Knock Knock - Erotic, Horrific, and... Funny?
- Thread starter Marter
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I'll probably pass on this.
It has the SAW thing going for it, where there can really be no way for the victim to escape the psycho's 'logic' or 'reasoning', and I didn't like those movies much for that reason. Seriously. If anyone thought his saying no or yes to the sexual encounters in this movie had any bearing on his escaping unharmed then they are delusional.
As with Hard Candy, I don't find the idea of 'man traps' all that compelling or interesting in a horror movie, as it basically feels like a gender war sometimes, and the dirty mens are gonna get it, or something like that, or some other moral like don't cheat on your wife or something, or else you'll be tortured and raped and emasculated and, unlike other horror movies, the male victim almost never seems to get away or get revenge, because the framing of the movie has the perpetrator armored with the role of victim or justified from moment one... see, that's usually the difference in these movies, centered on sex and those taboos- the male victims rarely get away for cheating or having premarital sex, but the female victims regularly become 'final girls' and put Jason down somehow, or defeat Freddy, or escape Michael Myers.
Sorry for the rant, I guess.
... honestly, I prefer supernatural or otherwise paranormal elements to my horror movies- I know people are fucked up.
It has the SAW thing going for it, where there can really be no way for the victim to escape the psycho's 'logic' or 'reasoning', and I didn't like those movies much for that reason. Seriously. If anyone thought his saying no or yes to the sexual encounters in this movie had any bearing on his escaping unharmed then they are delusional.
As with Hard Candy, I don't find the idea of 'man traps' all that compelling or interesting in a horror movie, as it basically feels like a gender war sometimes, and the dirty mens are gonna get it, or something like that, or some other moral like don't cheat on your wife or something, or else you'll be tortured and raped and emasculated and, unlike other horror movies, the male victim almost never seems to get away or get revenge, because the framing of the movie has the perpetrator armored with the role of victim or justified from moment one... see, that's usually the difference in these movies, centered on sex and those taboos- the male victims rarely get away for cheating or having premarital sex, but the female victims regularly become 'final girls' and put Jason down somehow, or defeat Freddy, or escape Michael Myers.
Though interestingly enough, as a foil to my own rant, Eli Roth's ownHostel does just that: Male victim, punished for wanting to have sex, escapes torture, and kills all of the psychos. hmmm...
Sorry for the rant, I guess.
... honestly, I prefer supernatural or otherwise paranormal elements to my horror movies- I know people are fucked up.
HA! The girl with the "IT WAS ALL A DREAM" shirt wrote "IT WAS NOT A DREAM" on the mirror with lipstick... *chuckles*
OT: So... It's like Hostel, but more close to home, per se...
If IFC ever wants to show this move on their network, then just like the two Hostel movies, I'll check it out...
OT: So... It's like Hostel, but more close to home, per se...
If IFC ever wants to show this move on their network, then just like the two Hostel movies, I'll check it out...
Well, sometimes that's kind of the point.. I mean, since Funny Games has been mentioned.the December King said:
There's a bit in Funny Games where the surviving victims stage a last ditch escape and one of the attackers literally rewinds the movie so they don't succeed.
In fact, until funny games "home invasion" movies almost always ended with a last ditch escape because gosh darn it, we all want to believe so badly that the power of nice middle class white families with nice, comfy looking houses will prevail over whatever scary threat the antagonist represents this time, which is why Michael Haneke basically broke the fourth wall in order to give the audience a middle finger.
In fact, until funny games "home invasion" movies almost always ended with a last ditch escape because gosh darn it, we all want to believe so badly that the power of nice middle class white families with nice, comfy looking houses will prevail over whatever scary threat the antagonist represents this time, which is why Michael Haneke basically broke the fourth wall in order to give the audience a middle finger.
It's very difficult to make this kind of "home invasion" horror movie without commenting in some way on the tropes of the genre, and the genre is saturated with this kind of bizarre family-values rhetoric, usually with nice white middle class dad stepping up to the role of protector and proving himself in the eyes of his family. There's room for a few more middle fingers to that story, I think.
At this stage, I think it's fair to say everyone is pretty aware of the issues (American-centric) horror has with sex. I think we kind of have to assume that if someone's still doing it it's kind of intentional.
I have to admit that I couldn't stand Funny Games exactly for this breaking of the fourth wall. If you have seen Haneke's other movies, you know he can be very smart and subtle about the causes and implications of violence, but Funny Games was all too blunt and forcedly trying to convey its message.evilthecat said:
evilthecat said:
I hadn't seen Funny Games, but that does sound like I would find it frustrating... while it can be kind of the point, I would rather not be able to look at home invasion flicks as a category and be able to say "oh, I don't really feel like watching torture porn, because that is all they ammount to," you know?
Well, yeah, sometimes that is a nice vibe. And sometimes it's cool to watch the plump soft ignorant suburbanites get slaughtered, too- I think with the home invasion flicks, we would like to think that we know our home turf best, and it can be unsettling when attackers are, whether plot driven or otherwise, better capable. Again, the fun part of discussing horror is whether one is too bothered or indeed 'horrified' by the premise!evilthecat said:
Sure, if you're into that sort of thing- I mean, most of Lucky McGee's cannon preys on the fears young men have of sex and underestimated women,for example, like The Woman or The Body, and so there is definitely a market there. In addition, I think it might be more base than that- it has to do with home being sacred, unassailable, and safe, a lesson most learn while young. And when we get right down to it, home is not necessarily safe at all, and that is what is being played with, I reckon.evilthecat said:
Yep, I reckon so. If one wants to explore some different takes on sex and it's role in horror, like Gone Girl or The Loved Ones, or Final Girl (if it gets done), there are many films that are exploring mayhem in directions less tread (less tread by an 8-foot-tall indestructible psycho, at least).evilthecat said:
yeah funny games is the most pretentious piece of shit I've ever seen in my life and comparing anything to it seems more like an insult than anything.09philj said:
I can't say for sure why, but first movie that came to me was actually "Kitten with a Whip."
Must be watching too much MST.
Must be watching too much MST.