Your Definition of a "Classic"

[atlarman]

Define what make a horror movie a "classic" for you. then give some examples...

(i'll Figure mine out and post em later lol)

[Fallen]

I think a classic is a movie that is one of the first of its kind, and obviously in most cases not a sequel.

[Kat]

I think a classic is a movie that still stands out years after it was made - for example Halloween or Psycho

[Maniac]

A classic by my definition is simply a film from the silent era through to roughly the early 60's. In particular I consider films like The Wolfman, Frankenstein, Nosferatu, Phantom Of The Opera, etc to be classic horror more newer films like Halloween, Black Christmas, Friday The 13th, etc. I like to call them new age classics.

One of the things these all have in common are their status even years after they have been made, they are still referenced and revered.

Dark

[MikeyMyers]

I think a classic is a movie that still stands out years after it was made - for example Halloween or Psycho

Dido ... a movie that can stand the test of time obviously posseses qualities of a clasic 

[kingofzombies]

CLASSIC- A motion picture that sands the test of time, thereby being timeless.  I think any movie that everyone has watched and knows, and has stood the test of time and passed that test with flying colors (happy 4'th) can be defined as a "classic"

[atlarman]

Um everyone has given Great technical Definition of classic...Thats cool but I meant this thread to be more than that... Like "What makes a film "classic" for you... and some examples of it so we can get a feel for everone's tastes and POVs...Great job guys/gals keep 'em comin! :Thumbs Up

[MikeyMyers]

right ... well for me what makes a film a classic is one that I can watch over and over and over and over again with out ever getting tired of it. A film that generates decent discussion and opinions with whom ever your talking to. A film that you love so dearly you buy the bonus DVD even though you already have a standard copy just so you can watch the hours and hours of endless bonus features lol.

Sure I guess a good director, lighting storyline etc all come into play but if it's a movie like I said earlier that I can watch over and over again then it must ahve all those attributes right?

[screamin_weasel75]

I think a classic is a movie that still stands out years after it was made - for example Halloween or Psycho

Lets not forget "Dawn of the Dead---1978)  Now there is a classic. Best zombie flick ever IMHO.

[jimmyd]

dawn of the dead is most definatly a classic IMO as well......


classic to me is using  fundamental elements in a horror film.. but with added  original details/ideas to make it its own film.... lmany films have the "classic" shower scene... or the part when someone always says "he's behind you!" ect...who knows...films that come out today... in 30 years will be considered "classics" too..?????

[screamin_weasel75]

films that come out today... in 30 years will be considered "classics" too..?????

I hope not, movies today pretty much suck, but every generation has it's own learning and understanding as to what something is, so my kids and thier kids will say yes to "Halloween remake" as a classic. Which it is not and never will be. it sucked! 

[jimmyd]

dont get me wrong.. i totally agree with you.. was juat speakin hypoyheticlly.....that the kids 30 years from now wont even  aknowledge the real classics....and think films such as RZs halloween and the TCM remake are classics.. when in reality the originals of THOSE films are the classics...

[screamin_weasel75]

dont get me wrong.. i totally agree with you.. was juat speakin hypoyheticlly.....that the kids 30 years from now wont even  aknowledge the real classics....and think films such as RZs halloween and the TCM remake are classics.. when in reality the originals of THOSE films are the classics...

Exactly what i said LOL

[jimmyd]

haha yeah pretty much..

[Rich]

The word classic itself means appealing to more then one generation. A classic film is a film that stands the test of time and still is able to sell home video units and be enjoyed by viewers. Another idea of a true classic film is a film that has had an impact on the industry and audiences.

examples

- Universal Studios Classic Monster films, here we have films that are nearly 80 years old, yet I own a box set released in 2004 called Monster Legacy Gift Set, and I continue to enjoy the films.

- Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho, here is the film that basically is accredited for taking the horror genre out of the gothic castles and black lagoons of the Universal Monster era and into environments that the every day person can identify with. Many people have been at a hotel or a motel and the “monster” was a regular every day person.

- George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead, the black and white grainy classic film really hit a nerve with audiences of the “love era.” What we basically had was an army of human being devouring each other. Do we not devour each other every day? Do we not put each other on the streets over money? Do we not rape and murder each other? Do we not go to war with each other? In a matter of speaking we do devour each other every day in many different ways. Since we were all dying since the day we were born, we are in a word, “the walking dead.” So, the zombies are us. We are them and they are us, and on a symbolic level Night of the Living Dead is one of the most honest films ever made.

- The Exorcist, here we have a film where a young girl is “touched” by the idea of an alien intelligence being able to manipulate her. Some say it is the power of suggestion, but others claim that it is a bit more. Do, young innocent children not become demoralized or influenced by “evils” in our every day society every day? Do young kids not watch MTV music videos and then refer to women as “bitches” and “hos.” The Exorcist, at it’s core, is about a child being influenced by a “force of evil,” and in ways that I have suggested, it happens every day.

- The Texas Chain Saw Massacre/The Last House on the Left, here we have two films shot in documentary style about horrible crimes. They are not supernatural films about demonic possession, nor do they feature walking corpses, but regular people doing horrible things to each other. A lot of what you see in these films was (and probably still is) regular every day life in places like Iraq under Saddam’s power. As a matter of fact, some of the war crimes that happened in Vietnam are very similar to particular scenes you would see in these two films.

- Halloween/Friday the 13th, John Carpenter made a terrifying film about a man who commits murder on Halloween night. The man did not have a motive. He just went out that night and spilled blood. In the end, although she did run from the man a lot, Jamie Lee Curtis had the courage to actually fight back. She stabbed the man in the heart with a knife, poked him in the eye with a hanger, and stuck a knitting needle in his neck. She was the beginning of showing that a woman can be stong and fight back against adversity With Friday the 13th, Sean Cunningham basically took John’s template and added gore to the murder sequences and gave the murderer a motive. . Of course both of these films also was the true beginning the slasher movie boom of the 80s.

- A Nightmare on Elm Street, Psychology itself is just a little over 100 years old, however, the human psyche is a very powerful thing. Many people believe that the mind can actually hold some degree of physical power over the body. In this story, a character lives exclusively in the minds of it’s victims exploiting the mind’s power to manipulate the physical body. If you dream of being stabbed, it happens.