Terror/Horror

[M Arnold]

From: "Khash Najib" <najibjp at yahoo.co.jp>

> 1- I don't know how statistically sound my observation is,
> but I have noticed a decline in the American "catastrophy
> movie" phenomenon (volcanos, earthquakes, floods...) since

I just wanted to add a late note to this thread.  I can't say that I pay a
lot of attention to catastrophe movies, but I have been noticing a few cases
of recent American horror/thriller movies dealing with a crisis of the
"American Dream" and, as in Cure, questions of the characters' own memory of
and involvement in the crimes around them.  Mulholland Drive and Session 9
are the two that come to mind immediately.  Memento, which apparently did
quite well at Cine Quinto in Shibuya, might work too, and perhaps something
like Vanilla Sky would partly fit that description as well (I've only seen
the Amenabar version).  Of course these projects were probably all initiated
before last September so I truly doubt there's any simple cause and effect
relationship at hand--not to mention that they're foreshadowed by films in
the 60s and 70s like The Boston Strangler and Don't Look Now--but I doubt
I'm alone in viewing them in that context.  There is a lot of discussion on
Sept. 11 in the American media now but only from certain limited
perspectives, and the rest of the time news broadcasts and so forth seem
more occupied with the horrors of traffic accidents and strange African
viruses than with the horrors of war.

While we're on the subject of horror, I went to see that "FearDotcom" film I
mentioned here a few weeks ago.  I think the popcorn left more of an
impression.  Several parts of the story did lean heavily on Ring-type ideas
after all; the Internet 'disease' was actually a curse from the spirit of a
murder victim who wanted to get revenge on the man who killed her.  Anyone
who viewed her site and didn't try to help avenge her death was punished.
Udo Kier, in a disappointingly short role, was the first to receive this
treatment in the film, croaking from fear on the subway tracks with a look
of absolute terror frozen on his face... and so on.  It's not an American
film though; it's a UK-Germany-Luxembourg co-production.

Re: Asama Sanso, I remember speaking with a few acquaintances about their
experience watching the event live on TV decades ago, and as I recall their
general memory was of sitting around the living room at teatime waiting
endlessly for something to happen.  When the Harada film came out there were
a couple of new videos released to major rental stores featuring some edited
footage from the event, but not much.  Wasn't there a TV special on about a
month and a half ago dealing with the Red Army in the 70s?  I think it was
NHK or NTV...  I recorded it but I have the tape boxed away somewhere so I
haven't had a chance to watch it yet.

Finally, this is somewhat unrelated, but I discovered a few days ago that
Sato Toshiki directed a new film based on the same original work that
inspired Kon Satoshi's Perfect Blue, and it's playing the late show at
Teatoru Shinjuku.  http://www.palnet.tv/perfectblue/index.html  "Yume Nara
Samete"  I wonder how it compares to the cartoon.  From the looks of the web
site it (too?) certainly looks like a pink film.  (Can cartoons qualify as
"pink films"?)

Michael Arnold