The Brothers Grimm

[poliphilo]

Werewolves are fun, but they're not frightening. Is anyone out there frightened of werewolves? I mean, really frightened?

Didn't they shoot the last "real" werewolf in sixteen hundred and something? In rural France?

So if you're not living in rural France and the date isn't sixteen hundred and something, why should you be scared?

I know, I know, it's an archetype. The Beast within. Yaddayaddayadda.

So I just watched the Brothers Grimm. It has a werewolf in it. And I've been asking myself ever since, "now what was the point of that?"

Why make gothic movies when the gothic isn't scary any more?

The Japanese have a handle on what's really scary these days. What's really scary these days in girls with hair all over their faces climbing out of TV sets. But werewolves? Nah.

The only way to handle the gothic these days is to make it funny. The model is Ghostbusters. Don't you just love Ghostbusters?

I think The Brothers Grimm was trying to be funny. Leastways Heath Ledger fell over a lot.

But a script would have been nice.

And I could have done without the services of Matt Damon. (I had a revelation yesterday; I realised who Matt Damon reminds me of. He's an absolute dead ringer for Doug McClure who used to be in Bonanza or High Chaparal or something- only Doug McClure had more charisma.)

But, all in all, I think the comedy gothic horror has had its day. We want to be really frightened, not pretend-frightened.

Irony will only stretch so far.

Before it snaps *ping* like knicker elastic.

Comments

[happydog.livejournal.com]

Doug McClure was in The Virginian, which is almost but not quite Bonanza or High Chaparral. Basically, they were all about cowpokes hanging out on a ranch, so it's easy to get them all confused.

He died of lung cancer in 1995, sadly. His performance in At The Earth's Core is classic; I have to give the guy props for even being in that movie, which was total garbage. At one point they are attacked by allegedly carnivorous flying fish, which attack consists of a ton of rubber fish obviously being thrown at McClure, Peter Cushing and the ever-wondrous Caroline Munro. McClure does his best not to die laughing, and for keeping a straight face he deserved some kind of award. At The Earth's Core also featured the deathless line, "You can't mesmerise me, I'm British!" (spoken by Cushing).

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

They keep showing that movie on Saturday afternoons and I keep stumbling into the middle of it. I don't think I've ever seen it all the way through.

[happydog.livejournal.com]

It's completely really dreadful, but I watched it because it has Caroline Munro in her prime in it. It's not really worth watching all the way through.

I envy you a bit that they show bad movies on Saturday afternoons where you are. These days they seem to be showing a lot of Golf and infomercials on Saturday afternoon TV. Those are definitely not as much fun.