toXsick |
06-15-2007 09:45 AM |
I blame the war and gas prices. Real life is far more scary right now, and horror isn't an escape at the moment. We don't feel safe, so we're not doing the work as an audience to root for a picture. We're being passive, sitting there waiting for it to take us along. Our hearts aren't in it. And the "bigger" the project, the less we feel connected to it.
Of course that's a big, dumb generalization but for me, I need subversive right now. And that lies with the indie filmmakers that aren't dressing up horror, but find the itch and scratching it with a good, well told story. The more stuff that comes up that seems patronizing, the less confident a viewer will be. A sequel to a film is almost de riguer, but sometimes it sends the message that we're being fleeced. Don't do a movie because you might as well because the first one made lots of cash, do it because the filmmaker and the story demands it.
Grindhouse was good, but it was also a self-concious piece of tribute art. And it was too long. It should never have been expected to make so much, and should have been taken on artistic merit alone. In fact, the cheaper the budget sometimes, the better for the film. It isn't trying to pull blockbuster weight, and is more free to take chances and deviate from the Hollywood norm.
I'm a die-hard horror fan. I write the stuff. But I never have in mind to write a big fuck off star vehicle because I know its a career move formula script they're looking for. I think audiences are feeling "sold" right now, and good horror, if nothing else, is about pushing people away and daring them to walk in.
Just my two cents. Well, it was a bit long, so maybe it was more like a nickel. :o
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