OFF: Truth (oh no) and Shock Rock

[Ted Jackson jr. 6L6]

> From:          William Duffy <xl5 at IINET.NET.AU>
> >
> I saw an interview with Christopher Lee today, in which he spoke about the
> differences between the Hammer films and today's horror genre.
> He said that he didn't consider the films he made as horror. They were
> fantasy, morality tales, whatever. The majority of the action was portrayed
> by the skills of the actors, as opposed to today's films, which are all
> special effects, with the actor having to play second fiddle.
>
> He was pointing out that today's films have to use more graphic images to
> put their story across, instead of relying on the skills of the actors. All
> of this tends to descencitize  (probably spelt wrong) the viewers, and
> therefore doesn't really succeed at its job.
>
Here's the story on current films:  They are way overbudgeted.  To
justify the budget, the producers/directors have to come up with
impressive stunts, which cost a fortune to stage.  Having spent all
that bread, they have to prominently feature these big f/x, taking
away from plot, dialogue, script etc.  BTW, the entire budget for
Pulp Fiction was less than Bruce Willis' usual salary for a film.
The only expensive thing in the moview was the set for Jack Rabbit
Slims.  Likewise, Reservoir Dogs cost about 4 million to make [maybe
less--it was a pittance] and look what a first-time director was able
to achieve.  It's not that hard to make a good movie for cheap, but
you have to have good actors and--most importantly--a good script.
Nobody knows how to write these days, and it shows in the movies.
Too many filmmakers focus [ouch] on production because it will
inflate the budget, and make them known as 'big-ticket' directors.
While a good script almost directs itself, and makes the actors
happy--they want to act, to be stars, not play second banana to an
exploding car.  The great European films [which Tarantino has
devoured] always have had low budgets, and their quality is
unmistakeable...


>


theo
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