TNothing cheers me up more these days than the rise of horror movies, which have crept into this summer’s blockbusters, along with the usual string of mindless franchises and horrifying repeats. Despicable Me 4, Deadpool 3, Furiosa: Mad Max Saga, Bad Boys: Ride or Die And then a ray of light came into the darkness: audiences wanted new stories, new characters, and ultimately original filmmaking, because truly imaginative, even art-house films were expected to draw big audiences and make big money, and it came in the form of horror movies. Long legs.
The film, which just came out on Friday, stars Nicolas Cage as a serial killer. Long legs It has received various evaluations, such as:The scariest movies of the decade“and” Every frame is a nightmare“But it’s also absolutely beautiful, from the opening shot, which follows a little girl through a snowy landscape. We navigate claustrophobic basements and misty forests, our eyes wandering to layers of shadow in the background, to places the characters last left looking. The film is full of references for film buffs, flashbacks presented with shifts in texture and proportion, bursting with artistic absurdity.
However, the film is also expected to be a box office hit. $20 million (£15.5 million) in the United States Its opening weekend box office success was astounding for an indie film. BBC Review In the future, he suggests, “horror movies could become the new summer blockbusters, with superhero movies as their rival.”
It’s a strange turn of events, as is the growing respect for the horror genre. For years, horror languished under the notion that it was cheesy, cheesy and clichéd, with the worst slasher movies almost speaking for the whole genre. Horror has often been snubbed by the industry. Shelley Duvall, who died last week, is now being praised for her masterful performance in “The Thriller Story.” The Shining At that time Razzie Awards Worst ActressThe decision was only reversed two years ago. The film itself was not nominated for an Oscar.
In fact, until a few years ago, it was common for horror films to pitch themselves to journalists and awards panels by emphatically denying that they were horror films, claiming to be “high horror,” “post-horror,” “extreme drama,” etc. Darren Aronofsky once described his films as follows: mother!The story, about a newborn baby being eaten by a mob, was described as a “thriller” with “elements of home invasion.”
But now the genre is finally beginning to make a comeback, starting with Jordan Peele’s high-concept gothic film in 2017. Get outcontinues to produce one inventive horror movie after another. HereditAnts, we, no, lamb, M3GAN, Talk to me, baud Scared. The accolades grew, and filmmakers no longer had to shop around for actors, worried that a stigma would ruin their careers.
As a horror fan, this is very encouraging news for me. I only have maybe two friends I could take to the movies, one of whom is a father of twins and can only go to daytime screenings. (Have you ever seen an audience sitting through a daytime screening of a horror movie? It’s a scarier afternoon than you’d expect.) So I like the idea that maybe more people will flock to the scary genre, if only to keep up with the trend. Last year, trend Article published: “Am I behind the times because I don’t like horror?” It is this kind of coercive atmosphere that we should encourage.
But I think the really good news is that the rise of horror movies is bucking a dismal pattern. Mainstream movies are now smothered by franchises like Marvel and DC. Adult-oriented movies are increasingly packaged in the bright colors of comic books and contaminated by children’s fables about good triumphing over evil, hard work pays off, and friendship is beautiful. We get to see the same fishbowl world, the same characters, the same stories.
In contrast, horror has become increasingly sophisticated, questioning modern anxieties and toying with form to ask: Where is evil and vice? Wesela: Woman of Bone Which led us to experience postpartum psychosis in the 2020s Invisible Man It took us on a journey of empathy with victims of domestic violence.
How does horror resolve this contradiction? What’s its secret? How does it pack valuable messages and experimental techniques into audiences that reject them elsewhere? The secret has been right in front of us all along. Horror has always been a genre designed to capture our complete attention. Our brains go on hyper-vigilance, sensing danger. This is how it’s dealt with low budgets and unknown actors. People watch anyway. And this is the addictive sprinkling of sugar that helps us take our medicine now. Horror can get away with anything, as long as it scares us: complex political allegories, clever camerawork, plot points peppered with inventive camerawork. Scented CandlesLike Hugh Grant’s next movie. Heretic.
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I feel like that potential has only just begun to be explored.
