DeanSoDisco presents 'Lessons in Intensity'

When you realise there are only one or two more films you need to see to satisfy your own perverse side…

I love horrific films to have a purpose, let me state that first, yet…now I’m at the line of not really having anything that is relatively affordable to see. No, I’m not shelling out more than £50 for a copy of a 1000 print arthouse project from Denmark, sorry.

The last film I really need to see is the 2009 Japanese film Grotesque. If you recognise that name, then yep, it is one of those movies that has nothing to it apart from gore and violence and depravity if you believe what most sensible and liberal reviewers say. Yet I haven’t seen it, so maybe there is some deeper meaning?

Like 1000 people saying A Serbian Film had no actual message to it, when it was clear as day (whether it was a message you agreed with, or a message you felt was only a half truth, it was still a message delivered in a well shot, incredibly well done movie), or like the 20,000 people who said Salo was nothing about political turmoil or the Libertines own sense of power turning them into monsters…morons.

Sure, there is just as much of a chance Grotesque will turn into a Cannibal Holocaust (minus the actual animal cruelty, CH is one film I refuse to watch again due to that, fun fact) and be meaningless and made entirely to shock (which usually means it won’t make you question things at all, and not shock you at the same time).

Speaking of real shock and fear, just a week ago I watched the magnificent Inside. Yep, it’s French, yep, the second half gets a bit gorey, but the first half contains some of the most effective silent scream inducing scenes. Not through fear, but build…shot in the style of 80s French Faux-thrillers, seeing little things going on in the corner of shots (woman walking into open door whilst other people are distracted/outline of person in a dark hallway etc etc) that sometimes you only catch on a second watch made me freak out.

But yes, I love horror films, I love Hollywood trends, I love underground movies, I love the half baked indie scene, I love/hate absolute trash (Sickle is the worst movie I’ve seen over the last 2 years, seriously abysmal, the budget went on the cover art and hiring a shit Playmate for a faux-lesbian scene…sex doesn’t sell), sometimes I spend time wondering why I bother yet horror still gives me hope for my emotions! The one genre where I know if I watch 5 crap films, a great experience will come up soon. You just need to keep digging, keep an open mind, and keep yourself from becoming cynical nerd #1 when watching your 3000th horror movie. No one likes that guy twatting on about “urgh, so obvious” even during the shittest movie after all.

I haven’t slept enough at all…so this is how I spend my nights, checking my DVD collections, seeing what I’ve downloaded, and contemplating my next fear view. I may get around to watching Freaks today, speaking of which if you haven’t seen it I believe it’s on the internet archive to download legally and free, so get it!

Good day one and all. Horror is your friend! ACTUALLY, I still haven’t bought Martyrs…another one!