Anthony J. Merced

With the recent release of Cloverfield, I felt it was the right time to talk a bit about the horror film and its importance in our society. Many cinema goers would agree that the horror film has lost its way over the past decade. However, there is a more disturbing trend that has become very apparent. It is the idea the we no longer have horror icons in which to attach ourselves too. JJ Abrams made this abundantly clear when he wanted to provide a “Godzilla” for Americans with the Cloverfield monster. While he helped to create a legitimately mean looking creature for the screen, there is a denial of what has already been created before and the lust for something which is not ours.

Godzilla is a Japanese creation. It is inherently Japanese and cannot be removed from that environment with any kind of success. The 1998 film where a gofer looking lizard crawls around New York City subways is a good example of this. Godzilla is the embodiment of atomic war to the Japanese people. By rampaging through the streets, viewers are able to release their pent up fear and anger over a point in time where true terror took place. Godzilla is a product of a post World War Japan and belongs there. We as American film goers can never fully understand the true meaning behind such a character when it is placed in our environment. While we experienced 9/11 as the pinnacle of destruction and terror in our time, and Cloverfield does have very specific references to that event, the monster does not and cannot embody the same fear that was experienced through Godzilla. This is not a bash on the film. I personally did not like Cloverfield but I am not instructing anyone else to like or dislike it. The movie failed to provide substance for a rampaging figure. Instead what it did do was make us see how ridiculous we might look under circumstances outside of our small social sphere. It was more of an embarrassment than and exercise in terror.

Our monster is one that is inherently American. King Kong is the microcosm of American history. It is a representation of slavery, oppression, civil and uncivil disobedience, and the success or failure of the “American Dream.” The black ape is taken from his homeland, forcefully chained, presented to white (American) society, and is eventually killed for its continuous disobedience. That is our monster, these are our demons. While it seems that we wish to fully understand destruction from an outside aggressors point of view, it is nearly impossible to do for American audiences without a sense of camp or unbelievability. Foreign tanks have never rolled down the streets of Times Square, bombs have never leveled Harlem, and war has never touched the modern United States. The idea of racism, an uneven class structure, and frustration with capturing what we believe the American Dream might be, is a very understandable situation.

For some reason, leaving business out of this, many horror productions are remakes of foreign films or an American swing on an outside idea. Instead of attempting to recreate new franchises, we should embrace the ideas that we have. Look back to the great works of filmmakers such as Tod Browning for where to go in the future. Leave outside terror to those who can interpret it best. The forced assimilation in films such as, Shutter, The Grudge, and The Ring are not only forced but creating holes in an already insecure genre.

The more I watch current horror films the more I notice the past slink away in a false insecurity. There needs to be more confidence in the future of home grown horror films and less of a dependence on what is being done on the other side of the world. They are great films as they are but not meant for reproduction here.

A small list of classic American made horror films are:

Freaks
Dracula
Dracula’s Daughter
Frankenstein
Bride of Frankenstein
The Wolfman
The Thing From Another World
Halloween
The Exorcist
King Kong (except for Peter Jackson’s)
A Nightmare on Elm Street
Friday the 13th
Last House on the Left
The Shining

This is just a few and I’m sure others will have a ton more.

This blog has been relatively useless to me since I created it. That’s very unfortunate considering I really should let out all of my thoughts in some form that doesn’t consist of ranting about them to Jen for several hours. So I’ve decided to share many of my philosophies on film and life through this blog, which will hopefully keep me updating it more regularly:

I heard a very interesting fact about Woody Allen today that triggered a whole inner debate within my mind. He was quoted as saying that he doesn’t believe in the Special Features on dvds. This is why when you opened your 40 dollar deluxe edition of Manhattan on dvd, all you got was a few trailers and an interview with Diane Keaton a hundred years after the movie was made. I began to think of why he would say such a thing. It didn’t dawn on me until I went to one of my usual movie news sites for my usual fill of useless Hollywood information. LORD KNOWS I NEED TO KEEP UPDATED ON THE GI JOE MOVIE! Suddenly it hit me like a bolt of lighting. Literally! My hair stood on end with a realization that of a concept that may transcend and rip the very fabric of the internet. I’ll put it in a different context to better explain it.

If you ever get a chance to meet a magician you’ll notice two things about them. One is that they all have a different set of traits that they play up before a crowd, and two is that they will never reveal the secrets of their trade. To ask them is itself an insult since you definitely will not get an answer. Filmmakers, at one time, were modern age magicians. They create elaborate pictures that only the imagination could spawn before the invention of celluloid. These days, the wall between the audience and the production has become quite blurry. Because of this, critics have become harsh, fans have become cynical, and the average movie goer now believes they have a firm understanding of everything that goes into making a film. The truth is they don’t. At times most filmmakers don’t even know what makes a good film or not. It’s 99 percent hard work and 10 percent luck that makes even the best script come to life on a screen.

The comparison between the filmmaker and the magician is a powerful one. If you know how the magic trick is done, will you be shocked or surprised the next time you see it? If you knew how much of an asshole Marlon Brando was on the set of the Godfather or Apocalypse Now would you still have appreciated the movies for what they were? These are fundamental questions that film critics and fans have to ask themselves. Access is at an unprecedented high to screener copies or unfinished cuts to films. News sites give access to what is going on behind the scenes that affect the audience perception of not only the production but the actors or director. Stanley Kubrick was well known for pushing actors to their mental limits. He nearly gave Shelly Duvall a heart attack making The Shining. Had we known this while the movie was being made, would we still look at it as the great horror classic that it is or would we have a bitter taste watching it?

I personally feel that there is too much of an emphasis on what’s going on behind the camera instead of what we are getting in front of it. I don’t want to look at a screen and see Robert DeNiro or Brad Pitt. I want to see Jake Lemotta or Tyler Durden. Characters need to take precedent over reality. Film only exists because of our own suspension of disbelief. I’m not saying we can’t hate movies for bad acting or horrible directing. Our basic love for film should be focused on what is in front of us and not what is behind the camera. Trust me, those things are a lot more boring than you may think. The glitz and glamor of film making disappears underneath 5am shoot and endless pre production. The amazement is not in how it is made but in the product you see before you… besides, magicians killed the disappearing birds… I saw The Prestige!