Iggy Horror Thread VIII: Does Aging or Being a Parent Make You More Squeamish?

[Abraham Smashington]

Or like Saw flicks. I get it.

[Captain Russ]

Yeah, those are perfect examples of lowest common denominator idiot horror. Adam Sandler horror.

[Martin]

It was in service of the tone of the film, so in that context I found the over the top spectacle fitting.

I'm talking about watching someone be flayed just to watch them be flayed. No build-up, no nothing. Stupid bullshit anyone can do that has no tension or entertainment value.

Like the second half of Martyrs as Martin aludes to.

Nope, there's was a buildup... you just really didn't like the 2nd half. I liked it. That's pretty much it. It's a very divisive movie.

[Timothy225]

I don't think aging and maturing (debatable) has made me squeamish so much as it has made me more conscious of the mechanisms at play when viewing a horror film, and as such I appreciate the ones that know how to scare or unnerve in an economic fashion (the old "obfuscation cultivates fear" chestnut).

But I will say getting older makes the bullshit detector much more a part of the experience. If it is just gore for the sake of gore, with no redeeming factor (generally speaking, we all secretly hope for a somewhat agreeable return to the status quo) other than sanguine parts and crimson mists, I find it hard to justify wasting my time watching such pointlessness unfurl.

Excellent point. I do find myself getting less forgiving when checking out some flicks, especially for franchises that wore out their welcome a long time ago. If the story or the kills aren't grabbing me, I get more and more pissed off.

[IggytheBorg]

Yeah, those are perfect examples of lowest common denominator idiot horror. Adam Sandler horror.

I like the term "Adam Sandler Horror" a lot.

I'd also like to say that I have not seen a single franchise all the way thru. Not one. I'm with Tim that by and large they wear out their welcomes really fast sometimes. One possible exception, in that up until the last one (which I still haven't seen) came out I HAD seen them all, is the Final Destinaltion series. I just loved the clever, artful kills. The story was boring & repetitive, and thus I'm in no hurry to see the last one. And if I never do I'll prolly get over it.

[IggytheBorg]

But sometimes gore for the sake of gore makes a movie THAT MUCH BETTER. I'm looking at you Piranha 3D.

Also: Troma films like "Toxic Avenger" fit this bill. They also have more of a silly, so-bad-it's-good sense of humor. The way they dovetail it with the gore is fucking brilliant.

[Bobby Bear]

So you're saying because it doesn't faze me that I'm wasting my time? I completely disagree with that. I was RAISED on horror films. The first films I remember seeing were horror flicks. And too afraid to admit it? haha, oh Bobby. Poor sweet innocent Bobby....

I watch them for the same reason people watch wrestling. TO BE ENTERTAINED.

Whoa. Kinda feel like I've just been yelled at. I wasn't having a go at you, Rob, nor was I suggesting you are too afraid to admit fears brought upon by horror films. I was only saying how odd I find it that some cats watch horror flicks simply to say "it was rubbish" or "nah, didn't scare me." Like it's a dare of some kind. "You'll have to do better than that if you're going to scare me!" - that kind of thing. The comment wasn't directed at anyone on this board. I went out of my way to say that wasn't the case.

My main point was - how is it entertaining for someone with that emotionless mindset to watch a horror film? From one guy exposed to the genre early on to another, I seek them out for entertainment as well, in large part because they've had such a big influence on me for so long. Why? First of all, I find it an entertaining genre; I just like to watch horror movies, like yourself. Simple as that.

But more importantly, when my brother started showing them to me, movies I might not have seen otherwise for many years, there was an air of danger about it. Anything could happen in them. They were the titles you dared not mention for fear that Mum would hide them on you; the titles I stopped into the video shop on the way home from primary school (ages 5 through 11) most days solely to admire their VHS box art. Although things have changed considerably, that principle remains: there could be something in this film that will warp you/ gross you out / upset you / give you pause or food for thought in some way. Failing that, there's bound to be something enjoyable about it: a cute co-star, some nice practical effects, whatever. If those movies didn't have that hook, they wouldn't automatically become "boring", but they would lose a big part their very essence.

It wouldn't be horror anymore.

I don't particularly want to feel "repulsed." I don't seek out films with unrelenting, disgusting violence (and no worthwhile story) just to see something vile. But I know the entertainment value of those movies would be lessened if I had no awareness that what's taking place onscreen is - on even some basic level - unpleasant. Or it deals, like Tim said of more meaningful fare, with heavier, darker emotions.

I'm not saying you have to be turning away from the screen, boking up last night's tea, or shunning the outside world because of paranoia from the viewing experience; just that you can see how those characters would perhaps rather be doing other things at that exact moment, that the situations are profoundly undesirable. That, for me, is where much of the entertainment is derived. "No Julie, Cthulhu's down ther- awww! What did I say, Julie? WHAT DID I SAY?"

I take it as a given people watch movies to be entertained - I understand that as a film film myself. What I don't really understand is why people who don't seem to find the genre particularly entertaining ("oh, it was naff! The kills were dead cheap! Big surprise!") routinely watch whatever the genre has to offer.

[Captain Russ]

I take it as a given people watch movies to be entertained - I understand that as a film film myself. What I don't really understand is why people who don't seem to find the genre particularly entertaining ("oh, it was naff! The kills were dead cheap! Big surprise!") routinely watch whatever the genre has to offer.

A quick explanation for the behavior most fans exhibit (across genres, it doesn't have to be horror) is that they are addicted to that initial exhilaration of seeing something new. They are chasing a high they can't possibly reach ever again. It's just the nature of the beast that they go back and try anyway.

[Timothy225]

Russ nailed it. Totally "shock of the new" as opposed to tried and true stuff folks have seen before.

[Bobby Bear]

Well, that's true outside of movie watching as well. It's the same thing that makes someone complain about the selection of _ at the _ when they're out shopping or what have you ("it's not what I was after", etc.) so it extends beyond art full stop. But there is definitely a "point to prove" aspect with this horror stuff for some people, in my experience anyway. They simply will not admit to finding anything scary or unpleasant, for fear of being seen to emasculate themselves in some way, yet watch whatever the hot ticket is so they can stick their chest out during the conversation.

It doesn't really matter. I only mentioned it in passing.

[Lola]

I'm just now getting into more horror/suspense movies. Simply because one of my older brothers used to love to scare the shit out of me every time we would watch one. I never sat with my back to the door and I always had to have my feet up on the couch lest anything reach for my toes from underneath.
The gore doesn't bother me,but I will not watch rape or child molestation. That crosses a line for me. Yes,it has to do with personal experiences. I have children,three girls,and I certainly empathize more with those characters in the movies. Mess with my girls,you've had a bad day...

[Captain Russ]

There is definitely a "point to prove" aspect with this horror stuff for some people, in my experience anyway. They will not admit to finding anything scary or unpleasant, for fear of being seen to emasculate themselves in some way, yet watch whatever the hot ticket is so they can stick their chest out during the conversation.

Please stop hanging out with those people.

[IggytheBorg]

You know, even as that callow, inexperienced youth who saw little scary about most of the films I watched, I still found them immensely entertaining. I really can't explain why, or why I still like horror movies, even if I find most of it isn't scary (although that part of the Venn diagram is getting bigger, as per my initial post). I thought, on reading Bobby's 1st post that he was implying those who aren't at least a little afraid of what's in a horror movie just aren't enjoying it as much - or maybe on as many levels would be a better way to explain it. I think that's probably true. I found watching Carl getting that bullet fragment extracted, & the bloody child seat on the "Walking Dead" episode earlier this year a little hard to watch, but I still enjoyed that episode, BECAUSE it scared me a bit. Besides thinking the story, character & special effects are cool, which I also do. But the latter would have been the youthful me's only reaction. I never found I was wasting my time watching good, but not scary horror movies, because I always had that latter reaction to them.

BUt you know something? Even though I never hid my eyes & begged to be taken from the theatre as a teen (as a little kid, different story), I could creep myself out royally in a dark room, or walking home alone late at night. Watching those movies & reading those books certainly tilted my imagination that way at other times.

[Captain Russ]

Those sorts of real life experiences where your mind basically shifts into overdrive, taking a sledgehammer of neuroses to the mundane, is where I wish horror movies would go more often.

Reality is bad enough as it is, why weigh it down with some asshole killer who gets his rocks off through the most contrived and overly elaborate torture devices this side of H.H. Holmes?

I pray nightly for a resurgence of Nightbreed and Re-Animator types of stories. Just left-field sorts of horror films that are at once unnerving AND massively entertaining. John Kerry lookalikes optional.

[Timothy225]

I pray nightly for a resurgence of Nightbreed and Re-Animator types of stories. Just left-field sorts of horror films that are at once unnerving AND massively entertaining. John Kerry lookalikes optional.

YES. We're long overdue to revisit the minds of Lovecraft and Barker, and the horrors and wonder contained therein. A proper take on the Cthulhu Mythos should be next on deck.

Lola, I think I can speak for many here that we also find child molestation and rape distasteful, be it in horror (avoid Halloween 4 & Halloween 5, as it's just Michael Myers chasing the shit out of a little girl, which is cinematic child abuse on a whole 'nother level), or in other genres of film.