Last Updated on July 26, 2021
AITH reader Adam Koetters saved me the trouble of coming up with a topic this time around. He shot an email recommending that we take a look at why foreign horror so often owns while U.S. stuff manages to be largely shite these days.
A great idea IMO, and The Arrow concurred so it’s a go. After all, there is a ton of great genre stuff getting produced to check out year after year, but it seems like much of it now is that flick somebody saw at a festival that came out of Sri Lanka, or some other surprising place.
Since there are so many elements at play in an issue like this, I’m expecting ya’ll to step up and spit bullets on what you think about all this – and of course, a big thanks to Adam for the list idea.
There is enormous pressure on studios and their producers to make movies that make money. That’s the bottom line. When they bring in a hot new director, or buy up a script that’s got tongues wagging, it’s because that hype will help sell their movie. Cast a big name? Same damn thing. Quality is an ever-diminishing by product of a corporate system that’s become as bloated and tenuous as U.S. banks.
Known thespians and horror are a tough mix. When an actor brings baggage to a role, it’s hard to get lost in the world of the film in the way you need to in order to really get pulled into the terror being built. Who saw MIRRORS and didn’t have Kiefer as Jack Bauer in mind the whole time? Foreign actors are less well known relative to U.S. stars, so you can get equal or better quality without so many preconceived notions.
I’m not sure why genre work is looked down upon in the U.S., but any director who gets their start in horror is not only pigeonholed, but also falls victim to the “it’s just horror” attitude. Foreign directors either through better opportunities, or maybe just better current talent, bring all the techniques of classic filmmaking to bear and make movies, instead of “horror movies”.
As touched on earlier in the list, remakes, reimaginings, reboots and such have taken over. There are so damn many that inevitably some will seem interesting, some will even be good. But all it does is fill the void that would be filled by new ideas. Fortunately foreign flicks so far have stayed true to making original content for the most part. God love ’em.
A lot of the weight behind this list comes down to the simple concept of respect, or lack thereof. People in the U.S. don’t really consider genre work as legitimate as other categories. Foreign cinema doesn’t seem to suffer from this delusion, and so a horror pic gets everyone’s best effort and legitimate appraisal, just like a non-genre offering. End result = horror is global, but the U.S. is losing steam.
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