They're Not as Scared, Josh

I talked a bit more about the On Dark Rhoads blog over at Inchoate with "Gearing Up for the Rhoad" and got into some technical and non-writing aspects like commenting and general blog shoptalk.

Last time here we talked about pace and tension. What does it really mean in regard to the scare factor of the tale though? For that matter what does the format do to the scare? Certainly as much as horror is known for it scares, for leaving the audience creeped out if only for a little while, it is about the horrific too, obviously, but as a kind of milieu it is about the situations, beings, and the like that are horrific or monstrous. As such it doesn't always have to scare or horrify at least on the small scale--nor constantly either.

A story about a haunting is a horror story even if you are not scared by it. Stories with monsters are likewise horror as well by virtue of the monsters, though this might require it not additionally being say a medieval fantasy story. It is a matter of degrees and a question of intensity. It is the outlook that matters. Monster heroes in a city will be urban fantasy for instance rather than horror if it lacks horror. It's all shades of grey as far as the presentation goes. Often what distinguishes horror from the other similar genres in this no man's land is how the unnatural elements affect the characters. This is especially true of horror role-playing games. The game need not scare or horrify the players per se, but the setting, the conflict, and the scenarios had certainly better present the characters with fear and horror or a sense of dread.

I see the same delineation in horror fiction even as others insist the product, whatever it is, book, movie, or game, must frighten them or affect them personally to be successful and therefore count. As an example consider the movie Paranormal Activity. I don't mean to compare my haunting tale to it for either its admirers or detractors, but it is a good example from an illustrative viewpoint. Some who live with an actual haunting were dismissive of the bulk of the phenomena as not being scary enough to carry the horror. Others cannot fathom staying anywhere haunted and are floored by these kinds of movies. To bring it back to the original questions I would like the scare factor to be there. I would like nothing more that to have people, well, haunted, by the events, and suspicious of their own surroundings. Was that book where they left it? Wasn't that water glass on the right a moment ago where now it's on the left? At the same time it's okay if they don't do that, as long as the experience through reading the entries was enjoyable.

Come back next week for a special post (instead of my usual day off) regarding a forthcoming role-playing game called Amaranthine from David A. Hill Jr. of Machine Age Productions makers of Maschine Zeit. David is running a Kickstarter campaign to fund the print run of Amaranthine right now.

Mood: relaxed.
Music: Hotel California by the Eagles and Someone Else? by Queensryche.

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Halloween Movies

Since this is the last blog entry before we begin the 13 Nights of Hallowe'en I thought it only appropriate to talk about Halloween movies. Some people call most to all horror movies Halloween movies. Personally, I think only certain classes of horror movies should earn that moniker. Halloween is about the time of the year when the veil between the land of the living and the land of the dead is at its thinnest and things bleed through from one side to the other. This means that Halloween movies should be firmly rooted in the supernatural vein. I like a slasher flick as much as the next fan, but most of them lack that certain something, the unnatural element. Of course not all of them are rooted in mortal killers. Some even make the transition from one style to the other through sequels.

On the flip side there has been a recent trend of non-supernatural horror movies coming out around Halloween that the newest crop of horror fans will gladly call Halloween movies. This is of course the Saw franchise. The sixth film in the series is set to premier October 23, 2009. The IMDB already has an entry for Saw VII in 2010. As usual it is all a matter of perspective and preference.

So what of the division in supernatural movies? There are monster movies including vampires, werewolves, and zombies. Then there are the possession and haunting movies. Is one of these groups more a propos than the other? I would say not really. The costumes and scares of Halloween were meant to say to spirits, don't mess with me I'm no more natural than you and maybe even scarier. The others of course fit right into the fear of being haunted on All Hallow's Eve.

No matter how you slice it or label your movies the point is the same, a fun scare in the Halloween season, or just any time. See you on the 19th for the first night of our extravaganza.

Mood: creepy.

Music: The Unforgiven by Metallica and Haunted by Evanescence.

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13 Nights of Hallowe'en: Night #2 The Ugly

Tonight’s movie is one that has been elusive to find.
It comes out on DVD and then it sells out, then some time later it gets re-released. It is a good sign, if somewhat frustrating. How many releases does a film need before people start to figure out that it sells so there had better be good volume for the release? “The Ugly” was the first feature-length film by New Zealander Scott Reynolds as both writer and director. This is a great first feature. The star, Paolo Rotondo, is also a first timer with only one previous acting credit according to IMDB. If Reynolds as director did an excellent job as director then Rotondo’s performance is nothing but spectacular. The acting all around is good. Beyond these things it is also evident watching the movie that a lot of thinking went into making it.

“The Ugly” is chock full of intricacies. Pay close attention to names, anything written anywhere in the foreground and even most of the background. Where “fear dot com” uses colour to set the mood, The Ugly uses it to send messages in addition. The movie itself is easy to follow on the surface. Seeing where it is going is maybe a tad more difficult. Deciphering the real truth of Rotondo’s character Simon and his situation is extremely difficult. Unlike movies in the past where plot-lines and back stories were confusing just for the sake of it--or drug fuelled--the twists and convolutions in “The Ugly” are well thought out and really open to interpretation, rather than just undecipherable. Can you sort out what is real, what is the insanity, and not fall into Simon’s trap?

Mood: crafty.
Music: Fear Of The Dark by Iron Maiden off of Fear of the Dark.

A Horror on Hump Day Curveball

Today is a holiday for me. I had expected to write my usual blog early and have it ready to put up today, but alas no. To our horror, yours and mine, this is a fake blog. You may now scream. Go ahead. It's a scary thing. No one will think less of you if you cry either. Until next time, here is a bunch of stuff--very few will understand--to make this look the real blog that it isn't. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Praesent posuere, metus vel malesuada fermentum, est turpis sagittis urna, in lacinia tortor nisi eu magna. Maecenas ac tellus auctor elit lacinia fermentum. Pellentesque habitant morbi tristique senectus et netus et malesuada fames ac turpis egestas. Integer iaculis. Fusce nec libero. Donec auctor convallis neque. Proin est eros, mattis at, consequat vitae, pharetra vitae, velit.

Pellentesque sed orci. Nunc tincidunt nunc eget lacus. Vestibulum ante ipsum primis in faucibus orci luctus et ultrices posuere cubilia Curae; Quisque faucibus nunc venenatis enim. Suspendisse vitae dolor. Vestibulum nulla. Aenean felis diam, scelerisque a, rutrum eu, ullamcorper nec, justo. In hac habitasse platea dictumst. Ut nisl nunc, molestie pellentesque, porta eget, lobortis et, elit. Sed nisi velit, luctus at, pellentesque non, pulvinar id, mi. Curabitur sapien orci, lobortis vitae, euismod mollis, iaculis at, nisi. Etiam ante mauris, volutpat non, commodo gravida, tincidunt quis, dolor. Etiam eget dui nonummy dolor accumsan tincidunt. Sed id eros ac sapien gravida consequat. Mauris augue. Nam elit odio, pulvinar nec, suscipit sit amet, lobortis sit amet, enim. Nullam vel tellus. Phasellus lectus.

Integer auctor lectus nec massa. Aenean convallis. Phasellus luctus vestibulum enim. Vestibulum imperdiet leo id erat. Etiam venenatis diam a mi. Fusce mattis mattis orci. Cras lacus. In hac habitasse platea dictumst. Nullam in tortor. Praesent id pede eget nisi ullamcorper luctus. Phasellus consequat feugiat mi. Phasellus risus elit, sollicitudin in, imperdiet at, fringilla non, lectus. Donec nec erat eu dolor gravida porttitor. Donec tellus. Donec dapibus sollicitudin elit. Duis enim arcu, malesuada quis, aliquam eget, vulputate eget, augue. Curabitur ut erat. Vestibulum ante ipsum primis in faucibus orci luctus et ultrices posuere cubilia Curae; Maecenas orci. Sed porta. Ut ante sem, luctus tincidunt, malesuada et, dapibus in, velit.

Mood: festive.
Music Tail Gunner by Iron Maiden and Bad Boys (Of Rock 'n' Roll) by Twisted Sister.

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Back to Too Much

New Schedule: Welcome to Horror on Hump Day, replacing my former every 4-day schedule. That's right, one post on Wednesday every week, only.

I'm back to thinking about things that cross the line, that are just to graphic, or sick, or plain annoying rather than scary, that some filmmakers insist upon doing. I'm going to start by pointing a finger. That finger is squarely aimed at a movie I was going to watch right up until the point I decided to do a little reading on why so many people claimed it to be controversial, or banned, or similar for being too much. That movie is called "Audition" from a Japanese director.

By all accounts the movie is anywhere from mildly interesting, to lacklustre, to dull for apparently two thirds of the movie then it's all gonzo with a tonne of stuff people would rather not see. Some of it made some viewers ill, one of those things at least one person nearly stopped breathing over because it was so gross, and then there was what could be either good or just plain meh depending on how it was done and what you've seen elsewhere. I can't say that I have much interesting in wasting my time with it, whether I'd find it over the line, or dull in its entirety. I've seen some things that are over the line and there are others I can imagine well enough not to have to actually see them with my eyes.

Often times the things in a movie that would cross the line are pulled out. It used to be they were never seen. Now on DVD some of them are seen in the extras. These bits are sometimes in the featurettes, sometimes in camera tests, and once and a while in properly formatted deleted scenes. Such an example is the raw, soundless, and long test shot for the scene from Last House on Left with, let's just say, Sadie playing with Phyllis after she tried to run away. Likewise in the extras of the super-duper DVD of the original Texas Chain Saw Massacre there is a long lingering camera test shot of the one body from the beginning scenes.

Some things are just more effective, like those above, in the short term as the length of time involved volleys between dull and "hey that's actually really gross". Remember gross comes when all other modes of horror have failed. This of course only true if the auter is capable of greater things than the gross out. Not to say that I consider all gore to be in this vein. I'm not against gore; in fact it should be a staple. At least, in that where something happens and the result should be gore then by all means do it, but adding it where unnecessary or unrealistic don't use it. Finally of course there are spots where I say don't over do it, because unreality breaks both ways. There's only so much blood, etc. to be had in a body.

Mood: compressed.
Music: Always by Bon Jovi and Made In Heaven by Queen.

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Suspense from the Known

R.G. Male ©2007 Excerpted from "Unnamed Psychic Horror Game"

Every good scary story, and this includes novels, movies, and games, needs suspense. An obvious thing. Often times as much as there is a need to be mysterious, even aside from leaving things to the imagination, some things do work better when they are obvious after a fashion.

The idea that needs to be approached here is that there are a few select times where revealing the horror doesn't lessen it, but instead increases it. A lot of these revelations are in scenes usually not involving the main characters. This is useful in a gaming context as well. For example, there is the type of scene where a monster stalks its victim. It is seen through the victim's eyes as much as from an outside point. While it does not give everything away, maybe even not a lot, it does make some things clear. For instance, the monster chases its victim, but yet on occasion, sometimes, somehow, gets ahead of the victim and they run right smack into it. This adds suspense in the fashion that the monster could pop up anywhere at any time.

R.G. Male ©2007 Excerpted from "Unnamed Psychic Horror Game"

There are mode insidious methods of ratcheting up the horror. The monster corners its prey. As it begins to do whatever it does to them, there is a flash of green light, and the scene goes to black. Now later, the audience, in this case the players, knows about this little tidbit out of character. Then the characters are somewhere, and they see a flash of green light, say in an alleyway, or behind an only partially closed door. Now the players start to sweat buckets, just like the movie audience does, because they know what is going on. At the same time there is nothing they can do about it, just as the movie character that is ignorant of what is happening cannot do anything.

Another example could go something like this... "Hey, what's this ash here?" It's one of the missing people being sought out for a clue, or they need to verify is indeed missing, and not just out of town. The players know this and they are biting their nails bloody, the characters have no idea as of yet. There are a number of different ways to express similar ideas, and beyond that there is a myriad of different concepts making use of this same principle of revealing things but not spoiling the suspense with a "look it's a werewolf" sort of let down.

R.G. Male ©2007 Excerpted from "Unnamed Psychic Horror Game"

Mood: melty.
Music: All I Want Is Everything by Def Leppard and Riders Of The Storm by Hammerfall.

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