I've spent some time recently scanning the old Interwebs for news in the horror field cause that's how I roll.  I frequently get inspiration for my rambles from the ramblings of others in forum posts and whatnot.  I try to keep my finger on the pulse so I can relate to other fans.  In doing so I have discovered a trend that is rather disturbing.

No I'm not referring to Torture Porn and no I'm not referring to the onslaught of remakes we've seen roll across the screen.  The trend of which I speak is one that is far more personal to me.  I spend the majority of my writing time attempting to inject intelligent thought and theory into topics about the genre that I feel is the most telling when it comes to human nature.  Horror films have been kicked, beaten and slashed with all the tools they use to convey

sexing.  Those are fun, true enough, but is that really what it's all about?  I say no.

The best horror films, the ones that stick, are the ones that approach their chosen subject in an intelligent manner.  I'm not saying it has to be serious, just smart.  There is a reason that Romero's Dead films have such a reputable

status.  There is a reason that his have become the measuring tool  by which others gauge their own zombie films.  Consequently we have high expectations of everything Romero puts out there.  Now we are more critical of his work.  When Uncle George does something disappointing we take it personally.  Perhaps that is the price you pay for making quality cinema, horror or otherwise.

their message over the years.  The Hoity-Toits of the film world regularly slam fright flicks for lacking moral standards as well as for fostering ill behavior in impressionable teens.  I've covered that topic before so I won't drone on about it now.  But I would like to give a big smack on the noggin to all those fans out there who flat out refuse to enjoy movies that make you think for that is what I am ranting about presently.

“What started all of this,”  you may be asking.  I certainly hope you are because otherwise you've lost interest.   Well, I'll tell ya.  I was perusing some threads here and there and came across some opinions about the recent film, Martyrs.  If you know me then you know I loved it and I honestly fail to see how anyone could watch this movie, pay attention and proceed to lump it in with the other fare out there that sets out to do nothing more than tickle your pukey bone.  Still, some have.

I am aware that some scary movies are just that... if you're lucky.  Sometimes we don't want to think.  Sometimes we just like to see people get hacked to pieces in clever ways or suffer some downright mean things for no apparent reason other than they have been drinking and

But he is not the only culprit.  For years, Cronenberg has been flashing about with “body horror” and proving that you can be equal parts thought and gag inducing.  The social commentary within his work could easily fill a New York City phone book.  That is precisely why these two guys are my favorite directors.  Their goal is to present an everyday idea in an abstract fashion.  The horror in these cases is generally in how we relate to the film as viewers.

And along comes Laugier.  His film Martyrs breathed new life into the genre for me this year.  I have not been wholly disappointed with 2009's releases but I did not see this one coming.  I was jolted so violently with every frame of this movie that it took me a good long while to percolate on what I had witnessed.  It took me a couple of good conversations with like-minders and a couple of days of thought before I felt comfortable laying down a review.  

Laugier makes you think and he does not whisper the answer into your ear.  You are left to ponder this one on your own. And I like it that way.  This is what I'm talkin' about!

Then I run across some views of fans here and there who say that its nothing more than more of the same that we have been complaining about for so long.  How can this be?  How can a film that so purposefully prods our grey matter be called the infamous T P phrase?  How can it be that I am left contemplating my discomfort and the reasons behind it for so long while others dismiss it as if it were merely a blip on the screen?  One fan remarked that Laugier “plays his cards too close to his vest” and that he believes a film should not “play coy with its audience.”  I don't get this at all.  If you pay attention, it's there.  It's all there.  Of course there is some room for interpretation but good art tends to be that way.  You can take from it what you will but there is something to take.  Not all horror films can boast that much.

Another goes on to state that “all you’re left with is a kind of empty gesture that felt more to me like an excuse to have long, protracted torture sequences than anything else. “  It is painfully clear that not one frame of this film was intended to be enjoyed.  This movie is not gory for the sake of shock value even if it does possess it.  It is supposed to make you uneasy and in doing so it gives you ample fodder for your brain-a-ma-thing.  

Okay, okay so you get it, right?  I liked this movie and I think there's more to it than meets the eye.  So what?  The “so what” is exactly my point.  As fans we are harped on by mainstream audiences for going to see flicks that have no social value that they can see.  I have a friend who teases that every time I loan him a movie he knows it will have blood in it.  It just so happens that has been true so far.  But when a director truly makes an attempt to see beyond the dollar signs and the clamor for gore-soaked action, it falls on blind eyes and is tossed in the bin with the rest of the riff-raff.  I'm miffed about it.  Yes, it's bloody.  Yes, it's vicious.  So was Dawn of the Dead which was incidentally the reason Romero coined the term “splatter cinema.”  So was anything Cronenberg laid down.  That does not mean it has nothing to say.  Martyrs, like its aforementioned brothers, speaks louder than most.