666: Six Aspects of Horror

[satyrblade]

So, on Saturday night we watched the Werner Herzog's late-70s remake of the horror classic Nosferatu. As it stands, Herzog's version is considered a classic in its own right. It's taken me decades to get around to seeing it, but now that I have, I realize why that film enjoys its high reputation.

Comments

[andrian6]

"There is no delight equal to dread."

[opalmirror]

Science Fiction often plays on a variety of these horror elements. I've recently re-read HG Wells' War of the Worlds as well as adaptations in Classics Illustrated (graphic novel), the cold-war era film, and Spielberg's modern adaptation. While characterization remains a bit flimsy in the film versions, mostly serving as a vehicle for memorable images and sequences, the horror element is in play. The key character is the witless, implacable, naive, unconcerned populace, and how fear turns populations into stampeding animal herds unconcerned with the pain and suffering they inflict. This is not a flattering view of humanity and civilization, but based on the neglect I see in people's thinking about social needs in our own society, it still seems very relevant. The horror elements are social horror, as well as elemental horror reflected in the unstoppable alien advance and relentless dismantling of the technological faith and security of the modern human animal living in their cities and in their transitory, unexpectedly fragile state,

[satyrblade]

Agreed. Wells had his idealism trampled pretty thoroughly out of him, and his later work holds a view of humanity that's downright dismal.

In most regards, I really liked Spielberg's take on War of the Worlds. That movie gave my then-wife nightmares for weeks, and the eerie "alarm" sound haunts me even now. (Living, as we did then, near a railroad station made it even creepier for us than it might have been otherwise.) Although the "all major characters survive" ending was cheesy, that film provides some of the most frightening moments of Spielberg's career - most of them based on the mindless stupidity of the people, the implacable nature of the invaders, the colossal scope of the destruction, and the knowledge that we don't need aliens to inflict such damage upon ourselves.

[grynner]

Having grown up on horror movies, one of my benchmarks for them is that dread/creep factor. The more creeped out I am leaving the theatre, the better.
That said, there are 2 more variations on Nosferatu that you might enjoy. Not so much because they exceed at establishing that feeling of dread, but because they are, IMHO, spectacular renditions of the original. True to the original with just enough of a twist to make it fresh and new.
"Pages from a Virgin's Diary"- very nice story, same vein as the original silent, black and white with some very specific, very interesting splashes of color on certain things.
"Shadow of the Vampire"- directed by E. Elias Merhige and starring Malkovich and Dafoe. The premise being the shooting of Mernau's "Nosferatu". On of the greatest parts of this movie is that it is VERY difficult to tell where clips from the original end and the new movie begins.

[satyrblade]

Hmmmmm... thanks! I've been meaning to see Shadow for ages, too. As for Pages, I've never heard of it before. Thank you!

[windbourne]

This post pleases me a great deal. Also, I beg your forgiveness while I go watch the entirety of Closet Land on YouTube. It sounds -amazing-, not to mention completely, well, horrifying. Thank you so much for mentioning it.

//this comment mostly to tell you that you are being read and appreciated and I would enjoy further ruminations on this topic.

[satyrblade]

Thanks, Ahna. So... what'd you think of Closet Land?

And yes, there'll be more where this post came from. Originally, I started writing a massive point-by-point breakdown of the different types of horror. Realizing how huge that post would be and how long it would take, I decided to break it down into another post or two.

More to come... and again, thanks. Miss you!

[dreamking00]

One poorly understood aspect of horror is that it ought to carry with it a sense of unsettling, of the uncanny--like you said, it's just not enough to be scary.

I think a lot of it comes out of a loss of control, of free will, whether it's by being forced into disgusting acts and a gruesome death by an alien parasite, or being turned into a flesheating/blood-drinking monster by some curse or disease you don't understand and can't combat.

Some of my favorite horror movies are 28 Days-- and 28 Weeks Later. In the first, it's not the direct peril, it's the mental state that you may have your companions try to kill you, or have to kill them, with only ten seconds to make the judgment call. Later on it shows that violence and aggression and murder are already there, virus or no virus. The second movie injects that into a family dynamic, tearing apart the bonds that tie husband and wife, father and son. Love it.

[satyrblade]

Yep. Gore or boo-scaries alone do not a horror film make!