Gorrible

Re: What's your idea of terror?

Phantasma-gore-ia — Sat, 03 Feb 2007 21:43:27 GMT

Thank you much for the clarification and the comprehension about what the post was truly about. I do now see your logic in that what's saintly and right might just be a veneer for what's deeply heinous and terrifying. Now, who Mr. Miller really may have been is beyond me, but the smiling, happy face just could be a mask for a sociopath. Isn't that how card-carrying, throat-slitting, skin-wearing serial killers managed it?

If you think about stereotypes and if everyone actually matched them, there wouldn't be any question as to who was the wolf in a crowd and who were the sheep. They disguise themselves so they go undetected and thus unstopped.

Appearances, all in all, are nothing and, as much of a cliche as it is, you really can't judge a book...you know. Contrastingly, however, there are people I would have testified to having killed anybody they were accused of even if they were agoraphobics and never left the house. ;)

Re: What's your idea of terror?

Puhnner — Sat, 03 Feb 2007 17:07:45 GMT

I wanted to apologize to the group for what, perhaps, was best left unposted. For those posts that I responded to, yours and Patches postings were exceptionally well-crafted and well thought out and getting to the heart of the matter of the different sides and the broadness of 'Terror' And I fear that Mitch Miller picture, may have diminished those posts. I am sorry for that.

But I guess there may well be a reason why I picked that photo and chose to use that person as a statement of fear. At least I think of one now, now that I've read both yours and Dr_Gor's responses.

I always feared that which was accepted by the mob. The Tyranny of the Mob, stories like 'The Lottery' filled me with fear.

It was group acceptance, that even with the blessings of the many, I had some concern or trepidation about...thus it is the seemingly wonderful cool cat, Mitch Miller accepted, honored & perhaps loved by many just struck an odd chord with me ( he is crazy I tell you, crazy!!!). Something was just not 'on'. Not right.

Now all I have to do, is think of ( and it seems weekly ) someone like Gacy in his clown getup accepted by who knows how many parents and left alone with who knows how many children; how many was he actually with and how many he practiced pitching and catching. I guess that's my fear, the seemingly normal and accepted that really is not and should not be.

There's a host of films that explore this theme, and as to be expected, to various degrees of success. John Carpenter's 'The Thing';

The Invaders from Mars ( as completely cheesy as it was; I still could not walk on sand for years without thinking, maybe, just maybe... ), with the father leaving before dawn to investigate his son's claim that something exploded into the hillside; the father pulled down in the sand; the Martian implant placed in his neck ( and noticed by not the mother, but the son ) and seemingly no one but the son recognize the difference in the father. Wait! Can't anyone See???

Another great one was 'The Invasion of the Body Snatchers'.

'The Hidden'

Cronenberg built a lifetime's worth of work on invasion from the outside in...parasitical attack.

Gradually the crowd diminishes to the one; the one that was able to tell the difference between the 'correct'; 'the real'; and the unreal. These are maddening times. Paranoia, Questions, Doubt all make terribly good sense to me.

But, when and if we run out of fears, I am happy that there is always this list to turn to:

http://phobialist.com/index.html

Re: What's your idea of terror?

Dr_Gor — Sat, 03 Feb 2007 03:14:46 GMT

I agree, Puhnner... I STILL have nightmares about that television show "Sing Along With Mitch"...

Re: What's your idea of terror?

Phantasma-gore-ia — Sat, 03 Feb 2007 03:12:52 GMT

Not a music lover eh? Not that I know a whole heck of a lot about him, but he does look a little dangerous...not sure I'd want him peforming at a kids' birthday party...

Re: What's your idea of terror?

Puhnner — Sat, 03 Feb 2007 03:03:57 GMT

Mine may well be this and everything it stands for:

Re: What's your idea of terror?

Phantasma-gore-ia — Sat, 03 Feb 2007 02:56:23 GMT

A good point and a qualified response...my own concept of mortal fear is enclosed, locked-in places. Not because of the claustrophobia so much as the potential of having to stay in there because a couple of desperate men are banging on the door to get in, because you're chained there, because your elevator broke down or because the life of a man depends on you and your decision.

It's always been a firm opinion that when you restrict someone to a closed space and limit their options, you create much firmer, visceral tension than chasing them with a power tool. The latter is raw fear, in its basest form. There's obviously nothing wrong with this as I have a website devoted to them: http://www.bloodgutsandgore.com. To the point, however, the raw psychological threat of having not so much your body sought after but rather your mind, you're in deeper trouble than before for this reason: your body conceivably can heal, or at least adjust to, say, lost parts. If someone gets in your head, however, you can't escape them and must take them on if you have any chance to live.

Plus, it's narratively leaner than a straight horror flick. When you imprison your cast in a room, or even a house, you limit the number of things you can do, the number of places you can go. Consequently, the setting becomes secondary right fast and the central element, the due focus of the movie becomes the characters and their stories. It's pure storytelling when all you have are 6 or 9 people and four walls that never change (except, maybe, in the case of the Cube series.)

Re: What's your idea of terror?

Dr_Gor — Sat, 03 Feb 2007 02:24:55 GMT

I have had some genuinely TERRIFYING experiences with both the living AND the dead... I would prefer the living because I can kill them...

Re: What's your idea of terror?

patches — Sat, 03 Feb 2007 00:39:54 GMT

I'm going to have to add... and situation in which control is lost. Those situations where people have no choice of what's happening to them... I know that's a broad sweeping statement, but think about situations labeled outright as "terror".

You are tied down, you're locked up, your environment is exploding or narrowing, you're trapped, you're bleeding, you're being attacked.

There's no a whole lot you can do in those situations... You can only react with horror, anger, sadness, panic. You can't do much to change it, only to react.

On the opposite of the reaction scale is going catatonic. I've always thought it was so interesting that people's bodies can shut themsleves down in stressful situations. It's a fantastic way of protection andself preservation.

Think of the old lady that faints at the sight of blood, or the child with glazed over eyes during a house fire.

Re: What's your idea of terror?

Phantasma-gore-ia — Fri, 02 Feb 2007 23:29:16 GMT

That above acid raid, flash floods, forest fires, ever-rising inflation, traffic jams and gay marriage?

Re: What's your idea of terror?

Puhnner — Fri, 02 Feb 2007 19:46:13 GMT

I don't know, but maybe G.W.B. with WMDs and a Flight Suit on the deck of some Nimitz class carrier??? Robert Mitchum in Night of the Hunter, singing his little tune astride his donkeyass?

What's your idea of terror?

Phantasma-gore-ia — Fri, 02 Feb 2007 18:04:16 GMT

I"ll gather my thoughts in time, but what really scares you? I mean, gets under your skin, keeps you up at night?