give me a smile

[theladyrose]

I guess I've never really seen any good horror movies, because the few that I've watched manage to simultaneously bore me and amuse me. The exception would be Psycho, except that I view this one more as a crime story rather than horror.

Adrienne, Danielle, and I went to see Scream, the sort of cliched trite tripe I haven't seen in ages since that Christmas a few years ago that I spent with my cousins on Staten Island watching bad gory movies. The whole self-conscious references, i.e. "Let's announce what's about to happen in an ironic twist of events by openly paying homage to other horror movies!" struck me as dull rather than clever, and I won't even mention how terrible the acting was. Freud would have such a field day analyzing this with all of the really crass sexual references. The Trivial Pursuit New Years Eve party that I attended seems to be creamy Victorian innocence in comparison to the hedonistic partying that stereotypically characterizes my fellow teenage peers. Amidst the visual tedium, the score gave up on providing any sort of sustainable tension within the first ten minutes. At least it was bad enough so that I had a lot of fun mocking it afterwards.

I have yet to actually listen to my new Yo-Yo Ma Plays Ennio Morricone album, although it's been highly recommended to me by lehah. To be honest, I know virtually nothing about Morricone other than the fact that he's best known for scoring spaghetti westerns and that he's currently working on Leningrad. I'm really getting hooked on the Philip Glass compilation in the meantime.

And before I forget, many happy returns to gandydancer on her birthday :D

Comments

[dfordoom.livejournal.com]

Have you seen Michael Powell's Peeping Tom? Made the same year as Psycho, and another psycho serial killer movie (which I generally avoid like the plague). I think it's better than Psycho. Very very unsettling in the way it plays with the viewer's sympathies.

[theladyrose.livejournal.com]

Next time I go to the video store (hopefully soon) I'll look for this one. Thanks for the recommendation!

[dfordoom.livejournal.com]

Peeping Tom wrecked Michael Powell's career. The British critics savaged it and described it as sick. By 1960 standards it's a very confronting film. It's still unsettling today because of the rather sympathetic treatment of the killer - the scene with his father's home movies is very disturbing.

[thehashmark.livejournal.com]

So do I mail Sophia's letter to the same address? And put her name on it or yours?

[theladyrose.livejournal.com]

Send it to her own name at 1835 Harvard Yard Mail Center and just use the resto of the address that I sent you for mine.

[thehashmark.livejournal.com]

Thanks a bunch!

[a-mire.livejournal.com]

I've seen some good horror movies in one way or another, but never any that actually scared me. Not since I grew up, anyway. The Creature from the Black Lagoon afeared me of bubblebaths when I was 7 or so, but that's the last one, I think.

Horror covers such a broad spectrum of creature/monster movies and mere suspense that sometimes it seems as if movies are just thrown in there. I thought Near Dark was an excellent vampire movie, but I would classify it as a western which happened to star vampires rather than horror, really. The Reflecting Skin was kinda creepy, but not actually scary, more of a commentary on the way kids misinterpret their surroundings. Bram Stoker's Dracula was a tragic romance.

Rear Window scared me more than any of them. Or at least had me on the edge of my seat more than any of them. Scream, ugh, I still don't get what the fuss was about. But I started reading in the middle of it so I may have missed an important plot twist somewhere.

[theladyrose.livejournal.com]

I personally prefer mysteries to horror more for the fact that I feel more involved in disentangling the case presented, that they pose more of an intellectual challenge. The only thing close to a horror story was when I read the short story of "the Invasion of the Body Snatchers" when I was twelve; I'd like to blame my insomnia on that although my bad habits started a few years earlier. I definitely enjoy "suspense" movies but I don't really see in the point in watching horror movies just so I can be scared. I'm terrified enough of the religious fanatic yelling "Be saved by Jesus or burn in hell for eternity!" around midnight in Harvard Square already; I could pass up on extra scariness.

[gandydancer.livejournal.com]

thank you so much lady rose!

[theladyrose.livejournal.com]

You're very welcome, birthday girl :D