The time has come, however, to approach – with caution – the farthest end of the scale, where suddenly things are not so funny. Here we encounter those truly disturbing films that rely on showing the excessively hideous and yet appear to take themselves entirely seriously. These are most likely to be the films that gain the sort of notoriety outlined at the start of the article, and we can add Manic, Inside, Aftershock and Antichrist to that list, among others. Almost all of these films are often criticized, by horror fans and non-horror fans alike, for being truly gratuitous – for depicting extreme, disturbing graphic violence and bloodiness while leaving the film relatively unsupported by anything else of any real substance. And we cannot pass this point without dishonourable mention going to the 1980 Italian film Cannibal Holocaust. How to describe this…? Upon its release, its director was arrested. Will that do?
Despite the more common aversion to this sort of film, however, we can’t ignore the important role of interpretation. Leaving aside the list of admirably inventive adjectives that have often been strung together in order to describe The Human Centipede for example, not everyone had this reaction. Criticisms range from ‘the most horrific film ever made’ (this phrase is actually slightly apocryphal, but still – no smoke without fire and all that) to comments that suggested it actually didn’t go far enough to warrant the sort of cult status it has achieved. Quite a few people simply pointed out the fact that the centipede would quickly die from malnutrition. Yes, because that’s what the point of that film was – biological accuracy. Several interpretations look past what seems to be a diabolical exercise in revulsion and state that The Human Centipede represents nothing more than a bit of classic freak-show type fun with a clear sense of humour. Oh, well – sign me up then.
But it is actually not hard to find support for that interpretation: whereas most American audiences were reportedly close to vomiting in the aisles, many Spanish audiences apparently laughed their way from one end to the other. The Human Centipede features on very few best horror films lists, but it won awards in certain circles – and they must have come from somewhere. Antichrist is also known for wildly polarizing audiences into those that believe it conveys something beautiful in its shocking violence, and those that, to put it in a printable format, don’t. It is important that we remember to allow for this variety of understandings….and to maybe try and avoid at all costs any Spanish prank shows.
Finally, there is one more classic horror-film device that needs a mention. This is, of course, ‘shock.’ Shock doesn’t fit in at any other particular point on this spectrum, precisely because by its nature it is designed to not fit in to anywhere in any expected way at all – this is the unpredictable, ever-fresh power of the good shock. The shock stalks victims mercilessly, driving them into a state in which they can barely bring themselves to look, and then giving them absolutely no choice. During the post-production phase of Final Destination, the dialogue in the scene immediately following the bus death had to be delayed for several seconds after test audiences jumped so badly that it took a good minute for everyone to peel themselves out of the lap of the person behind them and settle back down. During preparations for the infamous alien-abdomen-burst scene in Alien, the actors were not fully briefed on what was about to happen and their almost entirely genuine reactions were kept for the final print. There is something wonderfully poetic about the fact that one of horror-cinema’s most iconic scenes was dependent on the people on the screen being as badly frightened as the people watching it.