I can only think
of a single other horror movie (and I don’t want to name it, at the risk of
spoiling the ending) where the final twist is that the characters were never in
any real danger, and with both films I walked away feeling like I had watched a
drama rather than a horror. I didn’t think either of the movies were
particularly bad, but I didn’t think they were particularly engaging either,
and my brain really recoils at the thought of watching them a second time. By
all accounts, I should like The
Others--the characters are solid, the idea is original, and the atmosphere is
top notch. I just wasn’t scared (‘cept the little girl/old lady bit), and the
fact that nothing was ever at stake sorta lets the air out of what middling
interest I did have.
Even before I caught on to the
twist (which happened around midway through the film) I never had the feeling
that the unseen forces in the house were a threat to the Stewarts. This might
actually be a testament to the skill of the filmmakers, matching the ‘supernatural’
occurrences to the actions of the defensive, confused individuals on the other
side so accurately that the absence of malevolence shone through, but it’s hard
to view the absence of horror in a horror story as anything but a handicap. I
want to say that this is a product of our never seeing harm befall anyone at
any point; we never get the “meat shot”, as Arnzen would say, to drive home the
fact that the threatening force means business. Problem with that claim,
though, is that a ton of horror eschews early demonstrations of the evil power
in favor of working its way up to something big in the finale. Paranormal Activity is one of ‘em, off the
top of my head. Still, most of these stories do wind up throwing us a few bones
at least midway through, and I tend not to like the ones that don’t (Hill House
comes to mind). Maybe it has to do with attention spans, and varies from
person-to-person.
I dunno. I don’t think The Others is a bad movie. Honest. I just got kinda bored with it.
I was going to say that not all horror has to involve harm to a character, but then I found myself unable to think of any examples where it doesn't. The key to that, though, is psychological harm does constitute as harm. The move Requiem for a Dream demonstrates this well, especially the female roles. It's not necessary for them to get hurt, but viewers are horrified by what becomes of them as their drug habits develop. The mom, for example, isn't going to be eaten by the refrigerator--we know that's a delusion--but she does lose complete touch with reality, and that is frightening.
ReplyDeleteSomething to consider about The Others is that the most harm that could potentially come to the kids would be from the sun, or at least that's stressed to be more dangerous than the ghosts. But like you mention, they're already dead, so nothing can really hurt them, unless they become psychologically damaged. However, the mom has already had a breakdown and has already killed herself and her children, so maybe the damage is done there already, too. This movie is the dealing with the aftermath of the real harm, which could be why it feels like a drama.
I think the thing you have to consider that horror is about the infliction of harm on a character, but the possibility of harm. Splatterpunk did a real disservice to the genre since the idea of horror seems like harm is expected: people will be hurt, tortured, maimed, and/or killed. But if you go through most horror before Splatter punk came around, while harm of physical, mental, or emotional varieties might happen, the stories always emphasized a potential threat that is then pumped up through the story to either the harm happening or some other event the author hinted at in foreshadowing. The fact the children were dead doesn't negate the fact that they didn't know they were dead and thought they could still be hurt by light.
DeleteHorror is based on fear, an emotion, and I think “harm” has a wider definition than you are giving it. For some, physical harm is the least of their fears. It is the intangible—failure, being left alone, etc.—thy fear the most. Grace knew what she’d done. Ghosts or spirits were an anathema to her beliefs; it was more acceptable to her to believe God had granted her a miracle and she and the children were still alive than to accept the truth. When forced to confront the truth, harm was done to her.
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