I love horror movies. I’ve seen an embarrassing amount in the theatre, some wonderful, Pans Labrynth, Alien, 28 days later, some pretty good, Jeepers Creepers, Event Horizon, Deep Rising and some really, really bad, Evil Dead, Resident Evil, Leviathan.
Aliens, and Jaws count would definitely hit my top ten movie list.
I’ve seen most of horrors released over the past twenty years, even the one about the evil tooth fairy… yep, I am not a discriminating horror watcher.
And I love the thrills, the tension created when you know the bad guy(monster) lurks around the corner and I love to jump in my seat when a movie surprises me. But there are two types of horror that I cannot be bothered with.
1) Torture porn. I find these primarily boring and just a little gross. They replaced tension with fake blood, and an attempt to disgust the audience. I don’t watch horror to squirm in my seat. This includes the Saw series, the hostel movies, the remake of the hills have eyes, and the rest that seem to keep getting made.
2) Most Zombie movies. I have to exclude 28 days later and Shaun of the Dead. I loved both movies, and have watched them both at least twice since the first time I saw them. But to me, Zombie movies aren’t horror, they are disaster movies, and I do not enjoy disaster movies.
I realize this sounds weird. But here is my explanation. The thrill of horror is that in the end, the resolution is usually, the bad guy(alien, monster, shark) gets defeated, so that through the enormous tension, we, the audience, get relief in the end. But Zombie movies, in general, offer nothing except perhaps the main character gets to escape to fight another day, or they don’t escape and end of movie. Basically, it’s an end of days movie, and those don’t really thrill me. Without the release of tension, what was the point to the build up?
But I think I’m alone in this theory..
But as someone who’s seen a lot of horror and sci fi, here are my favourites, The Alien Series, Jaws 1 and 2, Pans Labrynth, The Descent, Deep Rising(it had a sense of humor, something else invaluable in a horror) The original Halloween, and a few more I’m forgetting.
Anyone else like these movies?
8 comments:
I love Sinead's intellectual analysis of horror movies. ;-) Kind of like my analyses of reality TV?
I do like some horror, and some suspense type movies... but generally, as you know, these are not the kinds of film experiences I most often go for. I only go to the ones Sinead tells me I must see. She's my pre-screener. (Although I think I saw Pan's Labyrinth before her, because I saw it at the TIFF.)
You may need to make an exception for Zombieland, too. I saw it last weekend and kinda loved it. I can't decide if it's as good as Shaun of the Dead or not, but it's definitely close.
You're right, though. It is definitely an End of Days movie, but sort of a sweet one.
Oh, I really want to see Zombieland. But I do have a suspicion that it'll be more my kind of movie than Sinead's
I would love to see Zombieland... perhaps when it comes out on DVD..
I would see Zombieland just for Woody!
Come for Woody. Stay for Jesse Eisenberg. Truly.
Oh, I love that kid. Jesse Eisenberg.
Check out Roger Dodger and The Squid and the Whale to see him in two indie projects when he truly was still a kid.
I saw The Squid and the Whale. I'm glad I watched it to the end. I wasn't crazy about it at first, but I thought the parents were the main characters. Once I realized that the Jesse Eisenberg character was the main character, the whole movie reframed in my mind. It was really interesting. I spent a lot of time thinking about the characters and the writing after I watched it.
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