Well it's Halloween and....I forgot to plan anything for it.....well....crap.And it sucks too cause halloween is one of my favorite days of the year.Just everything about it makes me smile.The horror movie marathons,the horror emphasis and well.....many other horror elements.Can you see why I love the Resident Evil games? I LOVE HORROR! But really what is horror.Is it slasher movies with gore or intense and slow to build ghost movies liek paranormal activity? To me it's moreso the latter but I don't dismiss the former as just mindless viloence either.
There is a certain sense of fun and an odd sense of satisfaction watching the manipulative psychiatrist in Friday the 13th part 7 get weedwhacked in the sternum.It's oddly therapeutic watching someone being a massive jerk only to get slaughtered near the end of it.Yeah it's predictable as hell but at the same time it's satisfying.But not scary.Maybe nightmare on elm street....the first one.....but past that most common slasher flicks are predictable as hell especially the 80's ones with the closest things these days being the saw movies.I've never seen a saw movie but I've seen clips and whatnot and know the general concept and it seems okay in terms of concept and plot but really it Involves alot of slaughter and it's very close to the older movies like friday the 13th sans one important thing.The joy of seeing a cliche douchebag get thrown into a combine.
To me the older movies were about fun and when you take just the gore side of it and not the satisfaction and cheese it just makes it uncomfortable and preechy.It takes the fun out of the idea to me.Slasher movies are to me meant to be cheesy and fun and when you try to give it a more serious mood and try to make the gore an unsettling factor instead of part of the cheese it ceases to be fun and starts being just a guy saying "Look that guy has his guts hanging out.Scary huh?"What I'm trying to say is out of all the styles of horror I just don't get gross out or gore horror on it's own.
Not that gross out humor can't be done well.
Having disturbing images meant to unsettle people can work but it has to be something way out there.Simpel gore can't do it at least not to me.Now John Carpenter's"The thing" is the way to do gross out right.Give a good atomosphere of horror and keep the focus on it while providing unsettling images.The first time I saw the thing I vomited out of sheer intensity of the mutations the thing went through and seeing a human head grow legs and arms and spikes in gory detail is genius.The name of the game is abstract.Now it has limits but the thing is a work of art and I suggest any readers watch it.Not the prequel a few years ago I hear that's crap.So slashers are fun if not scary,and for the most part unless abstract while making sense gore just doesn't jive with me.What about the aforementioned Paranormal activity style?
I call it that because I can't think of a proper name by the way.
I call it that because I can't think of a proper name by the way.
This style focusing on reality and alot of them using the "Found footage style" made popular from the blair witch project can either be genius like blair witch,and paranormal activity one( and from what I hear 2 and 3 while four seems pretty crap) or it can be massive failure like the movie quarantine(Which by the way if you haven't seen the spoony one's vlog review of that go watch it now it's hilarious).It's very hit or miss to say the least.The main issue with them being a focus on reality and if you aren't careful you get alot of very stupid characters and bad plot decisions.Not to mention if it is found footage things can easily go very awry with how it's found and edited or why it's being shot in the first place.Alot of people found mica in the first paranormal activity really obnoxious and unrealistic because he wouldn't stop filming to the point of pissing his wife right the hell off.I personally have no real issue since I think it's addressed well myself but it can be a problem.
But when PA(paranormal activity for short) style horror is good it's amazing.Look up a scene from The first PA involving a ouiji board and it's a genius scene.It has both the actual horror and pretty good horror but I gotta say when I first saw the end part of it I was giddy.It was such a cool horror moment and so clever it's one of if not my favorite moments in horror.Seriously look it up on youtube.
But really that's all I can think of for this little rant.It's just something I thought of for halloween since I've been distracted lately.Horror is capable of great good and great fail in the right or wrong hands.Like I said I personally reccomend Paranormal activity 1 or The original john carpenters thing.or for the more slasher fan the nightmare on elm street movies or my favorite in the Friday the 13th series part 7.(It has been a while so I may need to rewatch for a clearer opinion) that being said have a happy halloween everyone and expect a review of borderlands 2....soonish
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