Whatever became of Bob Martin?

Who is Bob Martin?

I have to disagree a bit with what makes a great horror movie. While characters we care about and the emotional impact is a given, not every film can be original, or should be. What really counts here is creativity; either with an original concept, or with building on and exploiting those cliches that are an integral part of the horror genre. We would see more great horror movies if only care were given to more solid, good directorial and script use of the standards that scare us. Unfortunately, and this is a problem with horror cinema especially, much of the film output is substandard and amateurish: it seems this is the one genre that every kid with a camera thinks he can tackle seriously.

I agree that Psycho is an important and influential film but my vote would lean more toward Night of the Living Dead as having more impact on American horror cinema. Romero took monsters out of the Carpathian mountains and placed them next door. While you can argue that Psycho does the same thing, I'd counter with the type of monster portrayed as being the significant criterion here. For the most part, up until gut-munching zombies started feasting on our innards, we, given the Universal/1950's gallery of monsters, were happy bystanders to the mayhem. NOTLD changed that focus. It brought monster-horror closer to us; instead of gothic enivironments filled with monsters running amok, we now had monsters running amok on Main Street, USA, in my town, on my street, in my home. Whereas Psycho brought us horror on a personal scale, NOTLD brought us horror on a social scale, where no one and no place are safe havens. Here the horror comes to us, but in Psycho, Janet Leigh went to the horror. The scope is very different. This scope marks an important change that has influenced horror movies since then, especially in this decade.

Last, I will give my vote for a popular movie highly overrated: Rob Zombie's Halloween. His updated tale that eliminates the supernatural element and replaces it with yet another "nurtured psychotic" gone wacky destroys any connection the story has to the title. The film lacks the chills of the original, and the skilled performances, too.

Very thought provoking QA, thanks!

Great comments and insight ILoc. I have a different take on "Psycho." I don't believe its a horror movie at all. I'd argue that Hitchcock made a suspense movie using elements of the horror genre. It is, however, a brilliant movie and one of Hitchcock's finest. And it has influenced horror.

However, I'd agree that "Night of the Living Dead" and the sequel "Dawn of the Dead" were bigger influences on modern horror. For the reasons you state, but also for elements such as gore and pushing the envelope of social norms. Both films were grotesque, shocking, and gory for their time. But I'm not sure they were "scary."

I do agree, wholeheartedly, with Tony about "The Exorcist." That is one scary flick. But I'd put "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" and "Halloween" up there for pure chills, suspense, and scares.

Thanks for adding so much to the post!

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GFS3, Bob Martin was the original editor of Fangoria. He and I corresponded in the late 70s when they ran a couple of small articles I wrote. Martin was a friendly and knowledgeable guy, but his exit from Fangoria was swift and, as far as I know, unexplained.

No kidding? Well, I guess I'll leave that question to Tony. I have no idea of the answer. Has anyone checked under the floor boards at Fangoria? Tony! Can you answer Flickhead's question?