Spoiler Alert: Don't read on unless you want to get spoiled, which is kind of hard to do for a horror movie that makes fun of the Horror movie genre formula

Drew Goddard and Joss Whedon writing a horror movie script together for the first time, since the end of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel. This combination is an amazing classic combination and the results...Meta....

What can you say about a movie that was made to both showcase what the horror genre has gotten right over the years and what it has devolved into. Goddard and Whedon both expressed their contempt for modern horror over-use of gratuitous torture-porn and the dumb down characterizations in order to suit familiar plots. You have the sexy blond whore, the muscle bound jock, the paranoid kid who knows too much, the smart guy that falls for the virgin, and the "so-called" virgin girl. These characters in the movie are the generic bread and butter to modern horror movie, but who are they? What really motivates them beyond their stereotypes?

At the heart of this horror movie is a question that haunts every writer like a nightmare, who are you?

As I am writing a new story about identity and concepts of self, I also reflect on the horror genre, which has lost its sense of self. Yes, you can claim that a horror movie is "a slasher", "a ghost story", "a vampire story", or "a werewolf story". However, they're stereotypes with obvious plots and obvious characters that keep coming back over and over again. In terms of characterization in the horror genre, the thing is so dead, no Rob Zombie magic formula could get them back to life.

Drew Goddard and Whedon saw this truth and wrote around the stories to build a meta-story with a mysterious secret organization that uses monsters, ghosts, and zombies to maintain the old stereotypes of the horror genre. Above that meta story is another layer, the reason behind horror scenarios are due to the need to appease ancient Gods, who hate humanity due to our youth.

Now let's add a meta layer on top of a meta layer, there's a line in the movie that connects to this meta on top of a meta from the pot smoking character Marty, who said:

 

Society needs to crumble. We're all just too chickenshit to let it.

 

He's right in this regard at least, the entire horror genre has been done to death, but people still thirst for it like an old drug habit that never ceases. People desire to feel fear in the unexpected and horrific scenarios, which keep their thoughts on ancient instincts of survival instead of modernity.

The development of the Horror genre is like cocaine, you enjoy the first taste then slowly it becomes less of a euphoria and more a habit.

The ending is dark like many others in the genre with the ancient Gods rising out of disgust to destroy mankind for a poor showing However, the characters, plus this viewer, agrees that we deserve to be destroyed for trying to maintain a destructive habit in spite of knowing that its time has passed and we should move on to something else (maybe the movie equivalent of Meth or for the nature lovers exotic mushrooms).

My rating for the movie:

:lugh: :lugh: out of 5

My highest movie review rating

PS: I am not so positive on all movies, some movies I think are crap in my list, which hold no rating as they should be considered crimes against human cinema:

Biodome- Pauly shore is not funny and you are not "Bill & Ted", which I can respect as a stoner movie with decent acting

Battlefield Earth Travotta, you're never going to live that down even if you can pull off 10 Pulp Fictions

Highlander II: The Quickening: Aliens, are you serious? Why on earth did you turn a decent "Fantasy" franchise into a "science fiction" franchise? As a sci-fi writer, I feel ashamed and dirty to even mention it.

Jack & Jill: Adam Sandler, you should never ever ever do Drag! Robin Williams can pull it off, because he has good motivation and is truly a talented actor. You're not a bad comedian, but you're comedy does not translate into acting. This movie was the worst crap shoot ever, which even Al Pacino's usual brilliance can't bring above its horrible surroundings. Hell, I think this movie tainted Al Pacino's record for quality movies ever since Godfather, which has been a shining star for good acting.