"Horror Fans" for Dummies

[IanEye]

Two Netflix recommendations:<br><br>a Vampire movie that isn't a horror movie, "Ganja and Hess"<br><br>and<br><br>Jose Mojica Marins' "Awakening of the Beast" which is basically this blog in Movie form<br><br>Enjoy! <p></p><i></i>

[FourthBase]

<!--EZCODE QUOTE START--><blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr>I have nothing but total disrespect and distrust for anyone who is anti horror movies. The very idea that they are evil/etc is so wrongheaded that I don't know where to begin to respond.<hr></blockquote><!--EZCODE QUOTE END--><br><br>Find somewhere to begin, I'm interested.<br><br><!--EZCODE QUOTE START--><blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr>NO, that's empathy, which is GOOD.... good to the point of if you don't have it, you're effectively not human.<hr></blockquote><!--EZCODE QUOTE END--> <br><br>Why does one need to subject oneself to simulated horror in order to prove that one has empathy? Is there not enough real horror that one can read about, or experience first hand, to test oneself for empathy? Isn't it better to save one's empathy for when something <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--><em>real</em><!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> provokes it? And isn't horrific violence an <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--><em>extreme</em><!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> way to evoke empathy? Am I really wrong in thinking that prolonged exposure to violent horror movies (or simulated violence in any genre) <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--><em>could</em><!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> actually desensitize a good proportion of the audience (obviously not you or the other hardy souls here), and gradually disable one's empathy?<br><br>Anyway, in that phrase I was talking more about "happening to them" as in "happening in the same room as them". i.e., If a movie recreated the Sharon Tate murder, viewing it would be like being there in the room while it happened. That's an inherently good thing, to witness human slaughter? IMO, it's an inherently bad thing. Maybe I'm crazy, though.<br><br>(p.s., I've learned my lesson about using the generic "you" here). <p></p><i></i>

[orz]

<!--EZCODE QUOTE START--><blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr>Curse of the Demon<hr></blockquote><!--EZCODE QUOTE END--><br>Great movie!<br><br><br>Ok, how about Carnival of Souls!? <p></p><i></i>

[IanEye]

FourthBase, you wrote:<br><br><!--EZCODE QUOTE START--><blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr>Anyway, in that phrase I was talking more about "happening to them" as in "happening in the same room as them". i.e., If a movie recreated the Sharon Tate murder, viewing it would be like being there in the room while it happened. That's an inherently good thing, to witness human slaughter? IMO, it's an inherently bad thing. Maybe I'm crazy, though.<hr></blockquote><!--EZCODE QUOTE END--><br><br>I don't think you are crazy, I would recommend you stay away from Jim VanBebber's "The Manson Family" though......<br><br>For those with an appetite for deconstruction, it is worthwhile to compare and contrast VanBebber's Opus with the 70's made for TV movie "Helter Skelter" starring Stephen Railsback. In terms of discovering not so "hidden agendas"..... <p></p><i></i>

[streeb]

IanEye - great call on Ganja and Hess (and Awakening of the Beast for that matter! I've been trying to download Finis Hominis, but it ain't workin' out).<br><br>Ganja and Hess is really something though - one of those movies that has an ineffable quality. Nothing else like it. It's so good in fact that it actually survived the tampering it received at the hands of cheap-ass video distributors in the 80s, who chopped it down to 90 minutes, generally fucked with and re-titled it (Blood Couple was one of the bogus titles). Even after that, it still sorta worked. <p></p><i></i>

[orz]

<!--EZCODE QUOTE START--><blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr>Why does one need to subject oneself to simulated horror in order to prove that one has empathy? Is there not enough real horror that one can read about, or experience first hand, to test oneself for empathy?<hr></blockquote><!--EZCODE QUOTE END--><br><br>You don't, that's not the reason for watching horror movies... maybe just a nice side effect for the non-psychotic <!--EZCODE EMOTICON START :) --><img src=http://www.ezboard.com/images/emoticons/smile.gif ALT=":)"><!--EZCODE EMOTICON END--> <br><br>Movie horror is not real horror, basically. Sure you could argue all sorts of stuff on that point but really, any reasonable person can and does seperate the two.<br><br>The reason blanket dismissal of horror from a left-wing/alternative/conspiricy/whatever viewpoint offends me is that it represents an extremely stunted, contrary view of the history of cinema... horror has always been the genre in which the most subversive, human, cinematic, beautiful and true content has managed to slip past the inanity/reactionary filters of hollywood, in the same way as other 'trash' genres such as sci-fi literature...<br><br>One more horror recommendation for now: I think that if some of you guys saw Brian Yuzna's "Society" you'd probably explode, for a whole spectrum of reasons! <!--EZCODE EMOTICON START :eek --><img src=http://www.ezboard.com/images/emoticons/eek.gif ALT=":eek"><!--EZCODE EMOTICON END--> <p></p><i></i>

[orz]

Just to go back to the root of this thread/debate:<br><br><!--EZCODE QUOTE START--><blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr>You like watching people being terrorized and sliced apart?<hr></blockquote><!--EZCODE QUOTE END--><br>No. <br><br>But I do like watching fictional films of the sort in which such things are likely to happen in a way which i find effects pleasingly; ie is funny, horrifying, tragic, frightening, depressing, exciting, digusting, beautiful..... etc etc human emotions <p></p><i></i>

[FourthBase]

<!--EZCODE QUOTE START--><blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr>Movie horror is not real horror, basically. Sure you could argue all sorts of stuff on that point but really, any reasonable person can and does seperate the two.<hr></blockquote><!--EZCODE QUOTE END--><br><br>Of course it's not real, it's a simulation. Movie slapstick is not real slapstick, either...But it enters the consciousness as if it's real. Unless maybe you're a movie buff/snob who's uber-aware of the artifice of film?<br><br><!--EZCODE QUOTE START--><blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr>The reason blanket dismissal of horror from a left-wing/alternative/conspiricy/whatever viewpoint offends me is that it represents an extremely stunted, contrary view of the history of cinema... horror has always been the genre in which the most subversive, human, cinematic, beautiful and true content has managed to slip past the inanity/reactionary filters of hollywood, in the same way as other 'trash' genres such as sci-fi literature...<hr></blockquote><!--EZCODE QUOTE END--><br><br>The horror genre has been admirably subversive, yes, but that alone does not mean that violence in horror movies (or again, any genre) isn't damaging to our collective psyche. I'm <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--><em>not now saying nor have I ever said</em><!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> that the horror genre is crap. Some horror movies are exquisite pieces of art and profound political statements. I'm talking about the horror itself. Just the horror, not the quality of the film. <p></p><i></i>

[orz]

yes, but i'm afraid you don't get to say "Oh i appreciate good horror films but I don't like those nasty ones with horror in them" <!--EZCODE EMOTICON START :p --><img src=http://www.ezboard.com/images/emoticons/tongue.gif ALT=":p"><!--EZCODE EMOTICON END--> <p></p><i></i>

[FourthBase]

<!--EZCODE QUOTE START--><blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr>No. <br><br>But I do like watching fictional films of the sort in which such things are likely to happen in a way which i find effects pleasingly; ie is funny, horrifying, tragic, frightening, depressing, exciting, digusting, beautiful..... etc etc human emotions<hr></blockquote><!--EZCODE QUOTE END--><br><br>So <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--><em>part</em><!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> of what you like is watching <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--><em>simulations</em><!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> of people being sliced apart.<br>You can euphemize it all you want, but that's basically what it is. <p></p><i>Edited by: <A HREF=http://p216.ezboard.com/brigorousintuition.showUserPublicProfile?gid=fourthbase>FourthBase</A> at: 8/23/06 7:44 pm<br></i>

[FourthBase]

<!--EZCODE QUOTE START--><blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr>yes, but i'm afraid you don't get to say "Oh i appreciate good horror films but I don't like those nasty ones with horror in them"<hr></blockquote><!--EZCODE QUOTE END--> <br><br><!--EZCODE EMOTICON START :p --><img src=http://www.ezboard.com/images/emoticons/tongue.gif ALT=":p"><!--EZCODE EMOTICON END--> <br><br>But you <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--><em>could</em><!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> shield your eyes during the horror.<br>Like I've always done. <p></p><i></i>

[orz]

<!--EZCODE QUOTE START--><blockquote><strong><em>Quote:</em></strong><hr>So part of what you like is watching simulations of people being sliced apart.<hr></blockquote><!--EZCODE QUOTE END--><br>Yes. Welcome to the human race. <p></p><i></i>

[FourthBase]

I wish I'd never been born sometimes. <!--EZCODE EMOTICON START :lol --><img src=http://www.ezboard.com/images/emoticons/laugh.gif ALT=":lol"><!--EZCODE EMOTICON END--> <p></p><i></i>

[orz]

If i were (even) more sarcastic than I am I'd agree with that! <!--EZCODE EMOTICON START :p --><img src=http://www.ezboard.com/images/emoticons/tongue.gif ALT=":p"><!--EZCODE EMOTICON END--> <p></p><i></i>

[FourthBase]

"I wish you'd never been born, either"...LOL, gotcha.<br><br>A big chunk of what I raised above wasn't addressed.<br>I'm hoping it will be at some point. <p></p><i></i>