After Thought – Reconsidering Horror Movies: Ep 204 Cinemax

After thinking about it, this movie was better than I remembered. How often do you say this to yourself? Or: “What was I thinking? This movie was horrible!” We’ve all been there. Movies don’t change, but we do. We are getting older. Our tastes change. Sometimes we weren’t in the right headspace to enjoy a film on first viewing. The Scariest Things gets contemplative in episode 204 and reviews films that we think should be re-evaluated…for better…or worse.

Opinions may change. Sometimes when you go to the movies, you arrive with expectations that can affect your viewing. A film’s reputation can influence first impression, and many of our reactions to the film are influenced by the environment in which we first saw it. It makes a big difference whether you first saw the film at a world premiere with the director and stars, or whether you see it in a living room with a group of chatty friends: context matters.

Was I too harsh on this film? Was I too generous? In many cases, a movie will stick with you and remind you that there’s something you really loved, and it will stand the test of time, even if you didn’t initially think it was that great. Then you go back and look, and you realize there was real gold there.

You may also have had a situation where you decide to watch a movie to impress a friend, convincing them that the movie was great – and then… no. This film has not aged well. My sixteen year old self thought this movie was great, but I was young and stupid. The Mangler, not as good as my teenage years remembered it.

There is a proud tradition in film critic circles. A humble critic is one who can recognize that he or she has re-evaluated a film. I think it’s best to write a review regardless of what others think, and I will avoid reading other reviews before writing my own. However, sometimes a film arrives with huge buzz, with all the bells and whistles: a revered director, a sexy actor, and early festival momentum. I take these things in context, but I do my best to come up with a blank slate. But it’s hard.

PODCAST 204: After Thought – Reconsidering Horror Films

This is the podcast where Eric, Mike, and Heather sat down, took off the bandage, and admitted that maybe we were wrong the first time. Most of these films will be familiar to you, and some selections will surprise you! If you want to skip the podcast and see what we chose, I’ve included our selections below.

As always, I recommend listening to the podcast and coming back to this article for reference. Appreciate!

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After Thought – The bad news: Movies we originally thought were good, but now the shine has faded.

That doesn’t mean these movies are bad (necessarily), but it does mean they weren’t as great as we initially thought.

Mike’s List

• Rosemary’s Baby (1968): dated and slow?
• The Wicker Man (1972): boring and staid.
• Army of Darkness (1992): absurd and not scary at all.

Eric’s list

• Piranha (1978): A rip-off of Jaws with little conclusion.
• Sainte Agathe (2018): My impressions were strongly influenced by meeting the cast and crew. First journalism error.
• Hellraiser (1987): Too slow. Not sexy enough. Not bad, but not the iconic film I remembered.

Heather’s List

• Paranormal Activity (2007): Weak characters, notably Micah.
• The Blair Witch Project (1999): Boring jokes.
• Dolls (1986): I loved it when I was a kid, but the campiness didn’t hold up.

After Thought – The good news: Movies better than we initially thought.

Sometimes we get it wrong the first time. Don’t let the group’s thoughts affect you and love what you love. For these groups, we move from bad first impressions to a more positive place on second viewing.

Mike’s List

• Dreamcatcher (2003): A wild film with good pacing and strong camaraderie.
• Maxxxine (2023): Mike now enjoys the action-packed conclusion.
• The Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977): Tasked with being the sequel to an all-time great film, it couldn’t help but struggle to live up to expectations. A superb cast.

Eric’s list

• Bone Tomahawk (2015): Consider it a Western debut, with strong horror elements.
• Deathgasm (2018): Eric wasn’t in the best mood when he first saw it.
• The Void (2016): A film tailor-made for Eric’s tastes, my initial review overcompensated to avoid preconceived biases. On second viewing: a bloody good time.

Heather’s List

• Hellhouse LLC (2015): First watch compromised by movie night watch, unable to appreciate quality jump scares. Much better on rewatch.
• The Blackcoat’s Daughter (2015): Initially, Heather found it too slow, but on second viewing, she appreciates the build-up.
• Scream (2022): Heather wasn’t ready for the level of savage violence in this franchise. Now she’s cool with it.