"Why I Love Horror Films"

Many people think that loving horror films is an unusual thing. “You’re a filmmaker. You should like art films and dramas,” is something I’ve heard a lot from many of my friends and the truth is that I do enjoy art films and dramas. Many people don’t know that among my all time favorite films is the Italian epic THE BEST OF YOUTH, WHAT THE (BLEEP) DO YOU KNOW?, BRINGING UP BABY, CINEMA PARIDISO, and PI, to name a few, but the truth is that even though I love those movies it is the following films that I can watch and re-watch a million times – NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (1968), ROSEMARY’S BABY (1968), THE EXORCIST (1973), THE STEPFORD WIVES (1975), FREAKS (1932), CARNIVAL OF SOULS (1962), and THE HAUNTING (1963), THE OLD DARK HOUSE (1932), and THE MIST (2007). If you’ve noticed, many of these films were made in the ‘30s and ‘60s. I have a love of early horror cinema and these films never get old to me.

Another thing that you’ll notice is that all of these films (with possibly the exception of THE OLD DARK HOUSE) are horror films that are about more than just cheap thrills and frights. These films are among the best films that reflect the human condition and even try to be comment on politics and society among other relevant ideas. These ideas can also be expressed in other genres but it’s truly the horror genre in which these ideas can be expressed in there most extreme conditions.

In the anthology 3 EXTREMES (2004) the segment “Dumplings” comments on the extreme search for eternal beauty, one of society’s greatest pre-occupations. In DAWN OF THE DEAD (1978) director George A. Romero comments on society’s per-occupation with consumerism through the zombie genre. CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST (1980) is a hard look at documentary filmmaking and just how far someone will go to fabricate the truth and its consequences (although be it in a most gruesome way). These are but a few of the examples of great horror films that strive to be more than just the some of its parts.

Now there are many horror films that are simply just great as entertainment value (just like in any other genre) such as ZOMBIE (ZOMBIE 2) (1979), CUBE (1997), THE DESCENT (2005), FRIGHT NIGHT (1985), AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON (1981), HALLOWEEN (1978), THE HILLS HAVE EYES (1977), FRONTIERE(S) (1997), BABY BLOOD (1990), and THE EVIL DEAD II (1987), to name a few, and these are films that many fans cherish.

I’ve loved horror films since I was a child. My mother is a huge fan of horror movies and books (especially Stephen King) and I grew up watching all the horror films of the ‘70s and ‘80s. Even though I love horror films from before the ‘80s, my mother didn’t watch those type of films and I grew up watching what she watched which was a lot of Alfred Hitchcock, Stephen King based films (especially CUJO, CHRISTINE, CHILDREN OF THE CORN, and CAT’S EYE), and a lot of monster films (my mother didn’t really care for the human monsters such as serial killers so I didn’t watch those until I was much older). A this time I became a huge Godzilla fan and even though these films can hardly be called horror films they were films with monsters…lots of monsters and thus I devoured these films and everything like them. I still tend to like non-traditional monster films more than the basic horror and serial killer films. Some of my favorites are DEEP RISING (1998), JAWS (1975), ARACHNOPHOBIA (1990) THEM! (1954), PHASE IV (1974), TREMORS (1990), NIGHTBREED (1990), PITCH BLACK (2000), THEY (2002), and DAGON (2001), to name a few.

Keeping all this in mind, I love horror films from all over the world. This is not something that many people that love horror films can say. Going to film school has allowed me to broaden my horizons not only in mainstream genres (of which I never liked westerns until I studied them in college) but in the horror genre as well as many of my new favorites include foreign films from all over the globe. Some of these include the Russian film NIGHT WATCH (2004), KAIRO (Japanese 2001), A TALE OF TWO SISTERS (South Korea 2003), INSIDE (France 2007), HIGH TENSION (France 2003), ANATOMIE (Germany 2000), KWAIDAN (Japanese 1964), 28 DAYS LATER (UK 2002), GINGER SNAPS (Canada 2000), and A CHINESE GHOST STORY (Hong Kong 1987), to name a few.

Many of today’s best horror films are coming from over seas because there are fewer taboos in regards to horror there then here in the United States, so we get such controversial and unconventional films as MARTYRS (France/Canada 2008), [REC] (Spain 2008), THE ORPHANAGE (Mexico/Spain 2008), MOTHER OF TEARS: THE THIRD MOTHER (Italy 2008), PAN’S LABYRINTH (Spain/Mexico 2006), WOLF CREEK (Australia 2005), BLACK SHEEP (New Zealand 2006), NIGHT OF THE LIVING DORKS (Germany 2004), MACHINE GIRL (Japanese 2008), and AUDITION (South Korea/Japan 1999), to name a few.

Many of these films have been able to cross over continents and countries to be praised by audiences everywhere (a rare feat when you consider that most other genres are unable to do this – unless it is an art house film). No matter what country, horror films tend to have no problem translating from one language to the next and do both well subtitled and dubbed (unlike most other genres).

Having this many films to choose from it’s no wonder I love horror films. When the US is having a bad year at the box office I can always just watch the latest from France or Germany or Hong Kong and be satisfied.

Now, like I’ve said, the horror genre can go from one extreme to the next. They have horror films for the kids – THE MONSTER SQUAD (1987), MONSTERS VS. ALIENS (2009), and THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS (1993) – they have them for teens – THE LOST BOYS (1987), CREEPSHOW (1982), and SHUTTER (2008) – and they have them for grown ups – REPULSION (1965), PSYCHO (1960), and THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS (1991) – so there are films for every age group.

It’s amazing the variety of horror films that exist today in all the different subgenres (of which I will go into detail on some other day) but what’s even more amazing is the fact that horror films continue to find there audience despite the economic climate and despite what Hollywood thinks the typical horror fan will pay to see on the big screen (i.e. remakes, sequels, and PG-13 teen horror).

I go see them all. I try to go see every horror film at the box office no matter how obscure or how badly reviewed. I like horror films and I’ll go see them all if I can. Some of the more embarrassing ones that I’ve seen include PROM NIGHT (2008), A SOUND OF THUNDER (2005), THE UNINVITED (2009), PSYCHO (1998), SNAKES ON A PLANE (2006), ANACONDAS: THE HUNT FOR THE BLOOD ORCHID (2004), CHILD’S PLAY 3 (1991), THE GRAVEYARD SHIFT (1990), ONE MISSED CALL (2008), and PRIMEVAL (2007), to name a few, so I’ve seen a lot of turkeys on the big screen (many of which I knew were going to be bad before I saw them but I saw them anyways because I love the genre so much).

There is no denying that I love the horror genre and I support it on the whole (even though I believe that Americans haven’t made a descent horror in almost a decade with the exception of a handful). I could go on about the genre but I won’t since anything else I say will just make this article longer and I’m sure you’ve read enough from me.

Suffice it to say that there is more to this genre then meets the eye and if you look closely you’ll find that there are films within the genre that are for every type of person so those of you that dismiss it – stop and take a few moments to really look for that film that would be right for you and if you don’t think there is one for you then just ask me because I’ve probably seen them all.

Last Day of May!

Today is the last day of May 2009 and I for one will be making a few changes in my life (I hope this time). I say this but will it truly happen?

Been trapped in a personal relationship problem for some time and I've been wondering about how to proceed especially since either one would take me down a path I thought I had left behind me in the past. I, not one to be hindered by "feelings" and "emotions," I've always done what was easier and what would give me a short term enjoyment (thus my always being single) but as I get older I wonder if my "childish" outlook on life has turned me into a "bastard of men" or a "stoic" and "heartless man." I've been called heartless before and I hate to admit that at the time I was indeed heartless to her not only because of my lack of emotions but also because of my lack of feelings for her emotions.

Other times I've been dubed clueless because frankly (and most men will agree with me) that I can't read a woman's mind (and even if I did I'm not sure I want to know how it completely works and processes information - that might scrare me too much) and I should be able too even if I can't. A canundrum if there ever was one.

I love women in all their many splenders but frankly I don't always understand them and in my 33 years on this Earth I've still got a long ways to go (if I ever really get there) but my true delima is whether or not I should take what I've learned from my past and use it for my future or should I try to relive my past knowing now what I didn't know then. An enigma still.

It's a question I've found myself trying to answer for the last month as my brain and heart and common sense duke it out with each other. It's the end of the month and I've decided to leave the past in the past and live for the future (learning what I've learned from the past in order not to make the same mistake in the future).

A canundrum and an enigma roled up into a jigsaw puzzle and game of Tetris in one. Boy do I hate life sometimes.

"Relationship Vs. Non-Relationship"

I’ve been involved with someone on and off since last November; lately it’s been more off as we’ve decided to cool it off due to several of our own complications that come with not only being a couple but in life…general.

It’s been a week since I last saw her and I’ve been on occasion thinking much of her but isn’t that what I should be doing? I can count on one hand the number of women I’ve been serious about. The list is even shorter for women whom I truly trust and have opened up enough to trust whole-heartedly without remorse and without regret.

I stand before you now a humble man with nothing more but yearning and desire. My “girlfriend” and I (if you can call her that) have had our issues, none of which in my opinion make for the so-called “deal breaker” yet we remain on the edge of – for now lets just call it – “insanity.”

As I’ve said, I’ve had much time to think about all this and dwell upon just what it is that keeps us apart while also creates a façade from which neither one of us wants the walls to come crumbing down to reveal the “truth.”

Maybe we are not meant for each other…any maybe I don’t want to give up that chance, however small and fleeting, that maybe we are. It’s a façade I want to have a belief in and I don’t want those walls to come crumbing down. For right now I need those walls to cling to and hold me up from day to day. At least for the time being.
But I no longer plan on waiting for someone else to knock down the walls. I plan on doing something about it so that it’s no longer a façade to hold me up but can represent a symbol of something stronger to cling to and to nurture.