Monday, August 20, 2012

Ask JKM a Question #25: Are there any extreme movies I wish I could un-see?


A reader and terrific blogger, Patrick, writes:

“A friend of mine once told me that he avoided certain movies based on their descriptions because he didn't want their images "renting space in his head." This has always made sense to me, and there are films I am unlikely ever to watch no matter how great the acclaim for them is."

"Jeffrey Sconce of the blog Ludic Despair recently called "The Human Centipede 2: The Full Sequence" "the best horror film I've seen in a decade," but that doesn't mean I'm going to watch it, any more than I will "Hostel 2" or (probably) "Martyrs" (although I did somehow work up the nerve to watch "Irreversible," and admired it)."

"You see a lot of films with extreme content, since that's in the nature of your work. Have there ever been things you wish you could have unseen? And have you ever avoided any films based on descriptions of disagreeable-sounding content?

A very smart and terrific question, Patrick.  I appreciate you asking it.

I recently watched and reviewed Irreversible, and as the fire-extinguisher murder sequence went on and on, I had to look away.  I came back to it because the scene went on for so long, and because it’s my responsibility to pay attention. 

But…yikes. 

Similarly, when I was recently watching I Spit on Your Grave (1978), I did not watch in its entirety the scene in the bath tub with the straight razor (where the villain’s genitals are sliced open and the bath water turns blood red…).  I delegated that responsibility to my wife, who enjoys that particular film more than I do.  I had seen the scene before (when I reviewed the book for Horror Films of the 1970s), so I felt I could turn away this time around.

In general, I’m not actually a big gore fan, but in both of the instances above, what proved so powerful was the sense of passion/energy evoked by the on-screen gore.  When our emotions are engaged, the violence takes on a new color or shading, so-to-speak. 

You may have noticed that I haven’t yet reviewed The Human Centipede here on the blog.  I saw the film more than a year ago and was, actually, mesmerized by it.  I couldn’t get it out of my head.  It succeeded largely on the basis of skillful implication, and on viewer imagination regarding what horrors were happening.  My problem, however, is that I haven’t been able to really understand what its social value or point is.  So if I wrote I review, I’d be saying something along the lines of “the film is remarkably well-done…but for what?”  Just for the sake of human sickness?  I’m not saying there isn’t a message or point to it all, only that I haven’t been able to discern it.  I was too…nauseated.

I haven’t watched The Human Centipede 2 yet in part because of this very dynamic, and in part because I have heard it’s really, really disgusting, and I have to time these things right.  I’ve just subjected my wife to a two-and-a-half month cycle of Deliverance, Straw Dogs, I Spit on Your Grave, Irreversible and Last House on the Left, and I don’t want to overtax her more than necessary, since she’s sweet and patient enough to watch all these movies with me in the first place. 

But one of these days…

Is there anything specifically I wish I could un-see?  You know it’s funny, I find bad movies much more depressing and toxic to my brain than I do a really well-done, if gory, horror film.  While gore may shock and disgust me, it doesn’t  tend to depress or debauch me.  A really bad or stupid movie -- one that uses violence thoughtlessly, for example -- is much more likely to upset me, I suppose.

That fact established, there is indeed a scene in a horror film I liked that stayed with me when I tried to go to sleep at night after a screening.  It was actually in Rob Zombie’s Halloween II (2009).  There was a scene in that film, not entirely unlike Irreversible’s fire-extinguisher moment, wherein Michael Myers pulped a man’s face.  It was just really, really gruesome, and for some reason, I played it over in my mind a few times afterwards.

Also, and this is weird, but I found the Old Crone monster in Insidious (2011) scary on some kind of  psychological level.  I liked the film very much, but felt that in some ways it was warmed-over Poltergeist.  So I was shocked (and alarmed) at night, to find myself awake in bed thinking of that Old Crone...just patiently waiting on the Other Side for the right moment to sneak into our reality.  

It's strange and unexpected, some times, what images stay with you after you watch a movie.  I never would have guessed that Insidious had the power to disturb my peace of mind...but it did.

Don't forget to ask me a question at Muirbusiness@yahoo.com


14 comments:

  1. I have always given every horror movie a chance. I knew that Human Centipede was going to be disgusting but I viewed it anyway. (I have no plans on watching it a second time, however).

    The one movie I wish I could unsee is A Serbian Film. They claim it has political overtones (internal to Serbia) but I sure didn't pick up on any. One word: Disturbing.

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    1. Chadillac,

      I have never seen A Serbian Film, but I feel that I should. I've heard before that it is disturbing, however, so I don't know...

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  2. Fine points, John. Timely, too. It's great to learn what does and does not disturb you. We all have limits. Many thanks, my friend.

    p.s., as Chadillac mentioned, I know, through discussions I've read and had (why I come across them I'll never know), that 'A Serbian Film' is one that I'll also avoid.

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    1. Hi Le0pard13:

      It definitely is a personal decision, deciding to watch any film, especially one with disturbing imagery. I don't begrudge anyone that choice. My only caveat is that critics should watch the films they write about, so they can do so accurately and not depend on other folks' comments...

      Best,
      John

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  3. Anonymous3:30 PM

    Especially as a boy in the '70s, there were always both made for tv horror films and anthology episodes that kept me awake at night. Human Centipede was truly gross and forgettable for me. However, you are right John, Insidious(2011) did make my think at night as I did as a boy decades ago.

    SGB

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    1. Hi SGB:

      I was shocked to learn that Insidious really bothered me. That's proof positive it was an effective horror film. That Old Crone was SCARY! Sometimes, we react, really, as if still children, confronted by the dark...

      Best,
      John

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  4. ....I actually fell asleep halfway through Human Centipede. Last House on the Left definitely ranks among movies I'd like to unsee, along with Splice, and I know EXACTLY what Halloween II scene you're talking about; you're so right!

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    Replies
    1. Hi Mich,

      I'll be covering Last House on the Left this Friday. It is a disturbing film, but watching it soon after Irreversible, it looked almost like child's play.

      Splice had a scene that very much disturbed me, I'm sure you remember which one. In it, the man who was supposed to be a father to the alien teenager abdicated his morality and responsibility, and had sex with her. I found that profoundly disturbing in a moral sense.

      You remember that moment in Halloween II as well! Thank goodness someone else was really bothered by it. I still think about how awful and disgusting it was...

      best,
      John

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  5. Thanks for the thoughtful answer to my query! It's interesting (read: revealing) that although there are plenty of films that I don't think I could stomach watching - I keep a private list at the IMDB labeled "Transgressive Cinema," more than 200 titles to date - I make sure to know EXACTLY what is in them. I could cite you chapter and verse on "A Serbian Film," for instance. I don't in the least mind knowing about things, in fact I'm rather an atrocity collector; it's just that I'm very sensitive to visualization (and of course, film directors are GOOD at it). I too looked away during the face-bashing in "Irreversible."

    As Jeffrey Sconce and some other commentators on "The Human Centipede" cycle would have it, the centipede is partly metaphoric of late-stage capitalism; we all get to eat **** sooner or later. Perhaps there is your social angle. Pasolini goes to the same place in "Salo," and he is ultra-political.

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    Replies
    1. Hi Patrick,

      Thank you for sending in an excellent question, and for provoking excellent debate. Your question was perfectly timed too, since I had just seen Irreversible, and that film seems to be a part of the "un-see" tribe.

      I have read so much about A Serbian Film, and really must see it. I've also read about Human Centipede's social value, but didn't see it myself, or felt I couldn't make the case myself. When I write Horror Films of the 2010s, I will really have to grapple with, for certain.

      Thank you so much, Patrick!

      best,
      John

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  6. I read a detailed synopsis for A SERBIAN FILM and that was enough for me. As said above, everyone has their limits and that film is mine as are a few others mentioned here. You're a brave soul to watch IRREVERSIBLE, another film that sounds and seems too bleak and brutal for me. But then I've watched THE DEVIL'S REJECTS many times and there are people I know who can't stomach that film, esp. the scene in the motel. It's all so very subjective, I suppose.

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  7. Fantastic stuff. Just the other day someone posted a pic from David Cronenberg's THE DEAD ZONE where Deputy Dodd (Nicholas Campbell) offs himself in an unusual way involving scissors. I can't say anymore because I'm convulsing right now trying to block it out. It's that terrible. I'm a horror fan and most of what disturbs others rolls off me. I find many kills stylish and fun, more than upsetting. The scene you mention from I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE also works on me (and most men I know). Another one that bothers me is nails through feet. I recall David Gordon Green's UNDERTOW (not a horror film) had a scene like this.

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  8. Anonymous3:10 AM

    It is very rare for me to not like a film or want to unsee it. The gore and atrocities fascinate me because we don't see these things in everyday life and we lack the emotional experience these movies can deliver us. It's more like a curiosity: "So that's how it might look and feel." The scenes that make me squirm actually deal with social awkwardness, but not to an unsee degree.

    -T.S.

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  9. Mate, that crone in Insidious haunts me regularly, you're not alone there. But yes, Irreversible has by far the most most mind-bendingly real act of violence ever made on film, and there's another shockingly disturbing scene further in. As far as extreme cinema goes it's benchmark.

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