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Brett Easton EllisWork is often terrifying – he wrote the iconic 1991 novelamerican psychothe script for the 2020 slasher film Smiley Face Killers, and the upcoming semi-autobiographical serial killer novel,Debris]scheduled to be released in January. As well as eight novels, one essay, and many scripts produced and yet to be completed, Ellis is also a daring cultural critic, often speaking about her pop culture, including horror films. I lovebrett easton ellis podcast”
Scary movie fans are checking one after another this year, so variety We spoke to Ellis about his horror film history, what scared him most, and the future of the genre.
Ellis believes that the new generation of studio horror films often make one important mistake.
“Horror films, especially in the ’70s, didn’t have the backstory or answers to explain the horror,” he said. “Why was Regan demon-possessed in The Exorcist? I don’t know. Why do sharks cruise Amity? [in ‘Jaws’]?you don’t know Where did Carrie White get her powers? I don’t know. You could go on and on with the mysteries of these movies. When horror movies go too far with the backstory, it’s all about explaining why these people do what, or what this monster does. On the point, it often minimizes horror.
“I think the ‘Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ is a great example of that. We don’t know what that family is. We get a hint as to what happened to them, but what is Leatherface?” For some reason I think it’s particularly terrifying in a way not seen in any of the other movies in the Chainsaw series. It’s detailed and the backstory is usually completely ridiculous. ”
Ellis underscores his point by analyzing the ups and downs of one of the year’s most talked-about horror films, The Barbarian.
“I like that movie,” he said. “I thought there would be an epic bang in the middle, and it would slowly build up, and then it would be a completely different movie. I had a friend who liked it too, but thought there was too much explanation in the third act. Something happened, mother. It’s scary to think that this thing lives there and goes out hunting at night.”
Additionally, Ellis and his colleagues agreed that the ending pulled a punch in a unique and modern way.
“This friend, who is a filmmaker, told me that the reason the movie went off track for him was because he really didn’t have the courage to believe that he had to live,” he said. Said. “I was hoping for a slightly more pessimistic ending as ‘The Barbarian’ seemed to be headed in that direction. It was like a return to ’70s horror, and I loved the quirkiness of the monsters.” I wasn’t afraid to look completely silly or silly, it was very frightening and real and tactile and analog.”
Ellis pointed out that while studio fees can be overly sanitized in current culture, a vibrant underground can keep subversive ideas alive.
“I like to think it’s cyclical,” Ellis said. “Yes, we are going through this now and we will push it back, and it will be more rigid and less ideologically conscious. [in horror]Don’t worry too much about specific tropes, just go back to aesthetics and horror. ”
One of the current films that Ellis says revives the edgy classic horror is the word-of-mouth Terrifier 2.
“I was complaining about not having a really gritty, scary horror movie,” he said. “But someone used to tell me, ‘Brett, you can find the most disgusting horror movies if you really want to find it. They’re out there. You have to look for them.’ It might not show up in the mainstream, but trust me.
Ellis goes on to recall a podcast conversation with Miramax CEO Bill Block.
“It goes back to what Bill Block said: People always have to confront that darkness and see those images and be repulsed or forced into them,” Ellis said. “So I don’t know if it will go away. Only if it goes mainstream in the enterprise. Except for the most bland, non-aggressive stuff, it doesn’t seem to have much to do with stuff like that. Thing I hope that changes happen, but I think there is so much content out there that you’ll find most of what you’re looking for.”
Looking back at the impact horror movies had on him growing up, Ellis saw them as a way of coping with the difficult world around him.
“As a kid in the ’70s, I was obsessed with horror movies,” he said. “I don’t know why, but there were a lot of them, and I was drawn to them. Because it was a free-range world, there was a kind of gritty realism to everything and you weren’t treated like a child. I know how scary it is.
“There was a fascination with horror films of the 70s because they reflected a discordant family. There were many issues floating around, but horror films served as the clearest way to acknowledge or relate to the anxieties and fears I was experiencing. It was something.”