Monday, August 31, 2009

Parental Discretion Advised

"Michael Myers is a killer, plain and simple. He does his work without mercy, seemingly without thought, stabbing or stomping or smashing his victims' faces long past the point of death until they are empty not only of life, but even the faintest trace of humanity.

His first victim—already bashed and cut and spitting up blood from a car accident—is decapitated with a piece of glass, and we see Myers sawing fervently (the camera looks on from behind) at the man's neck. He later picks up the head and lets it drop in a field. Another victim, the stripper, has her head smashed into a pane of glass repeatedly. At first she screams, but when she's no longer capable of that, she just jerks. And then she's still and silent—dead—and Myers smashes her face into the shattered pane again.

What may be Myers' most horrific killing takes place offscreen. We hear scream after scream as we watch an unrelated scene. But not content to leave well enough alone, Zombie eventually shows off the victim—in a bathroom covered with her blood—gasping and gurgling her last few minutes of life away while Laurie holds her.

Myers kills at least 14 people and a dog before the end credits fade and his grim, cruel world is mercifully wrapped in black. Most he stabs to death. One he impales on a set of antlers. Another he crushes with his foot—his heel smashing repeatedly into his victim's skull until it looks like a smashed melon. He snaps someone's arm, sending the bone through the skin. He gouges someone else's eyes out.

Myers eats part of the dog he kills. He pushes a car off the side of the road and sets it on fire. He tears through a guard shack with an ax. A van hits a cow. A man pulls a gun on Loomis. The sheriff threatens and points his gun. Someone is shot a couple of times. The end credits feature cutaways to realistic-looking murder scenes, corpses and all. Some of the pictures look as though they were meant to be "taken" during the police investigation of Myers' killings, but not all. "

This, as I’m sure you’ve realized, is a summary of the gruesome, graphic, lewd, inconceivable and down-right sickening scenes that one could see in the newly released movie “Halloween II”. Can I just say....what… the… heck? I am honestly dumbfounded by Rob Zombie and his desire to create a movie like this. And I’m even more dumbfounded by people who would actually pay to see this kind of &*!$. Excuse the ‘language’. Movies like this literally make me sick…am I the only one? I don’t think I am, and yet it’s probably made a couple million in its first release weekend alone. I would love to see some sort of research done, comparing this exact movie to the hundreds of violent acts that may become of it. Perhaps I’m being too harsh, or judgemental, but when God says that our bodies are temples – He’s talking about the eyes & ears too. And no, I’m not saying that every person who sees this movie is going to go scalp someone, but just think about it…it just nauseates me so much to think that a movie like this will be worshipped without a second of consideration. Thoughts?

5 comments:

  1. well i can only speak from personal opinion, obviously :) ha.

    anyways.
    I watched one of the Halloween movies (i believe it was H20) when i was in grade 8; that was the same year I watched Carrie. I didn't know what my limits were at that point as I had never watched any horror movies in my life; they just weren’t around our house (I watched these at a friends). I remember quite distinctly a conversation I had with my mom around that time. She said that although she had only seen one horror movie in her life (Tex.Ch.Mass.), and that was when she was 18; she could still see the entire thing in her head. It still bothered her, and the pictures were still stuck in her memory.

    It was about that point that I decided I wouldn’t watch these kinds of movies anymore. The movies didn't bother me while I was watching them, but I found that after the movie was over was when it started to play tricks on my brain And like my mom, once I see a horrific picture, I rarely forget it. (I even tried watching “It” in college – a cheesy 80’s movie about a clown…and I am not afraid of clowns – but it still played pretty heavily on my imagination).

    I am to the point now, in my mid-20’s, where I have avoided seeing these kinds of movies for over 10 years (save “It”). Once I made that choice to cut out the movies, I found that the previews started to really bother me. And once the previews started to bother me, I stopped being able to handle them altogether. Now, even a hint-of-horrific preview threatens to send me over the edge. I can’t watch them: I will throw my hands over my eyes and start humming to myself (yes, even if it’s in a movie theatre or crowded room). I can’t even look at the posters anymore; and typically, I can tell what kind of movie preview it will be just from the opening chord of the preview-music. (and actually, I couldn't even read all of Shannon's description)

    So what’s my point?

    My point is that it comes down to choice, and sensitivity. It’s like anything; a baby step here or there erodes our defensive lines, and eventually, it no longer bothers us to WATCH as someone gets TORN APART, gurgling blood and all. It no longer bothers us to toy with demonic forces on the big screen (uh, I’m thinking of The Ring, the Grudge, etc).

    I’m not saying I’m somehow a better Christian because I don’t watch these movies; I have my faults too. I have simply made choices that have caused me to be sensitive to this area of media. What I AM saying is that if you do like these movies, I think you need to re-evaluate WHY you like them.

    seriously.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I totally have to agree with what was said above here.

    So I am not going to repeat it. However I do have to say, who ENJOYS watching these acts of horrific violence? It plants a seed - and not a good one.

    I think it is crazy how people are able to view it as "just a movie" when these things actually occur in real life.

    Sick.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Well I love gruesome horror flicks. They add joy and meaning to my life and challenge me to be a better person.

    kidding. I hate them, but I just felt like lightening the mood :)

    Great post Shan!
    W

    ReplyDelete
  4. Spot on Shannon. Maybe you should write about MMA and UFC as well

    ReplyDelete