Absolute Horror Film Forum

To be honest, I love all films, but the Horror genre in my favourite - I even love the really bad ones, because sometimes there's a pearl hidden away somewhere inside. Take the "Bloody Murder" films - the Friday 13th rip-offs. Out goes Jason (Voorhies) and in comes big bad "Trev". Oooooohhhhhh, he's gonna be scary with a name like that, ain't he. True to form they follow the same slasher style with some BAD scripting. The pearl being, that in one of the two films (and I can't remember which), one poor teenager is being attacked and is driven to the ground where he starts to crawl away from the psycho wielding a Machete. Now crawling, unless you're a newborn, isn't the fastest way to move and gives Trev plenty of time to chop through denim, flesh, muscle and bone. All the while he keeps crawling. It looks so realistic that you wonder ... did they pick up a drunk too pissed to walk and then proceeded to ... NO they couldn't have!

Now to me, that one scene it a million times better than the big budget dismembering movies - take Final Destination 3 where all the deaths, though gory and viciously nasty are SO computer enhanced, if not fully generated and you can tell. But don't get me wrong there's even a pearl in these films - Part One: When Seann William Scott's character gets decapitated; it ain't in the normal way - just under the chin, through the neck - no, he gets sliced diagonally across his face - Dude - Sweet.

Favourite nasty gore scene - Day of the Dead when the Zombies invade the army outpost and pull the Captain apart and feast on his innards.

Now that's enough talk about gore. It does play a part in the horror genre because people, quite rightly, are afraid of loosing blood and body parts - it's horrific - it ain't the be all and end all of the genre.

I loved the old black and white movies, that my dear old mother let me stay up to watch as a kid. Dracula (I know it's colour), Frankenstein, Curse of the Werewolf, The Ghoul and all the other countless monsters and sequels. In most there was very little gore; it was the director, the script, and the acting that carried the tension. The reason why it worked was because they didn't think the audience were imaginationaly challenged. The audience filled in the blanks themselves, and probably better than the director ever could.

Today, I especially love Stephen Kings TV works - "IT", "The Storm of the Century" and "The Shining" - am I the only person that though Kubrick should've been shot for what he did. The wife picked it up on DVD to complete my King collection, though I'd told her a million times, I didn't call it a "King" film - She watched it on her own over two nights (because she kept falling asleep) and now wishes she hadn't bothered.

I'm eagerly awaiting the new "King" film 1408 - though I'll only watch it on DVD now - no more movie going for me, I always get the person that wants to spoil it - best to be at home so I can watch it in comfort without the hassle, or the price of the snacks

Anyway that should give you something to chat about.

I'd like to hear if other people out there agree with my statements or not.

So come on and lets get this party started right.

Come join me - We all float down here.

Pennywise.