DEAD BY DAWN: WHY HORROR IS THE WARMEST PLACE TO HIDE…
By Rusty Apper
''To avoid fainting, keep repeating: It's only indie horror, it's only indie horror, it's only indie horror!''
Like a lot of the things that caught my attention as a kid, indie horror is a lot like the 'fast food' of cinema. It's dirty, it's cheap, but goodness we love it so much, and despite what sort of adverse side effects it may have on our insides, we think it's good for the soul. For me, low budget horror has been something of a 'comfort food' in celluloid form. As a 33-year-old ''90s kid'', the Internet boom happened when I was about 15, so you could say I qualify for a Blockbuster/Netflix dual citizenship, of sorts. The technology has changed, but the sensibilities and the behaviours of genre and its peers have not changed much. And for many, horror is sadly still a 'dirty word'.
I remember a colleague saying to me once, while on set, “This looks great, but hey Rusty, when are you going to make a 'real movie', you know what I mean?” I knew what he meant. And that meant not sacrificing a virgin for an entire 90 minutes. I didn't think I could do it… the audience didn't either. It wasn't a mean comment, but I understood the premise of the fact that low budget horror doesn't win big budget awards. We all know seasoned Thespians yearn for Macbeth, which has its fair share of bloodletting. I'd go so far as to say a lot of Shakespeare is as bloody as modern horror. But you can't say that out loud!
As a kid exploring the aisles of Blockbuster, I was tantalized by the images of horror as opposed to the images of action, adventure and romance. Much like passing the candy stand boasting such feats as 'the largest gobstopper in the world' and 'danger: the most sour candies ever made'. This was a shock factor 'can you handle it' selling strategy, but as a 12-year-old (with cool, liberal parents, if I do say so myself), I wasn't interested in rotting my teeth, I wanted to rot my mind. Suddenly I was drawn in by other challenges such as 'By sword, by pick, by axe, bye bye!' and 'Who will survive, and what will be left of them?' as opposed to 'How much sugar can YOU handle?' I was more interested in how informative 'The Lost Boys' was on vampire living: ‘Sleep all day. Party all night. Never grow old. Never die. It’s fun to be a vampire’. Thanks for the heads-up!
Browsing the horror section for a kid was a bit like stepping into a forbidden abyss. The video nasty cover art captivated me and the warnings of 'Beware, this is the most disturbing film ever seen' acted more as horror-kudos. But as I got older and more interested in the genre, and filmmaking on a whole, I realized that horror was a bit like the black sheep of the cinema family. The black sheep that everyone loved, everyone wanted to hang out with and everyone secretly retreated to for 'comfort'. For something so widely loved, it seemed to have a hard time fitting in with 'the others'. In regard to awards ceremonies, horror to me felt a little like that 'socially inept' person you meet at a party that ends up being really cool and your friend for life. Horror doesn't care if I want to laugh at a kid getting his hand caught in a meat grinder. Horror won't judge my mustard-stained vest and horror certainly understands my need to see some 'hack and slash' on a Sunday afternoon. I found a genre where I could be myself, completely. A genre where I didn't have to be on ceremony or dressed up to appreciate it. Talking of being dressed up, awards ceremonies are no different. Horror has had to 'slide in through the side door' in 'disguise' many times to even get a look in. 'The Exorcist' or 'Dr Jekyll & Mister Hyde' are very stark and definitive cases of 'Horror won an Oscar' but, let's be honest, that is rare. Films like 'Silence of the Lambs', 'Jaws', 'Gothika' and 'Misery' have all been shining examples of mainstream movies, produced in a semi-indie fashion, that have gone on to perform very well with multiple awards, including Oscars. The only catch of course is, they can't be called Horror. In the mid to late 80s, a sudden slew of 'psychological thrillers' and 'adventures' were playing snatch and grab with the movie awards, but let's face it, deep down… they were horror movies. Jaws? Horror movie. Misery? Horror movie. Imagine being invited to a party and told you have to dress as a doctor in order to get through the door.
Horror films have always known how to push social boundaries and deep down, there's a lot more happening than 'just some guy in a mask'. For 'cheap and nasty' and 'tacky trash', I enjoyed seeing the feminine characters prevail where they didn't before. Sure, the 1950's classic era of cinema put Marilyn Monroe firmly in the corner to look pretty and sound cute, while the sports stars and 'jocks' became leading men who saved the day, only to win the 'trophy' of having Miss Monroe on their arm. It's quite exciting to think what the new sensibilities of modern 'horror' would have done with the iconic star. In our 'trashy' world of horror, it's the jocks that are there to look pretty and serve as slim-witted, 'kill fodder', for want of a better expression. Marilyn Monroe was a ESFP type personality, which made her adventurous, prospecting and observant. Sadly we didn't see much of this on screen. Perhaps in our 'trashy' little world, she would of killed the monster, saved the day and explored those traits also. If you take a historic look at horror characters, the 'scream queens', they are often wielding an intellect just as sharp and weighty as say… Jason's machete, or Leatherface's chainsaw. Jamie Lee Curtis broke new ground as Laurie Strode, the 'shy and mousy' intellectual who didn't want to just screw around and play cheerleader. Part of the strength of the writing of 'Halloween' is that it's no secret that John Carpenter wrote all the grisly 'guy stuff' and his writing partner, the late Debra Hill, wrote all the 'girl stuff'. There was an effort made to ensure that the characters and their language were authentic. John Carpenter didn't feel the need to insult the fairer sex by sitting at a typewriter and thinking, 'Hmmm, now how would a woman approach this?' Which is something we've seen many, many times, often to very little success.
Horror was always great at breaking 'taboo' grounds that the more mainstream and 'high brow' productions would shy away from. It could be facing sibling dysfunction with 'Who killed baby Jane?' or exploring the far out and perverse 'fetishes' of Ted Post's shocking 1973 horror-thriller, 'The Baby'. No kink was left unexploited and, in more ways than one, horror didn't discriminate. In 1968, 'Night of the Living Dead' gave us zombies, in their hordes, fighting against our own Midwestern/suburban values. These films took the fear out of creepy Eastern European mansions and moved them, essentially 'right next door', much like Hitchcock did with 'Psycho'. In 1968, America had become accustomed to the smell of napalm in the morning and the 60s were less 'swinging' but more 'swaying' at this point, with racial acceptance still vastly polarizing. This didn't stop George A. Romero from going against stereotypes and casting an African-American in the male lead, thus writing new rules and directing the brilliant Duane Jones through a performance that would truly change horror, and cinema, forever. The 'all inclusive' nature of horror is comforting in its 'we don't care who you are, we'll either kill you or make you a hero' protest, but it's also easy to forget how socially impactful these films were, and still are today. Horror has come full circle with films like 'Us' and 'Get Out', that really challenge the stereotypes and archetypes of society. Or at least what we 'think' they are.
Of course, it's easy to get lost in an academic study of trash cinema, but it's also fun to remember that a lot of the choices made by these filmmakers were based around being the underdog. Most filmmakers, writers and actors alike will tell you that their horror tenure would most likely be remembered as the most liberating and fun they have ever had on a film set. Enjoying the absurd 'fun to be scared' Modus Operandi of directors like Charles Band, Lloyd Kaufman, Bill Lustig & Sam Raimi, to name a few, is one of the most gratifying things a horror fan can endure. The boundaries of 'comic' horror are so self-aware, and they play on that with great success. Horror has always produced a very honest product that knows exactly what it is. 'I eat your skin' and 'Pieces' leave very little to the imagination. These directors have embraced the mentality of, 'Hell, what have we got to lose? Get me a chainsaw, a fifty-foot spider and a gallon of slime, let’s have some fun!' And I suspect more than a just a few pages from the Roger Corman handbook are to blame. There's something incredibly admirable about the visionary who has put their blood, sweat and tears on the line for something, held up their hands and said, 'This will never win an Oscar, but let's give them a scare!' And that's something I really think a lot of audiences enjoy, whether they admit it or not. To me, it all goes back to that fast food analogy. Some days I don't want cuisine, I just want to feel grease running down my chin. Movies are no different. And I'm sure an honest fan once said, 'Some days I don't want an Oscar. Sometimes I just want to see a jock get his head ripped off on a rollercoaster'. One decapitation to go… and yes, I want fries with that.
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