We've all heard of the dramedy: that wacky cross between drama and comedy that leaves you scratching your head and staring hopelessly at your DVD shelves while trying to decide just where to stick it.  There are horror comedies that make my filing life difficult as well but I don't have a clever moniker for those.  Some of them are easy like Shaun of the Dead, the original rom/zom/com,  because it's mostly horror that just happens to be side-splitting fun.  Some of them are more of a challenge like Beetlejuice.  It has some elements of horror but I can't in good conscience stick it next to Audition (which is where it would go on my shelf cause I'm anal about that) so it landed itself a place in my comedy lineup.  That's okay, though. To be honest, my comedies are probably lonely.  They just don't have the numbers to go up against my horror collection in a fair fight so they are pleased with the padding of the troops.  

But you didn't come all the way here to listen to me bellyache about my archiving woes, did ya?  I have an honest to goodness concern here.  I want to talk about those horror films that have mainstream tendencies or universal themes at the least and why I find myself all conundrum-ated when I talk about them.   

Let's look at the most recent example of this type.  Deadgirl is the one that got my wheels spinning fast enough to make me write about this subject.  While the inclusion of a zombie in a film should ordinarily land it squarely within the genre, there are themes at work here that beg a deeper consideration. It has violence.  It has blood.  It even has the most explosive bathroom death scene I have ever witnessed but this film does not set out to make us tremble in fear of monsters.  Deadgirl is a coming of age film that is rife with clever metaphors and a sensitive look at subject matter that is unnerving. And that's me treading in the mild waters.  The monster in the film isn't the zombie at all. It is the unruly adolescent boy libido, the crazy things it can make you do, and all the other angsty things teens experience. It touches on the social hierarchies of high school, dysfunctional home life, and even peer pressure.  Take out the zombie and the whole 'raping a corpse' thing and you've got a John Hughes movie without The Ringwald.

teens experience. It touches on the social hierarchies of high school, dysfunctional home life, and even peer pressure.  Take out the zombie and the whole 'raping a corpse' thing and you've got a John Hughes movie without The Ringwald.  

Sounds like Deadgirl has a lot to say, doesn't it?  Well it does.  And this is my beef.  Because of the images depicted, as well as the disturbing narrative content, it gets shoved into the round hole that is the horror genre.  It really cannot go anywhere else but I hesitate every time I refer to it as a horror film because that description just isn't enough.  “What's so wrong with horror?” you ask as you start to bristle at my words.  Nothing.  Nothing at all.  You all know how I feel about The Genre....it's the only one that gets a 'the' in front of it if that gives a clue.  Hey, if I were a movie I'd be a fright flick without question.  It would explain so much.

The beautiful thing about the genre is that it gives you ample room to explore all the things we find so hideous and nightmare inspiring about real life.  No other medium gives you as much space to spelunk  the inner workings of the human mind which we all know to be the scariest thing going.  But, and here's the rub, there is an unfair stigma attached to horror.  You've gotten 'the look' when buying movies or wearing your favorite tee.  We all have.  So you know precisely to what I am referring.  And this is why it bothers me to unceremoniously ram a thought-provoking and beautiful film such as this alongside its gorier cousins.  It's not that I think horror is unworthy of this title.  It's that I know this film will not get the mainstream recognition its subject matter so richly deserves.  I have friends who would love what it has to say but they'd never get past the corpse.  Picture this conversation:  

the troops.  

But you didn't come all the way here to listen to me bellyache about my archiving woes, did ya?  I have an honest to goodness concern here.  I want to talk about those horror films that have mainstream tendencies or universal themes, at the least, and why I find myself all conundrum-ated when I talk about them.   

Let's look at the most recent example of this type.  Deadgirl is the one that got my wheels spinning fast enough to make me write about this subject.  While the inclusion of a zombie in a film should ordinarily land it squarely within the genre, there are themes at work here that beg a deeper consideration. It has violence.  It has blood.  It even has the most explosive bathroom death scene I have ever witnessed, but this film does not set out to make us tremble in fear of monsters.  Deadgirl is a coming of age film that is rife with clever metaphors and a sensitive look at subject matter that is unnerving. And that's me treading in the mild waters.  The monster in the film isn't the zombie at all. It is the unruly adolescent boy libido, the crazy things it can make you do, and all the other angst-y things teens experience. It touches on the social hierarchies of high school, dysfunctional home life, and even peer pressure.  Take out the zombie and the whole 'raping a corpse' thing and you've got a John Hughes movie without The Ringwald.  

Sounds like Deadgirl has a lot to say, doesn't it?  Well it does.  And this is my beef.  Because of the images depicted as well as the disturbing narrative content, it gets shoved into the round hole that is the horror genre.  It really cannot go anywhere else but I hesitate every time I refer to it as a horror film because that description just isn't enough.  “What's so wrong with horror,” you ask as you start to bristle at my words.  Nothing.  Nothing at all.  You all know how I feel about The Genre....it's the only one that gets a 'the' in front of it if that gives a clue.  Hey, if I were a movie I'd be a fright flick without question.  It would explain so much.

You all know how I feel about The Genre....it's the only one that gets a 'the' in front of it if that gives a clue.  Hey, if I were a movie I'd be a fright flick without question.  It would explain so much.

The beautiful thing about the genre is that it gives you ample room to explore all the things we find so hideous and nightmare inspiring about real life.  No other medium gives you as much space to spelunk  the inner workings of the human mind which we all know to be the scariest thing going.  But, and here's the rub, there is an unfair stigma attached to horror.  You've gotten 'the look' when buying movies or wearing your favorite tee.  We all have.  So you know precisely to what I am referring.  And this is why it bothers me to unceremoniously ram a thought-provoking and beautiful film such as this alongside its gorier cousins.  It's not that I think horror is unworthy of this title.  It's that I know this film will not get the mainstream recognition its subject matter so richly deserves.  I have friends who would love what it has to say but they'd never get past the corpse.  Picture this conversation:  

is why it bothers me to unceremoniously ram a thought-provoking and beautiful film such as this alongside its gorier cousins.  It's not that I think horror is unworthy of this title.  It's that I know this film will not get the mainstream recognition its subject matter so richly deserves.  I have friends who would love what it has to say but they'd never get past the corpse.  Picture this conversation:  

“Hey I just watched this movie that really touched me.  I think you'd dig it.”

“Really?  What's it about?”

“Well, it's mostly a commentary on the hormonal rages of young men in their teens years and their views of women while they are going through life's big changes.  Oh, and it has a zombie.  And rape.  And there's some blood and guts.”

“Oh.”

See what I mean?  It doesn't matter that the main focus of the film isn't the deadness of the girl or the fact that there's a little chomping of the flesh.  Once they hear those words they are out the door to seek shelter in the arms of Ramis or Spielberg.  

Deadgirl isn't the only recent film to have me pulling my hair out while attempting to mentally sort my friends into tidy piles of  'those who can take it' and 'those who would never speak to me again if I laid it at their feet.'  Genre ambiguity has been the order of the day for some of the best films out there.

Look at Let the Right One In.  A vampire film but so much more.  It is an emotion jangling look at young love from the point of view of an outsider who is searching desperately for a place to fit.  It is a story of growth and friendship that causes the tears to well on more than one occasion.  LtROI is  gorgeously rendered and intelligently scripted but some will hear the “V” and start backing away in escape.  I have forced this one on some mainstream folks with pleasing results but I had my concerns when I did it.  I waited impatiently to see if it would be thrown back in my face.  Thankfully it was not.  And now they are better for having seen it but they would have missed it if I hadn't begged.

Look at Let the Right One In.  A vampire film but so much more.  It is an emotion jangling look at young love from the point of view of an outsider who is searching desperately for a place to fit.  It is a story of growth and friendship that causes the tears to well on more than one occasion.  LtROI is  gorgeously rendered and intelligently scripted but some will hear the “V” word and start backing away in escape.  I have forced this one on some mainstream folks with pleasing results, but I had my concerns when I did it.  I waited impatiently to see if it would be thrown back in my face.  Thankfully it was not.  And now they are better for having seen it but they would have missed it if I hadn't begged.

Another one is Martyrs.  This film is probably the most difficult one for me.  The themes are so universal, so poignant, so compelling, that I can't stop myself from wanting to shove it into the faces of anyone in my path.  But it's also so brutal that those who aren't horror-minded need not apply.  So here I am once again banging my head against the wall in frustration.  I want to share it.  I want to spread the good stuff around.  I want to make people think about martyrdom and religion and then talk about it with me.  But I can only take it so far before people start calling the guys in white coats on me for enjoying it as much as I do.  

Now it would be easy to say that if these guys were concerned about this like I am then they would make a mainstream movie with the same ideas and be done with it.  But it's just not that fine a point.  The beauty of these pictures is their originality and the fact that they use such unconventional methods to convey ideas in such a striking manner.  The brutality is as much a necessity as the script or the director.  

So what can I do?  Should I attempt to make up a new word along the lines of  'dramedy' to clue the normies into the fact that they are more than mere hack/slash?  Or is it simply a harsh reality that these films will be ignored by the masses regardless of their message?  And should I as a fan of the genre be content with that?  Maybe I should just say its the loss of those who can't handle it and move on.  But I feel it's the film's loss as well.  And that makes me sad.

So what can I do?  Should I attempt to make up a new word along the lines of  'dramedy' to clue the normies into the fact that they are more than mere hack/slash?  Or is it simply a harsh reality that these films will be ignored by the masses regardless of their message?  And should I, as a fan of the genre, be content with that?  Maybe I should just say its the loss of those who can't handle it and move on.  But I feel it's the film's loss as well.  And that makes me sad.