Scott Glosserman made sure the “Scream” trilogy wasn’t the final word on deconstructing horror films.
Glosserman wrote and directed “Behind the Mask: The Rise of Leslie Vernon,” one of my Halloween sleeper pics and a loving tweak of modern horror conventions. He’s hard at work on two psychological horror films, but he took time out to answer a few questions regarding horror movies.
WWTW: What’s your take on the current state of the horror genre?
SG: Honestly, I think the quality-side of horror films is as unpredictable as the stock market right now. What is for certain is that horror movies are continuing to be churned out. The consolidation of the movie business means far fewer films are going to be made.
Generally, when budgets tighten and commodity movies are sought after, movie execs look for genre films that can be made on small budgets and that don’t need big stars. Present circumstances, therefore, favor horror films. And, horror films tend to be best when they’re lean and mean.
The question is, will this demand for horror film output exceed supply of quality material and/or directors who know what to do with it. Well, let’s take Richard Kelly. Really interesting director – DONNIE DARKO was brilliant (or pointless and he completely fooled us) — either way, he’s adapting one of my favorite “Twilight Zone” episodes, THE BOX, into a feature for Warner Bros.. There’s a quality director with a superb piece of material.
Frank Darabont optioned my favorite Stephen King novella, THE LONG WALK. ‘Nuff said.
I’m glad we finally seem to be emerging from the torture/porn era. There was, indeed, a post-9/11 time and place for that, but we have hope on the horizon (hopefully).
So, brutality displayed through hopelessness, grounded in realistic despair as a conscious or subconscious form of social commentary in horror films should subside. I believe gross-out, not-so-serious, tongue-and-cheek horror, on the one hand, and serious horror movies as social commentary for Populism (fighting for Joe-the-whatever) are on their way. That’s my prognostication.
WWTW: What modern factors are helping/hurting the genre?
The modern factors hurting AND helping the genre are clearly the economy — the tightening of the purse strings. It’s hurting the genre, on the one hand, because whereas five years ago there may have been close to a hundred producers who were capable of financing a $5 million horror film, now there are only a few.
However, this may help the genre because those few producers who are still in the game have a lot more leverage and are able to be a lot more discerning about the material and the filmmakers they choose.
Most likely, the quality of the films that DO get made will be better. Also, consciously or not, horror films tend to be reflective of the social zeitgeist of the day. Again, supposing we’re entering a new era of hope and optimism (this hope and optimism, fyi, certainly does not stem from the unemployment numbers or the failing financial institutions; rather from the political rhetoric and the rallying youth movement – the largest horror film-frequenting demographic), perhaps our horror films will become “fun” horror again, like SCREAM, versus morbid hopeless horror, like SAW.
Depends on your taste, whether that’s going to be appealing to you. Generally, this preference follows the gender gap. Men and women, believe it or not, watch and enjoy an equal amount of horror. It’s just that women tend to like being scared, whereas men tend to like being grossed-out. Generally, male horror fans rag on the PG-13 stuff because it’s not graphic enough, but those are the films that, generally, women dig because they are less gratuitous and more suspenseful.
TOMORROW: Glosserman analyzes the field of young horror directors and gives us a peek at his next two horror-related projects.
(Photo: Writer/director Scott Glosserman)
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{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Cool interview so far but hey I’m going to open my big mouth again. I’m not sure that our 6% unemployment rate really exploded the torture/porn horror genre. Also the recent economic woes don’t really explain the popularity of torture movies during other times of relative economic prosperity. The stock market wasn’t always in the tank over the last 7 years and 4 dollar gas didn’t personally make me want to watch bloodied people struggling to escape a hair trigger rigged bear trap or whatever. I’m just saying maybe there’s more or even less to it.
His views here remind me of last week’s Entertainment Weekly article about the upcoming JJ Abrams Star Trek movie. I’ll be darned if they didn’t manage to mention Senator Obama three times in the piece. It all seemed very out of place and even a little forced.
Hopity hope hope hope hope.
I’m no industry insider or a fan of torture movies (I haven’t even seen the original Saw) but I would wager that people were far hungrier to see hopeful and optimistic films right after the 9-11 attacks than Mr. Glosserman believes. I don’t think that craving is anything new or inspired by a recent political figure.
I can buy the idea that Saw is “hopeless horror” but I’m not sure I would recognize “hopeful” horror if I saw it. I guess some endings are positive. Someone escapes or saves a life etc. I don’t know maybe you guys can help me out there. Bottom line is I don’t think an Obama presidency would change the movie industry or movie viewing patterns of the public as much as some of these directors would umm… hope.
Regs — totally see your point. I decided not to clip out Scott’s not so veiled political comments because A. he was nice enough to let me interview him, and B. readers should hear what an artist has to say, for better or worse.
So very true. Hope I didn’t come off as unappreciative because I’m pretty stoked to read the next segment.
Not at all, Regs. Sometimes, I like to comment on the news I post here, other times I let savvy readers like yourself do the honors.
Regs – lemme see if I can qualify what I was saying a bit more clearly. I wasn’t trying to espouse any political views of my own. I was, per the question, trying to base my answer on an objective observation of the direction our youth culture seems to be headed.
Horror films aren’t necessarily a reflection of what a filmmaker anticipates an audience wants to see (as soon as you try to do that, you’ve written yourself a death sentence – or you’ve decided to work for a studio). Rather, they generally correlate with how a writer/filmmaker feels, or what that person wants to say at any given point. And, those sentiments, are quite often in line with how society is feeling.
The, “what we need right now is a happy movie”, idea is reflected in other genres, no doubt. But, in horror, the tone of the good/lasting films tend to follow not what we’d like to see, but how we really feel.
SAW, written by twenty-somethings, was a brilliant illustration about how we felt after 911. Seeing videotaped images on CNN of beheadings in rooms no larger than the one in SAW with zero chance of being able to do anything about it left us with a generally helpless and hopeless feeling.
The writer/filmmakers, whether consciously or not, reflected that tone in SAW to a tee. That movie stands as the classic horror film of the first 10 years of the 21st Century. In the same way FRANKENSTEIN reflected our fears over fascism, and the 50’s Creature Features related our anxieties about nuclear war and radioactive fallout, etc. etc. –
So, what I am suggesting is that, regardless of my own politics, I am sensing a youth movement rallying behind hope — time has begun to heal some of our post-911 wounds, and horror movies may, in fact, reflect that feeling in their tone (i.e.: a move back to the PG-13 franchise fare).
However, what colors that picture is this: since we’re amidst a global financial crises, alienating the haves from the have-nots even further than they’ve ever been, perhaps the tone of horror films will remain dark and serious, and move in the direction of populistic.
Or, maybe hat’s just what I’m working on…
Regards,
Scott
Scott,
So glad you expounded on the Q&A here. One of the best parts of the Web — bringing audiences and talented folk like yourself together to talk about movies. Nothing better than that.