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Schlocky Horror Picture Show

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ackblom12:
Yes, exactly that. I happen to really enjoy that film, but that is the exact person I am referring to.

de_la_Nae:
Yeah, I know I have some things I can fixate on pretty heavily, so I can't throw *too* many stones out of this glass house, but...there are certain types of fans that can make things troublesome.

Now as to the movie: I have watched it once, and am okay with never seeing it again. That doesn't mean I think it's bad, I actually think it's worthwhile for anyone even vaguely into the genre. Especially because I'm of the mind it's a great movie for making you and everyone else watching it (usually) really uncomfortable at one point or another. I don't think I've ever had a movie make me hate the uh...protagonists (I guess) quite as much. By the end I found myself quite ready to say goodbye, as it were.

ackblom12:
Terrorvision (1986):

This is a fun little gem. This movie is basically a parody of the horror genre, including the social commentary common to horror pushed to extremely ham handed levels. Incredibly neglectful parents that just medicate one child for being rambunctious, the parents are also total pervs with a ridiculous amount of kink centered art in the house, they're swingers, the children are annoying, the grandpa is a war vet who is completely insane, there is a mutant monster and TV actually kills. It's just a wonderful mixture of all of the biggest 80's horror subjects. There is nothing resembling seriousness in this film, just pure 80's overload. I personally thought it was an awfully fun film.

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUD0jgnoS-8
It's available on Netflix or on Youtube here.

ackblom12:
Blood Sucking Freaks (1976):

Blood Sucking Freaks was one of Troma's first major cult successes, "success" is a bit relative mind you. The film makers had trouble finding anyone to distribute it until Troma came along, and dear lord is it a doozy. Now, if you can imagine something offensive and it doesn't include Nazi's, this film probably has it. It encapsulates all of the offensiveness of exploitation films of the era and kind of tosses it all into the mix, along with an impressive display of knowledge about BDSM practices.

Sardu hosts a Performance Art show where young nubile, and often nude, ladies are tortured to death on stage for an audience. Of course the audience doesn't realize this is not an act. If this sounds a lot like The Wizard of Gore, that's because it's essentially a remake of that film's plot. Sardu also happens to run a massive slavery ring, uses the women in perverse and often lethal fantasies and in general tries to offend you in every possible way. It succeeds in all categories. This is a film that includes a scene where a dwarf uses the severed head of a woman to orally pleasure himself. I think what makes this plot even more ridiculous and fun is that what ends up leading to the film's story, is a very Simon Cowell like critic who end sup driving Sardu to prove himself as a true artist. It's a pretty unique film.

Part of what makes this film enjoyable for those of us who do like it is just with how much glee everyone plays their roles. It's clear that the actor who plays Sardu (who has no other listed acting roles) enjoyed himself immensely, hamming it up whenever he possibly could. Same with the actor who plays the dwarf Ralphus, who has no acting roles listed other than porn and ewoks. Ralphus especially just kind of has a habit of popping up out of nowhere and doing this:

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTifOc-jHjg
And here is the trailer:

//www.youtube.com/watch?v=u03btoLsN_0
This is absolutely one of the most offensive movies ever made, but it's still not as offesive as Good Dick.

The film is available on Youtube here.

ackblom12:
This is maybe a bit rambly, but I'm considering adding it to the OP.

So occasionally I am reminded at just how weird some people who know me think my fascination with schlock cinema is, especially with the more horribly offensive stuff like Blood Sucking Freaks. I'm very politically left with a lot to say about various -isms, especially within the cultures that I'm a part of (geek, atheist/skeptic and metal communities especially) and generally I find a lot of the things that are common tropes within schlock to be absolutely lazy and rarely used to good effect outside of the genre. I don't think Political Correctness is "out of control" because fuck you, at worst it's a societal contract to not be a fucking asshole and consider how others might take your bullshit. I think that if you believe art, cinema, literature and such can improve a culture, you must also accept that it can also negatively impact it. I do not think Joss Whedon is a feminist, whatever he may believe, nor do I think he does a particularly good job at subverting the -isms he openly claims (and fans claim) to avoid.

I also happen to love this realm of cinema that regularly makes light of rape, sexual assault, racism, classism and a lot of other really touchy topics.

I'm absolutely not going to defend any of these films. I also refuse to be the unfortunately common kind of fan that is actually excited about the fact that the Rape Tree is coming back in the Evil Dead reboot. I love this genre, but I'd prefer to leave a lot of it's tropes in the past, where they belong. Newer schlock films that I enjoy tend to be of a very different style than those from 15+ years ago and it's rare to find ones that keep the same level of love for the artform, but also an understanding of how the world has changed. I want schlock to grow up in certain areas, and the fans make it incredibly hard to do so.

As it is though, I love horror and schlock a lot. Part of what I love about them, is they almost always include a fairly large amount of social commentary about the culture that is commonly lacking in other genres of film of the time. The schlockier it is the more hamhanded it is, but it's heart is usually in the right place. Let's take the 80's for example. How many horror films can you recall that had a theme concerning neglectful parents and the general lack of taking children seriously and the danger that puts them in? The dangers they are put in force them into situations where they must grow in ways they are not prepared for, not because they are stupid or horrible, but because their parents failed to be there when they needed them most. The most famous of them is probably Nightmare on Elm Street, but there were a hell of a lot of them. Of course then there is stuff like Friday the 13th, where the social commentary is stupid teenagers who commit sin die horrible deaths. Those are also great fun. But either way, the point is it's almost as much fun for me to pick apart and analyze these films as it is to just enjoy the stupidity and offensiveness that is so commonly present. This gets doubly interesting when I go into foreign horror films, but that's beside this point.

tl;dr I like schlock which consist of a lot of problematic themes. I know it's problematic and I'm not going to defend it in any way. Give me some feedback on this.

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