In the latest issue of Maxium, George A. Romero has a two page story by Chris Norris. In it Romero criticizes current horror film making and explains how this genre has been twisted to glorify gore and terror. "These days audiences are more likely to get their frights from torture-porn creepfests like Saw or Hostel than Romero's nuanced, socially conscious offering." It's true, when you look at most films in theaters or on dvd you notice that most have lots of gore and no story. I finished watching The Strangers this past weekend and I can't believe I actually sat through it. Yes this doesnt have the level of gore as say Hostel but the film follows the general path horror has been going in. People are stalked, played with, then killed for no reason. We don't get insite into anything and watch from affar as directors attempt to use cutting egde special effects to dazzle audiences rather than a scary story."When I ask Romero to pitch one of the contemporary box office hits, he pauses for a moment. 'I think it would be Guy With Torture Implement,' he says." Romero has a point. Rather than being a film that deals with a big issue such as terrorism, films follow the same few ideas. What makes horror films terrifing is when they are based in reality commenting on current world affairs or situations in life. "Romero's demons are, as ever, current events... 'I don't have any supernatural hobgoblins that I worry about,' says the master of fear. 'What scares me is life." In the article Chris Norris sums up Romero's intentions when making each of his films. "...to Romero the undead aren't monsters but a metier. He himself reanimated teh concept several times after Night - once to critique mindless consumerism ('78 Dawn of the Dead), once again to explore military groupthink ('85 Day of the Dead), and later to take on class warfare ('05 Land of the Dead). 'I end up coming back to this franchise whenever I want to make a comment or take a snapshot of the time,' says Romero."
40 years ago Romero made is first cult hit, Night of the Living Dead. It's an awsome concept of the dead coming back to life and very scary when they are slow but unstoppable. However, should we loose the backend of this style of filmmaking? Films are a visual experince and I do believe that we should put a good deal of effort into the look of the film but without a story where are we left? Filmmaking is the art of visual narrative, this means that it is two parts, one part visual and one part story, both equaly important. "In one crowning irony, the revolution Romero launched has since ossified into a Hollywood gore factory that's a nearly perfect inversion of the movement that made it possible: an army of film school dweebs with black dye jobs and studio budgets who crank out hit horror movies with none of the wit, invention, or social resonance that made the '70s classics cool in the first place."
If you get a chance, pick up the latest issue of Maxim and check out the entire article.
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