(Continued)

"If anything, I think the failure of 'Hostel: Part II' and others of its ilk says that 'torture horror' is on the decline and that audiences are in desperate need of something fresh to scare the wits out of them," theorizes Rotten. "No one ever truly knows what the next big thing is until it happens. And when it happens, for studios, it becomes less about pumping out original content and more about green-lighting similarly themed projects until the well runs dry, horror starts to go belly-up and everyone is left wondering what poisoned the fad."

Horror rises from the tomb

There are plenty of opportunities ahead to see what will prevail at the box office and whether the torture films can survive. Opening July 13 is "Captivity," in which a young woman (Elisha Cuthbert) is captured and tormented by a psychopath. Already the target of negative publicity for a nasty poster campaign that was banned by the MPAA after it was placed near Los Angeles schools, the film underwent reshoots to beef up its cruelty quotient. Another upcoming movie lays it all on the line just with its title: "Tortured." Director Darren Bousman recently said that the first 20 minutes of his upcoming "Saw IV" made him "throw up a little" in his mouth -- perhaps that's supposed to be good publicity, but I just need three or four tequilas for the same effect. Even Rob Zombie's remake of John Carpenter's 1978 classic "Halloween" is said to amp up the violence, not surprising from the man who made "The Devil's Rejects."

Yet there's more on the way than just hacking and ripping. "The Strangers" is said to rely more on suspense than carnage, while the French import "Them" reportedly takes the same route with devastating results. An adaptation of Steve Niles' popular graphic novel "30 Days of Night" gives a fresh spin to vampire lore, while next year's "The Ruins" is based on the best-selling book by Scott Smith ("A Simple Plan"). There's even another King adaptation on the way -- Frank Darabont's long-awaited film of his monsterfest novella "The Mist." On the independent scene, there's Fessenden's haunting eco-horror tale, "The Last Winter," the no-budget-but-effective "The Empty Acre," and the aforementioned "Sisters." Even Guillermo del Toro is shepherding a new supernatural tale to the screen, as producer this time on the already highly acclaimed "The Orphanage."

As subversive and outside the mainstream as they are, there's no reason that horror movies can't aspire to be great films as well. Frighten us, terrify us, shock us, and yes, even gross us out -- but a well-told story and the fine sensation of true, dread-inducing fear, instead of just a gag reflex, wouldn't hurt either. Director Joe Carnahan recently wrote on his blog about the "torture porn" fad, saying, "Yeah, there's a place for everything in the world. Censorship is the refuge of chickens***s and cowards and therefore not an option ... I'm just wondering aloud if we could and should do a whole helluva lot better."

What are your thoughts on the current state of the horror genre? Write us at heymsn@microsoft.com

Don Kaye is a true lifelong horror fan. He owns every issue of Fangoria magazine, writes about the genre for that and other publications, and still gets scared by the mummy.

Sound off: Comment on this story | Also: Features archive

Next: Eli Roth responds to Don Kaye's essay!