|
 |
 |
|
|
|
SEXTV-The Series HALF-HOUR SPECIAL**
There is a deep connection between sex and horror going back to the very first tales meant to inspire fear. Horror takes a hold of the body much like sexual arousal does, and it takes us to the edge of what we can bear. The classic horror films analogized our sexual anxieties in the form of monsters. These monsters represented
our runaway sexual desires, and by watching them on screen we exorcised our lust beasts. In modern horror, the "psycho-slasher" kills anyone who expresses their sexuality freely. In all its incarnations, the horror film ultimately express our collective fears surrounding sex.
This half hour special features interviews with film directors David Cronenberg and Stuart Gordon, and "scream queens" Brinke Stevens and Debbie Rochon.
Airdate: Saturday, March 15, 2003 @ 11:30pm
Repeats: Sunday, March 16, 2003 @ 11:30pm
|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
|
|
Dark Desires
I have a confession to make, I am not a horror film fan. I never “got” the appeal of watching someone get torn to bits by a drill, or getting decapitated by an axe. It was never my thing. That simple. It was with this mindset that approached the idea of doing a piece about the link between Horror Films and sexuality. To be perfectly frank, when the idea was brought up in a story meeting, I laughed, but then I began to do some research...and I found myself, well, eating crow.
Looking at these films I was struck by the fact that I, a self-proclaimed film snob, had not truly grasped the sophistication and intelligence of these films. Horror is a blanket term that could encompass everything from Frankenstein (from it’s literary origins to it’s numerous screen adaptations) to Rosemary’s Baby, it’s that all encompassing. Horror films are allegories; they are metaphors; they are, to be blunt, modern day morality tales.
Hitchcock, Polanski, Lynch and Cronenberg are all “masters” of the horror genre, and all their films are heavily coded in sexuality (is there a more horrifying moment in film other than Denis Hopper screaming in Blue Velvet “Daddy wants to fuck!”?).
From the sophisticated B films of the 30s and 40s encompassed the monster as a representative of the male hero’s suppressed sexual desires, horror films are synonymous with sex, to lewd and rude films of the 50s and 60s (the magnificently gruesome Hammer films) to the slasher films of the 70s, where the instigation for the act of violence was the act of fornication (horny teenagers getting it on, and getting killed off because of it has become a cliché that it elicits laughter more than horror). Horror and sex intermingle like the night sky and stars, the link is that apparent.
When you come right down to it, what terrifies us more than our sexuality?
It was with this information that I set off to interview filmmakers, actors and critics in L.A., N.Y., and Toronto. From scream-queens to esteemed filmmakers the subject of horror became the springboard of how we regard sexuality. It was an eye-opening experience. Have I fallen in love with the genre? Not really, because, as it turned out, I was a fan already. Films such as The Stepfather, Ginger Snaps, Cat People and Re-Animator I have always been a fan of, and now I can add cinematic gems such as Cronenberg’s Shivers and Peter Jackson’s The Frighteners to that list. Horror is a simple term to describe the most basic of human desire: lust. And that’s just one of the subject matters that horror films enable us to deal with. Okay, I’m a fan of the horror genre, there, I admit it!
Nicolas Kazamia
Segment Producer
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Looking for something in particular? A past Sextv story or just something that intrigues you?
Type it in below and search.
|
|
|
|
|
For Seasons 1, 2 & 3, click here to connect to our old Sextv site.
|
|
