Quote:
Originally Posted by neverending
I think the late 60s and 70s saw a shift in that message- where good didn't so much triumph as survive- and the evil survived to torment again. Films like The Exorcist, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and other like that are examples of that.
|
I don't know - the monsters have been coming back since the 1930's/40's. Frankenstein/Dracula/The Mummy etc were all "destroyed" only to be resurrected in remakes. Universal's Frankenstein was only ever really dormant, and Hammer's Dracula was easily resurrected on countless occasions.
The two films that you mention - certainly the Texas Chainsaw Massacre only provided triumph in escape. Leatherface was swinging his chainsaw even as our surviving hero escaped.
However I think The Exorcist was different. Father Karras was an imperfect hero - and an imperfect priest, who had periods of doubt/weakness in his faith. The story is as much about his struggle with his faith as it is about Regan's possession. However he saves Regan by sacrificing himself for her. Quite a Christ-like act really, where he dies to redeem others. Of course the devil is not killed - the devil can't be destroyed - in a Christian dichotomy, the devil is necessary for the existence of good. You can't choose the right path if there is only one path. But the point is that the innocent child is saved - a child who we can assume (not coming from a religious family) was not baptised, so therefore still tainted by original sin. But Fr Karras cleanses her from this original sin by sacrificing himself (as Christ did for the human race). So I don't feel that The Exorcist really demonstrated any more of a pessimistic view of good over evil than the monster movies of the 40's and 50's - any more than the notion that evil will always exist but good can be victorious in those that remain pure or are redeemed.