s just a matter of taste at this point. But let's get back on track here; this thread is specifically about the Halloween remake, not whether or not you personally have an issue with the slasher genre. Honestly, I have no idea which slashers you’ve actually sat through to develop such a hatred for them. For what it's worth, I agree that most modern slashers are absolute garbage—though I’ll make an exception for the Final Destination trilogy, which was actually a blast, even if I'm not entirely sure it qualifies as a true slasher.
I have a massive soft spot for those 80s flicks—the ones I grew up on and still find myself revisiting to this day. There’s just something about that era of filmmaking that hits differently.
And honestly, I’m telling you—if you haven't sat down and actually watched the original 1984 Nightmare on Elm Street, you really ought to give it a fair shake. Just do yourself a favor and check it out.
Looking at this entry for John Carpenter's Halloween—which, let’s be honest, is basically the blueprint for everything that followed—it’s easy to get lost in the nostalgia. But if you actually sit down and watch it, you realize how much of the modern slasher genre owes its very existence to this specific film. It isn't just about the jump scares; it's about that relentless, driving tension that Carpenter mastered so effortlessly. There is something about the pacing here that modern horror movies just can't seem to replicate—they're too rushed, too reliant on cheap thrills. This? This is a slow burn. It builds a sense of dread that settles right into your bones. And while people love to argue about which sequels hold up, you really have to respect the foundation laid here. It’s pure, distilled cinematic terror.
Or, you know, the original 1978 Halloween.
If you haven't sat down and actually watched John Carpenter's Halloween yet—and I mean truly sat down to appreciate the craft—then honestly, what are you even doing with your life? It’s one of those rare instances where the atmosphere does more heavy lifting than the actual kills, which, let’s be real, is a feat in itself given how much slashers rely on cheap jump scares nowadays. There is something about the way Carpenter handles the pacing—it’s deliberate, almost surgical—that builds this suffocating sense of dread. It isn't just about Michael Myers lurking in the shadows; it's about that feeling that the very air in Haddonfield is getting thinner. The score alone? Iconic. It’s practically etched into the DNA of the horror genre at this point. You can't talk about the evolution of the slasher without acknowledging this masterpiece. It’s blunt, it’s effective, and frankly, it puts half the modern "elevated horror" trash to shame. If you're looking for mindless gore, go watch something else, but if you want to understand why we're still talking about this decades later, this is the gold standard.
Or is it better to stick with the original 1974 version on TCM?
If you haven't sat down and actually watched John Carpenter's Halloween yet, I genuinely don't know what to tell you—you’re missing out on a masterclass in tension. This isn't just some mindless slasher flick; it's the blueprint. Carpenter manages to turn a simple suburban setting into this suffocating, claustrophobic nightmare using nothing but atmosphere and a score that will stay lodged in your brain forever. Let’s be real: people love to talk about the sequels or the various reboots, but nothing quite captures that primal, creeping dread like the original. It’s stripped down, it’s lean, and it doesn't rely on cheap jump scares to get a reaction. It’s all about the anticipation—that feeling that something is watching you from the shadows of a perfectly normal American neighborhood. Even decades later, the pacing holds up beautifully. If you're looking for the roots of the entire genre, this is where you start. Period.
If you consider yourself a true horror fan, these slashers aren't just recommendations—they are absolute essentials. Honestly, most of the garbage being churned out in the horror genre today doesn't even come close to these. We're talking about some of the finest horror films ever made, period.
