Comments on: Horror Roundtable Week Eighty-Five http://www.thehorrorblog.com/2008/02/09/horror-roundtable-week-eighty-five/ Better Living Through Terror Thu, 04 Dec 2008 03:15:36 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.1.1 By: Nathan http://www.thehorrorblog.com/2008/02/09/horror-roundtable-week-eighty-five/#comment-77266 Nathan Sat, 09 Feb 2008 12:32:21 +0000 http://www.thehorrorblog.com/2008/02/09/horror-roundtable-week-eighty-five/#comment-77266 Oh, all right, I admit it. I like the creepy warning/expositioning local, too. Oh, all right, I admit it. I like the creepy warning/expositioning local, too.

]]> By: Sean http://www.thehorrorblog.com/2008/02/09/horror-roundtable-week-eighty-five/#comment-77293 Sean Sat, 09 Feb 2008 15:46:51 +0000 http://www.thehorrorblog.com/2008/02/09/horror-roundtable-week-eighty-five/#comment-77293 We accept you, Nathan! One of us! We accept you, Nathan! One of us!

]]> By: Ivan Lerner http://www.thehorrorblog.com/2008/02/09/horror-roundtable-week-eighty-five/#comment-77332 Ivan Lerner Sat, 09 Feb 2008 18:43:59 +0000 http://www.thehorrorblog.com/2008/02/09/horror-roundtable-week-eighty-five/#comment-77332 The cliche I really *love* to see, that almost makes me giddy, is the friendly sherrif/bbq cook/priest/etc. who is, you know, *evil.* I'm not sure where this started but Brotherhood of Satan is a prime example, as well as Rosemary's Baby and Texas Chainsaw Massacre, so perhaps it's an offshoot of '70s cinema cynicism. The cliche I absolutely *hate*: put a child in peril, but never kill them--this practically ruins the original The Blob. How many stupid tots get in danger, but we know they won't get killed? It makes my teeth gnash--Jurassic Park is a perfect example of this: I knew those kids were never in true danger of being eaten. But if Spielberg had had the guts to munch one of the kiddies, then the movie would've been great. Them! is the only film where kids are in danger, and it doesn't feel like a cheat (you've gotten to know the children's mother). (And standard action movie math told you that either Whitmore or Arness would buy the farm, as well.) The twisted and worth-a-look-especially-for-young-Kevin-Dillon's-mullet The Blob remake nicely subverts the child in peril manuever, but still sticks with it. As underground filmmaker Richard Kern once said of Aliens, "The movie would have been better if everybody died." Thanks, --Ivan The cliche I really *love* to see, that almost makes me giddy, is the friendly sherrif/bbq cook/priest/etc. who is, you know, *evil.* I’m not sure where this started but Brotherhood of Satan is a prime example, as well as Rosemary’s Baby and Texas Chainsaw Massacre, so perhaps it’s an offshoot of ’70s cinema cynicism.

The cliche I absolutely *hate*: put a child in peril, but never kill them–this practically ruins the original The Blob. How many stupid tots get in danger, but we know they won’t get killed? It makes my teeth gnash–Jurassic Park is a perfect example of this: I knew those kids were never in true danger of being eaten. But if Spielberg had had the guts to munch one of the kiddies, then the movie would’ve been great.

Them! is the only film where kids are in danger, and it doesn’t feel like a cheat (you’ve gotten to know the children’s mother). (And standard action movie math told you that either Whitmore or Arness would buy the farm, as well.)

The twisted and worth-a-look-especially-for-young-Kevin-Dillon’s-mullet The Blob remake nicely subverts the child in peril manuever, but still sticks with it. As underground filmmaker Richard Kern once said of Aliens, “The movie would have been better if everybody died.”
Thanks,
–Ivan

]]> By: ARBOGAST http://www.thehorrorblog.com/2008/02/09/horror-roundtable-week-eighty-five/#comment-77348 ARBOGAST Sat, 09 Feb 2008 19:50:40 +0000 http://www.thehorrorblog.com/2008/02/09/horror-roundtable-week-eighty-five/#comment-77348 <i>But if Spielberg had had the guts to munch one of the kiddies, then the movie would’ve been great.</i> I disagree. JURASSIC PARK was a lightweight flight of fancy that couldn't support the death of a child. MIMIC, on the other hand, was a dark, moody thriller in which the deaths of children made the surrounding horror that much more real and threatening. THE HOST surprises for this reason, too, seeming at first like a bit of big monster fluff only to pull a grim reversal on the viewer. But if Spielberg had had the guts to munch one of the kiddies, then the movie would’ve been great.

I disagree. JURASSIC PARK was a lightweight flight of fancy that couldn’t support the death of a child. MIMIC, on the other hand, was a dark, moody thriller in which the deaths of children made the surrounding horror that much more real and threatening. THE HOST surprises for this reason, too, seeming at first like a bit of big monster fluff only to pull a grim reversal on the viewer.

]]> By: Dave http://www.thehorrorblog.com/2008/02/09/horror-roundtable-week-eighty-five/#comment-77360 Dave Sat, 09 Feb 2008 20:36:35 +0000 http://www.thehorrorblog.com/2008/02/09/horror-roundtable-week-eighty-five/#comment-77360 There's a split here between cliches that folks like and like to hate. If I were to pick the latter, it would be ironic teenagers. Nothing bugs me more than characters that are too cool for the movie they're in -- it's so uninteresting. I wanna see a horror film with teenagers that could be in a Larry Clark film or The Wire, not American Pie or The O.C. Too much lazy screenwriting currently. What would everyone else pick for the reverse of their current hate / like to hate cliche? There’s a split here between cliches that folks like and like to hate.

If I were to pick the latter, it would be ironic teenagers. Nothing bugs me more than characters that are too cool for the movie they’re in — it’s so uninteresting. I wanna see a horror film with teenagers that could be in a Larry Clark film or The Wire, not American Pie or The O.C. Too much lazy screenwriting currently.

What would everyone else pick for the reverse of their current hate / like to hate cliche?

]]> By: lancifer http://www.thehorrorblog.com/2008/02/09/horror-roundtable-week-eighty-five/#comment-77401 lancifer Sun, 10 Feb 2008 01:01:55 +0000 http://www.thehorrorblog.com/2008/02/09/horror-roundtable-week-eighty-five/#comment-77401 Whenever I am watching a slasher film with Aunt John He screams "Hider in the hatch!" whenever a character gets into a car. I had no idea what this meant until he pointed out that there is always a killer in the back seat of the car. I still have no idea why he calls the back seat of a car a "hatch" though. Of course, 9 times out of 10 he is correct. Is it really that easy for a grown man to hide back there? And if you were being stalked would you not check that space out before even entering your vehicle? Anyway this annoying cliche can be even more annoying if you remember to yell "Hider in the hatch!" before anyone else does! Whenever I am watching a slasher film with Aunt John He screams “Hider in the hatch!” whenever a character gets into a car. I had no idea what this meant until he pointed out that there is always a killer in the back seat of the car. I still have no idea why he calls the back seat of a car a “hatch” though.
Of course, 9 times out of 10 he is correct. Is it really that easy for a grown man to hide back there? And if you were being stalked would you not check that space out before even entering your vehicle? Anyway this annoying cliche can be even more annoying if you remember to yell “Hider in the hatch!” before anyone else does!

]]> By: ARBOGAST http://www.thehorrorblog.com/2008/02/09/horror-roundtable-week-eighty-five/#comment-77412 ARBOGAST Sun, 10 Feb 2008 02:00:40 +0000 http://www.thehorrorblog.com/2008/02/09/horror-roundtable-week-eighty-five/#comment-77412 Aunt John apparently learned to drive in a Ford Pinto. Aunt John apparently learned to drive in a Ford Pinto.

]]> By: Marc http://www.thehorrorblog.com/2008/02/09/horror-roundtable-week-eighty-five/#comment-77758 Marc Mon, 11 Feb 2008 13:32:38 +0000 http://www.thehorrorblog.com/2008/02/09/horror-roundtable-week-eighty-five/#comment-77758 I hate it when someone is being stalked, then when there's no more sign of the stalker, slowly turns around and BOOM! There he is. You can ALWAYS see this coming because the camera has already panned to the right direction before the person even turned around to face the stalker. Argh this annoys me so much! I hate it when someone is being stalked, then when there’s no more sign of the stalker, slowly turns around and BOOM! There he is. You can ALWAYS see this coming because the camera has already panned to the right direction before the person even turned around to face the stalker. Argh this annoys me so much!

]]> By: borehole http://www.thehorrorblog.com/2008/02/09/horror-roundtable-week-eighty-five/#comment-78198 borehole Wed, 13 Feb 2008 01:32:37 +0000 http://www.thehorrorblog.com/2008/02/09/horror-roundtable-week-eighty-five/#comment-78198 The creature is defeated, the day is saved, the heroes go off to have sex or whatever it is they do. Camera pans down slowly, and you say to yourself, gee, lemme guess, an egg? Final shot: An egg. I refer to this sort of ending as "status quo hacke." The creature is defeated, the day is saved, the heroes go off to have sex or whatever it is they do. Camera pans down slowly, and you say to yourself, gee, lemme guess, an egg?

Final shot: An egg.

I refer to this sort of ending as “status quo hacke.”

]]> By: The Mutt http://www.thehorrorblog.com/2008/02/09/horror-roundtable-week-eighty-five/#comment-79398 The Mutt Sun, 17 Feb 2008 17:34:05 +0000 http://www.thehorrorblog.com/2008/02/09/horror-roundtable-week-eighty-five/#comment-79398 My favorite is the First Kill Security Guard, who takes his weak flashlight and walks around the corridors asking, "Who's there? Hello? Damn kids!" My favorite is the First Kill Security Guard, who takes his weak flashlight and walks around the corridors asking, “Who’s there? Hello? Damn kids!”

]]> By: Zygos Community Links http://www.thehorrorblog.com/2008/02/09/horror-roundtable-week-eighty-five/#comment-90455 Zygos Community Links Thu, 24 Apr 2008 16:16:28 +0000 http://www.thehorrorblog.com/2008/02/09/horror-roundtable-week-eighty-five/#comment-90455 <strong>Joshua Hoffine's Horror Photography...</strong> Horror photography by artist Joshua Hoffine. NSFW, via The Horror Blog... Joshua Hoffine’s Horror Photography…

Horror photography by artist Joshua Hoffine. NSFW, via The Horror Blog…

]]> By: digital underground http://www.thehorrorblog.com/2008/02/09/horror-roundtable-week-eighty-five/#comment-134412 digital underground Thu, 28 Aug 2008 01:01:00 +0000 http://www.thehorrorblog.com/2008/02/09/horror-roundtable-week-eighty-five/#comment-134412 damn kids LOL damn kids LOL

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