SO perhaps this blog post is pointless but in saying that most of my blog posts are because nobody really reads them however i do love to write them. Unfortunately it turns out that working a demoralising customer service job is the number one killer of creativity, why? because at the end of the day i am so emotionally exhausted from both bombardment from both customer and management i am much too tired to come home and write and my days off consist of staring at my ceiling blankly in my PJ's dreading work the next day. But it's time to bust out of this rut by writing again in the hopes of getting the creative juices flowing in and maybe i'll even find some inspiration to return to my art. so we're going to start off with an extremely informal rant.
I normally write about movies because frankly film is my passion, it's what i studied in college and even got accepted into university for (To which i stupidly bailed on) and i mainly focused on horror because i always loved how you can really feel in the moment of a good horror, you can feel the characters fear and become apart of this crazy, freaky world. When i watch a film i want it to leave such an impression that i will be thinking about it for the next few days. Horror done right has a amazing way of leaving that impression on you, maybe not in the most positive way as the can provoke paranoia or fear but thrilling nonetheless.
And this is where i have fallen out with horror because new horror tends to not leave on this impression on my anymore, at first i assumed that it was possible just due to growing up or becoming desensitised to horror but then i watched a few and analysed further and came the the conclusion that horrors are getting more high budget but ultimately cheaper in value due to the dependence on jump scares. A jump scare can freak me out for about 3 seconds but nothing about it is memorable and does a jump scare freak you out with visuals? not its a sudden loud noise or rise in music. its the equivalent of a friend jumping out at you from behind a door. You jolt, your heart beats faster then you laugh it off and call them a dick.
Modern horrors often rely on jump scares alone and honestly it always feels lazy and cheap. I'm not saying this is with all modern horror but it is the unfortunate majority and makes me and many like me give up on the concept all together.
Compare Rob Reiner's Misery with John R. Leonetti's Annabelle. Both try and create a foreboding atmosphere and create tension. Annabelle gives you a quick jump scare and another 5 minutes later. Misery creates this tense, edge of your seat atmosphere. You watch intensely begging the character to hurry up and get back to his bed. Your futile attempts to tell him that "She's coming back, hurry up!". The way you remember the slow paced scenes, how they let you process everything that's happening and you can put yourself in the protagonists shoes.
That is my little rant about how i've fallen out with horror, i will still watch the classic and hell i'll probably still review them but don't expect many new horrors on this blog. From now on although my writing probably will still be mainly film based, i am just going to write about anything i want and i will make an effort to try and write once a week. We'll see. goodbye for now.
