Stephen King and I see eye-to-eye?! 4:37am, July 8, 2008
I always read Stephen King's near-weekly column in Entertainment Weekly, and even though I don't typically see eye-to-eye with the horror legend, I do enjoy his short excerpts.
This weekend I received my latest issue (rocking Heath Ledger as the new Joker on the cover with the always awesome Christian Bale as Batman) and to my delight King has an article titled "Small is Scary", in which he chats about why big studios rarely deliver horror movie magic.
This is something I have been preaching for about a year now, and I know it sounds narcissistic, but I felt like I was one of the rare people who really understood why most horror films of today SUCK. Let's just say that it's nice to be vindicated... by a King.
In the article, which you can all read by clicking here, King explains that the problem lies mostly in special FX. My take on the problem is that, with the use of computers, everything looks too real. If a werewolf looks like a werwolf, then it's just a werewolf. BUT in a film like AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON is much, much more than just a big hairy wolf - it's beyond our comprehension on what the beast is, which makes it terrifying. This is one of my major problems with the new Romero zombie films, the lack of hand craft and rare use of animatronics. The beginning of LAND OF THE DEAD gave me chills, while the rest of the movie took a nosedive.
"One thing that seems clear to me, looking back at the 10 or a dozen films that truly scared me, is that most really good horror films are low-budget affairs with special effects cooked up in someone's basement or garage," King writes.
He also goes on to explain that when studios invest a lot of money into a film, they expect a major return and are forced to compromise the story - basically explaining everything.
"Big movies demand big explanations, which are usually tiresome, and big backstories, which are usually cumbersome. If a studio is going to spend $80 or $100 million in hopes of making $300 or $400 million more, they feel a need to shove WHAT IT ALL MEANS down the audience's throat. Is there a serial killer? Then his mommy didn't love him (insert flashback). A monster from outer space? Its planet exploded, of course (and the poor misunderstood thing probably needs a juicy Earth woman to make sexy with). But nightmares exist outside of logic, and there's little fun to be had in explanations; they're antithetical to the poetry of fear."
King goes on and on and really hits the nail on the head. My only problem is that the article is way too short. I think there's something here and maybe, just maybe if King took this a step further he could actually change things for the horror genre.
I don't know. Maybe it is, maybe it isn't SFX, but one thing I do know is that studios are the cause of a lot of bad horror films. Sony is a perfect example of this. They've had so many "potentially" good horror films that were ruined because they wanted to go PG-13 so the kiddies could come join in. SFX sometimes can ruin a film, but there's more to it than just that IMO (bad script to begin with, cutting the film for a lower rating, direct/writer trying to much to begin with, the story doesn't need to spam a lifetime, just needs meat, sometimes the simplest of ideas are the scariest (for example, watch Hard Candy)).
King owns... end of story. yes he gets a little out of hand with his books they always start off awesome and end very shitty. i loved cell up till the end it fuckin sucked. but whatever.
I can't take King very seriously. Almost ever one of his books that I've read were not only not scary, but had me laughing when they weren't supposed to. Duma Key was the worst of them all.
This shouldn't surprise anybody (considering my Avatar) when I say this is precisely why Halloween is my all time favourite horror film. Although part 2 gives some back story, I love how a kid just snaps. No reason, no rhyme, he just loses it. That's a big reason why I found the remake to be somewhat insulting. Daddy hit me, mommy was a stripper, and my sister fucked anything with a third leg. Boo hoo. The unknown is what frightens us all. This is why death itself frightens so many.
I agree on the Halloween thing. I thought the back story would have been better had it not been so predictable. I think the stupid parent explanation is so played out in real life and movies. I liked the idea of Michael just snapping for no reason one night. It makes for a more suspenseful story and the best murders and/or killers are the ones with no motive.
Long live the King. However, i think that we have seen it all and thats what makes things seem less scary. Jaws scary movie 150 copycats later of great white fun not so scary.
Stephen King definitely knows what he's talking about. Most of his books are beyond amazing. But I agree. Most horror movies today just don't have that spine-chilling effect that makes you want to look away, but you don't because you don't want to miss a minute of the movie. Honestly, horror movies are being sucked down the drain these days.
I like Stephen King but I disagree with him here. I don't think any specific thing makes big budget films bad or small budget films good. I've seen good and bad of both. This blanket statement you're saying is why so many people whine and complain every time a big studio horror movie comes out without even giving it a chance. These statements are way too vague and it should be noted that you should decide things for yourself, by watching horror films and seeing if there are things you like. Watch everything from the indies to giant studio films and don't write stuff of for generic reasons, take them on their own merit. 1 out of every 3 or 4 Stephens King books is good in my opinion, but that doesn't mean I go around saying "EVERYTHING KING WRITES IS CRAP!".
I fully agree with King on this one. The Strangers was excellent, it worked well as opposed to the remake of Halloween or Hostel. Those films aren't scary, they are not terrifying in the least. King said it all.
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I always read Stephen King's near-weekly column in Entertainment Weekly, and even though I don't typically see eye-to-eye with the horror legend, I do enjoy his short excerpts. 
