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I'm not actually a fan of going to movies on opening weekend. It's so crowded and people can be really annoying. Though this year I did go to The Avengers and The Dark Knight Rises on opening weekend because I was looking forward to them sooooo much, usually I'm not all that fussed if I don't see the film RIGHT AWAY OMG. I'll get to it.
But.
I make an exception for horror films.
This doesn't get out much on my fandom lj, but I lovelovelove the horror genre. As a kid, I was plagued by what I considered a vengeful and unscrupulous imagination, and as a result, scary movies were terrible experiences. Of course, a lot of movies were scary to me, even outside of the horror genre. To give you a taste of just how touchy I was on the subject, as an eleven-year-old, I walked out of the theater about twenty minutes into The Fugitive because I could NOT handle the INTENSEWAHOMG. I spent the rest of the movie in the lobby trying to forget poor Sela Ward's death scene and the bus crash.
Nowadays, my views on horror have changed from "stay the fuck away" to "gimmegimmegimme". It's possibly my favorite genre. I took multiple film classes in Horror Theory during college (fascinating! If this is an option for you, DO IT) and I am always in search of good horror.
I could really go on and on about the genre itself, but not right now. Right now, I'm going to talk about the movie-viewing experience. Tonight I saw Mama, produced (executively) by Guillermo del Toro. A few things about the movie itself:
1) Guillermo. Why do you hate us so much??? O.O
2) I think it's a sweep vote that the Blair Witch needs to GO BACK TO THE WOODS OKAY.
3) Did I say, "Jamie Lannister, go into the woods"? NO. No, I did not.
4) That said, showing too much of the monster? For the love of gawd, resist. Writers, directors, etc., trust me on this one.
So, yes, the film could have been better. The first 80% of it was mostly along the lines of WHATTHEFUCKNODON'TOPENTHATWHATAREYOUDOINGHOLYSHIT. The final fifteen minutes undid just about everything scary-wise.
It's that first 80% that wins the day, though, because I DID see this film on opening weekend. In a crowded theater. With people literally yelling "DON'T GO IN THERE!!!" (yes, it actually happens in real life!) and setting each other off in the screaming department, and generally just feeding the frenzy until everyone was alternately cackling and screeching. I remember the first time I saw Sleepy Hollow, on opening weekend in a theater that was filled to the brim, and though that is not the world's scariest film by a long shot, the presence of the huge audience ramped the reaction up to the point that everyone was having a great adrenaline-powered time. And I remember seeing 28 Days Later in a film course I was on in England. Now, that is my favorite movie. (Read: movie, not just horror movie.) I'd seen the film at least twice by then, and still, viewing it in a crowded room in the dark with lots of people screaming and jumping and squeaking made it even better.
Honestly, it might be the best way to see a horror film. ^____^
But.
I make an exception for horror films.
This doesn't get out much on my fandom lj, but I lovelovelove the horror genre. As a kid, I was plagued by what I considered a vengeful and unscrupulous imagination, and as a result, scary movies were terrible experiences. Of course, a lot of movies were scary to me, even outside of the horror genre. To give you a taste of just how touchy I was on the subject, as an eleven-year-old, I walked out of the theater about twenty minutes into The Fugitive because I could NOT handle the INTENSEWAHOMG. I spent the rest of the movie in the lobby trying to forget poor Sela Ward's death scene and the bus crash.
Nowadays, my views on horror have changed from "stay the fuck away" to "gimmegimmegimme". It's possibly my favorite genre. I took multiple film classes in Horror Theory during college (fascinating! If this is an option for you, DO IT) and I am always in search of good horror.
I could really go on and on about the genre itself, but not right now. Right now, I'm going to talk about the movie-viewing experience. Tonight I saw Mama, produced (executively) by Guillermo del Toro. A few things about the movie itself:
1) Guillermo. Why do you hate us so much??? O.O
2) I think it's a sweep vote that the Blair Witch needs to GO BACK TO THE WOODS OKAY.
3) Did I say, "Jamie Lannister, go into the woods"? NO. No, I did not.
4) That said, showing too much of the monster? For the love of gawd, resist. Writers, directors, etc., trust me on this one.
So, yes, the film could have been better. The first 80% of it was mostly along the lines of WHATTHEFUCKNODON'TOPENTHATWHATAREYOUDOINGHOLYSHIT. The final fifteen minutes undid just about everything scary-wise.
It's that first 80% that wins the day, though, because I DID see this film on opening weekend. In a crowded theater. With people literally yelling "DON'T GO IN THERE!!!" (yes, it actually happens in real life!) and setting each other off in the screaming department, and generally just feeding the frenzy until everyone was alternately cackling and screeching. I remember the first time I saw Sleepy Hollow, on opening weekend in a theater that was filled to the brim, and though that is not the world's scariest film by a long shot, the presence of the huge audience ramped the reaction up to the point that everyone was having a great adrenaline-powered time. And I remember seeing 28 Days Later in a film course I was on in England. Now, that is my favorite movie. (Read: movie, not just horror movie.) I'd seen the film at least twice by then, and still, viewing it in a crowded room in the dark with lots of people screaming and jumping and squeaking made it even better.
Honestly, it might be the best way to see a horror film. ^____^
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Date: 2013-01-20 07:07 pm (UTC)From:As an aside or addition, or something, I like horror that is as much or more of the mind than of the slash, though I love me a good slasher, too. But things like Silence of the Lambs, Dressed to Kill, Event Horizon and Seven (though woe is Seven for the dated-ness) are more interesting and brain burrowing than Halloween 78 and the like, to me.
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Date: 2013-04-28 06:29 pm (UTC)From:I remember Tales From the Crypt! I love that show! The cheesiness is so part of the charm, especially Monsieur Crypt Keeper. There were some doozies in there, and I just love seeing names like Robert Zemeckis and Steven Spielberg pop up from before they were famous. *cackles*
I definitely love a well done psychological horror film. Silence of the Lambs is a favorite in that regard, as is The Descent, which is also high on the gore factor, but the reason it's so effective is the character interplay. Surivavl horror at its finest. Hot damn. Event Horizon will always remain a favorite because of the fear that is that version of hell. Wow. What a conceptualization... Eesh! Space, the final frontier, in every way.
Halloween is my fave movie in the slasher genre. It's very effective in ways you don't expect, not the least of which is the simplicity of it, and the way that, contrary to popular belief, Carpenter never resorted to gore, or even general messiness. It cracks me up to hear the reputation its gotten over the years, a reputation I myself had to shout down when I finally saw the film. I think these remakes of the classics are often doing a disservice to the genre in their focus on the blood and guts, when the true horror lies in the suspense and what can't be seen. (In my opinion.)