So once again Chiller premiered another original TV special just in time for Christmas. Think of it as an early Christmas or Hanukkah present to us viewers. It is there second horror special this season, right after the premiere of Chiller 13:Horror's Creepiest Kids.
In this 2-hour long TV special, we were given a broken down, in-depth look at the Horror genre and what other horror enthusiasts are predicting for the future of the Genre.
There were many guest commentaries as usual like George Romero, Tom Savini, Tony Todd, Wes Craven, Danielle Harris, Fangoria Editor, Miko Hughes(Lil Boy from Pet Semetary), the directors of saw and paranormal activity, and many other familiar and not-so familiar faces.
This show was in exactly the same format as there other Horror TV specials called, "Chiller 13" only it wasn't a countdown. It was a mixture of guest speakers and clips from movies.
The show was broken up into different sections like Zombies, Women in Horror, Monsters, Vampires, and other different topics that were each debated upon. Topics debated included running zombies vs walking zombies and whether showing the killer is scarier than using your imagination to create an image of the killer. Also debated was the use of CGI and how recently movies have moved towards using more CGI rather than using both tangible special effects and computer programs. A great comparison they made in the show was between the transformations of werewolves in movies now to in the past. They compared movies like An American Werewolf in London to Underworld. When it comes to CGI and this debate I have to say that I agree that less is more in this situation. Often times directors use too much CGI and kind of go crazy when they are given an opportunity to use it. This often leads to unrealistic monsters that aren't scary and are too cartoonish. They only movie recently that shyed away from using too much CGI was, "The Wolfman", which I believe worked in their favor. Anyways, the Chiller TV show actually predicted that in the future we would be moving away from using too much CGI, which is a prediction I hope comes true. However, I don't know if I see that coming any time soon with movies and sequels like Piranha and Shark Night 3DD coming out soon.
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| Wolfman |
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| Frankenstein |
At the end of the episode a final question was asked to all the guest commentaries, "What do you believe the future of horror is?"
And the majority of the people said WOMEN. =] Whether it be women directors, monsters, or serial killers..the opinion of most of them seemed to be that we need more breasts in the horror genre and not just as the victims.
In my opinion, I have to agree with them. We have always see men directing, producing, and killing off the cast members in our favorite horror movies. I believe it's time for women to take control and steer the wheel for a while and re-imagine the horror genre. Women are naturally very creative beings and trust me WE DO have sick minds that know what you guys want. The way we see murder and define scary is completely different from how men see it, and I believe that our minds will give the horror genre the makeover that it needs. Don't you agree? Men, you must agree that sometimes leaving a women in control is the best alternative =p By letting the women take the reins for once, I believe it will bring some fresh meat to the butcher table && allow the horror genre to move in a new refreshing direction. It is about time that a new horror icon is created and who knows..it could very well be a girl behind the mask or the idea.
However, the idea of having a female killer may not workneccessarily if it is not executed correctly. I mean we do have a lot of female bad-asses like Selene in Underworld and Alice in the Resident Evil Series that have always saved the day. We even have had some notable women murderers in past movies as well, such as Pamela Voorhees from the Friday the 13th movies, Regan from the Exorcist, and the mother from Serial Mom that could also prove us wrong. However, given the way horror movies have been lately with the lack of creativity and the up-rise in remakes being made, I don't see a solid Female antagonist coming onto the screens anytime soon unless we get some new producers and directors to join the genre. I feel like the horror genre is too flooded with amateur horror movies and shitty actors, where computer graphics and "imagination" substitutes a well produced and constructed movie. If we go in a new direction we might have a chance at saving the genre...or we could just go the same route and become as predictable as romantic comedies.
The moral of the story here is that LADIES..you must claim your spot in cinema and make a name for yourself in the horror genre. Don't fear the opinion of others in the industry and most of all don't fear failure. If you put your heart, soul, and time into a well made and thought out idea than there's no reason you can't find a large group of horror fans that will take a liking to your work. I mean even final destination 5 grossed a pretty good revenue. If not, then don't expect anything great to come from the genre in many years. The only thing to be expected is more sparkles on vampires and overly-animated CGI films.
