Oct 31 2009
Honorable Mention of the Macabre
While it didn’t make the 31 movies, it isn’t because it’s not one of my more favorite scary movies, but it’s because you, the reader, might have trouble tracking it down, and the entire reason of writing this 31 days thing was to offer you other choices at the rental houses.
August Underground - 2001 and Mordum - 2003
The plot for the movie is pretty easy to follow: Two serial killers go on a murdering rampage as one films the outcome from behind a video camera. One of the most realistically portrayed simulated snuff films.
I had read about this movie on some forums online claiming it was the “most disgusting movie ever made” and simply had to check it out. 9 times out of 10 when an accusation like that is made the movie turns out to be fucking dull and weak. This time, I found myself not being able to watch the entire movie in one sitting. There is some pretty nasty stuff here. Not to mention the over the top sequel, Mordum. Yes, these movies have their faults. Yes, you can hear the blood capsule breaking when they slit throats, but step back, take a look at it from an outside film-fan view and you will see something truly memorable.
When the first film was released it was released on VHS tapes and DVDs with out labels or names. The movie itself has no credits, just movie. It looks precisely like it was taken out of a camera and just handed to you. No editing outside of incamera cutting. It looks real. So real in fact it made its way into the hands of the FBI. And wouldn’t ya know it, they came a knocking on the film makers doors and told them that they had to prove the people in the movie were still alive. This is when it was released on DVD with the wicked special features and documentaries. I own my proud signed-by-the-entire-cast “Snuff edition” copy and it is displayed in my living room now. You will never forget that amazing hammer to the head scene.
If you can find it, I suggest only the hardcore of the hardcore horror fans watching it. It’s gore-ific.
Why? WHY MUST MOVIE MAKERS DO THIS? This is the reason I regretted watching the unrated version of Saw III. This was the reason I would find myself too full of nerves to go into my own basement. This is gore and gore to the extreme.
I will admit that I have been tempted to write horror (there are even Christian writers like Ted Dekker that delve into the violence and crazy themes that is this genre) but that doesn’t mean I (or he) was right. There are too many studios that get into this horrid cash cow it gets on my nerves. The fact that people love . . . are passionately fascinated with the thought of people’s deaths and their own is quite disturbing. . . and I am sure I am not the only one. I don’t want to die yet . . . and I don’t plan to in the few days ahead.
This is why I think that screenwriters (people who create scripts) should get more into thrillers at least and break away from the mold. I haven’t seen Eagle Eye. . . but Steven Spielberg was behind it so I am sure there is probably a good point to it. This is my opinion. . . but evil is out there in the world. . . it just shouldn’t be glorified to the furthest extent; one would think people would be too scared to leave their own homes rather than go to a theater to see a flick with the gore at the highest notch.
People should look for entertainment that is a little more wholesome and more interesting . . . and doesn’t involve a character on screen with the chainsaw in his hand and a thought that only the heart knows. Please help us, somebody. . .
Hey junkfx.
What’s up?
Take care and God loves ya
@Chris - While I understand where you’re coming from, I have a different take on it. Everything you write about is your opinion, that horror movies shouldn’t be made just be gory and terrifying, that Eagle Eye probably has a point (which it doesn’t) and that entertainment should be wholesome.
This is the glory and beauty of living in a free society - people are allowed to find pleasure in ANY avenue of their choosing, comedy movies, romance movies, pornography, horror movies, foreign movies, etc. You start suggesting that people limit what they watch based on the subjective term “wholesome” and it can get out of hand. What if I don’t think a woman in a short skirt is wholesome? Guess I’m against Transformers. Wonder if I am against two men kissing in a movie? Better not watch Milk with that dirty, dirty Sean Penn. What if it gets so out of hand that maybe, just maybe, I’m against the idea that an animal talks? That’s pretty fantastical, could be considered demonic, completely unrealistic. Better not watch any Disney movie.
My point is, when you state your opinion, that’s one thing. But to suggest that people should all be the same and watch the same old movies as everyone else, as long as it’s completely normal and non-offensive… well, that’s another.
And if you’re REALLY worried, don’t be. There’s more than enough greyish, lumpy mush and cookie cutter movies out there to keep you entertained for life. These are the movies that make money, are mass produced and usually… completely unoriginal.
Also… I had no idea a screenwriter actually wrote the scripts. Thanks for pointing that out.
That being said, I thought this movie was a little too gory for my liking… but I’m glad I got to see it.
You write well and passionately. I highly respect this. As for the comment on anti-splatter/gore films, similar to how people believe that gore films should not be released is the same feeling I get when I see happy sappy family friendly movies littering the box office. John Waters was right, “Family is just another word for censorship.” - Cecil B Demented.
I love gore films, but I will also be the first one to turn the film off if the characters and plot are dull. Saw 2-what-ever-the-hell-they-are-on-now are just trivial examples of garbage being thrown at us in a sloppy attempt as fear-mongering. There is little difference between schlock gore flicks and the evening news. They are there as a morality tool, to keep you in check.
Ever see Hostel? I’m sorry, it was pretty pathetic huh? Ever see Hostel 2? Why? Why would you go back to something that was so beyond miserable? I know… to get that adrenaline rush. That is the core reason we watch horror films. While some may argue its because of the way they like such and such (nudity, violence, what ever), it all boils down to the roller coaster effect.
Aside from chemicals in your body, the horror film is the closest thing you can deres you body with for the Flight or Fight response, flooding your veins with adrenaline, getting you a tad bit high. The more you watch, the more you feel less fear flowing through you. You have to find harder and harder stuff. It’s a wicked spiral, but its the same case in every obsession. Action movies of the 80s can’t hold a candle to the action of today’s films. Romance movies were long, slow and drawn out, while romance films today are clever, witty and quick paced. Even thrillers. Aside from masterpieces like, Night of the Hunter, few films really flood you with that overwhelming sense of fear and compassion for the character, this is why Hitchcock is considered so damn good, he could do this without even trying.
The reason I like August Underground, isn’t for the plot or the character development, like I stress so deeply in most cases in cinema. No, it’s the innovation of constantly pushing society’s threshold of tolerance. In honesty, I’m not too much a fan of the movie, but for what the film tries to be, I am head over heals for. When ever I loan my copy out, I stress, “This is not a good film, however, you will walk away seeing something you have never seen before.” And for that, I applaud them.
Now….And this has been welling up in me for 20 minutes now… Eagle Eye?? For serious? Eagle Eye was a god awful attempt at … what ever the hell they were attempting. It was boring, weakly thought out, terrible tripe. Speilberg is extremely hit or miss. Recently, I would dare to say the past 10 years, is extremely miss. And be sure to remember, just because a person you like’s name is on the project doesn’t mean its gonna be any good, it’s just that they needed a paycheck that week.
@Junk -
While I agree with most of what you said, that last sentence I have to disagree with.
Everything Will Ferrell touches is gold.
@ Andrea -
Will Ferrell. You…. sicken me.