Comments on: The Horror! The Horror!: Torture porn and the state of scary movies http://newcityfilm.com/2008/10/22/the-horror-the-horror-torture-porn-and-the-state-of-scary-movies/ Reviews, profiles and news about movies in Chicago Sun, 13 May 2012 13:27:09 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: jill peterson http://newcityfilm.com/2008/10/22/the-horror-the-horror-torture-porn-and-the-state-of-scary-movies/comment-page-1/#comment-4 jill peterson Sun, 23 Nov 2008 15:05:52 +0000 http://newcityfilm.com/?p=626#comment-4 "Simone Muench, poet and professor at Northwestern and Lewis University, where she’s also taught horror-film classes, agrees. 'I do think the political climate infuses itself in the general psyche, whether we choose to think of ourselves as political or not,' she says. 'I find that films now in the twenty-first century have been a return to a lot of the filmmaking of the seventies, not in terms of the filming style, but that the filmmakers are really trying to recreate the extremist filmmaking in a way that shocks people out of their apathy. But instead you get things like ‘Saw,’ which has no narrative, no character development, just a boring string of executions.'" how about this- in the seventies, the horror of what our government was doing or what was going on in the world was personal. everyone knew someone who was in vietnam. it was in americans' houses that way. the draft kept us honest- we don't know the people at war anymore. now, we are just sponsors of horrors and torture onto people we don't know and will never meet. i think the distance, anonymity, meaninglessness and identification with the torturer rather than the tortured makes perfect sense for today's horror movies. (and that fear of becoming the possessed rather than fearing the one who is seems to have been prophetic.) i bet the horror movies in iraq are different. i bet they're more story and character-oriented. just a guess. “Simone Muench, poet and professor at Northwestern and Lewis University, where she’s also taught horror-film classes, agrees. ‘I do think the political climate infuses itself in the general psyche, whether we choose to think of ourselves as political or not,’ she says. ‘I find that films now in the twenty-first century have been a return to a lot of the filmmaking of the seventies, not in terms of the filming style, but that the filmmakers are really trying to recreate the extremist filmmaking in a way that shocks people out of their apathy. But instead you get things like ‘Saw,’ which has no narrative, no character development, just a boring string of executions.’”

how about this- in the seventies, the horror of what our government was doing or what was going on in the world was personal. everyone knew someone who was in vietnam. it was in americans’ houses that way. the draft kept us honest- we don’t know the people at war anymore. now, we are just sponsors of horrors and torture onto people we don’t know and will never meet. i think the distance, anonymity, meaninglessness and identification with the torturer rather than the tortured makes perfect sense for today’s horror movies. (and that fear of becoming the possessed rather than fearing the one who is seems to have been prophetic.) i bet the horror movies in iraq are different. i bet they’re more story and character-oriented. just a guess.

]]> By: ellaestoda http://newcityfilm.com/2008/10/22/the-horror-the-horror-torture-porn-and-the-state-of-scary-movies/comment-page-1/#comment-3 ellaestoda Fri, 24 Oct 2008 01:35:06 +0000 http://newcityfilm.com/?p=626#comment-3 "It's hard to imagine what could scare these viewers" I can't speak for other people, but graphic violence ain't it. If the new generation seems unafraid of what Hollywood has to offer them then it's because Hollywood makes crap. Many of these movies are remakes and sequels and are made by hacks, who rely on lame CGI and cheap jump-scares. I honestly don't think that the straight-to-DVD movies are any worse. Today's mainstream Horror movies lack mystery, atmosphere, intelligence, characters worth giving a damn about, filmmakers with a vested interest in what they're making, and artistry. So how does one change the kinds of Horror movies that Hollywood is making? Petition? “It’s hard to imagine what could scare these viewers”

I can’t speak for other people, but graphic violence ain’t it. If the new generation seems unafraid of what Hollywood has to offer them then it’s because Hollywood makes crap. Many of these movies are remakes and sequels and are made by hacks, who rely on lame CGI and cheap jump-scares. I honestly don’t think that the straight-to-DVD movies are any worse.

Today’s mainstream Horror movies lack mystery, atmosphere, intelligence, characters worth giving a damn about, filmmakers with a vested interest in what they’re making, and artistry.

So how does one change the kinds of Horror movies that Hollywood is making? Petition?

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