I always wanted to have a horror friend. I'm not talking about internet relationships, as genuine and rewarding as they can be. I'm thinking about the kind of close friend who shares my obsession with all things horror. Sure, a lot of my old friends enjoyed a good horror movie, and some would even read a book or two. The type of friend I always wished for would pore over an issue of Fangoria. Would have posters from scary movies all over their rooms. Would have intimate knowledge of casts and crews of classic horror movies, and know and love horror fiction as much as I do.
I've always been jealous of fictional friends like the kids in The Monster Squad, of Chainsaw and Dave from Summer School, of the splat-happy teens in Serial Mom.
Being a horror fan has been a lonely endeavor. Most of my best memories are of being in my own company, reading horror books or magazines, watching videotapes, hanging out at the best section of the videostore, front and center on opening weekend for the new movies.
My wife has never been a big fan of the genre. She read her King, and some other authors, and she watched a number of the classics. She came up around the same time I did, so she saw a lot of the slasher movies when they were shiny and new, but Clara never did a deep delve into the recesses of the horror field. We've watched Universal classics, Roger Corman movies, Amicus anthology films, and even Evil Dead 2.
Watching movies with her is great, but I long for a different kind of movie companion.
What I would love is the kind of local friend who would watch the kind of films nobody in their right mind would want to see. Watchers 2, The Crater Lake Monster, Burial Ground, or God help us all, The Undertaker and His Pals.
An old friend came to town this weekend, and we got together with another old buddy. These are the people I was hanging out with in the early days of the VHS revolution. We marveled over Re-Animator, Pieces, Basket Case, Bloodsucking Freaks, and a host of other tasteless but enjoyable gore classics.
One guy brought up High Tension, and how much he hated it. High Tension, or as connoisseurs call it, Haute Tension, is a groundbreaking genre milestone. It was Alexandre Aja's breakout picture, and it was a forerunner of the New French Extremity wave of the 2000s. These films were a reflection of the political unrest of the period, and were the smarter stepsiblings of the American Torture Porn movement.
I asked why in God's name did he even try to watch High Tension? It isn't a mainstream movie and it is not intended for milquetoast sensibilities. He replied that a co-worker had supplied him with bootleg DVDs of current movies. Remember those?
Both of my friends began to rail against explicit horror movies, wondering aloud why anyone would want to watch such things. The exact kind of movies they used to rent and enjoy.
I'm not talking about crap gore movies like The Collector, The Burning Moon or A Cat in the Brain. I can watch that stuff, but I wouldn't expect normal people to do so. Movies like High Tension, Inside, Martyrs, or Frontier(s) have depth and subtext, and are made by genuine cinematic artists.
The same guy who couldn't understand how anyone would watch High Tension said that he likes Marvel movies and Stranger Things.
How do people lose their sense of adventure? To just follow along with the stinking herd, without any desire to explore new realms? How do people get so old? Not their bodies, which none of us can help, but their minds?
I suppose I could try to explain how slasher movies are, at least in part, a way for us to laugh in the face of death. I didn't bother. It would be like defending rock and roll to my father. He thought everyone who performed or listened to it were creeps.
I wish I had a horror friend. A like-minded person I could drop by and see once or twice a month. Bring over a large pizza and some juicy movies like The Howling 3: The Marsupials, or perhaps Tombs of the Blind Dead, and howl at the moon like tomorrow will never come. Just as me and my friends did when we were young.
Written by Mark Sieber
I've always been jealous of fictional friends like the kids in The Monster Squad, of Chainsaw and Dave from Summer School, of the splat-happy teens in Serial Mom.Being a horror fan has been a lonely endeavor. Most of my best memories are of being in my own company, reading horror books or magazines, watching videotapes, hanging out at the best section of the videostore, front and center on opening weekend for the new movies.
My wife has never been a big fan of the genre. She read her King, and some other authors, and she watched a number of the classics. She came up around the same time I did, so she saw a lot of the slasher movies when they were shiny and new, but Clara never did a deep delve into the recesses of the horror field. We've watched Universal classics, Roger Corman movies, Amicus anthology films, and even Evil Dead 2.
Watching movies with her is great, but I long for a different kind of movie companion.
What I would love is the kind of local friend who would watch the kind of films nobody in their right mind would want to see. Watchers 2, The Crater Lake Monster, Burial Ground, or God help us all, The Undertaker and His Pals.
An old friend came to town this weekend, and we got together with another old buddy. These are the people I was hanging out with in the early days of the VHS revolution. We marveled over Re-Animator, Pieces, Basket Case, Bloodsucking Freaks, and a host of other tasteless but enjoyable gore classics.
One guy brought up High Tension, and how much he hated it. High Tension, or as connoisseurs call it, Haute Tension, is a groundbreaking genre milestone. It was Alexandre Aja's breakout picture, and it was a forerunner of the New French Extremity wave of the 2000s. These films were a reflection of the political unrest of the period, and were the smarter stepsiblings of the American Torture Porn movement.I asked why in God's name did he even try to watch High Tension? It isn't a mainstream movie and it is not intended for milquetoast sensibilities. He replied that a co-worker had supplied him with bootleg DVDs of current movies. Remember those?
Both of my friends began to rail against explicit horror movies, wondering aloud why anyone would want to watch such things. The exact kind of movies they used to rent and enjoy.
I'm not talking about crap gore movies like The Collector, The Burning Moon or A Cat in the Brain. I can watch that stuff, but I wouldn't expect normal people to do so. Movies like High Tension, Inside, Martyrs, or Frontier(s) have depth and subtext, and are made by genuine cinematic artists.
The same guy who couldn't understand how anyone would watch High Tension said that he likes Marvel movies and Stranger Things.
How do people lose their sense of adventure? To just follow along with the stinking herd, without any desire to explore new realms? How do people get so old? Not their bodies, which none of us can help, but their minds?
I suppose I could try to explain how slasher movies are, at least in part, a way for us to laugh in the face of death. I didn't bother. It would be like defending rock and roll to my father. He thought everyone who performed or listened to it were creeps.
I wish I had a horror friend. A like-minded person I could drop by and see once or twice a month. Bring over a large pizza and some juicy movies like The Howling 3: The Marsupials, or perhaps Tombs of the Blind Dead, and howl at the moon like tomorrow will never come. Just as me and my friends did when we were young.
Written by Mark Sieber
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