A topic that really interests me, as N'sPCR readers no doubt realize, is the decline of the genre film in the late 1980's; why it happened and what Crazed Fanboys need to do in order to put it back on top.
The fall of the sci-fi/horror film happened nearly overnight, in the year 1987. Previous to 1987, horror/genre films were still immensely popular, with both A & B-movies maintaining a level of quality and aesthetics that were pleasing to the fans and mainstream audiences alike. Here are a few fan-favorite titles from 1986 (the year before the fall) as examples: "April Fool's Day", "Killer Party", and "Aliens".
1987-1989 saw an unwelcome turn away from esthetically-pleasing B-movie fare. B-movies were becoming overtly silly ("CHUD II: Bud the CHUD", "Return of the Living Dead 2", etc.). At the same time the horror A-movie was becoming scarce, with pop culture now tipping toward comedies and dramas, such as "Home Alone" and "Three Men and a Baby".
This time period is exemplified best by Oddserving the quality of franchise sequels. Take, for example, the "Amityville Horror" series. Most fans would agree that the original, released in 1979, was a great horror film; an A movie with evident B-movie qualities. It was followed by two interesting early '80s sequels "Amityville II: The Possession" (1982) and Amityville 3-D (1983). Then, in the dreaded '90s, some geniuses decided to cash in on the franchise and continue sequeling the series, which led to such non-classics as: "The Amityville Curse" (1990), "Amityville 1992: It's About Time" (1992), "Amityville: A New Generation" (1993), and lastly "Amityville: Dollhouse" (1997).
If a Crazed Fanboy were to sit down and watch the entire series, they would no doubt conclude that the first three films in the series were worth watching, but the others could easily have been shoved in the shredder. This same phenomenon can be applied to nearly any horror 'franchise' (sounds like a burger joint): "Sleepaway Camp", "The Omen", "Fright Night", "Return of the Living Dead". It seems like anything produced after 1986 was cursed to be non-appealing to the true Horror Fanboy. The interesting question is: why?
Before I start analyzing this puzzler, I must state there are exceptions. The "Friday the 13th" series had at least a few nuggets of quality amidst the sequel process, as did the "Halloween" ("H20") and "Hellraiser" ("Hellraiser 2") series.
Here are some conclusions:
- Pop Culture Must Complement Cinema. The '70s had sideburns, cool leisure suits, Elliot Gould mustaches, afros, Punk, disco, album rock, cool TV, and still cherished older stars, like Sinatra and Jimmy Durante. The early/mid '80s ushered in New Wave and Teenage Sex Comedies. In the late 1980's, pop culture took a turn (off a cliff) by steering toward rap, glam metal, dramas and comedies. Even New Wave was growing up, with fans preferring The Cure and Depeche Mode to "fun" Wave groups like Duran Duran and Kajagoogoo.
Audiences seemed to have enough of horror and horror sequels. My, how sophisticated we have become. As a result, music genres like rap monumentally fail to complement the motion picture. Gone were mohawks, cherry red hair, and sideburns of the '70s and early '80s. In were the uninteresting looks of the everyday person. Even now in 2004, teens seem bland. They'd do themselves a favor by re-discovering the rebellion and cool looks of Punk Rock & New Wave of the '70s and early '80s. Pop culture must be complementary to cinema; if it does not, we're in for a dull era in genre filmmaking (like now). Look at who's popular now: Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, "American Idol". Who the hell would want to use those "artists" on their soundtracks? Dullsville.
- Lack of Talent. Carpenter. Craven. Raimi. Burton. DePalma. Holland. Argento. Fulci. Mora. Cameron. Lucas. Romero. Spielberg. The list is endless - that being the tremendously talented filmmakers who ushered in a Golden Age of genre filmmaking in the '70s and '80s. It still amazes me the quantity of quality filmmakers that surfaced during that short time period, with most of them making classic horror/sci-fi/fantasy films that defined a generation. Nowadays, one can count cinema wunderkinds on one hand. We have had a severe lack of talent from the late 1980's to today, with many filmmakers preferring to copy MTV or "The Matrix" rather than dreaming up their own styles. Even actors/actresses are much less interesting today than the stars of the '70s/'80s. Have you really seen anyone in the past twenty years on the same level as Jamie Lee Curtis or Kurt Russell? I don't think so.
- Political Correctness. The rise of the ass-kicking chicks (yeah, right). I'd love to see Sigourney Weaver teach Kate Beckinsdale a thing or two.
- Copycatting. "Underworld" mistaken for "The Matrix". Coincidence? "Dawn of the Dead" looks just like "28 Days Later"; that must have been a mistake.
- Apathy. I seriously doubt the creators of the '90s "Amityville" sequels and the latter "Hellraiser" or "The Mangler" sequels care very much if their films are good, as long as Pinhead can appear for two minutes in order to justify the title.
- A Sophisticated Audience. Did the '70s/'80s generation really grow up? Indeed they did (not me, however!), and now they're all churchgoers who disavowed their past (and are no doubt ashamed, thinking they'll go to hell for renting "I Spit on Your Grave" in '82) and are now supporting the Indecency Hearings. I think there's truth to the fact that movies aren't as innocent/naive as those in the great old days.
All you have to do is ask yourselves these simple questions:
-- Is "Empire of the Ants" better than "Megalodon 2"?
-- "The Phantom Menace" better than "The Empire Strikes Back"?
-- "Carnosaur" better than "The Land that Time Forgot"?
I think I know the answers.
These and countless other examples prove that the '70s and early/mid '80s were infinitely better than now, the late '80s, and the dull '90s. I just saw a message board topic about "Best Horror Films of the '90s", and fans had a hard time trying to pick 10. In 1981, it would be a challenge to pick 10 great horror films from that year alone!
Maybe if we close our eyes, hold hands, and hum, we'll wake up to find the '90s never happened.
Music News:
The St. Petersburg Times reported that Spandau Ballet is reuniting with all original members.
"Oddservations" is ©2004 by Andy Lalino. The Oddservations banner is a creation of Andy Lalino. All other graphics (unless otherwise noted, like the small poster of Satana) are creations of Nolan B. Canova. All contents of Nolan's Pop Culture Review are ©2004 by Nolan B. Canova.
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