The Toxic Avenger, heavy on weird |
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Hey there. I'm James. You are reading my first column on Matchflick ever! Lucky you eh? To be a part of history maybe. Probably not, but who knows. Well, let me tell you a bit about what you'll be reading every two weeks or so. My focus is going to be on the horror genre and all of its wondrous and fantastical traits and elements. Plus all the gore you can eat. I'll try to speak on everything the genre has to offer including its history, the big names, the great films and all the stuff in between the cracks. I'll delve into its sister genre, Sci-Fi, too from time to time. Hopefully it'll be a cool ride. Well, anyway, let's begin.
The horror movie has really one basic rule. It should be weird. Notice I did not say scary, or even creepy. Horror has progressed to a point where the element of making the audience afraid isn't a necessity, most likely because almost all horror films that are created will be frightening anyway and all of the other genres produce scary movies on their own. For example, the TOXIC AVENGER series of films could hardly be called horror in terms of stuff that makes the audience want to hide under their bed. The movies are comedic and even romantic. However, since it's main a character is a nerd that transforms into a broom-wielding, toxic waste-oozing hero, it's a horror movie. See? Because it's weird. Now, not all weird movies are horror movies. But every movie that calls itself horror should be. Or else, who cares?
Now on to the scary horror movies. They're everywhere - mostly straight to video too. The reason why so many come out is because this genre allows a person to virtually think of any scenario and warp it to whatever ghastly situation they can come up with. The CHILDS PLAY series is a prime example of this. A doll that becomes possessed by a serial killer's spirit, and, you guessed it, kills people. A ludicrous and fantastic idea at the same time. Also, unlike the "mainstream" genres, you don't necessarily have to put a lot of thought into the making of the movies. You don't need emotional development in the characters, or a heart-wrenching score, or even good dialogue. Actually, after watching 
Choke on 'em! |
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enough horror, you begin to suspect that bad writing is encouraged.
A lot of horror has all of the elements of a great film though; don't think all of it is trash now. It's just that sometimes they're not the main focus of the film. So what you do is take what you don't have in...well, the basic of a movie, and you make up for it with gore, blood and other such stuff. It's a cop-out only in the general filmmaking sense. If gore is done right, it can actually make a horror film better. There is scene in one of my favorite horror flicks, DAY OF THE DEAD, where a character is pulled apart into two halves by zombies. While this is being done, he screams, "Choke on 'em!" And it's awesome.
Now, there are many sub-genres to horror, and it would be very smart of you to notice them before deciding to watch a specific film. What you rent or buy might turn out to be something you did not want to watch at all. Even we horror movie enthusiasts have standards (not really). You have your basic monster movies, where the focus is on the zombies, the vampires, the werewolves, the creatures that were created by insert-reason-here, etc. Then you have your serial killer flicks (which can also be known as "Psychological thrillers", but those don't always have a serial killer in them) like PSYCHO, SEVEN, AMERICAN PSYCHO and others. You also have a sub-sub-genre branching off from that which has horror movies based off of real serial killers like such as MONSTER (based on the life of Aileen Wuornos), SILENCE OF THE LAMBS (Ed Gein) and many films where the title is the killer's name. You also have your slasher flicks, your sci-fi/horror crossover films, your mad scientist movies, and a thousand others.
Well, I think that's all I have for you right now. I kinda shoved the genre down your throat in an air-tight piece of Tupperware today, not letting you savor its aroma and filth. I'm going to be much more specific in later columns, speaking on many different topics within the genre which will hopefully allow you to gain some insight into it. Maybe some of you will even watch some horror because of me. That'd be pretty rad. I hope you had a good time. Toodles everyone.
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| The Lair of the Mad |
Every other Tuesday
'The Lair' discusses the many aspects and qualities of the horror genre. From actors, to make-up, to music, James Shafie explores everything the "cult" genre spews up.
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| James Shafie |
James Shafie is an avid watcher of movies of all sorts, but the horror genre is closest to his heart. He loves to read and is addicted to music, mostly metal and it’s thousands of sub-genres. He was once fired by Blockbuster, which we see as a strong character trait.
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If you have a comment, question, or suggestion, you can send a message to James Shafie by clicking here.
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