One genre that can change drastically from one generation to the next is horror, and this means there are many horror movies that don't hold up for one reason or another. One of the biggest pratfalls of horror movies is the change in taste and the length that society will go to accept something meant to disturb them. At one time, the horror genre was mostly based around sex, but that has grown out of style in recent years. There were also periods with the grimy horror of the 70s, the slashers of the 80s, the self-referential horror of the 90s, and the torture era of the 2000s, much of which went out of style after a time.

When a horror movie works well, it scares people and makes them uneasy. However, this can also cause problems because things that used to creep people out in the past are things that are mostly off-limits in movies today, and that once again limits what horror movies can do. There are the best horror movies of all time, like The Exorcist, The Shining, Night of the Living Dead, and Psycho, but even those have detractors who feel they don't work today. Redditors have often discussed movies at length, and many of them have their own ideas on horror movies that don't hold up today.

The Blair Witch Project (1999)

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Redditor ConnortheLong said they were thinking of horror movies that don't hold up and that was caused by rewatching The Blair Witch Project. They wrote it was a movie "they really appreciated on a first viewing but it just didn't land on a revisit." There were disagreements over the lasting opinions of the movie, but those have existed since the movie came out in 1999, where some fans considered it an instant classic, and it fell flat with others. It remains the grandfather of modern-era found footage movies, and the surplus of those might have impacted its legacy.

Scream (1996)

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Scream influenced an entire generation of horror movies, as it was one of the first critically-acclaimed self-referential horror movies. Directed by Wes Craven, the movie had the victims talking about slasher horror movie tropes, even as they fell into them as well. However, that is what Redditor IcedPgh said made it one of the horror movies that don't hold up. "I'm not sure that they hold up as well today," they wrote. "That brand of self a referential horror has gone stale." While they agree the movie is still good, it just doesn't work as well today.

Hellraiser (1987)

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One of the best adaptations of Clive Barker's horror novels, Hellraiser was a movie that went the extra mile with gore and horrific images and ended up as a beloved horror classic as a result. The movie was so good that it spawned countless sequels, although none of those never came close to the success of the original movie. One Redditor doesn't think the original is as good as many people once believed. "Saw it again recently and was pretty shocked how crappy it was." Their biggest problem was that the "acting, story, and editing were just kind of poor."

It Follows (2014)

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It Follows is a movie containing a strange curse, as Jay Height and her friends realize that they are passing a deadly curse along to the people who they sleep with. While the movie has been praised for its premise, acting, and scares, not everyone thinks that it still seems logical. One Redditor shared that "the second time I watched it, the 'rules' of the demon/ghost are inconsistent (that beach scene was an outlier from rest of its interactions with humans)" and the conclusion was confusing, lessening their appreciation of the movie.

The Ring (2002)

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For Redditor Fun-Possible7676, the concept of The Ring doesn't hold up or make sense now. The fan wrote that characters "have to watch a videotape on a VHS then get a phone call on a landline phone for a evil spirit to crawl out of your near ground level tv. I don't have a VHS player, I don't have a land line." It's true that while The Ring still feels creepy, the technology doesn't work anymore, which does lessen the impact of the point of the story. The fear comes from watching a video that means Samara visits just seven days later.

Dawn Of The Dead (1979)

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Directed by George A. Romero, Dawn Of The Dead is a beloved zombie classic, and seen by many as the best of Romero's zombie movies. The horror film delves deep into how a zombie apocalypse affected the living and was also a harsh critique of consumerism. With the survivors trapped in a shopping mall, they lived the high life until the dead found their way in. Redditor Dsod23 doesn't think that the movie has aged well in terms of production value, though, writing that the "zombie effects, pacing, and editing are all pretty amateur."

Sleepaway Camp (1983)

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There are many forgotten '80s slasher movies, but Sleepaway Camp is memorable for polarizing reasons. Redditor ScootyPuffSSJ said, "The twist ending isn't super tasteful by modern standards." Audiences learn that Angela's brother Peter passed away in an accident. The end of the movie explains that Angela died, and their aunt Martha wanted Peter to be raised as a female. Audiences then see Peter's genitalia. Sharing that a character is transgender and making it a big reveal that is supposed to shock feels offensive and insulting in today's society.

Salem's Lot (1979)

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Redditor witch-finder thinks that Salem's Lot has aged badly, writing "It's way too long and nothing really happens for a lot of the film. Since it was TV movie in the late 70s, it looks really cheap too." The 1979 miniseries is about a writer named Ben Mears who goes home to Salem's Lot and figures out that vampires are slowly taking over the town. While fascinating at the time, it makes sense that the production value would feel duller now. While one of the more beloved of Stephen King's early adaptations, it falls a little short of his best adaptations.

Friday The 13th (1980)

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Friday The 13th is one of the grandfathers of slasher movies, but when watched today, some fans believe it feels dated and the slasher elements aren't quite as exciting or horrifying. Since horror fans have seen so many films from this subgenre, the story of a killer at Camp Crystal Lake doesn't always pack the same punch that it once did. Redditor Z1GGOMAT1K said of Friday The 13th, "I really can't recommend it over other early slashers like Black Christmas or Bay of Blood. It's an important film culturally for sure, but I just don't think it's a particularly good movie."

Jaws (1975)

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Jaws is a beloved classic, part of the National Film Registry, and the movie that helped create the summer blockbuster. But not everyone thinks that it still holds up as a terrifying movie when viewed by today's standards. Redditor Cautious-Promise-663 said, "the whole premise of Jaws (1975) would not be very appealing nowdays... people's views regarding nature, animals, and sharks in particular, have changed considerably over the last decades." The fan continued, "It's just a shark is what comes more naturally to most people's minds."

The Silence Of The Lambs (1991)

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The Silence of the Lambs is an Oscar-winning horror movie, telling the story of Clarice Starling, a young agent who works for the FBI and has to work with a convicted cannibal named Hannibal Lecter while investigating another killer. It's often thought to be a great example of tense storytelling. Redditor fhost344 was "surprised how dated it seemed (although still quite entertaining). From the music cues to some of the editing, it seemed kind of tv movie." While there are still many reasons to praise the movie, and Hannibal will always be a classic villain, they felt the production felt a bit too '90s.

The Last House On The Left (1972)

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The Last House On The Left is one of Wes Craven's earliest movies and tells a disturbing tale of parents who come across the people who killed their teenage daughter, Mari Collingwood. Redditor Sons_of_the-Desert said that the film was "considered revolutionary during its time, but I feel it's held up poorly over the years." While horror fans are used to seeing violence, watching young men torture a high schooler is distressing, and it feels overly harsh. Although the parent characters have a good reason to want revenge, the story still feels uncomfortable and upsetting today, and some people consider it simply too violent to be entertaining.

The Birds (1963)

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Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds felt like a masterful tale of suspense when it was released, as the main characters living in a California town are attacked by terrifying birds. The Birds can be appreciated because of the influence it had on filmmaking when it came out, but now, it feels dated. Redditor cavalier78 shared that while they found the movie scary when they watched it as a child, "the green screen effects look terrible today." Despite that, the movie was still added to the National Film RFegistry and is considered one of the best horror movies of all time.