The Yank-Lime Pie Story |
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10/31/2009 Yankee Origins By Yankee |
I consider myself to be quite fortunate to have been born at the right time to experience what many consider to be the Golden Age of Horror film first hand. Yes, I was surely under the acceptable age for watching said films, but because the local Movie Theater sold me tickets anyway and the Cable Company mistakenly gave me free HBO, all that was needed from me was the will. It was this sacred mission to encompass all that was horror that drove me to become the movie fan/critique that you see here now. While there are many things about the 80s that shaped who I am as a computer professional, a musician, a gamer and more: it is specifically 80's horror to which I owe my love for movies and ultimately this web site. There is certain elegance to the 80s horror film that has been difficult to capture since its decline in the early 90s. It was an art form that started towards the tail end of the 70s with films like Halloween and picked up steam when it showed box office potential. At a time where horror had started to lose its “scare tactic,” these films helped to resurface the horror movie as mainstream entertainment once again. So what was the big attraction? That's a damn good question! Having been there for most of it, I couldn't claim to fully understand it myself until recently. Maybe it was the dawn of the age of special effects that was made famous by George Lucas' Star Wars films. Perhaps it was the onscreen deaths that could now be seen when previously all “horrible acts” occurred off screen or in silhouette. It could have been the eruption of gore on film that occurred during that decade. Maybe… Was it the fact that the 80s exploited the kind of monster that was far more fearful than science gone wrong, supernatural creatures from ancient novels and recycled villains from the silent film era; monsters that could have easily have been your neighbor, your toys or your stepparents? Perhaps… Even the recycled monsters took on new life in the 80s thanks to fresh writing, onscreen action and special effects. Who knew that werewolves could be so scary before the release of The Howling and American Werewolf in London ? That there actually are vampires far more horrific than Count Dracula was? Did anyone ever suspect that Jeff Goldblum & David Cronenberg would make The Fly an all-time classic exceeding the original in every way? That's true, but… I'm sure many would look at the points given here and deduce that those and more like them are the reason why the 80s were so special to horror. But I have to take issue with that. I think it's actually a bullshit thing to say. And I will argue with anyone who tries to pin the charisma of 80's horror citing those traits. Yes, I admit that those attributes were indeed nice, as were the cheesy soundtracks, the ridiculous story lines, the high body count and the endless opportunities to get your date to hold you tightly. But these are all things that could be done again, done better and done now at the drop of a hat. And yet, that 80s spirit just isn't there today and there is a very good reason for that… Infancy, forced ingenuity, artistic integrity and innocence. You see, when this new era of horror started, there was no way to properly take what was done in the previous peak of horror and run forward with it. Not for most of it, anyway. Yeah, you had an occasional Romero flick that was ahead of its time, but there was a reason why the sequels to Night of the Living Dead could not happen for another 10 years. It was because horror was not that kind of movie back then. No, unfortunately the classics that had started the genre had run its course, barely being kept alive by remakes that leaned slightly towards what would become the staple of the 1980s. (Thank you Hammer for keeping the plate warm for us…) It was this same lack of foundation from the previous era that forced filmmakers to create something completely new. And this wasn't something that was going to be easily embraced by Hollywood so investors were hard to come by. So it was the lack of support, the lack of popularity and the lack of money that made these early filmmakers hungry and creative. This was a fresh canvas for them to paint a new kind of picture. And what of this innocence which I refer to? How could Yankee put innocence and 80s horror in the same sentence? That's easy. It was a whole new game. Nobody really knew what was right or wrong, only that imagination, determination and art was required. That's right. There may have been plenty of duds out there, but everyone was in it for the art of filmmaking and THAT is why the 80s also brought us such superior content as well. What it lacked in perfect picture, high quality sound and high budgets, it more than made up for in heart! That's right, the main thing that separates the films about death, gore, macabre, etc from during that sacred decade from the same kind of film today is H-E-A-R-T! How ironic! Don't you think? Now in the 21 st century, we are subjected to a constant barrage of remakes, reboots, re-images and a plethora of recycled ideas that are all trying to copy the horror heyday of the 80s. While it is terrific that the 80s are so well remembered and appreciated, the problem is that it just cannot be done. This is because money seems to be a higher motivation than art. Granted, a good number of fantastic films from the 80s are indeed remakes and rehashed ideas from earlier times. But it was still done with artistic vision and applying what was then a modern way of presenting those films. The reason why it does not work now is because filmmakers are trying too hard to recapture what made these films great rather than just be trying to break new ground and create a new, bold, original era of horror. These redoes lack the heart and ultimately the authenticity necessary to feel like an 80s movie. So now as someone who had his horror childhood in the 80s, I sit here waiting for this fad to pass in hopes that when the smoke clears, that horror will get another chance to take the world by storm as it did in the 80s. That is where I now stand as I did the day a conversation on the Internet inspired a friend and I to start up a web site about horror films… |
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To be concluded… |
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