Well, I do have certain conclusions. First, that the whole "too extreme for general viewing thing" was just marketing hype that I'm embarrassed to have fallen for. But that's how it is when you're a genre fan - just like a girl who keeps dating losers - you can never lose the flame of hope. Even though you're fairly sure that the guy who was great on paper is going to, on the second or third date, produce a lint collection, or a penchant for snorting like a pig, or confess to a teeny tiny restraining order from his ex-girlfriend...you just close your eyes, make a wish, and go for it. Same for the horror fan. And when the movie sucks? You move on, and when you see the preview for that NEW movie, you swear it'll be good. It'll be scary.
Second, after a little peeping online into the IMDB entries for some of the movies, I can see that I was not the only one of this opinion. It was agreed that, although some people complained that the HF organization never got it together enough to offer a weekend pass, that it was better to cherry pick and go to one or two movies rather than blow 80 bucks on all eight. And I agree, and am glad I got to see some of the better movies of the bunch. I don't agree that The Gravedancers was a good movie - it could have been good, if they had a better dialogue writer and, presumably, more budget to produce more ghost rather than save it for one or two scenes. But, okay, yeah, their hearts were in the right place.
Lastly, I just wanted to mention that I hear that these movies were all made in 2005 and that some of them are already available on DVD. Whether that is actually a legal release or a shitty bootleg, that I don't know. But that's kind of a crappy feeling, isn't it? Not so much that I saw movies that are out on DVD. I don't care about that. I do care if the advertising was misleading, however.
That's all I have to say about that...and that's my final review for the weekend. I do want to keep this up and review movies out of our collections for each other, guys. What else is that wall of DVDs good for if not for discussion of La Bete!
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1 comment:
Yes, apparently you can.
The only possible reason why the films in this collection could be considered "too extreme" is for teenage drug use. Rrrrright. Extreme? Of course not... but perhaps in the view of the MPAA.
"Dark Ride", "The Hamiltons", and "Wicked Little Things" all had teens lighting up joints and drinking beer... as teens do... and to the best of my recollection never really painting it in a particularly negative light (unlike the remake of "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre", for instance.)
Your point about horror genre fans being as pathetically hopeful as a girl with bad luck dating is a very apt one. You frequently hear the expression "Man, that was the best horror film I've seen in a long time" these days. As a matter of fact, Brandon said the same thing just recently of the "Dawn of the Dead" Remake (which I totally agree with.) It's true of other genres as well, of course. How many "romantic comedies" are actually remembered a few years after their release?
The studios are very much aware of the fact that the horror fan base will see any horror movie they choose to screen during the Fall season. The majors are notorious for having one single horror flick on their books a year. And we all know how ofter a major studio produces a horror film that we give a shit about.
What this film fest needed were more writers and directors who were inspired by "Evil Dead" and less who were apparently inspired by "I Know What You Did Last Summer".
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