I feared for the future of horror movies for a while. What sweet relief 2013 releases have brought.
Back in the day, horror films, like “It” could make a theater audience jump from their seats. If a person watched “It,” they either checked their bathroom drain that night or didn’t bathe at all. This is because scary movies were once focused on one thing: terrifying the shit out of people.
Alfred Hitchcock had a way of making the audience squirm in discomfort. He shot at awkward angles with high-pitched sounds — cue the “Psycho” shower scene scream.
Where did this skill go? Obviously, it disappeared for a while, and I was forced to endure things like the “Scream” and “Omen” franchises being passed as horror films.
They may not have frightened me as I would have liked, but at least these were better than the more recent trend: zombies.
People went on a zombie/vampire craze, and somewhere fear was replaced with disgust. Just as I know there will never be a zombie apocalypse, I know that Michael Myers isn’t going to resurrect again. The difference is that Myers was a well-developed character that intrigued people. Let’s be honest, zombie movies consist of following a love story while lifeless beings chase the couple.
The good news is the torture is over. While there are still some horribly directed low-budget movies out there trying to make their way into the horror category, the real stuff has returned.
My two favorite horror films of the year, “The Conjuring” and “Insidious: Chapter 2,” happen to be directed by the same man, Australian James Wan. His style is similar to the old creepy aesthetic, where the floors creak, the camera moves a little too quickly and the audience is always wondering what’s behind the door.
Unfortunately, he also directed “Saw,” but I’ll forgive him for it. 
Both of these films had me flipping on the light switches as I walked through my house for at least a couple days. That’s what I need from a horror film. If someone doesn’t like that type of movie, fair enough. But for those who love it, we’re looking for that discomfort. We want to scream a little, spill the popcorn and be the audience to something disturbing.