by Michael Fox

Created on: May 07, 2011

Horror movies are obviously very popular. They are movies that draw in millions of dollars every year and have become so notable that there have been dozens of sequels made to a variety of different movies.

However, the horror genre is one of the emptiest genres in the world of entertainment. There are several reasons why this is the case.

First, the problem with horror movies is that they work with some of the same plotlines. There are several different types of stories that relate to people who love each other, deal with things that kill people and then end up having to find something that kills people. The big problem is that there is no creativity involved with half of these stories.

Also, some movies just show blood and gore for the sake of showing blood and gore. I am no prude; I think that a movie that is incredibly violent can be a good movie as long as it has some substance. Unfortunately, lots of movies are made solely with the means of trying to think about the most creative ways to kill people. The Saw and Final Destination movies are two great examples of this. The Hostel movies also play on the torture porn part of the genre.

The stories have practically no substance to them. The characters tend to be bland and in most cases one-sided while the stories are all similar to each other. There are also problems involving the ways how everything is very predictable. You can tell when something is going to happen just by the music clues, the lighting in an area or even the attitudes that people have in the movie. You can easily tell who's going to be killed off.

Also, the genre seems to be something that is made with money in mind and not with trying to be creative. I think that a movie that is truly creative and original can not only be a great film but also one that could be more likely to earn money. However, horror movies are made solely to try and bring in people during the months of September and October when Halloween stuff is being promoted. The fact that so many of these movies are now in 3-D and are using it as a gimmick rather than an artform only hurts.

Finally, there is the fact that there is no finality in any horror movie. Let's be honest - the person who is dead in the end usually isn't dead. How many Saw, Nightmare on Elm Street, Chucky, Final Destination and Scream movies have there been again?

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