by Johnny Gremlin
Greetings, weary traveler! How was your voyage? Please, forgive me. My manners are not what they used to be; I'm not used to receiving visitors, you see. Your long sea voyage and cold, damp ride across the moors must have left you tired and hungry. Come, seat yourself and enjoy the modest repast my servants have prepared. When you have eaten your fill, Carnella will show you to your chambers where you may retire for the evening. The night is almost upon us and there is much left undone.
If the preceding passage sounds familiar to you, you have probably, over the course of your life, seen one or two films belonging to the genre commonly known as "horror". The above is, of course, a purposefully stereotypical representation of the mood, style and content of one of this genre's typical narratives. There are many sub-categories within horror such as slasher films, gothic horror, monster movies, good, old-fashioned haunted house films (which nobody makes anymore, much to my eternal sorrow) and so forth.
Ths purpose of this treatise is to open your eyes to this variety by presenting a varied list of examples. Now you may note that there are ten films mentioned here(five ,actually ...the remainder will appear next issue-Dr. Mality) , which may lead you to believe that this is a proposed "top ten list of the greatest horror films ever" type of deal. However, as I believe most dictated canons to be subjective, self-indulgent prattle, you'd be wrong in that assumption. So here follows a list, with explanations, of some of my favorite horror films, presented in no particular order...or are they? A-HA-HA-HA-HA! AAAH-HA-HAHA-HA!
In 1978, director John Carpenter unleashed the sublime Halloween on an unsuspecting public. Still Carpenter's finest, it is a true auteur's film: directed, co-written and scored all by Carpenter and excellently done. The dialogue is simple but perfect and prototypically character appropriate. The direction is taut with scenes efficiently executed and highlighted with perfect accompaniment by one of the most memorable scores in popular film. That score reminds one, in its responsiveness, of Carl Stalling's scores for Warner Brother's cartoons of the 1940's (yes, it reminds me of "Hair-Raising Hare" in particular-Dr. Mality).
Absolutely chilling, with an almost Hitchcockian use of sound and silence, this film laid the blueprint for the modern slasher film. So remember, when watching this, if it seems cliched, that this is the film that started it all. If this hadn't of been made 21 years ago, it wouldn't seem so cliche! Get it? And as an added bonus, you get to see a young Jamie Lee Curtis at her frumpiest ever (frumpy? FRUMPY? -Dr. Mality) ,before Hollywood remade her in its own image.
From a slasher film to one many mis-categorize as such: Stanley Kubrick's masterful re-interpretation of Stephen King's The Shining. The Shining is a psychological horror film with much more violence imagined in the mind of the viewer than is actually portrayed in the film. This imaginary mayhem is sparked by tales of the former innkeeper of the Overlook Hotel's descent into madness, some surreal and somehow profoundly disturbing images from the inn's evil past and the psychic landscape of the young boy Danny's mind. There's actually very little real bloodshed in the film...or is there?
This is the mystery, the thrill and the most frightening thing about The Shining: the line between reality and fantasy/delusion/dreams is never made clear and even when it is, the line is crossed in a most startling way. Jack Nicholson is brilliant in his role as the new caretaker,as is Shelley Duvall, whose performance walks the perfect tightrope between helplessness and resourcefulness. The hotel with its looming ceilings and maze-like passages takes on a life of its own, thanks to some incredibly well set up shots and a beautifully minimal Bartok-infused score. Never before has "Tuesday" been so frightening. See the film and find out why. (Also find out what those idiots running around at Halloween shouting "Redrum! Redrum!" are referring to, because I doubt they'd know if you asked them).
Next on my list is George Romero's Night of the Living Dead: the original, in black and white, accept no sequels, remakes or colorized crap. Filmed in a very lo-tech cinema verite style with memorable characters spewing unexceptionally written dialogue, this is horror at its most minimal and shocking. Full of memorable quotes (if only for their simple charm and appropriateness to the B-movie feel of the film, as opposed to their sharp wit), the flick's Twilight Zonish ending is the final coup de grace.
Don't rewind before the credits or you'll miss the most disturbing imagery of the entire film and one of the most effective uses of still photos in popular cinema. It lends a cold, distant,almost documentary-like air to the proceedings along with the disturbingly sterile radio-produced audio. As far as the sequels go, okay, Dawn of the Dead does have some nice social commentary and well-shot sequences but don't pass over the "Night" for the "Dawn".
Another film that seems to take place in the "theatre of the real" is Tobe Hooper's The Texas Chainsaw Massacre . Like Night , this film is shot in such a lo-tech fashion, with very little "art"(but, therein, of course, lies the true "art" of the technique),giving it as "filmed as it happened" feel. Like Romero's film, this is enhanced by common, unexceptional dialogue and simple, loosely sketched characters. The action of the film becomes the focus, not the characters' traits and relationships to each other.
Another similarity between this and "Night" is the use of a radio voice-over, used at the beginning of each film to much the same effect: giving them a "re-enactment of actual events" feel. The voice on the radio is the voice of authority telling you that these events bear some importance. (The narrator of "Chainsaw" is actually John Larroquette, the smarmy Dan Fielding on "Night Court"-Dr. Mality). After a barrage of disturbingly realistic scenes of brutality, the film ends with another effective use of sound: the terrifying buzz of a chainsaw. When it stops, it leaves you with a pit in your stomach and a gulp in your dry throat.
A film whose sequel has recently been released 24 years after the original is my next choice. Carrie, as directed by Brian DePalma, is a brilliantly well-done cautionary tale about the just desserts rewarded to those who pick on the school "geek" as well as a blazing depiction of teen angst gone wrong. The story was originally written by Stephen King and amidst its horror trappings features an excellent look at high school life and coming of age.
Sissy Spacek plays a role she seems born to, Piper Laurie is disturbing as her fanatically Old Testament Christian mother, Nancy Allen is the perfect blonde, blue-eyed, gets-everything-her-way, would-be Queen of the Prom (not this Prom, baby!) and John Travolta in his first real part (discounting The Devil's Rain-Dr. Mality) and William Katt are amusing and effective in their respective roles. Check out the mane on young William there. I guess they don't call him "Katt" for nothing...get thee to a barber, jungle boy!
The Screen Directors' Guild requires that all film criticism mentioning Brian DePalma must also mention Alfred Hitchcock somewhere in the same paragraph. Not wanting to incur a hefty fine, I will admit there are a few Hitchcock-worthy shots here; specifically, "mommy's" crucifixion and Carrie and her mom's "Last Supper". "Old Hitch" pops up in the score as well. Most of the incidental music is rather bad, sappy seventies-era stock film score. It works all the better for it by putting a rather sunny glow on the daily lives of the happy-go-lucky high school students, juxtaposing perfectly with the fire (literally!) and brimstone that is to come and its jarring accompaniment of sharp violin hits.
There's the "Hitch". The violin shrieks used during the crucifixion scene were lifted straight from Bernard Herrman's score for Hitchcock's Psycho. (Gee, and I thought sampling started with rap!) The ending gimmick of the film became an industry standard technique for films in this genre for years to come so you may expect it, you jaded bastard you, but skip it not, nonetheless. However, feel free to skip the seeming "rehash with all the best elements taken out" sequel The Rage: Carrie 2, starring one of the fine young thespians of Home Improvement fame. (Not Brian Taylor Thomas or the little one, the other one. You know, the one you always thought was playing himself.) Well, I'm sure you've glanced to the bottom of the page by now thinking,
"Hey! That wasn't ten choices! And where is the runner-up? It can't be over yet! This is just like that sealed but half-empty bag of potato chips I bought yesterday! Why does everything always happen to me?! I hate my life!". Well, maybe you're not quite thinking all of that, but regardless, just as the films described herein depend upon suspense, so, too, must my work here.
This is the state I must leave you in until next issue: clutching, white-knuckled at the covers pulled tightly over your head as you shiver, your body curled into a ball, your face half-submerged in your pillow, your mind racing as you attempt to find a way to cope with the terrors that await you in the night...
To contact this writer, send your email to: gremlin@wormwoodchronicles.com.