Rappers & Singers in Recent Horror? Will they ever stop this? (1 Viewer)

[Ryan Wishton]

I think back from the last 10 years. Seems like every single mainstream horror film of the last 10 years just about has a rapper or singer in it.

Freddy vs Jason
H20
Halloween:Ressurection
Seed of Chucky
Resident Evil 2 (Was the black guy some kind of singer? Could be wrong here.)

are just some examples.

Studios think they are some major selling point. Why? People did not go to see FVJ for Kelly Rowland for example. They went to see Freddy and Jason. The movie would have made what it did regardless if she was in it or not. Same with the last two halloween films.

I mean sure, a rapper might bring maybe 1% of the audience, but in general the idea of it is laughed at anyways.

So, will studios ever realize that Rappers and Singers in horror movies arent what makes them successful?

9 times out of 10, they are horrible and just distract even further from the films.


One exception might be Seed of Chucky where a famous girl singer serves the purpose to be their in a guest cameo which points fun at it. But, thats all I can think of.

 

[Holadem]

Really? How do you know this? Do you have anything at all to back these two propositions?

--
H

 

[Dan Rudolph]

Some rappers have actually turned out to be pretty good actors. Besides, you gotta have a black guy to kill first.

 

[teapot2001]

It could be that the music artists want to act in movies, and they have only enough talent to land a role in a horror movie.

~T

 

[Ryan Wishton]

Holadem,

Not really. You could always take a poll and see if anyone went to see FVJ for Kelly Rowland for example. I highly doubt Kelly Rowland brought in 36 million opening weekend or even a small part of it. 80's nostalgia from older folks who grew up then and interest from the teens of today did that. Not to mention it was an idea talked about for many years. Even when I was in grade school. Would I have gone to see Kelly Rowland vs Monica Keena? Um, nope. Not really. Anyone else? maybe the stoned ones. Lots of things can seem like fun or a good idea when your stoned.

The movie would have done just as well or maybe even better if made in the 80's and no rappers or singers would have even been in it. The characters were way more popular then as well before all the lamo later sequels came along and killed both of them by 89-91.

Most people on sites, at theaters, and at video stores (I have been in all) laugh when you tell them so and so is in a horror movie from my experience. I personally know no one who has ever gone to see a horror movie because of a rapper or singer. They go out of interest or to try to get scared (which 9 times out of 10 fails anyways). But, I can only speak for myself there.

Did anyone go to see H:R for Busta Rhymes? Maybe a few. Sure. But, most compain that he made a terrible movie even worse with stupidity. I still say the movie would suck regardless with him or without him. Everything else about it sucked, so we cant blame him. Busta Ryhmes actually didnt do too bad in some previous roles, but here he was terrible. I mean come on. Karate while making dumb noises? This is suppose to be horror, not MAD tv. It reminded more of like I was watching MAD tv than and actual movie.

Did people go to see H20 for Jamie Lee Curtis? Definately. It was a unique thing for horror. A mainstream actress returning to horror. Michael Myers and Jamie Lee sold many of those tickets. But, thats something completely different in itself. By the time H:R came around, it was old hat. Movie still did ok, but did lousy in rentals. Made 8 million less than Jason X in rentals. Jason X also sold more DVD's. Now, thats scary. Actually, if I had the choice between the two, I would choose Jason X because of the naked chicks in the sleeping bag. Hilarious scene to a terrible movie.

Jamie Lee Curtis is a good actress for the most part. So, yes. Most of the audience was interested in H20 because of her and Michael Myers together again. Thats just common sense. The previous sequel perfomed very lousy. That could be because H6 was one of the worst movies ever created, but we wont throw stones. Still had better acting than FVJ.

Monica Keena (not a rapper. She is even a worse actor so she needs mentioning), Kelly Rowland (worlds better than Keena, but that doesnt say much), Busta Ryhmes (Wow, was that dumb. He was decent in a previous role), etc.

Then again most movies above had dreadful acting (especially FVJ) as a whole, so I guess maybe it's just bad luck.

I am also not saying all rappers are bad actors. I am sure. Some somewhere could be good. I mean people win the lottery too. Only the ones I have seen in horror so far are dreadful and I wouldnt miss them one bit.

What happened to the days when horror was actually, ya know, scary or attempted to be so??? Now it's nothing but chedder cheese and lame comedy bits. These films should be classified under Comedy at the video store, not horror.

 

[Jason Seaver]

When I was working in a downtown movie theater ten years ago, horror was hugely popular with the "urban" (that is to say, young, black, and non-collegiate) demographic. I didn't do any surveys to find out why this was, but the biggest gang problems we ever had at the theater was during Halloween 5 (I think it was #5). If this is reflected in the general population, then surely the studios have noticed this trend too.

NOTE: I do not want to imply that all, most, or even a representative sample of young black people are gang members. This is the observations of one guy at one theater ten years ago.

Anyway, if this is the case, then the hip-hop guys and the horror guys can have a sort of symbiotic relationship. The musicians likely help the movies in one of their core demographics and vice versa. It also doesn't hurt that musicians looking to cross over into film often work relatively cheap, a plus given the budget most horror movies have.

Not to beat this into the ground, but what are your and their demographics? I'm a 30-year-old white guy who has little interest in hip-hop anyway, and most of the people I talk to are similar. I'm sure, however, if I were to go to a video store in a different part of the city, I might find some folks who had gone to horror movies at least in part because they recognized musicians in the trailer.

 

[Gabe D]

I did, at least in part. It's the kind of movie I would've probably seen anyway, but I wanted to see it more because of Busta.

 

[Shawn_KE]

I agree. Busta Rhymes beating up Michael Myers is pretty lame.

 

[Mike Brogan]

10 years? "Every single" one, really?

What about "Dawn of the Dead", "Texas Chainsaw Massacre", the first "Resident Evil", "28 Days Later", "The Ring", "Willard", "The Others", "Cabin Fever" "13 Ghosts", "The Haunting", "House on Haunted Hill" "What Lies Beneath", "Ghost Ship", "Gothika"? "Underworld", "Van Helsing", "House of the Dead", the "Scream" movies, "I Know What you Did last Summer", "The Faculty", "From Dusk Till Dawn", "Final Destination" "House of 1,000 Corpses" etc...?

I know that's just a random list and it's debateable whether some of them are even horror movies. But I think all of them have horror elements and are mainstream, yet I can't think of there being any rappers or singers in significant roles in any of them, though I could be wrong since I didn't really check thoroughly.

Sounds like you probably saw a couple of movies in a row that did have rappers/singers in them so you figured all of them must. Kind of reminds me of the recent smoking thread where someone watched a couple current movies that had smoking scenes, hence; "smoking in movies has gone way up in the last few years".

I'd say both are overgeneralizing.

 

[Malcolm R]

It's always fun to see a rapper/singer get horribly mutilated...like most of them do to their songs.

 

[Jordan_E]

The one I can't stand is Ja Rule and that's one of the reasons I won't be seeing the Assault on Precinct 13 remake (other than the fact that its a remake).

 

[Holadem]

But I guaranty you that many others WILL flock to the the theater solely based on his presence. Much more than 1% of the audience.

--
H - And no, I am not one of them.

 

[Zen Butler]

H, good points. 17 year olds didn't give a flyin' f- that JLC and Michael Myers were together again. It was the latest horror flick out.

The fact that someone wont see a film because a well known hip-hop star has a role in it, is telling. Jack White didn't spoil Cold Mountain for me. Although, I find his musical talent a bit overrated, the fact that he was in a film is a whole separate gig. He was pretty darn good in that small role. JA Rule, is a pretender whose been biting the delivery style of past poetic genius, but hey, maybe the cat can act.
There's kind of rule on the street and Jay-Z put it so well in Heart of the city

...respect the game, that should be it What you eat don't make me shit - where's the love?

 

[Jordan_E]

Watch Ja Rule in Half Past Dead (yeah, I still rent Steven Seagal movies when the mood hits) and there's my answer to not wanting to see AP13. BTW, I didn't think Busta was that bad in the otherwise terrible Halloween: R.

 

[Zen Butler]

That's fair, if he sucks that bad as an actor. My issue would have been someone not seeing it because he's a crappy-ass rapper. There's no connection.

 

[Robert Anthony]

My only real problem with Rapper/Actors is that the focus on acting detracts from their music VERY obviously--and yet they still try to put out albums. I can't think of a single example of a hip hop artist putting out albums post movie career that even come CLOSE to their previous output. I feel if you're going to act--just act. But I think it's kind of been proven you can't really do both. Ice Cube starts acting? Fell off. his music nosedived. Busta started acting? Music nosedived. Fell off. Latifah? Same thing. Will Smith? Not that he was ever really recognized as a great rapper (and he definitely had great delivery, and it didn't hurt that one of the best DJ's of all time, the underrated Jazzy Jeff, was backing him) but his output after becoming a star was total trash. Snoop Dogg? He kinda fell off even before he started showing up in movies, but his music has become very bland since he became more known as an actor. Hell, I even believe Eminem, post 8-Mile, is a lot more boring and uninspired.

The creative focus that acting requires seems to debilitate rappers abilities much more so than pop/rock singers--a lot of whom don't even write the songs they sing.

I don't mind rappers becoming actors. I just think once they decide to act, they should just stop trying to record new material.

..besides, with the record industries financial practices, it's almost not even worth it to continue to try putting out albums after the movie industry starts sending you checks. Those movie checks are guaranteed money, not glorified LOANS.

 

[Jordan_E]

But Will Smith's post-movie music provided one of the best lines in SEINFELD: "I got jiggy with it!"

 

[Robert Anthony]

if you listen close, you can hear my teeth grinding right now

I should qualify my statement about Busta, though. His own, full albums, seriously suffered--but Busta has more become the "guest star" rapper extraordinaire. I think he realizes he's best in a group setting, doing one good verse and getting out of there. Plus, it's a lot less focus to do a verse on someone else's song.

 

[Derek Williams]

Urban credibility is the main reason you are seeing rappers/singer in horror movies. Minority audiences like to see a reflection of them selves on film. Putting in a known face does this with out the “token black guy” stigma.
What I find funny is movies are trying so hard not to kill the black person right away letting them live has almost become a cliché
Just look at Anacondas

 

[Jesse Skeen]

None of those recent performances can ever match the brilliance of Vanilla Ice in Cool As Ice or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II.