Horror and respect (a plea for THE GHOST)
Monday, 24. October 2005, 18:22:50
Why do horror movies get no respect?
Film critics and intellectuals in this country love to tell the by now very old story of the great re-evaluation (revaluation?) of westerns and gangster movies. Put briefly, because it has been put at such length so many other times: In the 40s and 50s a bunch of young French guys fell in love with a lot of westerns and gangster films, then wrote about those movies and used them as partial inspiration for movies they themselves directed. After some Americans encountered those French guys, the articles they wrote, and the movies they made, suddenly the Americans felt authorized to take westerns and gangster movies seriously (particularly the movies those Americans had loved as little boys). As a critical concept, genre was recast from being a pile of clichés, to a framework within which serious and great works could be made. Those Americans grew up into an influential generation of film critics, one that still has a lot of power today although they are now surpassing middle age and starting to retire. (This book collects information about / documents by an influential part of that generation.)
But while westerns and gangster films got all this praise, horror didn't seem to make the cut. There are of course some exceptions; such cinephilic intellectuals as Carlos Clarens, Robin Wood, and Noël Carroll, among others, have written books that made an impact, and college courses on horror seem to be becoming even more widespread. But horror has by no means achieved the repute of westerns and gangster movies. It's interesting to speculate why. Was François Truffaut afraid of monsters? Did all those American film critics' mommies not let them see horror movies while they were growing up, and so they didn't love horror movies the way they loved westerns?
But here's an idle thought:
If, in the 1960s or 70s, those guys had skipped that 20th screening of THE SEARCHERS to see the movie we're showing Wednesday at 7pm, a movie called THE GHOST, that might have changed the way horror is appreciated in the U.S. This is, quite simply, one of the strongest, most powerful movies we've shown at the Pioneer in the last few years. We've actually shown it twice before, and I'm really glad we're showing it again.
Check out the listing and buy tickets here. (Admittedly, the listing is a little dry.)
Film critics and intellectuals in this country love to tell the by now very old story of the great re-evaluation (revaluation?) of westerns and gangster movies. Put briefly, because it has been put at such length so many other times: In the 40s and 50s a bunch of young French guys fell in love with a lot of westerns and gangster films, then wrote about those movies and used them as partial inspiration for movies they themselves directed. After some Americans encountered those French guys, the articles they wrote, and the movies they made, suddenly the Americans felt authorized to take westerns and gangster movies seriously (particularly the movies those Americans had loved as little boys). As a critical concept, genre was recast from being a pile of clichés, to a framework within which serious and great works could be made. Those Americans grew up into an influential generation of film critics, one that still has a lot of power today although they are now surpassing middle age and starting to retire. (This book collects information about / documents by an influential part of that generation.)
But while westerns and gangster films got all this praise, horror didn't seem to make the cut. There are of course some exceptions; such cinephilic intellectuals as Carlos Clarens, Robin Wood, and Noël Carroll, among others, have written books that made an impact, and college courses on horror seem to be becoming even more widespread. But horror has by no means achieved the repute of westerns and gangster movies. It's interesting to speculate why. Was François Truffaut afraid of monsters? Did all those American film critics' mommies not let them see horror movies while they were growing up, and so they didn't love horror movies the way they loved westerns?
But here's an idle thought:
If, in the 1960s or 70s, those guys had skipped that 20th screening of THE SEARCHERS to see the movie we're showing Wednesday at 7pm, a movie called THE GHOST, that might have changed the way horror is appreciated in the U.S. This is, quite simply, one of the strongest, most powerful movies we've shown at the Pioneer in the last few years. We've actually shown it twice before, and I'm really glad we're showing it again.
Check out the listing and buy tickets here. (Admittedly, the listing is a little dry.)
WIDGETIZE