Quote:
Originally Posted by Castlewood
I don't think scary movies focus on being scary anymore... they focus on "how much can we gross out an audience?" --- See Hostel, which is closer to PORN than horror, in my honest opinion. Instead of it being sex-porn, it's gore-porn... people must apparently get off on that (since the success spawned a sequel).
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Yes, I believe that these movies are aptly being pinned as
torture-porn now.
Here's an article on America's new obsession, if you're interested.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Castlewood
In my opinion, you could touch subjects that are not exactly PC:
- School shootings
- Being kidnapped
- Terrorism
- Rape
- Child abuse
- Getting lost
These aren't really subjects that we talk about. We always "stay away" from this stuff. Why? If the message of horror is that "Don't do these things or the Boogeyman will get you!!"... How can that affect us on a deep level if the "big, bad, boogeyman" is Freddy Krueger, a character who's been reduced to action figures, dolls, comic books, and cartoons??? THAT'S NOT SCARY!
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Well, in defense of the industry, there's movies like:
Elephant (school shooting)
Captivity, Borderland (getting kidnapped)
The Hills Have Eyes, Devil's Rejects (rape, abuse)
The Blair Witch Project, Penny Dreadful (getting lost)
So they're
there... You just have to look sometimes... The only problem with this territory is that, if handled incorrectly, it can definitely result in just more torture-porn. Directors like Rob Zombie definitely take a page from TCM and are more interested in exploitation than scare.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Castlewood
I mean, although these films didn't "scare" me, I thought the subject matter was unique and on the right track:
Open Water
Bug
Se7en
The Mothman Prophecies
I mean, these films actually challenged you to THINK, and it wasn't all about tits and guts.
In closing (lol), I'm eagerly awaiting a movie to go outside the box and really tackle a concept that scares the shit out of our age-group. I don't know what it will be... but I feel like we DESPERATELY need an "Exorcist" for this generation. I haven't seen anything close to it yet. Maybe someday it will come.
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Ahhh. So you're looking for more "DISTURBING"... Not necessarily "SCARY."
I'm having an issue here with verbiage...
I think that there's a difference between "scared" (which tends to be more immediate yet temporary) and "disturbing" (which sticks with you after the horror movie ends).
Examples of movies that
scared me recently (2000 - present, which would make me the ages of 18 - 25).
- Halloween (I had to leave the room we were watching it in because I literally thought I would wet myself)
- The Grudge (I was living alone at the time and stayed up all night until 4 in the morning)
- Crazy Eights
- The Blair Witch Project (I was home alone and had to go to a friend's house to sleep over)
- Event Horizon
- Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning
These movies which HORRIFIED me when I saw them. As in I jumped, I clutched, I hid while watching. These movies generally focus more on suspense to draw emotion from you, but it's brief and not necessarily resonating. Afterwards, I am left with a feeling of utmost respect for a director that could actually pull that feeling out of me.
Examples of movies that
disturbed me.
- I Spit On Your Grave (couldn't get past the rape scene)
- The Hills Have Eyes (I thought the mutant rape scene was horrific)
- Event Horizon (this pulls on emotional tendrils of loss that stayed with me - also the concept of complete and utter eternal Hell - really disturbed me)
- Texas Chainsaw Massacre (there are aspects of torture and of sexual abuse, both of which definitely stuck with me)
The "scary" movies just make me jump and cling to my poor boyfriend's arm. The "disturbing" movies generally actually upset me afterwards; I have SERIOUS issues with sexual abuse on screen, especially if the victim is female; this might be part of the reason why I have a difficult time with Rob Zombie movies. Notice here how two of the movies on this list are both "disturbing" AND "scary." Both Event Horizon and TCM: The Beginning have good suspense and also generally disturbing moments.
I think that some aspect of horror definitely has to be "real," in one way, shape, or form. Let's face it: You need to feel ACTUAL threat in order to response in a horror/fearful sort of way.
But, I think, in this pursuit of what "scares" you, we need to define "scare" because there is a significant difference between "scare" and "disturb." They can definitely overlap, yet. But they are not inextricably bound.
Personally, I have a BIG problem watching torture and abusive films. And I've just realized lately that I cannot tolerate seeing animals killed or abused either (or alluded to being abused - Most recently I watched an episode of Carnivale where it was alluded to a cat being drowned, and I could feel myself welling up). That is the stuff that truly
disturbs me.