Dear Andrew,
You must realize that you've set yourself in a very pretty position with
your idea that "The Exorcist" isn't a horror film. Your line goes: if it's
horror it's crap, if it's good it simply must not be horror. It's a very
old line and far from enlightened. How easy... Universal is hiring
someone to put "thriller" stickers on copies of "The Birds."
I think anyone that suggests "Psycho", "The Exorcist", "Alien",
Cronenberg's "The Fly" and "Henry: Portrait" (to pick five from the
last five decades) aren't good AND horror is frankly wearing some pretty
thick blinders. (But then my definition of horror is broad - I think
"1984" is horror and "The Wizard of Oz" is a horror film for kids.)
Going back to your original post, what themes (if not mortality - read
humanity? - as you mentioned) do you deem worthy of
exploring in cinema? Personally, my short list would be: Death, dreams,
love, sex & sexuality. It's very interesting to me that horror films to
you are about mortality and somehow not about Death. Is it even possible
for an image to relay a message of mortality without making a statement
about Death?
Yours,
Dave.
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David McCallum [log in to unmask]
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