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Badmovies.org Forum  |  Movies  |  Bad Movies  |  The new types of Horror Films and there archatypes « previous next »
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Author Topic: The new types of Horror Films and there archatypes  (Read 7393 times)
RapscallionJones
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« Reply #15 on: October 30, 2007, 01:23:45 PM »

Personally, I've never understood why someone would want to see a movie about people being kidnapped and totrured or whatever. I'd rather watch something totally unrealistic (aliens, giant monsters, Blobs, whatever) as opposed to the kind of brutality that could and does happen to people every single day.
Well, relevant horror has always been a mirror of our present social circumstances.  Particularly in the 70's following Vietnam.  There was a deep running despondence in America that inspired the early waves of the horror renaissance.  The current wave of torture porn is a reflection of real-life torture and social anxieties about where our culture is going.  We have this looming sense of doom, like we're back on the edge of oblivion as we were in the 80's so horror has this balls-out all or nothing apocalyptic sense about it.

The revelation of the CIA moving terror suspects, people snatched off the street, many innocent victims, shipped off to secret prisons in countries around the world where interrogation actually involves being beaten half to death with a pipe was a chilling realization.  No matter how you feel about the PATRIOT Act, the prospect of being kidnapped and tortured for intelligence that you don't have, for, essentially, no reason at all is one of the most harrowing things I can think of.  That's the reason that so many horror movies go back to reshoots to add sadistic torture scenes to them.

I thought this was an interesting direction that horror was taking until each movie began aping the best moves of the one before it but doing a half assed job of it.  Adding Lindsay Lohan or Elisha Cuthbert to the mix in an attempt to add some edge to their career does nothing for me.  They're still the antithesis of everything cool to me.
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Neville
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« Reply #16 on: October 30, 2007, 05:18:54 PM »

I's say horror films haven't changed that much. The formula is still there, 90 minutes of vivid (but manageable) horror that make our everyday problems look petty.

Indeed, there's been an escalation of the gore level since the 30s, that's inevitable. Gotta keep it up if you want the to keep the regulars interested. As The Burgomaester (or somebody else) said, the so-called "torture-porn" movies are just the last step, and they're not even a new invention.

I am sort of shocked at the negative backlash these movies are getting. Really, film critics should know by now that horror films need to be at least some good to keep the people interested in their bloody business. That impact and those nauseating sensations they often describe in their negative reviews are actually the proof the films are doing their job well. It's natural they found torture nauseating, but c'on, when they're pretending earlier slashers were sort of innocent fun they're taking us all for morons.

Not that there aren't any bad torture-porn films ("Captivity" comes to mind), but the films themselves are as harmless (or as offensive) as any old-school slashers.
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HarlotBug3
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« Reply #17 on: October 31, 2007, 03:05:16 PM »

I's say horror films haven't changed that much. The formula is still there, 90 minutes of vivid (but manageable) horror that make our everyday problems look petty.

Indeed, there's been an escalation of the gore level since the 30s, that's inevitable. Gotta keep it up if you want the to keep the regulars interested. As The Burgomaester (or somebody else) said, the so-called "torture-porn" movies are just the last step, and they're not even a new invention.

I am sort of shocked at the negative backlash these movies are getting. Really, film critics should know by now that horror films need to be at least some good to keep the people interested in their bloody business. That impact and those nauseating sensations they often describe in their negative reviews are actually the proof the films are doing their job well. It's natural they found torture nauseating, but c'on, when they're pretending earlier slashers were sort of innocent fun they're taking us all for morons.

Not that there aren't any bad torture-porn films ("Captivity" comes to mind), but the films themselves are as harmless (or as offensive) as any old-school slashers.


Big Karma and Happy Halloween to you! Great link, also. If anyone is still stuck on the idea that these new horror products are so much worse than the more "subtle" horror of the past, check out the horror comics of the 1950s. (Tales from the Crypt is back on the market btw  hot)   
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« Reply #18 on: October 31, 2007, 03:17:21 PM »

As long as we're speaking of torture porn, why not mention this old school classic?

Of course this stuff isn't totally new.  To me, lots of H.G. Lewis (2000 MANIACS, THE WIZARD OF GORE) is in the same vein.  The difference is that it's getting major theatrical releases now, rather than being underground.  I think it's probably just a matter of upping the stakes for a jaded public, but I wouldn't totally discount Rapscallion's theory that the relevance of torture in the political debate has something to do with it.  Still, I don't like the stuff.  It feels like it just aims to shock, and I'm beyond the stage in my life where being shocked is entertaining. 
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Neville
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« Reply #19 on: October 31, 2007, 03:39:24 PM »

Thanks for the karma, HarlotBug3. Happy Halloween to you as well.

And now, speaking of torture and political debate, I didn't hear the same critics attack "24" for its numerous occurrences of realistic torture. And not only that, it's carried out by THE HERO, it's shown to always produce results and the plot always justifies it as being the only solution. Now that's something the Great Thinkers of Our Time (and I don't mean the critics) should be worried about.

Don't take me wrong, I am a big fan of "24", but I found the torture scenes quite disturbing.
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« Reply #20 on: October 31, 2007, 04:53:21 PM »

There's been plenty of critical reaction to 24's torture.

From a USA TODAY article:

Rota, who plays a Lebanese contractor in the Canadian TV comedy Little Mosque on the Prairie, disagrees with critics, including some military officials, who say 24's torture sequences have distorted the views of the public and some soldiers regarding what should be forbidden practices.

"I think it's an interesting point to bring up, but at the end of the day, (24) is a fantasy. I would be quite surprised if a person wakes up in the morning and decides he knows how to torture people because he's just seen 24," he says.

(Last week, executive producer Howard Gordon told The Philadelphia Inquirer that 24 will cut back on torture scenes later this season for creative reasons, not in response to critics. Fox and 24 would not comment on the criticism.)

http://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2007-02-18-24-rota_x.htm

Plenty of other examples if you search "24 torture criticism" on Google.  I'd actually say that here in the U.S. there has been more of a controversy over "24" than movies like SAW or HOSTEL, largely because the military made public statements to indicate that they did not approve of this sort of behavior.
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Neville
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« Reply #21 on: October 31, 2007, 05:05:37 PM »

That's interesting, I have missed all that. I live in Europe, and I only noticed the issue had been raised because of a couple of IMDB headlines, and I really mean one or two, during the whole show's life. Since I saw no further news I assumed the controversy had faded as fast as it had appeared.

I take back what I said about "24", then. My whole point is that the torture issue on the show had gone unnoticed.
« Last Edit: October 31, 2007, 05:07:54 PM by Neville » Logged

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