International Horror Film Directors: Global Fear - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1783206535 ISBN 13: 9781783206537

Verlag: Intellect Books, 2017

Inhaltsangabe

Horror films have for decades commanded major global audiences, tapping into deep-rooted fears that cross national and cultural boundaries in their ability to spark terror. This book brings together a group of scholars to explore the ways that this fear is utilized and played upon by a wide range of filmmakers. Contributors take up such major figures as Guillermo del Toro, Lars Von Trier, and David Cronenberg, and they also offer introductions to lesser-known talents such as Richard Franklin, Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Juan López Moctezuma, and Alexandre Aja. Scholars and fans alike dipping into this collection will discover plenty of insight into what chills us.
 

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Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Danny Shipka is assistant professor of mass communication and affiliate member of the School of International Studies at Oklahoma State University. Ralph Beliveau is an associate professor in the Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication and an affiliate faculty of Film and Media Studies and the Women's and Gender Studies programs at the University of Oklahoma.

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International Horror Film Directors

By Danny Shipka, Ralph Beliveau

Intellect Ltd

Copyright © 2017 Intellect Ltd.
All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-1-78320-653-7

Contents

Introduction: The Onset of Global Fear Danny Shipka and Ralph Beliveau, 
Chapter 1: A Topology of Guillermo del Toro Ralph Beliveau, 
Chapter 2: Richard Franklin: Ozploitation Auteur, Hitchcock Heir, Cinema Underdog Ben Kooyman, 
Chapter 3: Kiyoshi Kurosawa: J-horror's Master Stylist Leah Larson, 
Chapter 4: Madness and Eroticism: The Films of Juan López Moctezuma Budd Wilkins, 
Chapter 5: The Serious Play of Alexandre Aja Tracy Stephenson Shaffer, 
Chapter 6: The Sapphic, The Sadean, and Jess Franco Will Dodson, 
Chapter 7: Sergio Martino: Master of the Filone Mikel J. Koven, 
Chapter 8: At the Margins of Taste, in the Mouth of Madness: The Case of Lars von Trier Linda Badley, 
Chapter 9: José Mojica Marins and Zé do Caixão: Nightmares of Frankenstein in Brazil's National Horror Story Jerry Metz, 
Chapter 10: Dreaming Revolt: Jean Rollin and the French Fantastique in the Context of May 1968 Mario DeGiglio-Bellemare, 
Chapter 11: Acquiescence, Canadian Style. The Early Cinema of David Cronenberg Danny Shipka, 
Notes on Contributors, 
Index, 

CHAPTER 1

A Topology of Guillermo del Toro Ralph Beliveau

Making meaning of the work of Guillermo del Toro immediately raises complex questions because of the variety of ideas he spawns. It is not so much that he reaches out to other genres, but that his work in horror suggests very different kinds of canvases on which he wants to tell stories. They are horror stories that remain connected to their fantasy roots in fairy tales, but they can spin out in wildly different ways. Some of del Toro's work reflects the comic and graphic novel superhero side of horror fantasy, like his work in Blade II (2002) or Hellboy (2004). Some of it reflects a darker fantasy engagement with the immorality of fascism, as in El espinazo del diablo/The Devil's Backbone (2001) and El laberinto del fauno/Pan's Labyrinth (2006). In both cases, the roots of del Toro's work remain connected to fairy-tale traditions, gothic horror, and the way an individual — between the inside and the outside — are under threat.

This discussion will alternate between these two central lenses to gain a foothold on del Toro's work. First, how do the possibilities of a "fairy tale" present an opportunity to explore fear in the world, especially integrating the perspective of a child into an adult world? Second, how does the boundary between inside and outside, or between body and spirit, become a fertile way to engage with a horror audience, produce fear, and tell tales?

I would like to use the idea of the inside/outside tension as a way to understand del Toro's work and his place in horror in the world. Horror has a persuasive ability to cross national and cultural boundaries; at the same time, horror films usually reflect the traditions and conditions of their place of origin in one way or another. del Toro's work reflects a global notion of horror, a fear-driven cosmopolitanism, especially by demonstrating a consciousness of the cultural variety in the world. He expresses this through the conflicts between inside and outside that are a fundamental part of his stories, and especially his characters. They are often caught in a tension about their identities, the pull between outward appearances or expectations, on the one hand, and their internal compass of identity, morality, and action.

But at the same time, del Toro prizes his identity as a Mexican filmmaker. In conjunction with his two close-friend filmmakers, Alfonso Cuarón and Alejandro González Iñárritu, he has spoken about the need for Mexican cinemas to preserve space for Mexican films, rather than being overwhelmed by the products of popular commercial cinemas from other places, especially from the Hollywood production system (Shaw 2013, 2–3). This extra dimension complicates the picture of del Toro, whose work so far has demonstrated a desire to maintain both a local and a global identity. The argument in this chapter suggests that one way he has worked to maintain a position of contradictory identities is by making films that are about this very issue.

They resonate with the larger concerns expressed by many horror critics. O'Brien (2007) sees this tension built throughout del Toro's first commercial film, Cronos (1993). O'Brien sees in this film a tension between an inner Dracula and an inner Frankenstein, which struggle against each other within Jesús Gris, the main character who has turned through an alchemical combination of living parasite and mechanical technology. The character struggles between the two mutually exclusive monsters within, much like the way del Toro struggles between the local and the global. It would be hard to find a better playing field for these issues than the hybrids of horror, science fiction, and fantasy that viewers find in his work.

Del Toro's authorship in film presents different versions of this tension between inside and outside. His work reflects a broad and deep education in the traditions of horror film, not to mention influences from the world of art (such as Goya's work). His stories recognize that the stakes of horror have changed from the Gothic tradition in both literature and film, as much as they have escaped the lighter side of fairy tales. But del Toro is also interested in maintaining the connection to the gothic tradition and to the children inside of all of our past journeys as we experience his films.

This is reminiscent of the way horror and the Gothic complicate the notions of both identity and identification, both of which are critical concepts in del Toro's films. Carroll argued that:

[...] the notion of character identification, grounded in partial correspondence between the emotive response of protagonists and audience-members, is still dubious. For among other things, if the correspondences are only partial, why call the phenomenon identification at all? If two people are rooting for the same athlete at a sporting event, it would not appear appropriate to say that they are identifying with each other. (italics in original) (1990, 92)

But identification is not the same thing as "identical", which is I would argue the way Carroll characterizes identification. L. Bradley Cooper, on the other hand, argues, "No fiction, horror or otherwise, offers singular, unidirectional models for identification. Identification depends on the shifting and multiple relationships that a reader established with a text" (2010, 13). Identification is more like identity than identical. And in identity, we are observing a phenomenon that is fluid rather than discreet and consistent. In del Toro's work we see the complications of changing identities, of choices, of the way characters and audiences cope with uncontrollable forces both outside and inside.

This gives us a sense of why del Toro is regarded warmly by his fans. He reflects back their fascination with the way identity struggles under horrific circumstances to find or unify itself.

His interest in the Gothic is plain to see from the beginning of the narration in his first feature film, Cronos:

In 1536 [...] fleeing from the Inquisition, the alchemist Uberto Fulcanelli disembarked in Veracruz, Mexico. Appointed official watchmaker to the Viceroy, Fulcanelli was determined to...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Intellect Books
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2017
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 1783206535
• ISBN 13: 9781783206537
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Auflage: 1
• Anzahl der Seiten: 258
• Herausgeber: Shipka Danny, Beliveau Ralph
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: Nicht verfügbar