Why DO I love the blood and thunder?
February 8th 2007 23:21
Yup, I’m really a serial killer masquerading as a well-adjusted freelance writer. Horror movies are just an outlet to curb the bloodlust that swells inside of me. Watch out. I might just know where you live.
But seriously folks, why do I love horror movies? And why are horror movies still popular almost a century after they were first produced? They’ve been more consistently popular than the musical and arguably as influential as the western.
Director John Carpenter has said "Fear is the most powerful emotion in the human race and fear of the unknown is probably the most ancient. You're dealing with stuff that everybody has felt; from being little babies we're frightened of the dark, we're frightened of the unknown. If you're making a horror film you get to play with the audiences feelings."
And he’s damn right. It comes down to fear, our primal fears; a deep-seated gut response, an emotional and psychological reaction to the audio-visual representation of our primal fears. Basically, horror movies provide us with utter ghastliness, but kept at a distance; so that in a pseudo-protective way we kid ourselves, provide ourselves with a false sense of security, that nothing bad or painful will actually personally involve us.
If we look a little closer we start to see the cracks, the abyss that reveals the inner demons. We know there’s an infrastructure, so what are the nuts and bolts like? How dark is the blood? How loud is the thunder?
We need this confrontation to remind us, whether it is consciously or subconsciously, of our own fragility and humanity … and of our inhumanity. We know there are real monsters in our midst as much as we fantasize about supernatural monsters in the shadows of our minds. Both are just as important in capturing our fears and helping us to purge them.
I love horror movies for several reasons, and not just the academic ones. Let’s face it, suspense and shock are both base mechanical techniques which are more or less effective depending on the finesse of the director and his/her band of technicians. But they provide a great deal of fun, albeit sometimes on a Grand-Guignol level, sometimes as the creeping unknown.
Like a magician or conjuror, horror movies are about illusion. And as we all know, magic tricks are very entertaining. Often the more elaborate the trick, the darker the shadow, the more awe is instilled in the viewer or audience. There’s a kind of prestige at hand.
On the other hand (my sleeves are rolled up), maybe it’s just because I like seeing a lot of ultra-violence committed on humans; decapitation, dismembering, disemboweling, eye-gouging, head-crunching, bone-splintering, all that torn flesh and spilled guts, all that glorious blood and thunder.
I’m a serial killer remember? I just dig that kind of human depravity and destruction.
* the image of the Blood Feast poster was taken from the following wikipedia page: Blood Feast. It is licensed under the GNU Free Document License
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Comment by KylieW
Celebrity Obsession
Journalist: "So was it a surprise to hear that Bryn may be a serial killer?"
Kylie" "Hell no. The only surprising thing was that there were actual bodies left. I was sure he would have cooked them up into a big ol' stew".
There is something thrilling about being frightened. When the adrenaline starts pumping. You really feel alive!
It's like being inside when a really really good thunderstorm is raging outside and the electricity has gone out. Scary....and fun!
Comment by Cibbuano
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Comment by David
I love theconversastional tone of your posts ... Very easy to read ...
Great John Carpenter quote ...
I find it amazing he can direct horror movies, yet sang such beautiful songs with his sister Karen like ... Top of the World, and There's a Kind of Hush (All Over the World) ...
Did he really 'snuff' her in one of his films??? * As in, is this whole anorexia thing just one more lie perpretrated upon us by the media? ...
I don't watch a lot of horror movies for one reason ... They scare the living shit out of me ... (yet I can read true crime stories all day long ...
(The Hitcher? It took me about four watches to get to the end ... I'd watch it for a while then go ... 'I can't cope with this ... '
(I did a lot of hitching ... and picked up a lot of hitchers in my late teens and 20s ... and I can identify with the guy in the VW too much ...
And, you're so easy to pick as a non-serial killer btw ...
So, great post ... (again ...
David ...
Comment by JohnDoe
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Comment by Damo
For the Sake of Argument
My Apologetics
Love horror, action and westerns. All the blokey stuff.
I think people don't so much love being horrified as much as the conquest of being horrified.
It is a contest of courage and nothing feels better than overcoming a fear.
Horror films give all the thrill of being a hero in your own mind.
Comment by Bryn
Horrorphile
Kylie,
yes thunderstorms, love 'em to death!! Back in NZ we'd only ever get sheet lightning, so you can imagine my excitement when I moved here (ten years ago) upon witnessing forked lightning ... and now that I live in the eastern suburbs of Sydney, it's soooo much better for that thunderous electricity out over the ocean ...
Cibby,
yes, like Kylie mentioned, it is most definitely about an adrenalin rush ... (boy, did i get one watching the construction site chase scene in Casino Royale I tell ya, more than most recent horror flicks!!)
David,
The Hitcher is a bonefide cult classic!! Rutger Hauer owns! Thanks for the props!,
JD, when you laugh, it's a wild and wicked one! Cheers mate!
Damo,
yes indeed! The contest of courage, excellent observation!
Comment by DuskDevi
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Comment by Hellvis
Earache Hotel
In modern western society, where not everyone is obliged to go to war, standards of living have increased, and most of us are not confronted with real death on a daily basis, I think this may be important.
I don't know how well this theory holds up, but it's interesting. Gore and shit is also cool.
Comment by katyzzz
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Comment by Bryn
Horrorphile
nice angle there ... Check out my latest post on the Godfather of gore (Lucio Fulci)
Comment by Bryn
Horrorphile
Comment by Mountain Fog
Infognito
I have one other sure fire way of detecting the sadistic psychopathic murderer type...they like to 'do', not talk about watching! So, with a large breath of relief expelling from my lungs, I can relax again!
The other day, I heard that a woman had been doing some photo modelling for this guy, in California I think it was, and when she turned up for the second photo shoot, to be done in the forest...a neighbour came up to her, after hearing her knocking and calling out his name, and said he had just been taken away by the cops, he was a serial killer!!
I guess she knew she was probably going to be the next model SHOT, but not by a camera!
I think horror is a way of exorcising all those pre/post pubescent fears we all have, and has become a kind of ritual, a way to 'manhood', that we all went through in some way.
I remember being goaded into seeing Count Yorga Vampire as a young lad, and that scared the living shitta out of us three amigoes, but after all such events, there was always a sense of relief and some feelings of 'manliness' for having 'survived' the ordeal. Then came the boasting part, when meeting one's friends and telling them of the terror just witnessed.
Horror, sci fi, all have an important place in society, they are healthy tools we collectively use at some point in our lives, or continue to do so, as a way of making sense of where we are on our own paths, and helping us deal with situations beyond our control, and the great unknown....well...maybe...
But one thing, when I heard about American Psycho, I could not bring myself to watch it! Yet, I willingly watched Silence of the Lambs and enjoyed it. I guess the American Psycho film sounded to me so much more colder and vicious, maybe I was wrong, did you see it? And I refused to see Saw...maybe I am just geting too old....sigh...
fog
Comment by Bryn
Horrorphile
American Psycho the movie is brilliant. It actually captures a black sense of humour which is much harder to pick up from the book. Definitely worth seeing, especially if you like Christian Bale (one of my fave actors) ... Cheers for the comments!
Comment by Eva W.
Life in Germany
Great post, Bryn. You successfully give horror movies much more credit than they usually receive.
Comment by Bryn
Horrorphile
Comment by Joseph R. Terrazzino
Koovies
I just walked upstairs from the basement where I polish the skulls of my kills, and noticed your post. Very nice. This snippet in particular:
"We need this confrontation to remind us, whether it is consciously or subconsciously, of our own fragility and humanity … and of our inhumanity. We know there are real monsters in our midst as much as we fantasize about supernatural monsters in the shadows of our minds." --Horrorphile
Oh yes, yes, yes. I agree. Very well thought out.
Oh shit--the girl in my trunk is screaming again. I can hear her all the way in here, where I sit naked, fondling a necklace of dried testacles. She'll alert the neighbors for sure.
I gotta go.
Comment by Bryn
Horrorphile