Subtle, Real Subtle... Actually No

I just watched the movie "Paranormal Activity" for the first time on Monday. It is a slow burning film with subtle horror for the most part, as far as horror movie goes. It is very inline with movies like "What Lies Beneath" as much it is similar to "The Blair Witch Project" and "Cloverfield" in their strict documentary style with less than stable camera shots (though P.A. is much smoother with the camera) and lack of soundtrack or score unless such sounds are rooted in the scene. After watching the movie I was struck with the idea for this Hump Day Horror. This mostly applies to movies but it could also be to used for novels and creating scenarios for role-playing games. Subtle is good, but sometimes, or rather there reaches a point where, it's time to take off the gloves and go for the blatant. It can be a fine balancing act to decide when and where to do either.

Looking through the discussions for a movie like Paranormal Activity at the different sites illustrates the vast differences between people expectation of what is scary. There is a disappointment with the scare levels, with, in essence, the film's reality as it pertains to how paranormal happenings occur. There is also the old incorrect stand-by that one person's preference overrides everyone else's. This is all a part of that balance in its own subtle ways, but isn't exactly my point. I was watching the movie and thinking how I like subtle, but I like it to pay off too. While I enjoy these slow little movies as I call them I like the in your face horrors more. That does not preclude subtle. This is especially true if the subtle parts stick with you and provides ongoing horror after the movie or book or game session is over.

The point is that subtle is fine, subtle is great. It's a needed part of good layering. It can bind action to themes. It can be a by-product of deep thinking peeking through, things only hinted at, hiding in the fringes of a subject matter. That is the way much of the world works and that approximation in fiction adds realism, grounds the fantastical, and as previously stated provides something to mull over, debate about and savour after the fact. The benefit of subtlety and layering is the strength it adds to a work upon repeat reading or viewing. It also widens the audience. Everyone gets something out of it. It's like the grown up or horror equivalent to animated comedies with obvious jokes for the children and the savvier, mature or more intellectual humour--or requiring foreknowledge such as with in-jokes--for the parents watching the feature with them.

Mood: bifurcated.
Music: Dragula by Rob Zombie and La Mer by Nine Inch Nails.

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13 Nights of Hallowe'en 2009: Night #4 The Blair Witch Project

It is hard to image that someone has not seen this movie, but there are always people. I certainly have not seen everything, and the closer you get to newly released the less likely I've seen a particular movie yet. However, some things you expect everyone has seen. Tonight's movie is The Blair Witch Project and it is certainly one film I think every horror fan should see. This is not to say everyone will like it as much as I do. Some people literally can't sit and watch the shaky-camera movies. So that is one initial problem. Others will not be fond of the slow pace that builds up over time. There also might be the small issue that so much has been said about the movie that all the best parts have been spoiled. Don't let these things stop you from experiencing this film.

Right now I want to tell you a little story about my experience watching The Blair Witch Project for the first time in the theatre. I went to an afternoon matinee with a friend a couple weeks after the movie had opened. The hype was still high, but the complaints of the shaking were about too. As the film progressed the temperature in the theatre dropped little by little. It was quite chilly, someone had to have the air conditioning up too high--it was August after all. The film came to the now famous, or perhaps infamous, ending and the credits rolled. As soon as the end credits started the temperature immediately returned to normal. That of course means that it was not cold in the theatre, but instead the movie had a great impact on both us since my friend agreed on the instantaneous return of warmth.

Mood: mellow.

Music: My Girlfriend's Girlfriend by Type O Negative off of October Rust.