For much of today, my twitter feed has exuded THIS energy –
It started with an innocuous request for some off-the-radar horror movie recommendations –
Which prompted an (I assumed) equally innocuous tweet –
https://twitter.com/BaronDestructo/status/1542189262350667783
An hour later it was ON. Ā A lot of people did NOT appreciate this take, many of them inexplicably angered, offering up examples of successful horror-comedies amid copious dollops of HOW DARE YOU!
One of the most oft-repeated responses to my tweet has been along the lines of “Well, that’s just YOUR opinion!”. Ā And to that I would say – Well, yeah. Ā I assumed that would be self-evident given my use of the term “take” and the fact I chose to publish it on twitter rather than, say, the Chicago Journal of Empirical Studies. Ā In the future, out of an abundance of caution, all of my tweets will include the following warning: Ā “This tweet is just an opinion and has not been scientifically tested”.
Others felt I was being intentionally provocative so that I could garner more replies and, presumably ly, score a big cash pay-out from twitter because that’s what happens when your tweet receives a lot of engagement. Ā Big cash and a trophy!
To be perfectly clear, I’m not saying horror-comedies don’t exist as a sub-genre – which is something a couple of people assumed I was arguing. Ā They do exist and some are great movies. Ā But they don’t work for me as horror-comedies because the comedy almost always come at the expense of tension and suspense.
Again, to be clear, I’m referring to movies that fall into the category of horror-comedies as opposed to horror movies with comic elements. Ā Jordan Peele’s Get Out is an example of a great movie with flashes of humor that never undermine the integrity of the horror.
Of course there are exceptions to the rule. Ā Evil Dead 2 was one that came up a lot and I’ll concede it does buck the trend. Ā Honestly though it’s been a while since I’ve seen it and another screening may be required to confirm this. Ā An even better example is, I think, Scream which does an excellent job of walking that fine line, subverting the horror tropes without diluting the horror.
Anyway, it’s been an interesting experience that has taught me a valuable lesson. Ā In the future, I will refrain from commenting on entertainment. Ā I will stick to less controversial topics like politics and religion.
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