a little change of scenery

I'll be spending autumn in Paris, so get ready for a pretty dramatic shift in material. The focus of my studies will be the French New Wave in its fiftieth anniversary. I don't know exactly what's to come, but the summer blockbuster season is over and I'm taking a few steps back in time to hopefully begin to understand our current "post" stage in contemporary film.

To be Seen and Unseen: The Brilliance of Horror

I had the daylights scared out of me last night. In a fabulously exclusive fashion, the indi-flick turned online buzz-worthy film, Paranormal Activity, debuted in Seattle with scares for all. When I heard about this film's marketing campaign, screening only at midnight in selective campus venues, I was of course dying to see it. The trailer, which I would typically scoff at, blatantly showcasing the cheap thrills through videotaped audience reactions, actually managed to scare the shit out of me. The free and fun-filled event easily thrived off the poor college kid vibe and expertly played into the immediate hype such star treatment would generate. And despite the verbal diarrhea that spilled from the attention-starved boys in the audience, the film truly held its own.

Paranormal Activity might just be the scariest movie I've ever seen. Now, I know, that's a tall promise and I shouldn't rip my thoughts straight from the movie poster, but truly this is something that haunts you far beyond the jumps in your auditorium seat. And I'm going to tell you why. (And this goes out to anyone looking for success in the horror genre).

What you can't see will hurt you.

My cardinal rule for scare success is exploiting what you can't see. This film thrives off the space beyond the frame. Our objectified viewing position within the confines of our "home movie" cinematic style utilizes the sheer vulnerability of the audience. We are no longer in control and are well aware of it. It is within this transfer of power that the space beyond our viewing position becomes the manifestation of the infinite terrors that breed within our imagination. The sheer assumption of the audience and lack of control we have over the image makes our mind our own worst enemy.

The reveal of our enemy is always where the horror genre loses me. Once I have a controlled image of my villain, power has been transferred back to me. I can then rationalize said image into a manageable entity that exists within the diagesis of the film.

But Paranormal Activity is a viewing experience that lives beyond the frame. What little snips of physicality that remain in our villain, are blown out of proportion, as the utilization of off camera space magnifies the intensity of our image. Sound and suggestion are the key elements. Unfortunately, there are two instances where physicality hinder the over-all pace and thrills of the film. We are given to rather privileged image of a burning ouija board, and frankly they nearly lost me there. Again, this same sort of cliched image arises with a broken picture frame, deliberately sending a threatening messaged through cracked glass; cue eye roll.

But redemption was swiftly around the corner, as night time promises unending tension. Never in my life have I been so desperate for people to stay awake forever. The film's greatest moments take place within the wee hours of morning, as our sleeping couple drifts happily beyond the realm of demons- only to then be woken by the terrors of said demon. I do not want to spoil this movie for anyone, because it was a true viewing pleasure that lives beyond its hour and a half run time. The plot is not the point of the film, nor of much importance. The film lives beyond our visual or narrative spectrum; within the dark corners of the night.

On the Apocalypse

So I'm sitting here, not watching the blow-your-snow-load blockbuster The Day After Tomorrow, contemplating the state of the modern action film. One cannot deny the fact that Day After strays from the common path littered with flaming cars and massive weapons. But are these fights with nature really a step forward for our blockbuster audiences?

Movies like The Perfect Storm, Whiteout, Twister and the upcoming 2012 appear to promise a "higher brow" viewing experience for adrenaline seeking audiences. They seemingly create a cultural outlet for contemporary issues, like global warming, that allow for us to both "enjoy" the movie and feel like we're taking a stand against something (by apparently indulging in the horrors of the impossible). By combating our own desire to see the latest Vin Diesel movie, in favor for the compassionate words of Dennis Quaid, we seem to have fought the cause; stepped into the "message" film, something greater than the "happily ever after." But we haven't. These films that supposedly sit somewhere between the causation film and the contemporary blockbuster actually follow our shallowest of genre conventions.

These films substitute guns for wind, cars for hurricanes, and fire for well... fire. We are viewing a convoluted rehashing of the car chase glossed over with blustery winds and the declaration of national emergencies. Our villain is substituted with a faceless cause that we still eagerly oppose with fascist gumption. The bad are still bad and the good are still good. Rather, I'd argue these films continue to blatantly support the nationalistic messages of the super hero genre. We unite against our common enemy (communism?) yet again. We have merely continued the violent cycle of Cold War sentiment. But instead of "Reds" and "Commies" we're just confused with who we hate; it seems our nationalistic common enemy is the world we live in.