My Manifesto… sort of
[a slightly edited form of an email I dropped on a co-writer, who insisted that boobies and badass attitude were all it takes to sell a horror film heroine]
The entire psychological reason that 18-25 year old guys relate to the classic horror-movie survivor girl is she can express all the self-doubt, the crying, the wetting herself, the torment, etc. that they are sociologically incapable of sympathizing with in a male character. That’s why movies like Halloween, etc., have sold so very very very well. Guys can go along for the ride of the surrogate character because they don’t have to disconnect, the way they would from a male character who cries, gets hurt, pees himself, etc. It plays to a very deep psychological need on the part of teenage males – the vicarious feeling of rising above humiliation, helplessness, and adversity and KICKING ASS.
This is my genre, remember? What was the last horror movie you watched?
There’s a reason the movies that sell so well DO sell, and it’s the RISE to badass – not JUST the badass, because without the layers (even if the audience doesn’t understand the layers are there), the movie will fall flat and never be seen again. Horror movies are all about helplessness, pain, fear, and the struggle to overcome them. Anyone too initially powerful is seen as superficial – those are characters for the action/adventure genre.
Yes, we’re selling to the boobie crowd, but if we can rope in some of the thinky people money and chick money too, there’s actually a market out there.
The more you say “it doesn’t have to make sense” the more I can point you to MANY MANY reviews that absolutely speak to the contrary – and I’m NOT talking reviews like Ebert, I’m talking reviews like the Splattercast, Cadaverlab, and Drunken Zombie podcast. In other words, pretty much exactly the demographic you’re saying we want to aim for. Remember, I hang out with these people. Maybe the slightly more informed end of the pool, but if they pee in the water, those other guys still feel the heat.
A chick who starts out that tough would walk out long before anything happened, no matter the provocation. Or she would beat the crap out of someone and end up in jail.
Semi-kidding aside, above all, I’m NOT saying this won’t work, I’m saying WHY NOT go for the entire package? Why settle for the lowest common denominator when we might be able to get some actual rewatch value and word of mouth from people who don’t breath through that selfsame mouth? THAT’S what will get a film picked up for distribution outside of the film festivals (which mouth-breathers don’t attend anyway).
[If it helps the movie that MOST wowed the online horror community year before last was LET THE RIGHT ONE IN, which I'm pretty sure had no boobies at all, fairly minimal violence, and wasn't even in English. And the remake is about to hit the theaters.]
To clarify and summarize – I am not insisting that my initial story is perfect or untouchable. I am not whining that it doesn’t need work. I am arguing that I want to make a movie that will actually go over well with the critics IN MY GENRE and sell beyond the opening box office weekend, and which has a chance of not just going straight to the redbox and scifi network.
Have a great day!
