Losing my taste in violent cinema.

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When I was younger and angrier, I would watch a lot of grindhouse cinema. A lot of Italian horror. A lot of exploitation flicks from the '70s and '80s. I still own a lot of those films on DVD.

But I look back on a lot of them now. I try watching some of what I thought was entertaining a decade ago, and I find myself feeling somewhat revolted and distressed.

I guess I now am seeing that all of those Richard Curtis comedies that I once refused to watch now have a special place in my heart, and violence for the sake of violence is something I would now much rather avoid when it comes to my cinematic intake. Now, I would rather not watch something that was made solely to show sights of sadism and bloodshed. I never thought I would say that. Life has enough stress as it is without putting that into my brain.

It turns out that I am not the only person I know that has had this transformation when it comes to cinematic taste. I'm too old for the angry movies that are aimed at pissed-off youth.

I used to be heavily into horror films until 2006, and "Freddy vs. Jason" was the last one I ever saw in a theater. To this day, I wish I'd never seen it, because the whole thing was just 90 minutes of constant raunchy and demonic activity. Some of those images still come to my mind, and I can't say enough how thankful I am to be free of it. I was briefly tempted after learning the 35th-anniversary edition of the original "Halloween" hit Blu-Ray, but came to my senses after remembering that's what got me into horror from the start.

No worries about it -- it simply means your tastes have evolved. I'm the same --- me and a friend back in my university days several years ago rushed out to see 300. But now I can't even imagine myself handing money over for what's basically a glorified CGI hack and slash ritual (referring to the prequel, 300: Rise of an Empire) based on a graphically violent graphic novel, no matter how stylised it is. That isn't to say I decree no one should see it or support Millar or anything, I just don't personally harbour any interest any more.

People change. Embrace it and watch what entertains you regardless of anyone else's opinions.

Too much Tarrantino can make most people crazy. I appreciate the uniqueness and effort in his films though. Can't say I enjoy horror movies.

When I was younger I was somewhat into grindhouse-type movies with lots of bloodshed and whatnot, though nowadays I usually tend to prefer stuff with a bit more intellectual complexity. Don't get me wrong, I still enjoy watching stuff like Machete and Dead Snow once in a while, but movies like that do tend to get kind of boring if you watch them too often.

Similarly, with music, I find that if I listen to too much noise/death metal/grindcore, I get bored of it since it loses its intensity, and as those are pretty much the most intense forms of music, I can't really go any "higher".

Maybe I need to do some more growing up. I still watch violent slasher films. I don't know why. I know I've had a violent past with abuses and whatnot. Maybe a psychiatrist can explain to me better why I like gory movies. I'm especially into the French ones. Those guys are sick and their movies will turn your stomach.

I've always valued horror as a cinematic art form, a genre where necessity drives innovation.
But as I get older, I find myself unable to enjoy most of them. I find them distressing too.
I've lived though enough violent situations of my own.

I love horror films, and violence in other genres have never in themselves bothered me, either. It's just when gore and blood is expected to carry a movie in place of a good story is when I want to tune out.