I will woefully admit that I am a bit disappointed in the lack of truly disturbing scenes in cinema this year. While I can also admit that it was a good year for movies, it was not a good year for movies that screwed with your head and made you want to vomit everywhere (which I am a fan of, and you must be too seeing as to how you are reading this article right now). That doesn't mean 2014 was without its disturbing film moments, as there are still a handful that made me feel like I needed to take a bath, but it just didn't come close to what we saw in 2013.
Last month, Warner Brothers unveiled a massive ten-film slate of DC properties, which included two Justice League films and solo pics for JLA staples like Wonder Woman, the Flash and Aquaman. Never one to be upstaged by the competition, Marvel took DC's big news in stride, and unveiled a slate of their own.
With Halloween upon us, We Got This Covered opens the Pandora's box that is the horror genre and selects 4 factors that make up the perfect horror game.
When Iron Man burst onto cinema screens in 2008, kickstarting what would become Marvel’s cohesive plan for international cinematic comic book domination, a response from their closest competitor – DC – was inevitable. DC is the historic behemoth of companies with comic book characters that cross media boundaries, with over seventy years of the giant trio of Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman in their stable - among others. DC characters have been depicted in TV, film and animation since the 1940s, with blockbuster movies appearing in more recent years. The big movies were always few and far between, however, and with varying levels of success – arguably due to a lack of forward-planning from the company itself.
Sorry, ABC - blame Hydra. Last night, the first trailer for next May's Avengers: Age of Ultron leaked online, just hours after it had been announced that the preview would air during an upcoming episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.. Always one to roll with the punches, Marvel decided to simply release an official trailer - and poster! - without trying to quiet the collective screams of delight that immediately consumed the interwebs.
It all begins with character. If we know a person, and we’re emotionally invested in their situation and their journey – whether those emotions are positive or negative ones - then we feel empathy. If we feel empathy, then a properly executed blood-curdling scream from that character will stay with us forever. It makes the hair on the back of our necks stand on end. It makes our collective breath catch in our throat. It twists in our guts like a giant, rusty-edged blade, and leaves a ringing in our ears. The power of this unearthly noise is such that it haunts us long after the end credits have ground to their inevitable halt.
There are perfectly decent horror films let down by their monsters; there are also perfectly decent monsters let down by their horror films. And then there are the films conceived with such spectacular stupidity that you wonder what the filmmakers thought they were doing. Was this ever going to be scary? Was it intended to be stupid? What are they thinking here?!
Comic book movies are driven by conflict, which perhaps explains why we love them so much. Life – in basic terms – is simpler in the cinematic world of the comic book character. Sure, there may be some deep and meaningful psycho-drama happening, possibly some complex romantic tension, and often some intense familial dysfunction – but we know that, at some point, two opposing forces will reach a resolution of one kind or another, through the inevitable comic book movie showdown.
