Below we have three horror documentaries each researching different niches of the genre. GOING TO PIECES tells of the slasher subgenre, HORROR BUSINESS shows the real horror in making independent films, and TERROR IN THE AISLES questions our love of terror played with some great clips. So which was a “cut” above the rest?
GOING TO PIECES: THE RISE AND FALL OF THE SLASHER FILM (2007) is based off the book of the same name and promises to explain the ebb and flow of the slasher genre. The doc starts with the beginnings of slaying with gladiators in coliseums and the birth of the slasher film from PEEPING TOM to PSYCHO.
It covers staples like HALLOWEEN, FRIDAY THE 13TH, and PROM NIGHT, then slightly lesser known THE PROWLER, MY BLOODY VALENTINE, and MANIAC to new slashers like SCREAM and UBRAN LEGEND. You also get tons of commentary from horror veterans like John Carpenter, Wes Craven, Felissa Rose, and ends on a nice montage of kills.
Some great things about the doc is that we learn the original of the HALLOWEEN score, Savini’s gore tricks, casting Jamie Lee Curtis in PROM NIGHT, the SILENT NIGHT, DEADLY NIGHT controversy, the NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET back story, and more. But the highlight was the amazing commentary provided by feminist Amy Holden Jones (SLUMBER PARTY MASSACRE) and the flashbacks to Roger Ebert chastising the slasher genre stating the audience identifies with the killer.
But I think if you are going to make a documentary on such a broad subject matter that is all encompassing, it had better be damn good. Unfortunately, there were several things I questioned about the doc. One of the biggest problems are that spoilers given away. All the twist endings to HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME, GRADUATION DAY, SLEEPAWAY CAMP, APRIL FOOL’S DAY, etc. are given in complete detail. If you haven’t seen those films, you might want to skip this. Also, a large portion of clips and commentators are left unnamed. I recognized most of the stars, except two and there was a particular clown clip that left me interested in a film that was never named. And no “Scream Queens” were interviewed.
Also, the title is misleading in the fact that it is assuming that the slasher genre was either failed or is done. That isn’t true and the doc ended without necessarily explaining the “fall” of the genre. No mention of the spoofs that evolved like SCARY MOVIE or SHRIEK IF YOU KNOW WHAT I DID LAST FRIDAY THE 13TH, which all stretched past the year 2000. Hardly any mention of Italian Slashers or of the slasher remakes hitting screens recently. And there is no website or MySpace available for this movie and I couldn’t contact the director with questions. Surprise! There is no director listed. This seems like a pile of clips put together by Starz and THINKFilm, which would explain the storytelling holes.
Side Note: I giggled when Carpenter incorrectly told the tale of Kitty Genevieve who was stabbed and left for dead when her neighbors ignored her screams due to “diffused responsibility.” Gave the wrong name and wrong murder!
DVD Extras: Interviews with a few directors, most notably the late Bob Clark, but sadly missing the awesome Amy Holden Jones. Also, included crazy trivia whose Beginner questions were too hard and the Advanced questions too easy.
Favorite Quote: Amy Holden Jones, “Because you are playing to fear, that is the emotion of horror movies and you want to show that in a visceral way. That doesn’t mean we want to see [the heroine] hurt. That is a complete misunderstanding of the genre. They want to see her in jeopardy, triumph, and seek revenge.”
Bottom Line: Decent overview of the slasher genre with some memorable quotes from directors. But seasoned horror fans or newbies will want to look elsewhere.
Rating: 7/10
HORROR BUSINESS (2007) is about the independents in the horror genre whereas GOING TO PIECES focused on a particular subgenre. HORROR BUSINESS is the opposite of GTP in that you really feel the love of the horror genre, not just by the struggling low budget filmmakers covered, but by the director Chris Garetano himself. The doc’s plot is simple in that it follows different indie filmmakers trying to finish their projects.
HORROR BUSINESS starts with an intro by hunky Garetano, a “filmmaker’s dreams”, and a shot of a young boy saying he wants to be a filmmaker when he grows up. The directors followed are Marc Borchandt (SCARE ME) who is funny as hell, Ron Atkins (SINS OF GOVERNMENT) who is angrily hysterical, David Stagnari (CATHARSIS) who is super hot and depressed, Dave Gebroe (ZOMBIE HONEYMOON) whose actors complain about his production, and John Goras (GHOST TANK) who seemed extremely nervous or stoned.
This doc was at least very clear. All the filmmakers were introduced ahead of time with their films listed, so I could follow along easily while the focus changes to different people. There are special appearances by Sid Haig, Lloyd Kaufman, Tony Timpone, Herschell Gordon Lewis, and Joe Bo Briggs.
The doc overall was pretty touching without the filmmakers (for the most part) even trying to be sentimental. Both Borchandt (who you might remember from the previous documentary, AMERICAN MOVIE) and Atkins’ segments provided much of the hilarity. Stagnari waxed poetically about his love for horror, his struggles, and how a Baby R’ Us was built over his old drive-in movie grounds. I swear he might break into tears at any given time and this made me want to make sweet love to him. Gebroe barely registers on screen, but the moments with his actors complaining or looking confused were great. And Goras didn’t do much because he was either extremely nervous, tired, or under the influence. You figure it out. I found this to be the most fun of the 3 documentaries I watched and the only one I would watch again.
DVD Extras: 2 trailers and 2 shorts by Garetano.
Weird Fact: Orson Welles once said, “It’s 2% movie making and 98% hustling. That’s no way to spend a life.”
Favorite Quote: Ron Atkins, “Just because you don’t have money doesn’t mean you can’t create something. Creation didn’t start with money. You think God said I have to have a lot of money to fuckin’ make the Earth? So there’s a perfect example I guess.”
Bottom Line: Great viewing for independent filmmakers trying to break into the business or for those that want to understand it better.
Rating: 8/10
TERROR IN THE AISLES (1984) is an old documentary covering the scariest moments in the horror genre and attempts to overexplain all of them. Donald Pleasance (HALLOWEEN) and Nancy Allen (CARRIE) cover the wrap arounds and narration. Pleasance talks way too much during some of the scary moments and ruins the mood altogether. And while an hour and a half of my favorite moments strung together sounds like heaven, it isn’t in this format.
Some of the more typical featured films are ALIEN, TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE, HALLOWEEN, JAWS, SHINING, CARRIE, and PSYCHO. Some pleasant surprises were FOOD OF THE GODS, WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE?, VICE SQUAD, and MS. 45. The one that had me scratching my head in confusion was TO CATCH A THIEF, which is not a horror film.
There are a few problems with this doc. One is there are no titles for any of the clips shown. While I recognized almost all the movies, not everyone will. Secondly, Pleasance looks utterly creepy hanging around teenagers in movie theaters and he narrates over half the footage ruining the tension for me. Thankfully, halfway through someone told him to stop interrupting so damn much.
But the most obnoxious part of the tape was when Pleasance is questioning why fans like horror, which I find personally offensive. He said, “Why watch fake terror when there is so much real terror in the world?” Then he goes on about real crime in the news in some sort of an accusatory fashion.
DVD Extras: N/A. VHS by MCA Home Video running at 84min.
Weird Fact: There is a really corny song playing at the end that makes no sense.
Favorite Quote: None! Pleasance is scary.
Bottom Line: Not really worth the time or money, but a decent watch just for some kills.
Rating: 5/10
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