I haven’t seen “The Cave.” And I’m not going to see it.
I haven’t seen “The Skeleton Key,” and I absolutely won’t be going to see “The Exorcism of Emily Rose.”
This might lead to the idea that I don’t like horror movies, but nothing could be further from the truth. I am a devoted and lifelong fan of horror movies. I love them dearly and collect them obsessively — and sometimes compulsively. It is for that reason I am so disgusted by the garbage being slung into movie theaters this summer.
The modern psychological style of horror film hasn’t existed all that long. It was established in the latter half of the 20th century as the categorization for a growing number of movies which caused ... well ... horror. Prior to the 1960s, horror films revolved around science-fiction and gothic themes, and many weren’t seen outside of art-house shows.
Then along came Roman Polanski — straight out of the Satanist art-house subculture — with “Rosemary’s Baby.” By that time, frightening movies and television shows had taken hold in America, but the cementing of horror as a staple in popular culture came with the early-1970s movie, “The Exorcist.”
So what happened? Simple. Every radical or original idea has a life cycle of its own, once it hits the floor of popular culture. It begins as a strange and free-form collection of concepts, usually among a loose-knit group of people. Sometimes, it gains notoriety and popularity, and it touches on a much larger section of the population. As useful as this can be for artists working in that area — John Carpenter in horror movies, for instance — sooner or later, all of the original or shocking elements of the idea are sucked dry. This has happened with beatniks, hippie culture, tattoos, piercings, motorcycles, shock rock, goth culture, punk music and digital art.
Hollywood studios know they can foist any kind of shlock on us when it comes to horror. They know they can make the worst, most boring, formulaic crap, and we’ll suck it down and ask for more. Ninety-nine out of the last 100 horror movies to hit theatres seemed like re-tellings of the same story, and even the “suspenseful” movies — a bit like horror movies, but with a chorus and a somber soundtrack — have been disappointing.
People who write unmitigated garbage like “Anacondas” or “House of Wax” are flourishing, and anyone with an original or controversial idea is shot down. Why? Simple. No need to take the risk. In the eyes of Hollywood producers, there’s simply no point. Why risk losing money on something that may not work when you can make the same damn thing over and over again to rake in the cash? Horror movies do not make enough money to be worth it.
What can we, the devotees of good horror, do about this rape of the genre? Don’t go.
Don’t see the latest retelling of the story about the unseen killer in the house. It might not inspire Hollywood to make better movies, but it will show the people with the money that we can’t be taken in by sterile, condescending junk. Maybe in time, it will pave the way for the next leap forward in the genre. We can only hope.
There are, however, some scary movies worth seeing: “The Exorcist,” “John Carpenter’s The Thing,” “The Changeling,” “Night of the Demon” (the 1950s version), “Rosemary’s Baby,” “The Haunting of Hill House,” “Fallen” and “Alien.”
Write to Jonathan at
tenement_cellar@msn.com
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