HorrorHound Weekend, March 26-28, 2010
For a long time, there was no sense of magic, discovery, and most importantly, fun in horror films. Instead, there were deep, depressing forays into the human psyche (The Ring, The Orphanage, Joshua, etc.). Horror films lost their innocence. They were grim and uncompromising -- no longer about making viewers jump and laugh in terror, but about inflicting nightmares and shaking people to their core. The genre was stripped down to its bloody essence with films like Saw and Hostel -- sadistically simple displays of violence that were often as torturous and painful to watch as the brutal acts their characters had to endure.
The HorrorHound convention (at the Indianapolis Marriott East) is the perfect antidote to this disturbing side of the horror genre world. It revives an old-fashioned sense of fun. Costumed fans danced around me playfully like children on Halloween.
I felt a strange sense of comfort at this event, as if I could walk up to anyone and start joking around. In fact, many people there seem to want you to do exactly that. Even the celebrities were approachable and eager to engage in conversation. Actor Tom Noonan (Manhunter, Last Action Hero) seemed disappointed when fans only spoke to him briefly (I was one of those nervous many).
The major celebrity there was George A. Romero, the master behind such classics as Night of the Living Dead and Dawn of the Dead -- the films that gave birth to the zombie genre.
If these films, and the people behind them, are so fun, why are the films they inspired often not? Why are modern directors like Eli Roth (Cabin Fever, Hostel) offering such bleak, painful visions? Something to think about as you roam the campy, retro rooms of the convention.
Go to HorrorHound if you get the chance -- it's a unique experience.
Note: This blog entry was previously posted on http://www.nuvo.net/.
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