When it comes to the slasher genre, my opinions have never been the popular ones since I’ve never actually been a fan of the genre. Monster films like
Alien and
Predator are my cup of tea.
Most of the slasher classics are boring to me – with protagonists there as nothing but gore fodder so limp and dull that I wish they’d just get carved up within the first 15 minutes of the films. Marilyn Burns' character in
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is an example of what I would consider a plot device; a non-character. I thought the only protagonists in
Halloween 1978 who counted as actual characters were Dr. Loomis (the best part of the film, IMHO) and of course Laurie. Donald Pleasence and Jamie Lee Curtis are great actors, and the atmosphere and musical score of the film are both historical – however, I always found the Michael Myers character too generic. I won’t even bother talking about
Friday the 13th here. That being said, I DO certainly understand the historical value of these films, I will just personally never see them as good movies.
The
Scream films, on the other hand, I enjoy because they’re basically making fun of the aforementioned slasher classics. Now, I’m perfectly aware that horror clichés existed before those films, but I couldn’t respectfully disagree more about them not being clever – to me that’s exactly what they were even though they were after their time. I also find the Ghostface costume/mask much more memorable than the designs of Leatherface, Myers, Jason, etc. – all of which seem boring and generic to me.
I’m not saying my opinions are right nor am I trying to force how I feel down anyone’s throats, just clearing things up.