A Thousand Hacking at the Branches

Henry Thoreau is attributed as saying, "There are a thousand hacking at the branches of evil to one who is striking at the root." It's a quote that I've always found fascinating ever since I heard it from the lips of Captain Howdy in Dee Snider's "Strangeland". I believe the meaning is that it is better to get to the core of the evil and deal with it than waste time with minions. I prefer to twist it around in a kind of reverse. I like the idea of it being about tapping into evil rather hacking away at it to get rid of it. There are thousands brushing against what it is to be evil and amongst them is a true monster. In a recent interview to be posted next month I brought up my dislike of pathetic punk and rabble sort of evil. I have a real taste for the boogeymen the monsters fear.

Every now and again there is a story or a movie where a group of ne'er-do-wells or even outright miscreants are out doing their damage, sowing chaos, and/or generally ruining other people's lives. Then they come into a situation like so many others before, except that this time they will be the victims. There is more than one way for the worse evil to prove that it is worse. It doesn't always have to be the stock answer that they are more violent, more sadistic, or more perverted. Here is where manipulative and insidious is more fun, even if eventually it comes down to a gruesome end for the lesser evil. Another choice I find less than desirable is for the victims to be brought down by their own in-fighting. Some find great satisfaction in that, but I find it wears thin. This leads to one of the defining elements of hard-core evil.

Like anything else, it's easy to overuse it, but I find the worst evil that villains can do is bring out the evil in otherwise good people. It's nothing to make the selfish and the uncaring to commit heinous acts, but if you can make upstanding people willingly do the wrong thing, what they would never do on their own in most other situations, then you're getting somewhere, evil-wise.

There is an unasked question here. Where does the protagonist fit into this story? A lot of the time there isn't one; not in the sense of a hero. Sometimes it may be the least offensive of the victim villains. Some other good person caught in the middle and able to provide a sense of urgency or heightened tension is a good choice. Things can get complicated. That is a consideration to keep in mind. Tying back to last week, it is a more relatable, good, person that provides for a greater anchor to the horror for the audience. Finally, the three-way conflict has its own pros and cons. The dynamic is different, and it affects the warp and weft of the mood, pacing, and character requirements as much as it does the narrative fabric.

Mood: meditative.
Music: Original Sin by Meat Loaf and Instruments Of Destruction by N.R.G.

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Take Out the Garbage

*** Disclaimer: The following in no way means to disparage the people of lower class income or who live in certain kinds of homes. It is specifically about the character of some people and speaks to the common and likely even stereotypical view of such groups of individuals. ***

Previously we took a look at the unsavoury subset of the already looked down upon white trash group. For note some of this applies to disaffected urbanites, the rich who live in their own world practically, and just the general malaise affecting much of the civilised world that rises to the very aptly named legal term called depraved indifference. Further, this is different than the uncivilised groups that frequently partake in wanton destruction and consider defilement commonplace and desirable--the villain/monster perhaps. This is really about those who have the veneer of decency and civility bare in spots or ripped away and sitting askew. With that in mind, it's time to look at how exactly they change the horror in a story or movie.

One consideration is that the horror should offset or counterpoint the grungy, dirty, immoral quality of these characters--this of course is if they are prevalent, which is certainly true with their natural habitat as the setting. The first possibility that comes to mind is a slasher who is much the opposite, who is moralistic in that sinners and the improper die by his or her hand. Thematically, or better yet even literally/visually, the blood spilled washes away or hides the dirt with clean, placid-smooth red, though of course this is temporary as it dries and becomes just more grime worsening what was there--don't forget the added element of blood smell to this--a chink in the armour of this "purity" if you will, belying it's masking nature, and foreshadowing the physical rot to come to match the moral rot.

Overall the most important consideration in creating terror with these types of characters is how to overcome the audience's dislike of the characters. It dulls the horror when people don't identify with the characters. It's even worse when the audience wants to see them come to a bad end--though there are readers and movie watchers who do that on purpose, but even they frequently want nice, undeserving victims, when the point isn't to punish the impure. Also, unless you're looking to have shades of grey in frightening conflict you want to be clear just who the metaphorical monster is. Make your horror really horrific and evil. Enough to scare the hardest heart and make them look almost cuddly in comparison. Lastly, in film at least, fear is infectious and characters who show their fear illicit it from the audience. These are just some of the things to keep in mind in this kind of setting.

Mood: solemn.
Music: Sweet Pain by Kiss and Poison by Alice Cooper.

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The White-Trash King

*** Disclaimer: The following in no way means to disparage the people of lower class income or who live in certain kinds of homes. It is specifically about the character of some people and speaks to the common and likely even stereotypical view of such groups of individuals. ***

Let’s talk about Rob Zombie again. Specifically I want to talk about how sometimes I jokingly refer to him as the White-Trash King. I mean no disrespect in this, in fact quite the opposite. If you want down and dirty, trailer trash--with or without the trailer--lowbrow, low rent, it must be both trying and fun to be around these people, kind of characters then Zombie is your man. I mean wow. I am in awe and more than a little jealous. I feel way too clean cut and, take your pick, suburban or rural to get the kind of grasp on these kinds of characters like Zombie does. You can have your opinion as to why he has this grasp, but that's none of my business, and I'm here about other things. Now, let me give you a little background and viewing history.

I've had an influx of Rob Zombie watching over the last couple of months. I had liked "House of 1000 Corpses" from the moment the end credits rolled despite some of its obvious flaws. It took me quite a while to get around to "The Devil's Rejects" and I was floored. It was amazing. What a huge leap forward in directing--and the other aspects of the filmmaking process were also up to that standard. Then we have Zombie's "Halloween" remake. I like it. I've only seen the director's cut--go unrated discs. It really puts me in mind of the original's director cut in that it seems to carry on quite a while. The thing is that it is interesting if you are in the mood. Since I recently saw Rejects I also finally got my hands on "Halloween II"--again director's cut and unrated. Let's start with the bad news--I'll be brief, the review will be elsewhere. It has it's problems--again that will be elsewhere (sorry).

Back to the characters. These trashy characters aren't just everything I described in the first paragraph. Those people aren't all that bad. There is a subset among them though, that you might say are equal in roughness, more kindly unpolishedness perhaps, morally as they are in the more obvious attributes. This more rotten core will stab you as soon as look at you, smack their kids and spouses around (yes, by no means limited to the trash demographic), and attack the authorities when they come to take away their right to be beaten. As with any group, the two kinds mix freely making it harder to spot the villains, and adding complexity to dealing with them for both the author and any characters from the outside. Now, with this look at these types of characters in hand, we can take a look at how they affect the horror in any given story or movie.

Mood: daring.
Music: Deep Unknown by Stratovarius and These Colours Don't Run by Iron Maiden.

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