American Horror? Boo!

I was gonna talk about this in my Weekend B.O. post today, but decided to give it a post of it's own....since Halloween is near.

Over the weekend I saw two...ummm...supposed "horror films". I have always been a fan of the genre since the very first film that I saw as a babe, which was totally inappropriate for my young eyes "Willard". My father and his various family members used to watch all of the oldies too--The Mummy, Frankenstein, anything with Zombies etc., and tho I was deathly afraid of the dark and everything that might be in it, I was fascinated by all of them, including goulie weirdo Vincent Price.

The shift in horror went from monsters to the supernatural, i.e. "The Exorcist" and "The Omen", which had the practically the whole nation in the willies. It expanded out to a different horror, one of realism, like "Jaws" and if you want to stretch it a bit, movies like "Earthquake" and "The Towering Inferno". There were movies about bug, frog, and giant rat invasions. Then there was some totally off the wall, WTF fantasy/horror, like "Phantasm" and "The Evil Dead".


Then came...the slasher flicks, and to me this was the beginning of the end for the classic horror genre, and anything original associated with it. You see, I don't consider films like the "Halloween" "Friday The 13th" (or any of that ilk) horror. The same goes for the "Saw" and "Hostel" series. In my opinion (which is what this whole blog is about, and was never meant to be a film class) those movies are just bloody, murderous, cheap, and kinda sick--requiring absolutely no creativity on the part of anyone involved. Just take a faceless, seemingly immortal character (cause they never really seem to die) add some dumb ass mofos, gallons of blood/slicing/ and/or torture, and viola! Instant crappy, modern day "horror" flick.

But I seriously digress. I saw "Quarantine" this weekend, as well as God help me, "Somebody Help Me" with Omarion and Marques Huston.

I'll start with the latter....if you take the time, energy, and money it takes to do a slasher film involving Blacks as the main characters why A) do you make ALL of their friends non-black and B) keep the same exact, paint by numbers, formulaic, stupid teenagers storyline as a million other nondescript ones we've seen and are bored by? Why even bother? While looking at the credits, I saw that a couple of people I know worked on this movie. They never brought it up...I wonder why? (not really)

The second, "Quarantine" almost, but not quite, brought me back to my younger days. It was almost good, having moments of suspense, just enough smartness, and best of all, Zombie- like folks. But something was off that prevented it from being satisfying---I looked at the credits at the end and saw a bunch of Spanish names and wondered if it was a remake of a Spanish film.

Well lo and behold, I looked it up on the internets and it was--a remake of a Spanish film called "Rec" which I watched last night, and recommend alot more than "Quarantine"--it is way creepier, and the pacing is far superior. I don't know why, but Americans never seem to get it right when it comes to remaking foreign films, especially horror. The Japanese "Ring"-like movies have been done to death and back--and they are never as good as the originals--but the original Japanese and their American brethren films are really just about style and imagery over any real substance.

I am becoming a HUGE fan of the Latin/Spanish directors. They have the visuals, as well as the substance and depth packed into their work. They are well written, with absorbing characters, and completely draw you in the film and keep you there. And isn't the most effective horror film one that sinks into your psyche with the story and visuals, and makes you think about both days after seeing it? Isn't that the stuff that makes us nervous when we hear creaking, or see a shadow? You can tell these dudes are thinking about every aspect of their films.

If you're looking for some genuine Halloween scares, I say dump the "Saw" BS and check out the new Spanish breed. "The Devil's Backbone", which was on Comcast On Demand all month, is probably the most beautiful ghost story I've ever seen, by far. It was directed by Guillermo Del Toro (Pan's Labyrinth), whom Sergio and I are huge fans of. You can find "Rec", the original Quarantine on-line and on Netflix. Do yourself a favor--if you like horror, real horror, you'll love these two flicks--I guarantee they're better than anything you've seen in the past few years. Also, check out the good folks over at BlackHorrorMovies.com.

director del toro, above