Posts Tagged ‘Monster’

Short Take: A piquant serving of sentimentality that's sure to enthrall

Director: J.J. Abrams

Screenwriter: J.J. Abrams

Cast: Joel Courtney, Elle Fanning, Kyle Chandler, Ron Eldard, Noah Emmerich

Length: 1h 52m

Synopsis: One night during the summer of 1979 a small group of young filmmakers try to shoot part of their low budget horror movie at a humble little train station. Little did they know that while they would be filming a tremendous train wreck would occur just past that station, putting them in terrific peril. What was on that train, however, is the real danger. A creature of unknown size and ferocity escapes and hides about the nearby town, causing animals to flee and people to go missing. Amongst this mess the kids try to play it safe and not investigate, electing instead to just finish filming their movie. Trouble ends up finding them eventually however, and they must risk everything in a fight to keep their lives together and save the relationships that will define who they become – if they survive.

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Robin Wood famously articulated the American horror film, but one thing still needs to be added

While rereading Robin Wood’s essay An Introduction to the American Horror Film I noticed that it failed to talk about an important element in the discussion of what exactly describes an American horror film. The absence of this topic in his subsection titled “Basic Formula” surprises me now, as it is arguably just as simple a provision to the genre as the overarching blueprint stipulating that “normality is threatened by the Monster.” While Wood’s essay has long since been considered a seminal one for both him and academic thought about the horror genre, and this is very true, an amendment should nevertheless be made. That amendment is specific but not intricate, dealing with the main protagonist’s direct relationship with the antagonist.

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