What exactly is “prestige horror”? This seems like a really broad statement. Especially about a movie with such a clumsy final 15 minutes. Very much that horse sketch meme.
Hereditary is still seared into my brain. This was fun but I will probably not care about it by the end of the year. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I mean the issue is relevant to the discussion in here, and Cregger posting it means he probably saw similar comments to the ones up the page. The idea that because "elevated horror" has become a thing, we have people disappointed in a unique, off the wall and genuinely good horror movie like this because it wasn't the same ~vibe~ as Hereditary or the VVitch... that's silly. The term in and of itself is dumb and demeaning to an entire genre that is typically unfairly maligned.
Haven’t read the whole thread but of the pages I’ve seen, the thread has been all positive. I also don’t think it’s necessarily wrong for people to point out that this movie probably won’t hit the same nerve points for people who are more affected by horror movies to like Hereditary or the Witch. At a certain point, defense of this movie as being a challenger to “prestige horror” starts to sound like a bunch of true horror fans feeling the need to gatekeep to me.
This movie is borderline a horror comedy. Very far from something like Hereditary, but I can understand why people are lumping them together because they are very different from something like the new Scream or even Smile.
What is "gatekeeping" about it, lol? I enjoy the "prestige" horror films, I just think it's a dumb term that people are using to diminish other horror movies. I encourage people to watch everything. I also don't find this to be a challenger to "prestige horror", mainly because I don't think that prestige horror really means anything, lol. The ending of Midsommar is hilarious. The Lighthouse is full of fart and masturbation jokes. Large chunks of Get Out are very, very funny. Putting those movies on a pedestal just because of the director or the company distributing them is silly, and slapping on "prestige horror" or "elevated horror" is just as dumb.
I’m happy with only having seen Hereditary and Midsommar twice each. I’m never in the mood for either of those. I prefer stuff like Evil Dead and Barbarian, or crazy 80s horror, more than “elevated horror”, easily.
I mostly avoided horror ever since The Ring traumatized me as a kid. It wasn't until prestige horror stuff like Midsommar and The VVitch that I really got into the genre, those served as my sort of gateway, and even then I was relatively picky with what I watched for a while before really exploring the genre. I still haven't watched many of the classics or big slasher franchises, but when something like Barbarian blows up I get so excited for new fans of the genre. I don't know what term to call stuff like Barbarian and Malignant--or if we even need one--but I feel like most horror occupies a safer, often less interesting middle ground between that kind of bonkers shit and the super serious prestige horror. There's plenty of good stuff to be found within each of those three categories, though. I don't necessarily agree with the implication that prestige horror is inherently better, it's just offering something a bit different.
We don’t need multiple terms and “elevated horror” sounds like something horror fans made up to be mad at. There’s no elevated sci fi or elevated fantasy.