Christopher SoallHorror Villains: New, but Improved?
November 5th 2007 04:33
It’s possible that what follows officially identifies me as a member of my age-group. I am no longer a teenager and I acknowledge that that may affect my understanding of movies. Horror is typically a teenage genre: the stars are almost always teen stars and the characters that get stalked and slashed are usually high school kids.
Film-makers have said that what strikes fear into the audience of horror is the idea of untimely death, and because teenagers live in a state of self-believed invincibility, this scares them the most. Adults are people who have accepted their vulnerability and don’t see death in the same way as younger people.
Knowing all this – and the fact that I may be too old to appreciate a good horror film – I ask:
I find horror films today to be more horrible but more generic. The envelope has been pushed and pushed and the competition rages on to see who can make the most gory, in-your-face-disgusting horror film. But are the villains any good? Because they seem to lack the charisma of Freddy Krueger and the mystery of Jason (having said that, Freddy Krueger was my boogeyman when I was young and childhood nightmares are pretty hard to live up to).
I suppose genres – and films in general – develop as time goes by, to keep up with the audience (otherwise they’d age and be uncool, like me
), and as horror villains became more comedic, seductive and charismatic in the 1980’s, they have now become more realistic, more violent and less magical. Maybe it also has to do with the development of our world (or the more heinous nature of our world) and what really scares is no longer the unknown boogeyman, but the real person capable of doing these things in the harsh light of day. I just can’t see the mystique and menace of Jigsaw even comparing to the legend of Freddy Krueger.
Am I wrong? Are gore films a totally different breed now?
I know I’m old-fashioned, but perhaps, now, I’m just old.
Let me know what you think.
Film-makers have said that what strikes fear into the audience of horror is the idea of untimely death, and because teenagers live in a state of self-believed invincibility, this scares them the most. Adults are people who have accepted their vulnerability and don’t see death in the same way as younger people.
Knowing all this – and the fact that I may be too old to appreciate a good horror film – I ask:
“Are horror villains as good as they used to be?”
I find horror films today to be more horrible but more generic. The envelope has been pushed and pushed and the competition rages on to see who can make the most gory, in-your-face-disgusting horror film. But are the villains any good? Because they seem to lack the charisma of Freddy Krueger and the mystery of Jason (having said that, Freddy Krueger was my boogeyman when I was young and childhood nightmares are pretty hard to live up to).
I suppose genres – and films in general – develop as time goes by, to keep up with the audience (otherwise they’d age and be uncool, like me
), and as horror villains became more comedic, seductive and charismatic in the 1980’s, they have now become more realistic, more violent and less magical. Maybe it also has to do with the development of our world (or the more heinous nature of our world) and what really scares is no longer the unknown boogeyman, but the real person capable of doing these things in the harsh light of day. I just can’t see the mystique and menace of Jigsaw even comparing to the legend of Freddy Krueger. Am I wrong? Are gore films a totally different breed now?
I know I’m old-fashioned, but perhaps, now, I’m just old.
Let me know what you think.
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Comment by Harry
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Comment by LauraH
I do think that in films, the real people villains aren't as memorable or haunting as the classic, pseudo-mystical villains.
Maybe it's because I haven't seen the new horror films as many times as the old ones, but all the new villains kind of amalgamate into one in my mind: they seem kinda generic to me.
But, as I've stated, I'm getting old.