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November 19, 2009
Why Horror Movies Are Scarier When You Can’t Tell What the Heck Anyone Is Saying
I was filling out the profile on the online system I’m using to teach the homeschooling class next month, and under “interests,” I listed “foreign films.” I mean, you expect your instructor to have an interest in foreign films, right? So I left out that they’re foreign HORROR films. Whatever.
The thing is that most horror films made in the United States these days are either another freaking Saw movie, a remake of a slasher film that didn’t need to be remade, or a remake of a foreign horror film. This is why everyone is going all ga-ga over Paranormal Activity. All the horror fans are like, “A scenario I haven’t already seen! Yippee!!!” Anyway, a few years back, I decided I should probably start watching some of these foreign horror films, see what all the fuss is about.
You don’t need me to tell you that the originals are generally better than the remakes.
What you might not suspect is exactly how much more stressful they are to watch.
When I watch a horror film, I usually wind up watching it through my fingers or maybe peeking out from under my arm. During the really scary parts, I cover my eyes altogether and peek again when it sounds like things are calming down. This doesn’t work with foreign films because I have to keep my eyes on the screen to read the subtitles (and no, I don’t watch dubbed versions ever—it’s too distracting, and I can never take the film seriously). Take the Spanish zombie film Rec (US version: Quarantine. Basic plot: a bunch of people wind up locked in an apartment building with a zombie and hijinks ensue). I studied Spanish for six years, but I was still lost without the subtitles and had to watch the WHOLE THING. It was scary, if not terribly original. It had the same theme all zombie movies have (humans are scarier than monsters), and it was a hand-held camera movie. Can I just say that I am ready for this whole hand-held camera fad to be over? It makes my stomach wobbly. Ditto for 3-D.
One of the best horror films I’ve watched in a long time is the Swedish vampire movie, Let the Right One In. It’s another humans-are-scarier-than-monsters movie, but it was driven by character rather than a message or even a desire to scare the audience. It’s about a lonely, bullied preteen boy who befriends the vampire girl who moves in next door. Rather than whacking the audience upside their poor, tired heads with the theme, though, the filmmakers went for subtlety. The characters, even minor ones, all exhibit admirable and deplorable behavior. We understand and empathize with the principle characters, even when they do bad things. The film itself is shot with a lot more care than you usually see in horror films—all haunting and moody and atmospheric.
And are they remaking it in the US? Why, yes. They are.
Posted by adrienne at November 19, 2009 06:46 PM
Comments
as a former student of film i can assure you that you hit the nail on the head: foreign horror is about character, american horror is about shock value.
and american audiences also want to leave a horror film with the feeling that the horror is contained within the movie. this means a "satisfying" (if not happy) ending that usually includes some sort of retribution to contain the horror within the theatre/story. take a film like the original "the vanishing" and compare it with its hollywood remake (oddly directed by the same person both times) and you'll see how in altering the story to american viewing expectations the story gets gutted of all its power.
hitchcock (who was british) understood the value of long, slow, subtle suspense and was a master at delivery. stephen spielberg is capable of the same sort of masterful manipulation but his tendency is more toward shock and awe, and far from subtle. he got close, once, with his first feature "duel" but by jaws it was all about the shark and not the people.
i've been meaning to check out "let the right one in" for some time. thanks for reminding me.
Posted by: david e at November 20, 2009 01:10 AM
"Duel" was soooo good.
Posted by: momster at November 20, 2009 06:12 PM
David, I didn't even know there was an original The Vanishing. I'll have to check that out.
Momster, Another one to watch! :)
Posted by: adrienne at November 20, 2009 06:44 PM
I've been hearing that the Swedish vampire movie is really good--it came to an art-house theater here for a very short run but I didn't have a chance to see it. One of my friends said the main character (presumably the vampire girl) reminded her of me, which is an interesting thing to say, so now I REALLY have to see it. Despite the fact that I avoid horror movies like the plague, usually. (Unless they're sci-fi...then I might watch.)
Posted by: aquafortis at November 21, 2009 01:27 PM
It's a horror movie non-horror people can watch, I think. It feels more like a teen drama than a horror film. It has a couple EW moments, but they're fast and not gratuitous.
Posted by: adrienne at November 22, 2009 10:10 AM
wow I just cannot do horror films! too much of a wuss I guess. But I got you on the sound issues for sure.
Posted by: Cheryl at December 3, 2009 10:24 AM
Cheryl, Honestly, sometimes I get scared and wonder why I watch them.
Posted by: adrienne at December 3, 2009 08:19 PM