If you’ve watched any action movies in the past ten or so years, you’ve probably noticed the frenetic almost unwatchable quality of the action depicted.

In this two-part video essay,  filmmaker and analyst Matthias Stork shares a thesis about recent action films that he calls “Chaos Cinema.”
Part 1

Chaos Cinema Part 1 from Matthias Stork on Vimeo.

Part 2

Chaos Cinema Part 2 from Matthias Stork on Vimeo.

Stork’s analysis is fascinating and, for the most part, dead on.  But has he exhausted all of the potential reasons for why Chaos Cinema has become so prevalent?
What do you think?

What is a Horror Movie and What Does It Do

Prerequisite to any discussion on current trends in horror films is a definition of what constitutes a horror movie and what it ultimately achieves.  To help construct an at least rudimentary definition[1] of a horror movie, three observations will be made concerning 1) The Emotions of Horror, 2) The Object of Horror, and 3) The Monsters of Horror.

 Horror movies are primarily an emotional experience.  Indeed, horror movies are largely defined by the emotions they attempt to elicit from audiences: terror, dread, anxiety, agitation, unease, revulsion, or even nausea.[2]  Whatever the means, the goal is to draw audiences into a state of intense emotional distress.  This point calls for discernment between what Noel Carroll calls natural horror and art horror.[3]  Natural horror, refers to the emotional reaction of individuals to distressing news or circumstances in everyday or “real” life (e.g. the feeling of distress and outrage concerning the Manson Family murders).  Art horror, on the other hand, refers to the emotional reactions involved when reading or watching a fictional depiction of horrifying events.

The nuance, then, between natural horror and art horror refers to the vastly differing quality of the same types of emotions—such as fright.  Thus, an individual’s feelings of fright upon hearing news of a deranged serial killer on the loose in his area will be of a vastly different quality than the same person’s quality of fright while watching Michael Myers stalk Jamie Lee Curtis in Halloween.  This gives partial explanation for how some can enjoy the feelings of fright and dread experienced during a horror movie, and yet take no pleasure in true-life terror.[4]

If horror films work strenuously to elicit dread and terror in audiences, then what is the proper object of terror?  Death.  Not merely death though but what Stephen King calls the “bad death.”[5]  As Stephen King observes, horror movies often succeed by finding and breaking certain social taboos, and death remains the ultimate taboo.[6]  Most can agree that they fear death to some degree, but few would object to passing peacefully at home in bed.  On the other hand, no one eagerly desires to be eaten alive by a shark, stabbed to death in the shower, or driven mad by a demon.  Indeed, the most common fear connected with death is suffering and pain.  Thus, horror movies are predicated upon exploring the innumerable ways a person can experience an awful and exquisitely painful end: the bad death. [...]

Where We’ve Been Already

A few months ago we looked at a handful of presuppositions and observations concerning magic and portrayals of magic in film, which can be found here.  To recap, the following points were made:

Presuppositions:

1.  The Bible makes a binding, categorical condemnation of all magic and occult practices, strictly forbidding the direct practice or consultation of any form of witchcraft or wizardry.

“There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, one who uses divination, one who practices witchcraft, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who casts a spell, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead.

“For whoever does these things is detestable to the Lord; and because of these detestable things the Lord your God will drive them out before you.

“You shall be blameless before the Lord your God.

“For those nations, which you shall dispossess, listen to those who practice witchcraft and to diviners, but as for you, the Lord your God has not allowed you to do so.

(Deuteronomy 18:10-14; cf. Exodus 22:18; Leviticus 20:6; Revelation 21:8, etc.)

2.  It is not necessarily sinful for Christians to watch films containing portrayals of sin, including witchcraft and wizardry.

Observations:

 1.  Magical/occult practices are wrong because they are an implicit attempt to gain power and/or authority over, against, or apart from God.

2.  Magical elements in films are usually set in fantastical universes where the supernatural is commonplace or a part of the very fabric of the world of the story (Lord of the Rings or The Chronicles of Narnia, for example).

 3.  The magic portrayed in most films is far from an accurate portrayal of real-world magical practices.

Using these presuppositions and observations, we will attempt to develop a reasoned and biblical approach.

Of course, in developing a position on any thorny issue like this one we are prone to err on either side of the biblical standard by being too conservative or liberal.  This was an issue dealt with here.  Our goal here is strike the biblical middle ground that is faithful to Scripture while not unnecessarily restrictive or judgmental.  This will require thoughtfulness and nuance.

Seeing the Difference Between Magick and Magic

Before we begin, what exactly are we trying to accomplish here?  If we affirm the first two presuppositions, what are we doing?  There are important nuances in the portrayal of magic that directly effect whether or not we should watch certain films. Thus, while I do not feel burdened to prove the biblical acceptability of watching magic in films, I do want to develop an practical outworking of our previously developed theory. [...]

Horror remains one of the most peculiar yet enduring film genres.  Yet why?  Commonsense speaks against horror’s success.  How could a mature, intelligent, moral—normal adult find pleasure in the horrific and often grotesque?  Few people intentionally punctuate their lives with gross or terrorizing elements.  As one author pointed out, few of us lift our trashcan lids with glee as we take in the fetid aromas of rot and decay.[1]  Nor do many of us enjoy placing ourselves in true, mortal danger, knowing we risk rape, maiming, or death.  Still millions of mature, intelligent, moral—normal adults willingly pay to see teenagers quartered with chainsaws, freakish monsters kill without mercy, and apocalyptic ends to humanity.  Why?

[...]

This summer’s release of Harry Potter and Deathly Hallows (Part 2) will mark the end of one of the most financially lucrative and popular film franchises in decades.  The books and films have left an indelible mark on culture, leaving our generation a new set of references, heroes, and vocabulary (not to mention the haunting images of college kids trying to play Quidditch).

Yet Harry was not well-received by all.  Many of you probably remember the firestorm of religious controversy that surrounded the books and films.  Accusations flew of thinly veiled satanic ritual and occultism designed lure children into lifelong slavery to the dark arts.  While others claimed the books were innocent fun with no real correlation to real life witchcraft.

The fires of controversy over Harry Potter has mostly died down now, and the franchise is coming to an end, but the question lingers: What are Christians to do with films that feature magic and magical elements?  Is it wrong for Christians to see these movies?

Let’s begin with a few presuppositions and observations to help us to begin thinking about this oftentimes thorny issue.  [...]

Recently my wife and I started to watch Reservoir Dogs, the 1992 film debut of director Quentin Tarantino.  Reservoir Dogs is the legendary film about a failed diamond heist, and what takes place between the would-be thieves afterword.  It received widespread critical acclaim for its cinematography, direction, and acting.  The movie has been called a milestone in independent filmmaking.  So I added it to our Netflix queue figuring it would be something different than the usual Pixar and action movies.

We made it about five minutes.  The movie opens with Quentin Tarantino at a table with other dark-suited men discussing Madonna’s “Like A Virgin” in the crudest terms possible, and managed to drop the F-bomb an impressive 20+ times.

My wife turned to me and said, “Why are we watching this?”  Unable to think of a good reason, I shut it off. [...]

Movies are an incredible expression of human thought and creativity.  To think how they have progressed from the one-shot, one-minute films of 1895 to the eleven-hour epic of Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings Trilogy is staggering.  Yet even before special effects and Blu-ray, movies have always had the power to capture the imagination and move people to tears or exhilaration, or maybe both.  Movies have the power to touch us in an often difficult to explain but fundamental manner.  Thus cinema has become a permanent fixture in our culture.  How many of us will watch something tonight, or go to a theater this weekend with friends or on a date?  Movies are something that millions of professing Christians watch and enjoy on a weekly or sometimes daily basis.

Nevertheless, the average Christian has never considered a proper response to Hollywood cinema.  Therefore, the popular Christian response has generally tended towards one of two opposite yet erroneous extremes: complete acceptance or total shunning.  I say erroneous because after watching numerous films, I can say that they have an inherent value and terrible danger which both extremes fail to recognize.  To lean too closely towards either extreme, is to miss what is most important about movies: worldview content.  Let’s look closer at both extremes to see what I mean.

Two Wrong Approaches

The first extreme is complete acceptance.  Those who tend towards this end of the spectrum argue for a more relaxed approach to film and film content.  Complete acceptance holds that movies are, by and large, for entertainment purposes and not for example setting or teaching.  Therefore, choosing to watch a movie is as morally neutral as choosing to watch a football game or playing scrabble.  As far as moral content goes (language, violence, sexuality, substance abuse, etc.), what is and is not acceptable is ultimately up to the conscience of the viewer.  If it violates your conscience to watch Denzel Washington torture and murder criminals in Man on Fire (2004), then you shouldn’t watch.  Otherwise, there are no definitive boundaries for believers. [...]