OK can I just start by saying I didn't really like this film. Music was silly and the acting was poor. I understand it was the 70s so things have moved on a bit. I also watched the remake a few weeks back so I think that may have influenced my judgement. But can someone please justify why this is a horror? Why do people say it is scary? Its murder and rape, which are of course a despicable acts but it doesn't scare me, there is nothing frightening in the sense of a horror genre. Am I missing the point? Its disturbing sure, but scary? horror? Don't get it.
It most certainly is horror. Cause Imagine that happening to you, would that be horrific? I think the problem is that we have all been desensitized with the amount of horror movies out there. To the point that this just simply isn't enough. But at the time ppl weren't used to this type of movie.
That's not the atmosphere of the world of "Schindler's List." The characters and events of SL compared to LHOTL is an apples and oranges thing. The intent and feel of SL is not to horrify, but to dramatize the Holocaust.
Though if you think about it...Holocaust movies are called drama, but they are based on a real time and place, and when the REAL thing was happening, they did NOT call it a drama, they DID call it a horror. Likewise if in real life two teenaged girls get raped and mutilated, that's not exploitation, that's not drama, THAT is horror too.
Totally agree. If there was anything I didn't like about SL, it would be that they showed some horrific things about the Holocaust, but got too caught up in the dramatization, particularly in the characters. That movie just depressed me. LHOTL got under my skin. The one time I watched it, I was very uncomfortable because of the realism of the violence, and frustrated and upset at the ineptitude of the cops. If I were to watch it now, I'd probably be taken out of it by the cop scenes. However, I watched a review of it recently, and when I saw the campy cops, I was like, "Oh, yeah, I forgot about that." But I think that's what makes it hold up. After like 15 years since I watched it, I remember the brutality and realism.
My point is that the OP asked if Schindler's List should be classed as horror because of the brutality of the Holocaust. Of course s/he's being sarcastic to make a point. But I don't think it's a valid point. Totally my opinion tho.
As an attempted sexual assault victim this movie scared the hell out of me. Its like a giant nightmare. Its more psychological horror than anything else
Horror is an umbrella term referring to an enormously varied genre: sci-fi, ghost story, slasher, fantasy adventure, thriller, psychological suspense story, monster movie, and more, all nestle quite happily under that umbrella designation. "Scary" or "horrible" are not epithets which necessarily apply to the genre. LHOTL contains horror *elements* - heroine in peril, a grisly and sustained torture sequence, psycho killers who have created a macabre family, bloody revenge narrative, nightmare sequence, gruesomely imagined retribution. These elements, taken together, put LHOTL firmly in the broad category/niche of 'Horror". OK?
The elements of the plot are not sufficient to define a genre; this is one of the ways in which our cultural concept of "genre" is inconsistent and ineffective in describing the media to which it is applied.
Intent should be the primary metric by which one attempts to classify a work. Alien contains many plot elements generally associated with science fiction, certainly. But its intent is unambiguous: to frighten the viewer. There is no doubt that it is a horror film (and don't even start with sci-fi/horror and other such ridiculous catch-alls).
Silence of the Lambs is certainly frightening at certain moments, but it is primarily attempting to create the feeling of tension, of suspense, not fear. That's why it is properly classed as a thriller.
LHOTL, like Martyrs and a handful of other films, is not primarily concerned with producing a feeling of fear, but one of....horror, of moral revulsion, of disgust, even despair. Ironically, this puts it well outside the mainstream horror genre. If we were going to attempt to accurately classify films, we would call films of this type "horror films" and films like Alien would be called something else entirely.
But since we're not going to do that, we'll have to simply recognize that genres are inadequate to the task to which we apply them, and shouldn't be taken terribly seriously.
Sudden Impact (or was it The Dead Pool?) was a rape and revenge film, but no one ever questioned if it was a horror movie because it clearly was not.
I think LHOTL was marketed as horror. The title sounds like a horror movie title even though it has nothing to do with the movie. Last House on the Left? Look at the house on the cover of the DVD. It resembles a haunted house. The girls were going to see a rock band called Bloodlust. Little clues like that tell me this movie was intended to be horror.
Most low budget rape and revenge films were located in the horror section of video stores back when there were video stores.
As far as what the OP was saying about horror movies needing to be scary...no movies are scary anymore. You can't shock or scare people anymore with a movie.
I think that also comes with age. I mean I know im not scared of movies because I grew out of it. My 7 year old self is still looking for the scares though.
I understand what you mean about Rape & Revenge films being put in the horror section because where else would they fit ? Maybe the romantic comedy section. lol
I think the movie you were talking about was Sudden Impact :)
When the Exorcist first came out it scared adults. That will never happen again. Jaws made all ages paranoid of sharks whenever they went to the beach.
I agree that you do grow out of being scared of movies, but what I'm saying is movies don't have the same impact on society as they used to. Everything has been done.
I've honestly never understood the difference between a horror movie and a thriller. I don't really have a specific criteria for what determines whether a movie is a horror or thriller. Some movies just feel like horror films, some feel like thriller films, some feel like both. This one just felt like a horror movie to me.
That being said, I never understood why people complain so much about the music in the film. There was really only one scene I can recall where happy music was used during a serious moment and that was when the "Weasel and Junior, Sadie and Krug..." song played while the killers drove down the road with Mari and Phyllis in the trunk of their car. Other than that, the music wasn't overly cheerful. I feel like sometimes people overreact and look for flaws anywhere they can find them. As for the cops, I imagine Wes Craven felt the film was far too dark and depressing without them so he decided to add some comic relief for a temporary breaking of tension. Whether that was a good idea or not is open to interpretation, but at least he had a reason.
The innocence is shattered. 2 girls are excited about a concert they think there is "innocence" in buying weed// They don't see any danger in what they are doing. Jr doesn't look menacing at all.. but nothing is what it seems/ They are locked in a house with 4 strangers.. That's pretty darn scary. The rest of the movie is just showing psychopathy of 3 people. and the torture they come up with such glee.. Then being trapped in 12 acres of woods for hrs isn't terrifying??? It's what they do to them that's horrific. Can you imagine go through that and knowing that no matter what you try to do. you can't escape them? When Phylis runs off she gets so far. almost to the street and right when she thinks shes made it. she's blocked in every way w/ a machete and. knife and gun. you know you are doomed. It's all a very scary context. could've been a bit better scripted but at the end of the day it's scary. then once the girls are dead. the killers are houseguests of Mari's parents/.. the parents know something isn't right from the get go......it's the uncertainty of what could happen...... the cruelty of human beings.. thats the point of the movie.
Keep this in mind. Sandra ( Mari) was TERRIFIED of the gang.. ( they are lived together while shooting this so they knew each other very well ) She really felt that fear she was to portray in the movie. If the lead actress is scared to death of the other actors// that tells you something!
You really have to ask how a movie that horrifically and often bloodily depicts women being disemboweled, brutally stabbed/shot is classified as horror? Really? And that's only the tip of the iceberg.
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