Evil Cinema
Human beings like to watch suffering. Sick, eh? Just think about the dynamics of a horror film, blood, gore, misery and some more gore. Why do people enjoy pain SO much? In 320 bc, a guy named Aristotle was already observing these trends (ancient Rome had all those death matches between gladiator and wild animal, remember?). He said very frankly “We like to watch suffering.” Smart guy! But it wasn’t until the late 19th century that such desires were being depicted in the media. At first, these films were thought of as barbaric and disgusting, but soon they were in high demand. In 1910, the first Frankenstein movie was created. Oddly enough, it was based on The Golem, an animated clay giant from Prague in 1580. Soon after came Nosferatu, the first cinematic vampire (yes, even before Dracula). Nosferatu are actually vampires that haunt sewers and the underground, not the stereotypical blood sucking night crawlers. Almost immediately after the initial explosion of horror films, the Great Depression spread throughout the world. People began liking terror even more, for it was a way to superficially ignore their grief and focus on the pain of others in movies. 1932 was a big year in film, producing such masterpieces as the Mummy and Jekyl and Hyde. People tended to see themselves as these evil characters, a way to harmlessly let go of the world and slip into the dangerous and threatening. Then came King Kong, the first horror film NOT based on a book. Human beings became more and more captivated by the paranormal, creating myths about werewolves and vampires, including the highly renowned silver bullet through a werewolves heart or the garlic and stake bit to kill a vampire. However, these movies began recycling themselves, relying on The Return of Dracula, or the Mummy Part Two. After WWII, the cold war was taking place, and everyone’s focus was on Russia. New characters began taking shape, centered more around nuclear war and atomic bombs. Some said the art of film during these times portrayed the “Human need to visualize fear and evil.” In the 50’s, monsters became symbols of the Soviet Union and atomic warfare. People flocked to theaters to watch movie after movie about horror, and it wasn’t until the murder of Cheryl Tate, the wife of renowned horror movie director Roman Pilanscy, that it was overwhelmingly evident how harmful these films could really be on young impressionable minds. By now it was the 1960’s, and there was a vast return to ancient mysticism (we are living in the age of Aquarius!).Movies began portraying ghosts and zombies as the masses became more entangled with the theories of religion. Ghosts symbolized the disembodied dead, Demons the dementors of the dead, and Zombies the risen dead. Obviously, the focus had turned to death. In 1963 a movie was released called Dementia 13. Viewers had to actually take a TEST called the D-13 test before they could be allowed to see the movie! It is reported that children today are the most detached from death than any other generation, mainly because of the amount of death shown in the media. By the end of elementary school, an average of 8,000 US children have seen a murder depicted on television. An average of 200,000 people ages 18 and under have seen an outright portrayal of violence of TV. 67% of all children own their own television, and are free to watch whatever their hearts desire. The downside is, society just isn’t scared by evil cinema any more. It seems we have all become desensitized! Horror movies and accompanied by science fiction and special effects. One producer said “ Evil cinema is going to Hades accompanied by special effects technicians.” A movie just isn’t a movie anymore.