When Horrific Films Get Categorized as Horror

https://moviepilot.com/posts/2223248


When a movie like 'Human Centipede' or 'Tusk' gets defined as a horror film, there's bound to be some debate. Just because something is hard to watch or over the top shocking; doesn't make it horror. Lisa Fremont at Movie Pilot covers this topic in her opinion piece; When Horrific Films Get Categorized as Horror'.
Right off the bat, Fremont gets respect from me. Because she had the willpower to sit through two of the most revolting movies ever made in one day no less; 'A Serbian Film' and 'Salo', both foreign movies. I've heard of 'A Serbian Film' mostly through ironic appreciation. I've seen 'Salo' once...it's like a visit to the deep web. It's very unpleasant. These movies are the centerpiece of evidence in this piece. And if anyone has seen them, then you know how powerful they are. The directors of these movies are under the assumption that rape, torture, questionable fetishes, and demented sexual fantasies are horror and if they include in their movies then they got a quality horror flick. They are wrong. It's a good way to get your audience to wretch and the neighbors to file a restraining order on you, but it's not the next Frankenstein. Fremont explores these movies and how they have the outline and messages of a horror film, but they just come across as movies whose sole purpose is to shock audiences time and time again. And that's a sad existence. Fremont is aware of what makes a horror movie and is expressive about it throughout.
The piece is really easy to follow from lead to kicker. Fremont gets it because she too is a movie goer. She brought so many new things to light for me like how over the years the horror fans seemed to have devolved into movie goers who only want to see blood, guts, and violence from a movie and it's less about the art of provoking fear and more about who can gag the most. The claim is that the horror genre is misrepresented when movies like the two examples are allowed to share the same shelf space as them. Said claim is at the end of the piece which makes for a great message for the reader to finish with.
This piece flows a little bit like a blog post and for a reader like me that really drew me in. There's no professional boundaries here and Fremont is on the same page as us. She's seen the movies and how disturbing they are. Seeing said movies are worthy of street cred. Seriously, you'll never get over them. Again, not because they're scary, but because they drill into your brain with these unforgettable, horrible moments that are possible in real life. That's enough to get audience interest; seeing the movies so they don't have to.