Easy like Monday mornin'

I spent about 24 out of the last 72 hours driving...driving...driving! Fucking A is Pennsylvania big. It should totally be broken up into several smaller states. Yes, I realize driving from the Midwest to New England would take just as long, but I'd really feel like I was accomplishing something during that time- you know, passing through 4 states instead of just one. The pilgrims or whoever it was that made all the states sure got lazy once they got out of the northeast. Connecticut and Rhode Island are so cute and tidy, then head west: oh, there's Pennsylvania's fat ass in your face. And girl, don't even get me started on Montana.

As you can see, I'm still in recovery mode from my trip. My brain hasn't quite yet re-solidified, so forgive me. I've also got big comic book deadlines sticking their middle fingers up at me, so Final Girl will be a little light this week.

I didn't want to leave you empty handed, though, so I've sunk to a new low just for you. What, you thought talking about "special time" with photos of Phyllis Diller and Cloris Leachman was as low as I could go? Pfft. No, my friends...those shenanigans pale in comparison to me giving you a link.

To an article.

Written by a college freshman.

In the Wisconsin Badger Herald.

Sigh. The article, Horror Film Genre Doesn't Impress, irritated me just enough that on a lazy Monday I thought I'd share it with you.

I agree with a few points author Ray Gustini makes, particularly about the current trend in horror towards torture flicks. I've mentioned my views on the subject several times.

What I object to, however, is this:

The horror genre is essentially an illegitimate one. There really is no way
to make an artistically worthy scary movie.
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No matter how good the script, and no matter how talented the production
team, no scary movie is going to be taken seriously because it doesn’t engage
the intellect. One can only admire the craftsmanship and ingenuity that goes
into making these movies so much before you eventually realize there isn’t
anything to hang your hat on.

Really? No horror films engage the intellect? What about The Shining, The Exorcist, and Silence of the Lambs (which swept the Oscars in 1992, for whatever that's worth) for just a few examples? Bah. Fie thee, Ray Gustini. Why, as a purported fan, set the bar so low for the genre? Yes, there's alot of shitty horror out there. There's alot of shitty comedies, too, but there's also Annie Hall, you know?

Why is horror so easily (and almost constantly) dismissed? Horror and intellect are not mutually exclusive. Yes, the dumb escapism of, say, Killer Workout is great, but that's not the best horror filmmakers can do, and that's not all we should expect from the genre. I'd be sad if it were. C'mon now. Hitch your wagon to a star, people!