After cinema-going audiences had caught a whiff of the luscious flavour of red corn syrup in the 1970s, they were thirsty for more; horror was about to take an eventful trip into Bloodville. Body horror culminated in the 1980s, from bodily invasion to general dismemberment, this most likely stemming from the demon fetus in 1968′s “Rosemary’s Baby,” the chest-bursting extraterrestrials in 1979′s “Alien,” and the limb-mutilating power tool from 1974′s “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.” Buckets of guts was the new “in thing,” and has continued with this status for quite some time.

In sword fights to the death, there seems to be some kind of code of chivalry that dictates their actions and makes the fight fair. You would expect chivalry and that crap from good guys, after all, it is their job. But bad guys are bad for a reason: they don’t play by the rules. So why do villains often do the same sort of chivalrous behavior as their Heroic counterparts?

Vampires are back and bigger than ever, unfortunately largely due to what might be considered by some (come on, I’m sure I’m not alone here) to be rather unfavorable depictions. Vampires used to be scary, badass or just plain mean, and we were okay with that. But times have changed. Do we really want our children to grow up in a world where vampires are the pansies of the supernatural stable, sparkling in the sunlight and drinking down more angst than red stuff? I think not. I mean, your grandma would probably be able to steal the majority of today’s vampires’ blood money without a second thought. In short, today’s vampires suck, and not in a good way. Ready your stakes; it’s time to perform some mercy-slayings.