A New Horror - A New Hope?

HALLOWEEN is the time of year where, as everyone knows, you have to get out the horror collection.
But recently there have two new sub-genres that people can curl up in front of the tv with a tub of ice cream – torture porn and trolls.
The first of those is a category which I really don’t see the point because it really just likes to bathe in blood, and has no scary aspect about it.
The Saw franchise is similar in ways to that of the Final Destination saga – elaborate deaths portrayed as something clever but ultimately really predictable and boring. There is a morbid curiosity with all horror films, but while all the others inspire fear, torture porn just makes people go “oooh, that’s clever”. Well, no it isn’t.
At least the Final Destination was able to laugh at itself. You know that the characters won’t die as you first think they will and the humour is in how ridiculous the deaths become. The film makers can string out one death over the course of an entire film and it would be worthwhile, perhaps that’s where they’ll do next for their next film.
But the Saw and Hostel films are just plain boring without any thrills, just a fascination on blood and gore that really isn’t healthy. They just shock for shock’s sake while The Human Centipede is a one-trick pony that should be a ten minute short, at best.
But the second new sub-genre that I think has come about is trolls. Have we ever had a troll movie before? I don’t think we have. Recently I got to see Trollhunter for the first time. (Living in a “provincial city” means that we get most films a few weeks after everyone else.)
It’s a terrific film and one that really deserves to be shouted about and I hope that it will inspire other films of its type.
Yes, it lends itself to the Blair Witch Project and Paranormal Activity films, but at least this one spoofs those documentary films and becomes a great mockumentary.
The comedy and the horror are blended perfectly to create a fantastic film that is at the right length, and really shows up the flaws of those films I’ve mentioned.
At every step of the way you feel for the characters despite knowing little about them, and Otto Jespersen’s performance is spot on.
Like Shaun of the Dead, I think it could really open up a new type of film and one that will see film makers across the planet making their own type. Here’s hoping that there will be more leaders than imitators.