IGN reviews the year in horror
IGN’s new horror columnist Axelle Carolyn Marshall (wife of DOG SOLDIERS director Neil Marshall) indulges in the thankless task of trying to find some good news in this year’s horror movie results.
Of course this is the year when we learned, beyond doubt, that the horror fans and websites could scream and shout all they wanted about GRINDHOUSE, 28 WEEKS LATER, and HOSTEL PART II, and it would not help any of the films sell tickets. To her credit, Marshall lays at least some of the blame for the failure of GRINDHOUSE on the film itself, but the English writer does fall prey to the myth that “massive” numbers of American viewers walked out halfway through the film, not knowing it was a double bill.
To balance out the bad news, Marshall looks at the results of 1408 and HALLOWEEN, even though neither film was a blockbuster. Somehow, she overlooks I AM LEGEND, which made more in its opening weekend than any other horror film made during its entire theatrical run.
The real lesson to learn from 2007 is that hardcore horror is not doing very well, although it can occasionally turn a profit because it’s cheap. There is always a chance that a great film could come along and change that formula, but right now for a horror film to get a high-profile release it needs to be a sequel, a remake, or based on a Japanese one.
You probably know where I’m going with this. Marshall writes:
Proving there’s no justice in the world however, Adam Green’s excellent Hatchet, an old-fashioned slasher featuring deformed killer Victor Crowley (a worthy successor to Michael Myers and Jason Vorhees), didn’t receive the recognition it deserved, buried as it was between Halloween and Resident Evil: Extinction.
Great horror films do still get made. Unfortunately, in the case of HATCHET (like last year’s FEAST), they do not necessarily get the attention they deserve.
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