I can't help but laugh when the monsters come on screen in the movies we have watched in class. I mean, really 1950s? That's the best you can do? Night of the Demon's horror was ruined by its tacky, cheap monster. I didn't find it nearly as frightening as say, a demon monkey. Or giant squid. Or an army of ants. That being said, I felt the same way about Cat People. I had no sense of fear because the monster was a panther, and we didn't even get to see Irena turn into the cat!
That brings me to my point. Horror movies suck all the fear out of horror stories. Casting the Runes? Scary. It leads the reader into thinking about the demon. The reader can stop and put themselves into that situation. This is much harder to do during the film. You are seeing everything. Nothing is left to the imagination. And the monster they chose to portray was tacky and tame. I know what you are all going to say. "It was the 50s! They didn't have great technology!" I know, I know. But Tourneur didn't want to show the demon. That was an option. Unfortunately his wishes were not fulfilled and the audience is left with a non-scary demon. It ruined the fear that Casting the Runes instilled in me.
1 comment:
I really feel we are spoiled by our special effects today. When these movies first came out, those monsters were cutting edge. The scenes in Cat People were seen as scary, but it's not because the people who watched these movies originally were just scaredy cats. I think a lot of it has to do with what they were exposed to. Today, in order for something to be scary it seems it has to be covered in blood and be literally ripping someone's throat out, but even that is starting to lose it's effect on scaring the audience. In 20 years, i'm sure some of the movies we find scary now won't be considered so anymore. My question is, after we've applied as much realistic gruesome detail as we can to these monsters, where do we go? Will they just disappear from the screen completely?
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