To Grandmother's House We Go

I've recently taken an interest in the Horror genre, even more so now with my involvement in our class project, Fallen Angel. I have watched a lot of horror/thriller films and one thing that really sticks out to me about this genre is just how easy it is to make a terrible film. Horror can be a tricky beast. I would argue that horror is the most emotionally/psychologically involved of any genre in contemporary cinema. Striking fear and evoking a physiological reaction from the viewer is no easy task, as evidence by some of the horror 'flops' we have seen in the past. 

Some notable flops are: 

While these titles range from the bizarre to the down right ridiculous, they are but a small piece of the mountain of failed horror movies out there. 

A recent film coming to theaters soon that has caught my horror eye (and made me groan) is M. Night Shyamalan's The Visit, a horror (comedy?) centered around two children's first visit to their grandma's house. The grandparents are typical, sweet old people, until 9:30pm, when they become some mysterious, cult-driven type of insane. Yeah, that's right. M. Night Shyamalan is making a horror film about visiting your grandmother. At first, I thought this had to be a joke-until I saw good ol' M. Night's name in bold letters at the end of the trailer. Then I knew this was for real. The film comes out next week, and I am very tempted to go see it. 

As a horror fan, I'm not going to lie: my expectations are very low. With the kind of creepy tagline "Don't worry, its only Nana" I don't see this film getting my heart racing or getting me engaged in the narrative in any way. The best horror movies are the ones that not only scare you with jumps and make you squirm through intense long-take shots, but also (like any great film narrative) make you forget you are even watching a film- you become absorbed in the helpless world of the main characters. 

This film made me think long and hard about my own venture into horror with our project Fallen Angel. There is a tasteful way to produce a heart-pounding horror flick, and I hope that we as a group think long and hard about our limitations and capabilities both as students and filmmakers. To avoid this project becoming "hoaky" or missing its mark, careful attention to detail is needed. I think an intense focus on sound design will help push this project in the right direction, as well as stellar casting and editing to put it all together.

 Horror films are meant to mess with your minds and make you feel uncomfortable, a feat that isn't easy to accomplish on a two dimensional screen. We all know examples of horror movies that just simply missed the mark. The Visit may soon be added to that list- hopefully I am pleasantly horrified when I go see it in theaters. I may not have the recipe for the perfect horror movie, (yet-stay tuned) but I just hope that Fallen Angel can live up to expectation in this challenging genre of film.

A tribute to horror films... just in time for Halloween!

It's that time of year again. Trick or treaters everywhere, candy by the boat loads and costumes from the elaborate and clever costumes to the put together at the last minute costumes. But to be honest my favorite part of Halloween is the movies. They can range anywhere from the family oriented movies like Hocus Pocus or the more horror style of movie like Nightmare on Elm Street.  I prefer the horror style of movie this time of year.

Now none of these films would be around if it weren't for the pioneer of horror films, Mr. Alfred Hitchcock. Many of his films are considered to have established the benchmark for horror films. Almost every horror film can have at least one of their cinematography techniques traced back to one of Hitchcock's films. During their time, movies such as Psycho and The Birds terrified audiences. With clever cinematography and editing techniques, Hitchcock was able to strike fear into the hearts of audiences all over the world. Never before has a movie been able to strike emotions into an audience quite like Hitchcock can.






But in recent years horror films have somewhat strayed away from Hitchcock's style of horror. There are still traces of the same kind of scare factor Hitchcock was known for but now horror films are aiming for what I like to call "Gross-factor." By that I mean they will do everything they can think of to absolutely disgust and shock an audience. Instead of making us jump out of our seats with fear, horror films now a days make us cringe in our seats. Some examples include, Ithaca College's own Dan Heffner's Saw series, The Hills Have Eyes series, and The Human Centipede series.  I believe that these films are redefining the horror genre. The Gross-Horror films strike fear into it's audiences by grossing them out beyond their wildest imaginations.

Lastly, scary movies have become a part of Halloween more than ever. Iconic horror film characters such as Freddy Krueger from Nightmare on Elm Street, Jason Voorhees from Friday the 13th , and Michael Myers from Halloween have all become regulars as Halloween costumes.
You can't deny the impact that horror films have on people when deciding on what they want to be for Halloween. Its amazing the influence a movie can have on people.

 

Enjoy your trick-or-treating and watch a good horror film or two with your candy this Halloween. Happy Halloween everyone! 

C'est Halloween!

It's that time of year where you can bust out the candy corn, curl up in your (either expensive or homemade) costume, and watch some horror films. I don't know whether it was Whoopie Goldberg's fantastic intro to the film in MonsterFest 2000: The Classics Come Alive (it's a thing, look it up), the behind the scenes look, or me just being a ten year old, but Creature from the Black Lagoon has always been one of my favorite Halloween films of all time. Let's dive in, shall we?

Though made in 1954, this film was one of the first ever 3-D movies (I know, fantastic right)? Creature from the Black Lagoon also incorporated underwater scenes, another marvel for the 1950's.  I guess one of the reasons I love this film so much is because there is a forbidden love story amid the "horror". Also, this movie was a huge step forward for the collective art department of our industry. The creature's suit was very primitive (from an art department stand point); the actor could barely see, sit, or keep from overheating but was progressive none the less. Another reason this movie is superb is because this movie has made such an impact on the industry; it basically has been name dropped or referenced since it's release (i.e. The Seven Year Itch, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the Simpsons). I highly recommend this film both from a cinema and an entertainment standpoint. Happy sailing!

Hour of the Wolf

I watched Hour of the Wolf this past week on Arturo's recommended movie list.  This movie was very interesting and unlike anything I had seen before.  It is a Swedish film directed by Ingmar Bergman and it follows the story of an artist who is struggling with his past and night demons he has while he sleeps. One of the aspects of the film that I find so interesting is that it is told in a series of diary entries.  So after each scene, there is a fade to black, and between each scene we do not know what happens.  There are flashbacks yet the story stays in order.

The film mixes a lot of suspense and horror and it really touches on emotions that many other movies do not.  I was very confused with Johan, the main character, because he was always scared but I did not know why.  And he was violent at times yet I do not know his motivations to be violent.  It is a movie that I think I would need to watch multiple times to fully understand but I enjoyed watching it.

Boo.

Fear has always been a mystery for humans. What causes fear and why are we so interested in this? Fear is a negative sensation from a perceived threat. It is hardwired in our brain with the "Fight or Flight" response. Fear has been within the human condition as long as any other emotion.

This is a really odd reference but I like it anyway.

As much as we claim we hate being scared we still go to the movies to watch these heart wrenching films. It may be because of our morbid fascination to these things, our curiosity to the grotesque and the unknown. Stephen King explained that we love horror movies because it gives into our cruel impulsions.

We know why we find horror movies interesting but why are they scary to begin with? What makes a guy in a rubber suit scary or someone's arm being ripped off a hair raising experience? Instead of searching the internet for an answer I am going to try my best with my own explanation. Horror movies show us something that we usually do not see everyday, and sometimes shows us things we never want to see. The idea that a creature can enter your house at night while you sleep to drain all of your blood is terrifying. However even though the emotional side of our brain is paralyzed with fear our logical side can ease our mind with a rational explanation that vampires and werewolves do not ex

ist. That is why I think the more recent horror films do a better job with causing us fear. Movies like Hostel are scary because of a strong chance of them happening...well stronger chance than zombies knocking on your door for tea and cerebellum. What is scarier, a creature that can not physically survive in the real world due to scientific reasons or getting kidnapped in a foreign country then tortured to death?

Travel the world they said...

Just like anything else in our world, horror movies have evolved in order to keep up with viewers today. Our concept of fear has changed. Or maybe we have just become desensitized by traditional horror due to its over use. I think a crucial element of horror is the shock factor of some of the scenes, and the frankenstein monster can only be created only a certain amount of times before it becomes stale. As I stated earlier these new grotesque horror movies like Hostel or Saw show the viewers what they normally do not see, people getting tortured in sick ways. Thanks to special effects we can see a more realistic and brutal gore scene now without hiding in shadows and claymation.

Horror movies scare me for more than one reason, besides me being easily scared the future of horror movies can take an interesting turn. If what I said is true about the desensitization of fear than in the future we will see movies that will make Saw look like Nosferatu.

Now that's a scary thought.