BIGLENS
THE KENT FILM MAGAZINE | VOLUME 8, ISSUE 1 | Autumn 2011
FRIGHT FILMS AND MONSTROUS MOVIES
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I’M NOT PRETENTIOUS, HONEST
LUKE ‘BUTCHER’ BRAWLEY I LOVE SCIENCE FICTION, but I hate 2001: A Space Odyssey. I know, I know, what am I talking about right? The amount of stick I’ve had to take whenever I reveal this bombshell still surprises me. Science Fiction is, by far, my favourite movie genre, yet Stanley Kubrick’s epic still has yet to keep me awake since my first viewing. I admit there are some great moments (‘Open the pod bay doors HAL’), yet most of the film did not leave me entertained, quite the opposite, it left me with a headache… a pounding headache (quick reference to the colourful star gate part at the end? I felt like I was being punched in the side of the head whilst staring at the sun). Aside from what you’re all thinking, I’m not trying to be pretentious and just having a rant, there is a point to this. My name is Luke Brawley
and I am one of the new editors of BIGLENS magazine. My point is, all of you who want to write for the magazine this year, you don’t have to pretend to like certain films to write for us, we will not disown you. If you want to attack Star Wars you can. If you want to pull apart The Godfather go for it. If you can make a brilliant article out of your viewpoint then I personally cannot wait to see it. That’s what makes a great piece of work, going against current thought, but being able to convince the readership otherwise. So all in all, DON’T HOLD BACK! Let your imagination flow and see what pours out. I also quickly would like to thank Tom Brown, Hannah Charles and other previous editors of BIGLENS for their hard work on the magazine and allowing us, the next generation (Star Trek joke not intended), to take on the task this year.
SMALLPRINT Editor: Mike Chapman Editor: Luke Brawley Editor: Olivia Marsh Art Editor: Carys Ramsey If you have a passion for film and would like to contribute to BIGLENS, please email ldb25@kent.ac.uk or cr404@kent.ac.uk or visit www.kentfilm.net.
HOSTEL | RAW NERVE
COVER: RINGU | OMEGA PROJECT
EDITORIAL
BIGLENS is produced with the support of Kent Film, a society of the University of Kent Students’ Union. All information is provided in good faith. Articles are not necessarily the opinions of the editors of BIGLENS, of the Kent Film Society or of Kent Union. Everything that is already copyrighted, is theirs. Everything not, is the intellectual property of the individual writer, so no thieving.
Check out the Kent Film Society hub at www.kentfilm.net for society news, BIGLENS movie reviews and all that good stuff. 3
ASK ANY FAN for their opinion on the golden age of splatter horror and they will undoubtedly point you to the 1980s. From Ruggero Deodato's controversial Cannibal Holocaust to Sam Raimi's legendary Evil Dead, the 80s were the decade that defined a genre, and brought with it enough straight-to-VHS slasher flicks to satisfy even the most voracious gore-hound. Unfortunately for those fans with a taste for the bloody, the 80s were also the decade that gave birth to the Video Recordings Act of 1984; legislation by the British Board of Film Censorship (BBFC) which gave the new wave of disturbed celluloid an unwelcome shot of sedative. These new powers to censor and even ban video releases in the UK resulted in the infamous 'Video Nasties' list: 39 films the BBFC successfully prosecuted on the grounds that they could 'deprave and corrupt' the delicate inhabitants of our fair isle. Since then, the BBFC has toned down on the ultra-conservative censoring, which seems counterintuitive considering the much greater realism in modern splatter films. Since the late 70s the genre has constantly been evolving, and consistently causing new scandals. In the late 80s, for example, Hideshi Hino's Guinea Pig films made headlines when Charlie Sheen came across a copy of the fake snuff film Flower of Flesh and Blood, and contacted the FBI after mistaking the film’s contents for a real murder. Hino's Guinea Pig films are an early example of a sub-genre of splatter that critics now call 'torture porn'. Films like Eli Roth's Hostel were instrumental in bringing this controversial genre into the mainstream in the early 00s, with their graphic portrayals of sadistic violence. Not just a short-lived trend, the demand for this sub-genre has surprisingly increased in our
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FLOWER OF FLESH AND BLOOD | SAI ENTERTERPRISE
THE SUBLIME GROTESQUE
‘Charlie came a copy of snuff fi contacted mistakin real m
JOE ‘RIPPER’ ROLLINS
GROTESQUE | TORNADO FILM
e Sheen across a the fake film and d the FBI, ng it for a murder’
current decade, which goes some way to explaining the resurgence of the BBFC in recent headlines. A prime example of this sadistic content can be found in Koji Shiraishi's now infamous Grotesque, which made headlines in 2009 when the BBFC refused to classify it, banning its distribution in the UK. This is not, thankfully, a common occurrence and in the last few decades the amount of films banned by the BBFC can be counted on two hands. So what has changed since the 'Video Nasties' list? Undoubtedly the greatest difference between the era of Evil Dead and of Grotesque is the presence of the internet, a technology that has effectively rendered the BBFC impotent. A ban for a film no longer means losing an audience; instead any film the BBFC takes issue with instantly gains notoriety. Directors recognise this; when told of his film's banning, Shiraishi responded that he was 'delighted and flattered'. Unfortunately, while banning a film increases its appeal it also limits its availability, which causes more fans to turn towards piracy sites as the only means of acquiring a copy. While supporters of censorship may claim to be protecting the public, its detractors note that far more prominent is its detrimental effect on the film industry. All of which leads to the question: is censorship necessary? When considering this question I'm apt to agree with Shiraishi himself, who responded to criticism of Grotesque by defending its moral implications. “I didn’t make a movie telling people to go out and commit murder,” he says. “If somebody decides to kill another person, it is their responsibility.” Regardless of the BBFC's influence, the splatter genre has proved enduring and exciting, and for us fans the greatest attraction is anticipating where directors like Shiraishi will take us next.
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HEAVENS NO!
IS IT BETTER TO KN
LAUREN ‘TERRIFYING’ TILDSLEY MANY CLASSIC HORROR films involve rumours of a beast attacking villages or causing shipwrecks and the plot unfolds with this horror remaining ominously unseen. Alternatively certain movies choose to reveal the beast from the very beginning so you are aware of the terror that is to come. But which is more effective?
THE EXORCIST |
Arguably the most symbolically poignant beast to comment on is the shark in Jaws. This fearsome fellow remains lurking beneath the water, occasionally dragging someone below with the accompaniment of some atmospheric and iconic music. That is until he finally emerges from the water surrounded by froth and blood. To a modern audience, the reveal of the shark is somewhat less than awe inspiring (given the rapid evolution of special effects) and certainly doesn’t inspire the terror Spielberg had intended. This said, many films still use this delayed reveal technique. Paranormal Activity is one such film which employs this tactic and you’re left wondering just what exactly dragged the woman down the stairs and why it took such a strong dislike to the dog in Paranormal Activity 2. The problem of the reveal still remains though; do you show the threat, and risk turning the film into a farce as in Insidious where the demon appears to resemble Darth Maul or leave it mysteriously unseen as in Paranormal Activity where all you’re left with for comfort is static. Alternatively, you can present the monster from the onset, as in Dracula, where you witness his descent into evil as he renounces God and rises from the grave. What is most effective here is the fact that the audience are aware of the danger the individual is in, while the protagonist remains perilously oblivious. The fear stems from our empathy toward the individual at risk (even if it is Keanu Reeves), because we are aware that some sort of horror is going to befall them (or their beloved fiancée Mina). Some savvy films have combined the explicit with the implicit, cultivating all possibilities to achieve the ultimate fear factor. Jurassic Park immediately presents you with dinosaurs, so you are aware of the potential danger, but then the tyrannosaurus seemingly disappears (how you lose a tyrannosaurus is beyond me…) The threat is now unseen as the killer rustles menacingly through the bushes before it eventually strikes - becoming seen again, demonstrating a fusion of both techniques. Ultimately the choice falls upon the scriptwriter and director as to whether they want to reveal or disguise the threat. Certain plots lend themselves to the delayed reveal, as a serial killer would not be very effective if they were running around in broad day light openly asking for the police to spot them. For me it’s all about the tension, the build up of the unknown, the camera lingering on the innocuously closed door whilst your mind races as to what it could possibly conceal. And what’s scarier than the imagination? PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 3 6
NOW YOUR ENEMY?
HELL YES!
TASH ‘MALIGNANT’ MWANSA
| WARNER BROS
FOR DECADES, axe-wielding maniacs and gruesome ghouls have been giving us the willies from the comfort of our own living rooms. Cinema has offered a whole archive full of villains ranging from the unfathomable (e.g Jason Voorhees) to the unexplainable (e.g the demon from The Exorcist). But what creeps us out more: the blood thirsty madman or the vengeance seeking ghost? Yes, this is the ultimate battle of the baddies – I would lock your doors if I were you, this could get messy. Hands up who couldn’t sleep for a week after watching Paranormal Activity? And tell the truth, who actually wet the bed? Shameful. But then again who wouldn’t get freaked out over the thought of a malevolent demon tormenting you relentlessly at night? Although everyone walks away from a horror flick reassuring themselves that it was all a movie and that none of it was real, there is always an element of what if? And let’s face it once the undead are after you, forgive the pun but you don’t have a chance in hell of winning. Ultimately though, what unsettles us as an audience is the mystery of the unknown. Anything that goes beyond human knowledge and understanding is already uncomfortable territory, so when you throw in circumstances that endanger the human life we become even more scared than if it were just your average killer. We can use psychology and common sense to explain why normal human beings turn into axe-wielding maniacs, but we are certain of nothing when it comes to life after death, and the fact that we can’t explain or put a stop to this phenomena terrifies us. We must not, however, underestimate the power of the vengeance seeking psycho. Let’s say the misfortune of being haunted does fall upon you, your life may not necessarily be at risk. If we take a look at the back catalogue of horror movies concerning the supernatural, the main motive of our phantom terrorists is torture and maybe a bit of possession here and there but psychopaths won’t stop until you are dead. Even when the undead kill their victims, a lot of the time they tend not to be so inventive – for example in The Exorcist the priest becomes possessed and throws himself out of a window, quick and pretty unimaginative. Whereas psychos do the job in the most gruesome way possible, they don’t just plunge a knife through your heart, they gouge it out and then pin it to the notice board for your loved ones to see when they come home. Sure with a spirit you’ll get a few doors opening and closing now and then, at worst you may find yourself being abruptly dragged out of bed but look on the bright side – at least it saves you buying an alarm clock. Both psychopaths and phantoms are effective because they instill a sense of paranoia in the audience. When the credits have rolled and we’re left alone in the dark we are forced to ponder: Am I really safe in my own home? We could scoff at the idea of demon possession and exorcisms since we can all agree that whereas life beyond death is debatable – psychos do exist. People go crazy all the time and people seek vengeance so we know that slasher movies can become a reality. It’s always easier to empathise over something that could, in reality, happen. So close your windows, lock your doors, hide behind a cushion and keep safe this Halloween. | PARAMOUNT PICTURES 77
SO, EVERYONE SHOULD have seen Drive by now? I mean, if you haven’t seen it, go find a cinema still showing it. I’ll wait... That film is utterly brilliant because of the massive contrasts. We all love those scenes of Ryan Gosling staring lovingly into the eyes of Carey Mulligan, of Gosling driving around with that one song going in the background, with the LA skyline and the street lights slowly going by in a way that resembles Michel Mann’s best work Collateral. Oh, and that scene where Gosling stabs the guy with the pipe? Or in the elevator where he does a merry jig on that dude’s head? Both scenes add value to the movie; the visceral violence is obviously integral to the feel of the film. It is not gratuitous. Violence for the sake of shocking people can be seen in the Saw movies (by the way, if you attend any Saw movie after the second one, you are on the balance of probability in my medical opinion a sociopath and need to be kept away from society). They’re just plain awful. Violence on screen should be an art form, but as with any art form there are degrees of appreciation for the mediums an artist decides to work with; Da Vinci worked with oil paints, Tracey Emin worked with shagging people and making a mess. To create a realistic car crash with CGI you need to film two scenes, one of a car going past, the other of the actor going into the road and then throwing himself down as if hit by a large moving object, in post production splice the two together and maybe add in a little blood and gore with photoshoppery. Bang, car crashing. To create a realistic car crash using puppetry and special FX, you need to construct a realistic human puppet, add in the necessary skeletal composition so your body doesn’t just ragdoll on impact, then film or edit the shot in a way that shows that the actor is getting hit by a car. It may make sense financially to use CGI, but I’d rather see the bonnet of the car crumple realistically as the weight of a body is driven into it any day of the week. Back in the good old days when movies were scary, a film would save its monster as the coup de grâce because the makeup and special FX work required to create it would be so expensive that it made sense to only use it in limited scenes; take Jaws for example, Spielberg had a robot shark built, but it kept breaking down in the sea so often that they had to rewrite the script so the shark would make minimal ap8
I AIN’T AFRAID OF NO CGI GHOST
SAM ‘FARAWR’ FARRAR
ALIENS | 20TH CENTURY FOX
pearances; but it led to one of the most tension building horrors of all time. Makeup mastery is another aspect of CGI that is encroaching upon the old masters. Way back when, you knew a film would be nice and ghastly if Tom Savini was attached to it as a makeup ar-
tiste: he created the Dawn of the Dead zombies we know and love, and was even responsible for Freddy of Friday the 13th’s fame. Remember Cloverfield? Remember that Reeves refused to reveal any information about his monster? Do you remember that moment where we finally get to see what’s been destroying New York City for the last hour of screen time? After all those sexy scenes when people’s chests are bursting due to alien bites. Do you remember the feeling of let down? I do. To create a monster, it must be a physical thing. Two little anecdotes: In the first Alien film; that scene where they’re all crowded around the table as that guy gets ready to blow for the first ever chest buster? Yeah, Ridley Scott didn’t tell any of the cast what exactly was going to happen, all the script said was that the alien ‘emerges’. You just can’t fake that screaming. You know that scene in The Dark Knight where Batman flips that truck? Want to know how it was done? Christopher Nolan flipped a truck. He. Flipped. A. God. Damn. Truck. That takes decent camera work, timing, and more equipment than a utility belt can handle. This is what the movie world needs more of, people who are sticking to the fundamentals, who build a movie one scene at a time instead of rushing through with the knowledge that every little mistake can be fixed in post production. I will admit that it is fantastic when CGI and puppetry work together. In Jurassic Park, CGI was used to create the dinosaurs, but for the scenes when anything really physical happens (like a T-rex trying to chow down on you) then you need a gigantic working robot dinosaur head to scare the hell out of small children and Sam Neill. To wrap up; CGI is a lot like icing on the cake, it can be used to make the cake look extra nice, it can be used to hide a few mistakes, but for goodness sake, don’t make your entire cake out of icing sugar or it’ll make people throw up. This Halloween, it’s a good idea to stay in an watch some of the all time classics, watch a bit of Sam Raimi, or maybe a couple of creature features. Have costume parties where you try to outdo each other by simple disgusting makeup tricks (I’m going as zipface this year). If I see anyone about the town in a playboy bunny costume, I’ve got a batch of Savini fake blood brewing and I will give them the full Carrie experience. 9
THE WICKED AND THE CROOKED:
ROB ZOMBIE VADIM ‘MURDER’ MILEVSKIY "HELL DOESN’T WANT THEM. Hell doesn't need them. Hell doesn't love them. This world rejects them." – The following phrase is neither a quote from a film nor is it a slogan that goes with one. These words are the lyrics from a song written specifically for a film, or should it be said – films, created by Rob Zombie. This "persona-non-grata" is not just a filmmaker but a rock musician, writer, director, and voice actor. These are just the surface of the ocean of interests that dwell in the mind of Robert B. Cummings, better known today as Rob Zombie. This article has longed to be written, it should have started with the question: "What is the definition of the bad, if you take away the good?" We all doubt the existence of someone capable of answering this question, because once the definition of "bad" is out of the formula, its antonym becomes indefinable. Robert Zombie is a man who is not afraid to publicly show what it is that lurks in the deepest parts of a filthy mind and heart. He never has, since he first stepped onto the stage as a hillbilly rock musician. It was clear that he was here to show us something radically different without thinking about the consequences. Coming around to unleash the thunderous, violent energy that has been accumulating in the deepest parts of his soul for a very long time now he comes bearing a message – "there is nothing wrong with having creepy, renaissance interests, and liking the wicked and the scary". Whether through his full length horror features, or his nonsensical yet creative lyrics R. Zombie brings a new taste to the table, releasing it upon his viewers and listeners. Some say Rob’s creations, along with, say, Quentin Tarantino’s and Robert Rodriguez’s films, relate to the same genre – that is most certainly wrong. Watching these in a senseless and thoughtless state of mind deceives you, leading to a conclusion of false opinions and wrong answers. Surely, they all seem to be working in the same way with similar scripts, but looking closer, one can spot
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a clearly defined line, which differentiates between Hostel [2005] and House of 1000 Corpses [2003] or The Devil's Rejects [2005]. Robert’s films are loved for the honest and precautionless-ly made raunchy, bloody scenes. It has to be noted that the very original, strange characters (which find their beginnings in the right "creative" hemisphere of Robert’s brain) are one of his artistic signatures. Captain Spaulding and Otis Driftwood made Robert’s films; they are truly the most impure, sanitylacking villains that ever visited the screens.
HOUS
HALLOWEEN | DIMENSION FILMS
Yet, the most captivating fact is that the director portrays their sick family, along with the Mother Firefly (see author’s Trash Talk, BigLens, summer ‘10) and a few others, as a rather civil and friendly one, where the members have a bit of an unusual hobby. The conclusion of the sequel, when the family of psychopaths is pitilessly raided to death by the police, almost portrays the law servants as the cruel characters, making us feel close to sorry for the former. The dark humour that is The Haunted World of El Superbeasto [2009], Rob’s cartoon, consists of a rather simple story-line with a number of silly characters and combined in itself a huge number of original tongue-in-cheek scenes, along with the sequential references to his earlier and even future works. Years 2007 and 2009 witnessed the rebirth of one of the classics of horror: Halloween [2007] and Halloween II [2009]. Except this time the main characters went through a complete overhaul. Robert’s other half, Sheri M. Zombie, who always plays a supporting character in his films and whose voice features in his music, portrayed Michael Myers mother, Deborah. Unlike the originals, where Michael’s tendencies towards murders are only told as a story with occasional scenes from his life in mental institutions, in R. Zombie’s turn, the beginning focuses on his childhood – his relationship with his loving mother, his psychiatrist, and the animals. The visions he keeps having of Deborah, and a side-story of a selfish doctor his psychiatrist in the past, who publishes the story of his patient’s illness, thus becoming rich and famous. This brings in a completely fresh new look at the kind of people that surrounded the antagonist. The audience is also presented with a more detailed account of how the psychopath develops an affinity towards mask-making, behind which he hides. The way Michael’s younger sister sees her murderous relative in various fantasies, fearful mirages, bloody fights and violent grabs – all these serve as an evidence of a distinctive psychedelic input by the story’s newly appointed all-in-one creative genius. Ultimately, the bravery borne by this man by publically showing what is
SE OF 1000 CORPSES | UNIVERSAL PICTURES
creeping in his imagination, (which some may only describe as insanity) and continuing on with this tradition without the fear of ever being overly criticized or accused of having squalid flaws. He deserves to be respected. Another important value, with regard to his films, is the fact that R. Zombie is, surely, a visionary who stays true to himself and most importantly, the people that have by now developed quite a strong sympathy towards his style; despite the fact that up-to-date there exist only a handful of his cinematic creations. In an ever increasingly commercialized world of arts, being dropped by a number of labels would be a nightmare. For various reasons, whether it is due to extreme violence or wrong perceptions - this has happen to Robert. But, as far as the writer of this article, along with other appreciators, see it – Rob Zombie is still the same, and it would certainly take a lot more to push this man off of his creative edge.
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WICKED WARDROBES OLIVIA ‘MALICIOUS’ MARSH ‘Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn, and cauldron bubble.’ THE INFAMOUS WITCHES of Macbeth, men dressed as old haggard women who confuse Banquo: ‘You should be women, and yet your beards forbid me to interpret that you are so.’ The witches are chanting around a cauldron and calling upon the power of Hecate to help them in their evil conjuring. These spooky characters are set in a misty heath, chanting about eyes of newts and toes of frogs, but what I would like to know is what were they wearing? If you were to use Macbeth’s three witches’ cauldron to brew up a film perfect for Halloween, you would need to include many key ingredients: lighting, music, camera angles, casting, script, special effects etc. a vital garnish to this concoction is costume. The aesthetics of a film come down to a lot of aspects but vital to this is what our characters are attired in. Examining what are now some of the most cult (less for their horrifying and twisted plots but for their cinematic and aesthetic brilliance) Halloween films’ costumes, such outfits have become just as iconic as the films themselves. A perfect example of this is The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Jim Sharman’s cult classic which parodies 1940’s Bmovie, science fiction and horror films. What would the time warp be without the 5ft 7 transvestite Dr. Frank – N- Furter played by Tim Curry in leather corsetry, fish net tights and just a dash of paradoxical housewife style pearls; accompanied on screen by Magenta with wild red curls and a raunchy nurse come maid attire. All of the theatricality of the stage costume from The Rocky Horror Show stage performance is brought to the film by the same costume designer, Sue Blane. This discussion would of course not be complete without a nod to the master of quirky Halloween entertainment, Tim Burton. To pick but one of his films is difficult, but I think that Beetlejuice has perhaps gone overlooked for too long. The freelance bio-exorcist ghost is famous for his black and white striped suit; this monochromatic obsession of Tim Burton’s has become an iconic feature of each of his subsequent films of the similar ilk: Johnny Depp’s black and white horizontal striped all in one suit and defined pinstripe three piece suit in Sweeney Todd, Jack Skellington’s striped silvery etching on his suit in Nightmare Before Christmas; and in his collection of illustrated short stories The Melancholy Death of Oyster THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW | 20TH CENTURY FOX 12
Boy, Oyster Boy of course wears a black and white striped t-shirt. Disney’s Hocus Pocus, set on 31st October, makes full use of witchy stereotypes to create this family friendly Halloween entertainment. Drawing its origins in the 1693 Salem witch trials, the 17th Century costume of green and orange velvet combined with corsetry is a far cry from the couture recently worn by Sarah Jessica Parker in the Sex and the City series and films, but it is vital to the theatricality and humour. Bette Midler’s green and blue velvet cape complete with mystic symbols and turquoise and silver clasps over a corset and full skirt adds the extra element of drama to her already particularly exaggerated and melodramatic character. Would the Sanderson sisters of Hocus Pocus make good witches in Macbeth? The Salem witch trials were almost a century after Shakespeare, but I fear that the flamboyance and eccentricity of their dress would not be suitable attire for the tone of Macbeth nor the Scottish countryside. Halloween is not complete without your mandatory witch costumes, sexy maids and nurses, or those super cool kids paying homage to the God that is Tim Burton, recreating the iconic looks from the cult classic films which are indelibly intertwined onto our aesthetic inspiration of the time of year for ghouls and ghosts. BEETLEJUICE | THE GEFFEN COMPANY
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WE’VE SEEN IT ALL BEFORE
STEPHANIE ‘ VISCIOUS’ VIVIAN
WHEN WE WATCH films we sometimes forget unfold on screen. I feel nothing but disappointthat they are remakes of old films, paltry reimment when I ask a friend “Oh have you seen”... aginings of groundbreaking cinema, especially ‘insert a film name’ only to hear them talking with horror. Personally I find most remakes of about the remake and never having heard of the horror just an excuse to inflict more gore and fact that there is a legendary original. This is a show off the special effects, in doing so wiping similar feeling people get when they have read the originals from our memories! Unless you are an amazing novel and then see it at the cinema, a director who has been inspired by an original only to find that the director has ruined it! piece of film and want to make the first director Granted I find the original Dawn of the Dead proud of your interpretation of their story then quite humorous as well as scary but with The please think of your own ideas! Can the remake Omen (1976) I genuinely find that scarier and really be better than the original source? Well more sleep stealing than the remake in 2006. Parfirst of all it is a rip-off that they have used an ticularly the famous suicide scene of the nanny; old idea and in the origTHE OMEN | 20TH CENTURY FOX made someinal the thing new music and from it, but the atmosalso I feel it phere is is usually far more incompaeerie than rable to the that pororiginals. trayed in Remakes of the 2006 films often remake, use similar where you visual gags, obviously they just exexpect it pand and ‘imto happen prove’ them. because Some of you have them are legheard of endary films, the scene like Dawn from the of the Dead original. (1978) and I feel at The Omen various (1976) in my points in eyes (and probably many others) which simply the remake Moore takes what was once origicannot be replaced. nally scary and makes it silly, like the scene in Fair enough I can understand that the remakes which Damien is riding his scooter along the are scarier to the majority of the public because hall and knocks his mother over the banister. It they fit with society’s present day issues; but seems far more sinister when the little boy is I find myself putting on the shoes of a young riding his squeaky bike (1976) and the use of the person from the 70’s or 80’s and watching the squeakiness builds up to produce the tension release of an original horror film and it makes when he knocks his mother over. the film so much more intense and frightening For horror we need new ideas, we need to see to me. When I watch a remake, I have often seen what has never been touched upon before for it the original or most definitely read or heard of to be genuinely spine tingling, not for the real it, and for me that ruins the idea of watching fear to be taken out of originals and transformed the newer version because I already know the into gore fests! So to all you directors out there entire story and the basics of what is going to ... SCARE ME! 14
TOP 1O HORROR CARYS ‘RAVING’ RAMSEY . THE WICKER MAN | BRITISH LION FILM CORPORATION. The 1973 classic naturally, the scary side of human nature and Christopher Lee in his prime. . POLTERGEIST | MGM. Leading the charge for an army of creepy children movies. . PONTYPOOL | SHADOW SHOWS. A different twist on the done to ‘un’death zombie genre. . PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE| REYNOLDS PICTURES. By the legendary worst ever director, Ed Wood. Don’t expect to be scared. . DON’T LOOK NOW | People do stupid things in foreign countries, they have psychic visions of their dead daughters, but they don’t pull it off half as well as Donald Sutherland. . TROLL HUNTER | FILMKAMERATENE A/S. A Norwegian gem of superb graphics, modernised folklore and brilliant one liners. . ALIEN | 20TH CENTURY FOX. Ripley’s iconic beginning, and start of the titanic grossing horror series. . REC | FILMAX. Shock horror that will leave you sleepless for weeks. . DARK WATER (Honogurai mizu no soko kara) | TOHO COMPANY. The outstanding original, from the maker of Ringu comes the tale of yet another creepy Asian girl. . THE SHINING | WARNER BROS. It’s a classic for a reason. Jack Nicholson; more fail safe creepy kids; and the (Stephen) King of all horror fiction. 15
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