I watched "Jacob's Ladder" the other day; a movie I haven't seen since the early 90s. It's a harrowing, strange kind of movie, very of its time. The McCauley Culkin role in it was something I'd forgotten, and, these days, made the movie more traumatizing for me, whereas back before being a parent, when I saw it, it was merely sad. Needless to say, not a movie I need to see again, although the head-whipping effect in it was inspired, since it was done at production, by altering the film speed and having the actors whip their heads around while keeping their shoulders still -- the net effect being when they ran it normal speed, it turns their heads into these blurs of motion, which is disarming. Neat of the director to have thought of it.
I also saw (get it?) "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" (original one, naturally), which I also hadn't seen in a very long time. Still packs a punch. Given that they shot that on a shoestring budget, it went well for them, in terms of final product. What's amazing is how much terror they get with barely any blood. For all the legions of imitators that followed, how much gore came in its wake, TCSM manages to horrify with barely any blood and gore -- the horror and terror comes from implication and insinuation, which is a sign of good filmmaking. I was watching the production notes on it, and during the infamous meathook scene, Tobe Hooper wanted the hook to go all the way through Pam's back, with blood and what-not. But his designer said "No, if you do that, everybody's gonna be focused on the effect, on how you did it. Don't show it, and they'll be focused on the scene." And it's true. They really hit the nail on the head (so to speak) with the less is more approach -- the audience's imagination becomes the canvas, and you feel it more keenly because of it.
Nowadays, 'more is less' is the dominant aesthetic -- with lightning-quick cuts and rapid-fire editing in place of story content or setting up of scenes. Even a little thing like a frickin' clucking chicken, in the context of the movie, is horrifying. I always loved Leatherface's "chainsaw dance" at the end...
The lighting of it is beautiful, the golden glow of a new day, and it manages to convey complete insanity without a word spoken. Well done!
"Apollo 18" comes out September 2. I'm hoping it's good. The trailers seemed promising. I shall see, will let you know, Gentle Readers.
