Jump to content
Objectivism Online Forum

jcapehart

Regulars
  • Posts

    2
  • Joined

  • Last visited

Previous Fields

  • State (US/Canadian)
    Not Specified
  • Country
    Not Specified
  • Copyright
    Copyrighted
  • School or University
    Texas A&M

jcapehart's Achievements

Newbie

Newbie (1/7)

0

Reputation

  1. I just saw it; I was quite amazed they did it.
  2. (This is the first draft of an article I am writing, so it is unfinished. Much of it is written concerning horror films, but the concepts apply to horror stories in all forms, whether they are a movie, a book, or even a video game.) On horror stories Horror stories have long been an obsession of mine; however, I hate most horror movies. Instead I am obsessed with the way I think they should be, the way I would make them. I’m going to look at some of the things that I think are wrong with horror stories, then the things that I like about them. Then I will look at a few good examples of what a good horror story can be, and discuss how to create them. Things that are bad about horror stories. Some general ideas and quotes borrowed with respect from the Rouge Psychologist, http://roguepsych.blogsource.com/post.mhtml?post_id=314939. 1) The hold the malevolent Universe premise. Horror movies are almost universally set in a universe where man is constantly surrounded by evil; a universe where at every turn lays torture and death. As the Rouge Psychologist points out, horror movies often have numerous sequels with the evil returning over and over, never vanquished. As he says, “You can’t destroy the evil. And you never know when, where, or how it will strike.” I hate such a universe; after watching such a movie I am not happy, I feel like I need to take a bath to scrub off the scum. 2) They portray man as a helpless being. They almost universally show man as a being helpless in the face of true evil. They often show man unable to defeat the evil permanently (again, often numerous sequels showing the evil returning). They do not make you feel like you can take charge of your own destiny, that you are instead a plaything of the evil around you, and are ultimately doomed. 3) They show that the good cannot win (related to 2 above). The rouge psychologist makes an excellent point here; the good is defined simply by contrast to evil. He says: “However, even at that one hopes that survival and the defeat of obvious evil is possible. No such hope is given, except maybe briefly.” I simply do not wish to see men and women dying in horrible ways, without any chance of survival. The worst example of this I have seen is in “Night of the living dead” (I believe this is the correct film). Throughout the entire movie there is a character that shows significant tenacity in surviving the zombies, narrowly escaping death numerous times. However at the end of the film the cavalry is here; the police have arrived and are shooting the zombies, and the character has survived. Despite the many other problems, this could almost redeem the movie to some extent (at leas tot the point it would not be a total waste of time); however the sheriff then mistakes the man for a zombie, and shoots him dead. So even when there is some good shown (the tenacity of the character), it is shown at best as pointless, or at worst as harmful. 4) They want to disgust you. They seem to strive to disgust you, without any point; it’s not really to drive you to righteous anger at some evil, it’s simply to disgust you. Things that can be good about horror stories. 1) They scare you. This is one thing I find good about them; being frightened. This can in fact be an enjoyable experience, and can help you to feel alive! I enjoy being scared sometimes, and more enjoy the happy and lighthearted feeling afterwards. The right kind of scary film can raise my mood up from the dumps; I feel that the world is not a horrible place, because even such evil as that can be defeated! A purely happy movie can help you directly see the good in the world, which is very good, but sometimes a concrete example of evil being defeated really helps. 2) Horror stores can be an excellent setting for heroes. Given a great evil, a terrible situation, people in danger; this is the perfect setting for a brave hero to do good. Examples of good horror stories. Careful about reading these, they do contain some spoilers. Aliens. This was the second film from the Alien series; the first not having, from my understanding, the qualities that made this one good. The main character is extremely tenacious and brave, and most of the other characters are suitable, if not down right good. Only some are shown as wishy washy and weak, and at least one is shown as evil (and is punished). The film is not about disgusting you; it’s about scaring you. 28 days later I was very surprised by this one. It had tenacious characters, the evil characters where punished, and the overall evil itself was defeated. The main characters survived, and the end was actually quite uplifting (do not watch the alternative/director’s ending). Ways to make good horror stories. Of obvious value is to not have a malevolent universe; create a universe that yes, has evil, but also has good that can fight the evil. Create heroes, strong and tenacious, to fight and survive. Allow people to survive, and be happy. Show the ending as being a good and happy place to be. Don’t try to disgust the audience; scare them instead. Through use of suspense, sound, and shadows, depending on the medium, you can scare your audience without pointlessly disgusting them. Conclusion. It seems horror films are not by their very nature malevolent; there is no reason why we cannot have a good horror film, that makes us go away happy. We can show the world as a good place, but still have our evil. I do not find H.P. Lovecraft to be an example of good horror. In fact, it has most of the problems I have with horror stories.
×
×
  • Create New...