New horror films have to work a lot harder to scare audiences. By now, we've seen everything out there. Ghosts? Check. Demons? Check. Monstrous creatures? Double check. That's pretty much why all we get are cheap jump scares that are unnecessary. We're not scared – we're just startled. There's a difference.
Everyone wants to say that the old horror movies did it best, and they're right. The old horror movies didn't need cheesy effects or gratuitous stuff to scare audiences. Instead, it relied on things that actually scared us. Something unknown in the dark, being powerless in your own home, and people that just won't go away. Sure, we've seen these tropes a million times in modern movies, but they can't do it as well as the classics.
Remember when the original Nightmare on Elm Street released? To be honest, we were scared to close our eyes at night. Even in our own beds, we couldn't escape the horrible stuff that lurked in the night. Thinking about it gives us goosebumps.
