The world seems to be surrounded by the scourge of death and the blanket of blood. And some people absolutely love it that way, so as long as the gorefest is confined to the big or small screen. That's why a flurry of excitement has taken place online after the ABCs OF DEATH 2 trailer was released to a blood hungry public. The opening 'death' scene is a man being beheaded by an ax. Interesting when compared to modern real news about people being beheaded across the planet.
I don't begrudge people of their thirsty desire to watch torture porn or gory films. I was young once too and thought it was cool to see the kills that horror movies brought. As you age, they say, you mellow. But in this case I do not.. Instead, I recognize the world for what it is: Filled with anarchy and violence, murder and bloodshed. And while I love horror flicks, I dissolve myself of appreciation of all of them---as anyone who reads this site may know, I am often very critical of the genre when I feel movies make to point.. But blood and death are scary. The ABCs of DEATH, however, looks to be just bloody.
And lots of people like that sort of thing. They can.. they have the right.
But I think if they were living in the midst of real war and real blood, their craving to watch the absurdly violent will become obsolete and their desire to just survive will be immediate.
The ABCs of DEATH trailer is available online.. you can find, you can watch it. You can re-watch it.. and you can even masturbate to it as though you were in a scene from the first movie. That is your choice..
Horror movies are often meant to arouse some of the primal fears we all have. The ultimate fear is our own demise. That's why horror movies, when they work, feature scenes of murder but then seems of redemption. Even heroics. The hero at the end, often a woman who has a unique ability to survive darkness, lives to tell her tale and often beats the strong male murderer.. That plays on our instincts. A strong woman (our mothers) ...the fear of death... Some do it in a very effective manner. Others.. well, just don't.
When I was a kid, I fondly recall the shorts from CREEPSHOW. They were campy and weird.. freaky for their time.. Fast forward two decades: And then... When I went to see HOUSE OF 1000 CORPSES so many years ago, I was started by a group of teenagers behind me that shackled themselves together and then chained (with real chains mind you) to their movie theater seats.. A glance of them proved even more disturbing, as they looked like real life characters from the Rob Zombie film. It was a moment in cinema I will never forget, and set the stage for me and friends to view the 1000 CORPSES movie. I (sort of) fondly recall having a midnight breakfast afterwards at Perkins and sitting in silence for about 15 minutes before anyone had a clue as to how what to say..
But thinking back, I bet money that if these teens would have joined the armed services, saw their brethren die on a roadside bomb or see Iraqi children become disfigured by the use of depleted uranium, their celebration of the macabre would have gone through a metamorphosis..
All of this may seem rather ironic for a 'horror reporter' to write, but I sure wish someone would make the ABCs of life.. The real goodness that exists in the world. The miracles.. or the amazing stories of survival and love. Goodness doesn't sell, I know. Trust me.
Instead, we are filled with depravity and exist on a sphere in space defined by violence. Something brutal and barbaric violence. It's celebrated through contemporary film, as well.
So while you watch the ABCs of DEATH and the sequel to it, if you like that sort of horror, fill your room with laughter and joy. Be happy you're seeing the horrid and in many cases brutally disturbing ways to die.
And hope like hell that your glass house is never shattered by the reality that perpetuates the planet..
We are a world mired in warfare, bloodshed, and violence. Sometimes the scenes from the nightly news or the headlines on the NET are scarier than the ABCs of DEATH..
You just happily choose to ignore them while you laugh at death on screen. In spite of yourself.
