Why, if you find yourself singing the song above, then friends, I'm here to help! You can click this link right here and it will totally take you to stuff- specifically, my newest edition of Take Back the Knife, wherein I talk about Alexandre Aja's High Tension in an "Is it homophobic or isn't it?" fashion. WOW!
Admittedly it's a stretch for the horror genre, but you're still invited, Stacie!
ReplyDeleteOn the week of November 29th to December 5th, 2010, I will be hosting an good old fashioned Blog-A-Thon to re-inaugurate the 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die Blog Club.
I am writing you today to invite you to contribute a post on the first film on the epic 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die List [http://www.filmsquish.com/guts/?q=taxonomy/term/53/9], George Méliès' A Trip To The Moon (1902) aka Le voyage dans la lune. Whether you are a new or old Club member, or simply want to join in on this Blog-O-Thon, with a new or archived post on the subject of A Trip To The Moon (1902), you're invited!
One of the many great things about A Trip To The Moon is that this full 14-minute short is available everywhere for viewing. I've put a couple links for you of the complete film at the bottom of the page.
If you're interested, drop me a link or a line through my site (www.filmsquish.com), and feel free to spread the word!
Un Voyage dans la lune:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JDaOOw0MEE&feature=related
Alternate Link:
http://www.archive.org/details/le_voyage_dans_la_lune
I will never forget how blown away I was by this film when I saw it during it's cinema release. The entire audience was silent for a few moments as the credits rolled.
ReplyDeleteYour reveiw on Take Back the Knife is spot on in my opinon. I don't think High Tension is homophobic at all.
Stacie, I really do love your analysis of High Tension, I really do. You made my foray into watching it that much better, especially in regards to the possible homophobia behind it. Personally, I'm not really inclined to interpret it as homophobic, since Aja mentioned in the commentary how the concept of the film could've been done with two guys or a guy and a girl and have the film arrive at the same outcome. Then again, for all I know, that could've just been a total cop-out on his part.
ReplyDeletePlus, I gotta give the movie credit for establishing my never-diminishing crush on Cecile de France (I probably should be giving Cecile de France credit for that, but oh well). In all honesty, I would not mind if she chased me through the woods with a round-saw; preferably, if she didn't kill my family. Shoot, she wouldn't even have to worry about the whole 'my best friend has a crush on every boy' problem if I was in Alex's place.
--C.S.
Great review, Stacie. I can't dislike this mopvie no matter how much bitching and moaning I read about from horror fans.
ReplyDeleteI believe Aja has said several times that a twist was demanded by producer Luc Besson, as twist endings were all the rage at the time.
Another theory is that it was a bit of a smokescreen to further distance the film's plot from from Dean Koontz's novel 'Intensity', of which the first act of this film is a complete rip-off.
Hey Stacie!
ReplyDeleteI personally have always been rather baffled by folks who have felt cheated by Haute Tension, and thusly I just wind up rather pitying them for being such poops.
Until I read your article, I never really considered the homophobia angle. I always saw it as the story of a very, very sick girl who just HAPPENED to be a lesbian. But I have to agree with you: the homophobia is there, it's battled, and in its way is overcome.
As a gay man who recently started his own queer-angled horror podcast, I love the discussion points you brought up here, so a tip of my tiara to you, my dear.
Patrick
SCREAMQUEENZ Horror Podcast
"...Where Horror Gets BENT!!!"
www.ScreamQueenz.com