Thomas Scott (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} thomascott) wrote,@ 2008-05-03 23:03:00 |
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Fear Of The Unseen
At present I'm intrigued by the subject of fear (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fear)
Clearly we humans are as drawn to fear as we are repelled by it, this affinity begins with roller-coasters and horror films and extends to the political control of nations of millions through the interpretative manipulation of events or history.
This post concerns the former titular dalliance with fear.
Even the most solidly rationalist of us enjoys a good ghost story or tale of supernatural dread, I think it's arguable that the mid to late nineteenth and early twentieth century was an especially fecund period for literature within this tradition and Ireland yielded a particularly rich seam with writers such as Maturin, Le Fanu, Stoker et al.
Internationally this gothic horror genre was propagated by Poe, Shelley, R.L. Stevenson, M.R. James, it's legacy was carried into the twentieth century by Lovecraft and others and even into the modernist era by Robert Bloch and Henry Farrell.
Toe-dippers along the way included Henry James, Conan Doyle Ambrose Bierce et al.
I've never been much taken with films of the horror genre (dopey teens, remote location, unlikely demonic presence, claret everywhere, yawn) and cinema has very, very seldom succeeded in carrying a genuinely chilling ghost story.
Two examples do come to mind and not unsurprisingly both are adaptations of original tales from the gothic horror genre.
The first is Jonathan Miller's adaptation of M.R. James 'Oh Whistle And I'll Come To You, My Lad', the film was released in 1968 with the abbreviated title 'Whistle and I'll Come To You'.
The second is Jack Clayton's filmic take on Henry James classic story 'The Turn Of The Screw', it features a career performance from the great Deborah Kerr and was released in 1961 under the title 'The Innocents'
Aside from the artistry contained in the original literary source, I think what makes these two films so genuinely terrifying is the fact that in both it is never quite clear whether the protagonists are being haunted by the abominations they perceive to be there or whether they are in fact losing their reason.
In a sense that latter loss of the self is more inimical than all the spectres and shadows.
At present I'm intrigued by the subject of fear (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fear)
Clearly we humans are as drawn to fear as we are repelled by it, this affinity begins with roller-coasters and horror films and extends to the political control of nations of millions through the interpretative manipulation of events or history.
This post concerns the former titular dalliance with fear.
Even the most solidly rationalist of us enjoys a good ghost story or tale of supernatural dread, I think it's arguable that the mid to late nineteenth and early twentieth century was an especially fecund period for literature within this tradition and Ireland yielded a particularly rich seam with writers such as Maturin, Le Fanu, Stoker et al.
Internationally this gothic horror genre was propagated by Poe, Shelley, R.L. Stevenson, M.R. James, it's legacy was carried into the twentieth century by Lovecraft and others and even into the modernist era by Robert Bloch and Henry Farrell.
Toe-dippers along the way included Henry James, Conan Doyle Ambrose Bierce et al.
I've never been much taken with films of the horror genre (dopey teens, remote location, unlikely demonic presence, claret everywhere, yawn) and cinema has very, very seldom succeeded in carrying a genuinely chilling ghost story.
Two examples do come to mind and not unsurprisingly both are adaptations of original tales from the gothic horror genre.
The first is Jonathan Miller's adaptation of M.R. James 'Oh Whistle And I'll Come To You, My Lad', the film was released in 1968 with the abbreviated title 'Whistle and I'll Come To You'.
The second is Jack Clayton's filmic take on Henry James classic story 'The Turn Of The Screw', it features a career performance from the great Deborah Kerr and was released in 1961 under the title 'The Innocents'
Aside from the artistry contained in the original literary source, I think what makes these two films so genuinely terrifying is the fact that in both it is never quite clear whether the protagonists are being haunted by the abominations they perceive to be there or whether they are in fact losing their reason.
In a sense that latter loss of the self is more inimical than all the spectres and shadows.
