HOME | POLITICS | SPORTS | LIFE | SCI/TECH | OPEDS | HELPFUL TIPS
|
Mar. 28, 2005 I have been hearing a lot of negativity toward horror films. Namely Halloween, Friday the 13th, A Nightmare on Elm Street, and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Why the negativity? It wasn’t the fact that some of the films were cheesy, or had bad plot lines, or bad acting. Nope, it was all because they didn’t “scare the audience.” As a huge fan of horror, let me address something. Horror is not always going to scare you. In fact, most horror films won’t scare you at all. The point of horror is not to scare you, but to make you think. Horror only works with fear and emotions, but the problem with horror is the audience has to be ready for it. In other words, if you go to a horror film thinking you’re going to watch an Oscar worthy movie, then you’re not going to be scared. Very few horror films have ever drawn you automatically with fear. Recently, Saw is one that I consider a film that has been very underrated, because this film captivates you whether you like it or not, whether you’re ready to be scared or not. When the Blair Witch Project came out it was a smash hit, why? Because it played with your emotions. How many people thought it was real footage? I thought it was, but then I thought about it, and I didn’t believe it anymore. However, I can’t deny the impact it gave me. It was very innovative; however, it was also a flavor of the month type of movie; in other words, it didn’t last too long before it became stale. A lot of people didn’t like the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre from 1974. I have heard complaints that it was “stupid” and “there was no point.” I will admit, I thought the original TCM was a little boring at first, but it is one of those films that you have to watch a couple of times in order to appreciate the film. I think what made TCM a little boring to some people, including myself, is because anyone who writes scripts, myself included, knows that you have to captivate your audience within the first ten pages of your script, otherwise the story is dead. With horror scripts a death must occur within the first 10 minutes of the film. With the original TCM, nothing happens until 30 minutes of the film, which is going to leave some horror fans high and dry, and therefore not hold their interest. MAJOR SPOILERS!!! Let’s take the biggest slasher films, and their first 10 minutes of their films. Halloween - Michael Myers is a little boy and kills his sister. You have the audience’s interest. Friday the 13th - The killer kills two camp counselors before the title of the movie comes on. You have the audience’s interest. A Nightmare on Elm Street - Can you say, “Skin the cat?” You have the audience’s interest. Then we come to the Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) - Corpses, flashes, and a van full of hippies. Fast-forward indeed. I’m not besmirching TCM, I think the film is brilliant, both the remake and the original, but some people just can’t understand that horror isn’t based on how many times you jump out of your seat, it is how many times you thought about putting yourself in the hero or heroin’s situation. That is when the fear of horror films kicks in. On that note, let me enlighten a subject on horror films. A long time ago, Freddy Krueger was the hottest slasher in films. Did you know there were multiple suicides in Ohio because they kept having dreams of Freddy Krueger? Horror at it’s best. ------------ About the author Eric Schomburg: Useless-Knowledge Columnist of the year 2004. An Apocalyptic Dream is now out for purchase. Check out both books at http://www.geocities.com/schomburg2002. Email: schomburg2002@yahoo.com Tell a friend about this site! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com and are not allowed to be posted on other websites. ARTICLE THIEVES WILL BE PROSECUTED! |
||||||
|
|
|||||||
|
