After seeing a trailer for the Evil Dead remake (and by coincidence right after having finished Army of Darkness an hour before), I was wondering how the Escapist felt about this. I've seen this debated in some places, but not too often. Is gore scary?
I would say yes, but to me, gore makes me lose a part of horror that is really important, fascination. Isn't part of fear working the imagination? What I mean is, I won't forget all the strange crap that happened in The Shining because it's unexplainable, more complex and makes me think about it afterward. The Shining is still the scariest movie I've ever seen. But I don't remember much from the Halloween remakes. I think it's because gore is pretty explanatory. It's gore, right? There's nothing to get the mind going on it. Sure it may startle and shock for the moment, but it doesn't last and doesn't leave me wanting to relive the thrill because that thrill has nothing for the mind to latch onto and remember it.
I guess for short term: Yes, gore is scary.
For long term: No, it's not.