Dangerous game.
17 August 2008 @ 04:00 ; 0 CommentsI am sick. Like, full blown. Headaches come and go, a blocked nose, muscle aches, pain. And the last time I felt this way was... hmmm. I can't remember when, exactly. Coupled with a marathon of this week's airing of The Defining Moment, I'm not feeling so hot (pardon the expression). Perhaps it's that time of the month.
So after showers I decided to pop a DVD in to lift my spirits up.
Hello?
Hello.
Yes?
Who is this?
Who are you trying to reach?
What number is this?
Well, what number are you trying to reach?
I don't know.
I think you have the wrong number.
Do I?
It happens. Take it easy.
Still unable to figure out the movie I watched? Well I hope not. It's so easy to guess from the quotes. Easily the most iconic and highly applauded as one of the most original opening sequences ever. The first fifteen minutes alone should keep you at the edge of your seat. I really pitied Drew Barrymore's character. But she did really well and set up the rest of the movie brilliantly.
Scream was the first horror... I'm sorry, teen slasher movie to be made and released after a drought of unoriginal and half baked ones, way back before Hollywood started being bogged down by rubbish releases. Its positive reception paved the way for plenty of copycats and not one of them, unfortunately, even managed to be even half as good as how Scream was.
So throughout the movie we were introduced to a bunch of characters who got picked off one by one, until there's only a handful left. For a slasher movie, it had its smarts, and the overall satirical feel of it allowed for a lot of liberties in terms of pop culture references and homages to previous horror movies as forms of examples or just within conversations. The genius storytelling by Kevin Williamson, and under Wes Craven's excellent direction, made for a movie that has, to this day, been referenced at when in terms of putting together a teen slasher flick.
I do have a bone to pick with some of the characters' decisions, particularly Drew's and Rose McGowan's. (BEWARE OF SPOILERS though I seriously doubt people still have not watched this movie.) (Excuse me?! Did I see some hands that still have not watched it?! Tsk tsk tsk. Shame on you.) Now, Drew's character Casey ran out of the house, haven't put down the phone, and still hanging around its outside perimeter while sneaking peeks into the house to check on the killer. Her parents were driving home, almost within reach. And when she finally made her move, she had to slow down and loiter near her boyfriend's corpse, with his insides on the outside. I mean, hello?! Run for your life, bitch! And switch off your cordless phone too, while you're at it! Geez.
You know, in a sense I am glad I live in Singapore. For one thing, we all live in high-rise apartment buildings. What kind of a blockhead would dare try to kill his victims who live in such places? Stalking would already be a dead (no pun intended) giveaway and imagine throwing the victim(s) off- that's a mighty fall, lah. Ahhh yes, I can imagine it now. Somehow it came off funny in my mind.
And then there was Rose's character Tatum. I applaud her for being sassy and still having her wits intact as she was face to face with the killer. However what I don't get was how could she have not turned on the garage door while she was fumbling for the switch. I mean, the switch's not that small, was it? Okay okay, so she was probably scared by then. But still. You. Were. Fumbling. For it. Earlier. It's not hard to miss. Blah. And the untimely decision of trying to escape by going through the cat door. Double blah.
Just a couple major nitpicks. But if I were to rewrite them then the majority of the cast would have survived and it's not so much a fun teen horror movie now, would it? Hmmm. Come to think of it, perhaps my own mini version. A short film. Where the character survives. That would be an interesting take.
There was one scene in the movie- principal's office, two students being reprimanded for pulling a joke in the wake of the deaths and not being sensitive enough during such times. Which then begs the question- are movies (horror or otherwise) to be blamed for desensitizing the audience?
According to Billy Loomis, "Movies don't create psychos; movies make psychos more creative!" Alright, not the best analogy to incite, but in a sense, it does still apply. Does the media play a part in molding a person's thinking, actions, decisions? Is that the reason why homicides have been on a rise and creatively executed? Attempts to emulate those done in movies? What about how after repeated viewings of horror movies a person becomes so immune to them they don't bat an eyelid when it comes to excessive gore, insane mutilations, extended scenes of characters being gutted, be it fictional or otherwise?
I have to admit my list of horror movie viewings is rather expansive. But does that mean I am desensitized? Perhaps. And perhaps not. I do enjoy watching such stuff, and screaming my lungs out (only when with The Bachins), but when it comes to mutilation (self or otherwise), sometimes too much is bad enough, as the Spice Girls highlighted. I do cringe. That being said, I was disappointed with my Scream DVD- it seems that the gore has been toned down or completely snipped off! Understandably I am peeved. What's a horror movie without its share of gore, right?
The media will sometimes (or three quarters of the time) go all out in terms of pushing the envelope, be it for entertainment purposes (most of the time) or to interpret certain things (historical movies, despite its inaccuracies). However that still does not allow for the audience to use it as a valid crutch for their behavioural defects and extremely violent tendencies. In my opinion using that argument is just a weak excuse and an overall lack of understanding in terms of segregating between entertainment and reality. Just because horror movies employ artistic licenses when it comes to filleting its victims does not mean that we should be using similar tactics on our fellow humankind. It just reflects badly upon us and our mentality.
Well then. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go sharpen my knife now. You know... just in case.
