Pitter Patter vs. Splatter Splatter

So I blogged about horror books last time and shared my thoughts on that matter. Some people have commented and come up with interesting questions and points of view so I thought I might or rather should talk about horror movies this time, with special regards to Carrie, Hostel and the Saw saga.

The thing is that I generally don’t like going to the cinema; so when I watch movies, they are ones I’ve bought on DVD. This goes for every genre, really but I mostly watch action movies or comedies (no so-called ‘rom-coms’ please). However, I never buy horror movies because there is not always someone around to watch these kinds of movies with me and in all honesty, I am just too much of a chicken to ‘indulge’ in them on my own. On that note, I (very briefly) considered re-watching Carrie after having blogged about it but the trailer on YouTube was enough to make me reconsider. Viewer discretion advised! That’s the main reason why I steer clear of them.

Another reason why would be the progress which was made in the development of special effect in the last decades. Several years back, you could tell that people weren’t beheaded but nowadays with CGI there are literally no bounds for making things look as real as possible. You might praise the attention to detail if you will but there is such a thing as ‘too much’ when it comes to mutilating bodies. In my humble opinion less is more.

In this context there are also other movies on which I want to elaborate. Thinking about films like Hostel (the first or second, take your pick) just makes me want to run and hide because I find nothing compelling about being faced with liters of blood and brutality beyond my imagination every 5 minutes. The same goes for the Saw saga. I still can’t believe that this movie even made it to a sequel, let alone to number VII, which is supposed to be in US movie theatres in July. This movie belongs to a subgenre of horror called “splatter”. The mutilation of the human body and the visualization thereof are very clearly in the foreground and no matter what critics will say on this matter, in my opinion there is nothing artistic or artful about finding as many ways as possible to rip apart the human body.

I am sure opinions on these movies are wide and varied and some of my friends even think gore is funny. Needless to say, I don’t really agree. When you have to pluck out your own eye-ball in a limited amount of time because a key is hidden behind it that un-cuffs you from a seat where you will be beheaded, I don’t quite see the fun in that. It makes me wonder to which uncanny places the people’s minds travel who work behind such movies. It must be one hell of a sick and scary place, no offence. To me, it just seems pointless because the idea that people go to great lengths when their lives are in danger gets real old real quick. It’s ‘kill or be killed’, ‘sink or swim’, whichever way you want to put it, but there are more tasteful ways of portraying this particular theme. Touching the Void for example is a great movie in this aspect and neither deteriorates into the splatter genre nor does it become a horror movie, far from it.

Still, before I digress, I also want to talk about scary TV shows. I am an avid fan of Supernatural, and while it does incorporate horror elements, these are just a small part of the whole story line. The protagonists are Sam and Dean Winchester, two brothers road tripping through the States hunting down evil spirits, vampires and all kinds of other things that go bump in the night. Their dysfunctional relationship is also a major theme throughout the seasons and while you get a generous dose of fright every episode, it’s also about two brothers seeking to avenge their mother’s death. Of course there are several twists and turns woven into the story arch every season, but I can only recommend watching it. Also, the two brothers are seriously hot. Just sayin’!

Another TV show I regularly watch is Doctor Who. It’s a British series (Supernatural is an American production) and the premise is compelling: every week we are told another story about a time-travelling alien (who looks quite human though) and his adventures. Plus, he is fascinated by planet Earth and therefore often stops by and saves the planet on a regular basis. On top of that, it’s considered to be a kids’ show. However when I saw the first episode I quite literally did a double take because I was scared out of my mind. I didn’t watch the 1st season in order and in hindsight, the first episodes of the season were less scary, though frightening enough if you consider that children from 9-15 are the target audience.

This actually leads me to the question of whether we find books or TV series/movies scarier. In my opinion movies and shows are scarier because I find it very hard to forget gruesome sights. When I read a book, my imagination of course runs rampant, but in a way I suppose we unconsciously censor ourselves. When you watch Saw, however, (just to take a splatter movie as an illustrating example) I believe that many people are confronted with ideas and plots they find very hard to digest. At least in my case. I would choose books over movies any day, really.