Dispatches from Suburbia

If I played an instrument, I would have a band called "The Simon Thomsen Sex Tape"; and other musings, rants, and disconnected ramblings.

Monday, March 19, 2007

High Tension

Quote of the Day: "I won't let anyone come between us any more."
-High Tension

I've never been a huge fan of horror flicks. I could be considered a gore junkie, I suppose, with my attraction to war films and Scorcese pictures, but I tend to shrug off horror movies. Maybe it's the bad acting.

Tonight, I made an exception to my movie-watching habits and rented High Tension. Honestly, I was impressed. Good acting, and there is an often overused twist (which I won't give away) that is actually presented in a new way. Voyeurism, as with any good horror movie (think Hitchcock), is acknowledged, and the final frame of the film even acknowledges the audience--maybe it's even an implication. Why do we go to a horror film? To be scared? Or is it to fulfill some unmentionable desire to see others in pain?

They're uncomfortable questions, and what's even more uncomfortable are horror films that don't ask them. High Tension, though an admittedly audience-pleasing bloodbath, does not avoid such ideas, making it even more worthy of the term "horror."

Also, this one--rather than presenting us with bimbos and meatheads being slaughtered--gives us a lead that we can root for. Questions of sexuality, and society's version of sexuality and the "norms" are raised, all of which are crystallized in the final act. To explain more would give away too much. Let's just say that I couldn't help but sympathize with the slasher.

2 Comments:

At 10:05 PM, Blogger mist1 said...

I watch a lot of horror movies. You should see me when I do that adorable hold-me-I'm-so-scared thing. It's really a classic.

 
At 7:14 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

I will watch it with you under a few conditions:
1. It's not dark inside or outside
2. You agree not to get mad at me when I wake up in the middle of the night because "I heard something."
3. You will not make fun of me seeing things in my sleep because I promise you after watching a scary movie, the problem will become chronic.

 

Post a Comment

<< Home