by Et in Arcadia ego » Wed Aug 23, 2006 12:46 am
<!--EZCODE QUOTE START--><blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr>Perhaps worse was that it was impossible to sympathize with anyone being killed, except:<hr></blockquote><!--EZCODE QUOTE END--><br><br>That scene personifies my argument. Forget empathy,when I saw it I was completely mortified, especially by what her last words were. I totally failed to reckon the context of her death with any validity to the film's story at all.<br><br>It was unfettered ugliness for no other sake than it's own, and the only logical explanation I could derive from it is that it was placed there deliberately as a trauma device.<br><br>So why do film makers feel a need to traumitize the viewer with details that are either irrelevant to a storyline or excessively linger on scenes of extreme horror/violence?<br><br>Take Blair Witch, for example, for contrast. I felt that was a _p e r f e c t_ Horror Film that elegantly suspended disbelief without overwhelming the viewer with incessant gore and torture scenes lasting minutes on end..It followed classic recipes for scaring the audience in a manner they'd be able to LEAVE AT THE THEATRE, shaken up, exhilarated even, but not taking home an image permanently branded into someone's head of a woman's face slowly being burned off..<br><br>Hitchcock would curse these new directors. So would Lovecraft..<br><br>I think the best horror is that which leaves the viewer's imagination to ad lib what's being seen/heard with their own imagination. I don't think it's neccessary at all to render celluloid personifications of 'Evil' in pixel-perfect detail, but film has taken it upon itself to do exactly that.<br><br>It's also setting ambushes in non-horror genres with elements of extreme horror that are unfair to an unprepared audience, especially children.<br><br>Scared -vs- Scarred..<br><br><!--EZCODE BOLD START--><strong>THIS IS WHAT I AM TRYING TO ADDRESS IN THIS THREAD..</strong><!--EZCODE BOLD END--> <p>____________________<br>Some are born to sweet delight, some are born to endless night.</p><i></i>