tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-907928872183762741.post5553795381381645432..comments2023-11-02T07:06:44.484-07:00Comments on LAZY EYE THEATRE: Today's Horror Prescription: More CarpenterPIPERhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13054305230216613759noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-907928872183762741.post-69460971147485892032007-04-12T05:24:00.000-07:002007-04-12T05:24:00.000-07:00Neil,Cronenberg is one sick bastard, but his exami...Neil,<BR/><BR/>Cronenberg is one sick bastard, but his examination of the human body as you said, and the skin itself is really terrifying/fascinating. <BR/><BR/>What I love about his movies is that they always have a big finish. A big reveal or something that always took me back. The Brood was an excellent example of this when he finally confronts his wife. And Scanners. Even Rabid. There is this dread that creeps through all of his films. I've been to Canada only a few times and have loved it, but he really does it no justice in his movies because they are all so cold and sterile.<BR/><BR/>And Romero especially helped shape my love of horror. Did you catch the tribute to Day Of The Dead in Planet Terror when Tom Savini gets ripped in half?PIPERhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13054305230216613759noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-907928872183762741.post-29614207444643589652007-04-11T22:08:00.000-07:002007-04-11T22:08:00.000-07:00I'm glad you didn't take it as such. Cronenberg i...I'm glad you didn't take it as such. Cronenberg is also a favorite of mine... well, all of the filmmakers listed here are on one level or another, but Cronenberg certainly influenced my tastes more and starting much earlier. People interested in showing the explicit details of the human body could all take a lesson from his always thoughtful and thought-provoking movies.<BR/><BR/>And we are indeed completely on the same page on the core of your message, that the people making horror movies today should really take a second look (or perhaps a first look) at Carpenter's movie and examine why they work as well as they do. I believe doing so was very helpful to me, as I said in my entry.Neil Sarverhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02832804229444976459noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-907928872183762741.post-33880314451186616782007-04-11T21:30:00.000-07:002007-04-11T21:30:00.000-07:00Neil,Never took this as argumentative. I'm glad yo...Neil,<BR/><BR/>Never took this as argumentative. I'm glad you have these thoughts and I think ultimately we are on the same page. I love having a back and forth on this kind of stuff and am glad you're taking the time to do such.<BR/><BR/>You make good points about Romero, Argento and especially Cronenberg who is among my favorites.PIPERhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13054305230216613759noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-907928872183762741.post-51704676835835436592007-04-11T20:49:00.000-07:002007-04-11T20:49:00.000-07:00First of all, I'm certainly not a fan of Eli Roth....First of all, I'm certainly not a fan of Eli Roth. I've liked aspects of both of his movies, but felt both failed as a whole. I also can't help thinking I wouldn't personally like him, as he seems pretty obnoxious most of the time I've heard him speak.<BR/><BR/>That said, he doesn't sound like he's doing anything more than a kind of carnival barker routine in that routine, "Come see the amazing geek! He slices! He dices! He bites the heads off live chickens!", so, while I'm generally disinclined to defend him, I have trouble taking those recent quotes seriously enough to debate the merits of them in themselves.<BR/><BR/>As far as recent horror, all around, I think the least of their problems are gore or lacktherof, although I seem to run into people insistant on one side of that debate or the other. There's certainly active movements of hard "R" as well as the continuing movement of "PG-13" horror movies and almost all of both are garbage, but I can't think there's much either can learn from one another.<BR/><BR/>I think there are far too many examples of people who have made challenging movies that involve, even revel in, gore. David Cronenberg, Dario Argento, George Romero, Lucio Fulci all tell stories that fascinate and horrify me. I also found the goriest scene in Carptenter's "Cigarette Burns" to be the only truly compelling moment in it. And some of the scenes that make me scream in all of those are indeed gory.<BR/><BR/>I don't want to come on here and be argumentative.<BR/><BR/>I strongly agree with your essential point that horror directors of today could learn a lot from the expert building of tension and release that Carpenter has shown, including, in many cases, restraint. I stand by the most important thing isn't what you show or don't show, but why and how you do or don't show it.Neil Sarverhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02832804229444976459noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-907928872183762741.post-43115537899843072682007-04-11T12:00:00.000-07:002007-04-11T12:00:00.000-07:00For me, the gore in The Thing was central to the s...For me, the gore in The Thing was central to the story. Just as watching the werewolf transformation in An American Werewolf was central to the story. <BR/><BR/>You had to see the transformation. It ain't pretty, but you had to see it to get the horror of not wanting to become this Thing.<BR/><BR/>And The Thing is an exception in Carpenter's career, not a rule. Look at Assault on Precinct 13, Halloween, The Fog, Escape From New York, Christine, The Live and even Prince Of Darkness. The focus was not on how gross it was, it was in the suspense of the scene or the story. <BR/><BR/>It goes back to the simple idea of the story. Just as a bad story is dressed up with good special effects, a bad horror story can be dressed up with lots of gore. You don't need that shit if you have a good story. <BR/><BR/>The Friday the 13th, Halloween and Nightmare movies became less about maintaining a story or introducing new parts of one and more about killing people off. <BR/><BR/>It can be case by case, but I can't look at one new horror movie (aside from the two I called out) that even come close to where horror began or has been. <BR/><BR/>And it still doesn't address the original argument which is: Eli Roth misunderstands what being scared is about. It's not about gross, it's about fear. <BR/><BR/>Seeing a severed head or blood spurting doesn't give me a scared feeling. Seeing a toy clown disappear from a boys chair and then reappear behind him and wrap his red and white arm around his neck still scares the shit out of me.<BR/><BR/>There was a time when horror became about comedy around the release of House. I didn't care for it much, just as I don't care for this time as much. Craven was able to re-invent himself and bring comedy and fear together with Scream. <BR/><BR/>If someone can bring gore and fear together, I'll listen.<BR/><BR/>Until then I'll just be depressed.PIPERhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13054305230216613759noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-907928872183762741.post-3503603847790215152007-04-11T11:35:00.000-07:002007-04-11T11:35:00.000-07:00I find myself both agreeing and disagreeing. I me...I find myself both agreeing and disagreeing. I mean, the director of <I>The Thing</I> seems like as bad an example to use against gore in horror as the director of <I>Frenzy</I> is against nudity and bloodshed in thrillers.<BR/><BR/>I think somewhere in both of the careers a message about how to create suspense and build, but I think it still leaves the lesson of how to pay it off something that needs to be decided case-by-case and goal-by-goal.Neil Sarverhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02832804229444976459noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-907928872183762741.post-86053597680751639552007-04-09T12:13:00.000-07:002007-04-09T12:13:00.000-07:00I think Roth is confusing terror with horror. Carp...I think Roth is confusing terror with horror. Carpenter, and those scenes you mentioned that scared the crap out of you, built up terror and the implication of what MIGHT happen. <BR/><BR/>Showing blood and guts and gore is just gross - and stating the obvious.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com