As someone that’s padded down the left-hand path for most
of my life – at least in terms of my artistic pursuits – a frequent question I
receive is: Why consume such content? I’ve had to answer this question many,
many times in my life, and it’s easy to see why most people don’t understand my
tastes in music or cinema. The average person simply isn’t built to appreciate
records that are intentionally abrasive or movies that revel in violence and
gore. And in a world where you can download more music in a day than you could
ever listen to in a lifetime, or stream content from any and every genre
imaginable directly to a device in the palm of your hand, it does take a
certain type of person to actively seek out and consume content specifically
made to agitate and perturb.
So why do I do it?
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| Musings HQ – (AKA, Where Shit Gets Done) |
The primary reason I watch horror is essentially the same
reason why I listen to abrasive music: good art should affect its audience.
While that’s clearly not meant to imply that works in other genres are not
affective, I find that horror and metal often create not only an affective
experience, but a very visceral one at that. Well-crafted riffs or “scares” are
truly powerful things; neither one requiring any sort of analysis to be
properly felt. They’re able to tap into our more primordial instincts,
completely bypass the brain and cause the body simply to react in the moment.
I’ve literally watched other metal fans punch through walls and headbutt slabs
of concrete all in response to the strange alchemy that can only emanate from
the almightiest of riffs. (Various drugs and alcohol may have also been
slightly involved. Maybe.) And while I’ve thankfully never had such an
experience, a quick online search will render countless stories of people
passing out or even suffering a heart attack strictly due to the intense
visuals they’re witnessing on-screen. (See: Here)
That intensity and tension is also something that I
actively seek out and just personally enjoy. One of the most common arguments
that horror fans make for the genre is comparing it to riding a roller coaster.
Both horror movies and roller coasters are meant to elicit fear from their
participants by offering a scary and thrilling experience in an otherwise safe
and controlled environment. I genuinely enjoy the way my body reacts to the
tension of faint scratches coming from behind a closed, closet door or the soft
growl emanating from beneath a child’s bed. These carefully crafted scenes are
basically no different than an adult version of the Jack-in-the-Box – another
thrilling yet safe experience – where every crank builds tension and leads you
closer to an unexpected jolt. The only time I typically experience this kind of
tension outside of the theater – since my doctors aren’t really cool with me on
roller coasters – is when I’m waiting for some medical results. And that’s not
nearly as much fun as reveling in someone else’s nightmare as it slowly unfolds
within a well-made horror movie or creep-tastic novel.
But horror and metal are also genres that are more than
nimble enough to effectively operate on multiple levels. These are genres that
can often deliver a very clear and direct twisting of the guts, while also
conveying a certain intellect and depth through their subtext or lyrics –
something critics of both genres frequently fail to recognize or acknowledge.
But the choice for how far down the rabbit hole one wants to travel is then
left entirely to the audience, not an overly preachy writer/director or
lyricist. Ultimately, each member of the audience can choose for themselves
whether to enjoy just the superficial response that each provide, or they can
take a closer look and choose to examine what often lies beneath each.
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| George A. Romero's Day Of The Dead (1985) |
Take George A. Romero’s career, for example. Romero was
always a filmmaker that had something to say, but could usually only get
financing for horror movies. And zombie movies, in particular. So he took that
mandate and built a career (and legacy) on using zombies as a means to tackle
bigger, more relevant issues within society. Whether he was addressing issues
like, classism (NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD), consumerism (DAWN OF THE DEAD) or
militarism (DAY OF THE DEAD), horror movies became the vehicle for his
commentary on society. And he is by no means alone. From older filmmakers, like
David Cronenberg (THE FLY, DEAD RINGERS), to contemporaries, like Jordan Peele
(GET OUT, US), horror movies often have something to say beneath all their fake
blood and prosthetics. The audience just has to make the effort to look for it.
Furthermore, by horror and metal trusting and empowering
their audiences to seek out the answers to their questions for themselves, I
think more people are willing to accept that challenge and engage in whatever
is their chosen medium. I know I am. I like that I might have to read
interviews with writers/directors to learn about what exactly they were trying
to accomplish with a particular scene or movie overall, or I actually have to
take the time and look up lyrics to a song rather than simply follow along
while I listen. These things require effort, like many of the best and most
rewarding things in life, and I believe they’re often worth whatever time and
effort it takes for you to dig in and discover their respective secrets.
The whole filmmaking process, regardless of genre, is
also something that I find absolutely fascinating, and I particularly enjoy the
creativity and inventiveness that horror movies must employ. It’s horror movies
that identify new and interesting ways to create tension or depict certain
otherworldly elements. While it’s true that every great movie must start with a
great script, the journey from script to screen is arguably the most
significant for many horror movies. Whereas what makes other genres affective
can often be found right on the page, horror movies require a certain
inventiveness to convert a script’s written words, or even some thorough
storyboards, into scary and compelling visuals. I mean, most people can imagine
on their own what a small-town diner looks like, but what about the cruel afterlife?
(See: TRIANGLE, ANGEL HEART)? Or astral projection? (See: INSIDIOUS; DONNIE
DARKO.) Horror movie directors must figure out ways to depict, and keep
re-depicting these things for every new era and generation of moviegoers.
Consider the haunted house movie, for a moment. There is
perhaps no greater staple of the horror genre than the haunted house movie, and
there are a lot of different supernatural phenomena that can occur within the
walls of any such residence. These can be strange noises, flying objects and
apparitions, among many other spooky occurrences. But how a horror movie then
depicts those different events will often vary wildly given a director’s visual
style, and the techniques and trends of the time. There are also small
variances to haunted house movies that stem from their country of origin. How
the Spanish (See: THE DEVILS BACKBONE; THE ORPHANAGE), Japanese (See: PULSE,
HOUSE) and Americans (See: THE ENTITY, THE CHANGELING [1980]) tell a ghost
story is entirely unique to their country and cultural beliefs. Observing and
noting these subtleties is as interesting to me as the movies themselves.
Then, of course, there’s the simple fact that even
objectively “bad” horror movies often contain certain elements that, despite
often lacking in technical merits, still prove to be wildly entertaining.
Movies like HACK-O-LANTERN, CHRISTMAS EVIL and EVILSPEAK are all objectively
terrible, yet I still happily and proudly count them amongst my favorite movies
for reasons that have nothing to do with the craft of filmmaking. Even absolute
classics of the genre are not without their scars and warts. For example, John
Carpenter’s HALLOWEEN – a classic in the eyes of both fans and critics alike –
features noticeable palm trees in its supposed suburb of Chicago, and a sizable
plume of cigarette smoke from its director sitting out of frame, among its
other lovable blemishes. And even though I’ve seen HALLOWEEN dozens of times
over the years, I still wait to catch a glimpse of these same, stupid gaffes
every time.
But there are also plenty of other blemishes to behold in
horror movies that were often put there intentionally. Weirdly drawn
characters, strange performances, outlandish plot points and goofy kills are
typically just as common in these movies as the menacing specter or murderous
psycho that’s wreaking all the havoc on-screen. And for fans of the genre,
these things, and typically the stories behind them, offer us something to
enjoy, even when a movie’s narrative is a little sluggish or downright trite.
But every movie, regardless of genre, is a labor of love that takes a
tremendous amount of work to see through to completion, and I have immense
respect for anyone that is able somehow make one.
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| Behold! The Vest Of Doom |
While my love for horror involves how all of these
disparate elements come together and interact with each other, the community is
a huge part of its appeal, too. I like people with passion for their interests,
and both the horror and metal communities are rich with contributions from such
members. I like to read a number of horror and metal blogs and listen to the podcasts
that are entirely fan made. I also attend my local horror convention every
year, and nobody ever throws me some sly sideeye or makes an issue of my
disability. To most of them, I’m just another lunatic wandering the asylum.
There’s also a lot of overlap between the horror and metal communities, and I
often have conversations with horror artists and vendors that effortlessly
drift between the two vastly different mediums. I even see other folks walking
around at the convention in their battle jackets and band shirts, and I feel at
ease with them. They are my people. I speak their language, and I am happy to
be a part of their tribe.
If beauty, even for the horrific, still resides in the
eye of the beholder, then it’s for all these reasons and more that I truly and
thoroughly love the horror genre. Typically, I watch a horror movie every night,
but there are a couple nights during the week, my favorite nights, when I can
watch multiple in a row. I try to read new issues of RUE MORGUE upon their
release, and consume horror novels as quickly as I can get my computer to turn
their digital pages. Because horror, like metal, once again, isn’t just a casual
pastime that I pick up and put down whenever the mood strikes. No, for me, both
genres are so much more than that. They’re certainly a source of escapism and
distraction, to be sure. But both genres are also a source of identity, a
source of pride, and at this point, to look at my room, my expenditures and
even my wardrobe, is to realize that both genres have also become a way of life.
So, yeah, I’ll spend my remaining days traveling the
left-hand path, clutching invisible oranges, throwing the horns to every
creature that I pass and searching for anything and everything that goes bump
in the night.
– King Cripple
