cheap thrills leave me quickly

Saw The Eye last night, the original version directed by The Pang Brothers, not the recent remake with Jessica Alba. I'm developing a feature horror screenplay titled The Trail of Dead and this 2002 Chinese import magnified some elements I want to address about contemporary horror.

The Eye was a mediocre Hollywood popcorn horror at best (except in Cantonese). Andy, who somehow stumbled into theaters for the American remake and watched the original with me, determined that the remake was surprisingly, sadly more polished than its source artifact. I already had a sneaking suspicion... The Pang Brothers got their shot at the American pie with 2007's The Messengers and needless to say, underwhelmed. Their direction of the The Eye epitomizes the fundamental stylistic praxis that have corroded the appeal and potential of the horror genre in the scope of cinema -- praxis that are outdated manifestations of postmodern quick-fix American slasher flicks.

We're used to our horror being centered around loud, invasive noises contrived to jolt, abrupt editing technique and camera angles asunder to evoke pseudo discomfort and tension. We're so use to cheap thrills, fractions of seconds of underdeveloped scenes that make us jump, then immediately leave us... and then we breathe and the cycle repeats itself. Us waiting and fiending for the next pseudo scare. Us anticipating the next fix. I'm not implying that these postmodern adornments in horror cinema are wholly irrelevant, only that they're meant for supplement not primary emotive device -- the jump-out-of-your-seat scare similar to slapstick in comedy, meant as minor accompaniment in the grand genre orchestra.

It's an intriguing cultural dynamic the variations between Chinese, Japanese and Korean cinema -- especially in horror where J-Horror and K-Horror are at the genre's forefront, but not 'C-Horror'.

...If you've been following my conceptual dribbles then you've caught breath of my personal cinematic recalibration, meaning as aesthetic. Horror (along with Science Fiction, Fantasy, etc.) because it lives and derives its truth from a polarized state of human reality, finds exception. It requires aesthetic to help achieve its end.