Terrifier and the New Horror Scene

BLOG FROM BEYOND

There appears to be a horror cinema renaissance on the horizon, and it's happening far outside the Hollywood studio mainstream of sanitized PG-13 horror flicks, which are light on gore and heavy on bad computer-generated FX. Directors like Damien Leone (Terrifier franchise) and Ti West (the X trilogy) are breaking away from the formulaic approach to horror films. What do I mean by formula? Girls with big boobs hacked to death in the shower, obnoxious teens stalked by a supernatural entity, SFX-laden exorcism scenes, and melodramatic music cues to make you jump in the absence of any true chilling moments. If I see one more cat spring out of a closet, I'm going to go on a rip-roaring murder spree (although not really—my mother wouldn't approve).

I walked into the gore smorgasbord Damien Leone was dishing up—in reverse. The first film I saw was Terrifier 2. I didn't know what to expect, but I had heard a buzz about these films and was clown-curious. Unfortunately, whichever streamer I was watching didn't have the first Terrifier—they only had the second one. So I watched Terrifier 2 and was captivated by the director's eye for horror. On top of that, the surrealism and sheer bloodiness of the movie had me hooked. Shortly after, I tracked down the first Terrifier. I actually liked the original movie the best. It was simple, with a beautiful composition of shots and believable acting (which can be a rarity in the average indie horror flick). The thing I liked most though was that the film was unapologetic in its unbridled bloody carnage. The only recent equivalent I can come up with in the studio film world is the Evil Dead reboot. I have always felt that Hollywood vastly underserves the hardcore horror fan—adults who would rather see a clown with a hacksaw than a group of teens playing with a Ouija board. True hardcore horror fans are like junkies in need of a fix. As a screenwriter, I can't count the number of producers who have said, "Your script is really scary. But is there any way it can be PG-13 and still be just as scary? Maybe we don't have to actually see her head get lopped off." "But where's the fun in that?" I would reply, which is most likely why my Hollywood writing career hit a roadblock. Heheh.

Backtracking further, I recently saw the Terrifier short film on Tubi. I was immediately struck by the stripped-down, muted palette and the look and feel of the images. Night of the Living Dead immediately leaped to mind. The next night, while I was watching All Hallows' Eve, I couldn't help but notice that the movie the babysitter and the two kids she was looking after were watching was indeed Night of the Living Dead, which is one of my favorite horror films of all time. It’s a film I still regard as scarier than most of the current slate of zombie fare. I'm looking forward to Terrifier 3 and would love to learn more about Art the Clown's supernatural origins to add to the mythology.

Another notable horror film series on the indie scene is Ti West's X trilogy. I caught X on Amazon Prime. I didn't know anything about it. I didn't know who Ti West was. I had no idea who Mia Goth was (other than that she had a cool name). It probably caught my streaming eye because Jenna Ortega was in it. I enjoy films set in the '70s and '80s, and it also had a Texas Chainsaw Massacre feel. Later, when I saw Pearl on Netflix, I didn't realize it was the prequel to X, or that Goth had played the old lady in X. I caught Maxxxine in the theater when I was in Marseille over the summer. I loved that it was set in '80s Hollywood. The storyline was good. Kevin Bacon and Giancarlo Esposito, as always, were masterful and fun to watch (I'd love to direct them). The bad guy and his cult were a bit of a letdown after the buildup (I wanted something far more sinister and disturbing), but I still highly enjoyed the movie, set in a sleezy Hollywood dream factory (which, btw, is still accurate).

Hopefully, I'll find the financing for my horror film King Demon, and add to the gory fun.

Until next time,

Carlton Holder—screaming out at you from the Blog from Beyond.

#horror #terrifier #maxxxine