I've got a theory it could be bunnies....
okay before you start singing along, this is actually a somewhat serious post. I was recently reading a blog about how popular Monster Movies are a response to things that happen in the real world. For example, the movies like Godzilla are the response to the nuclear attacks in Japan. The blog then went on to suggest that when the monsters changed to Vampire or Zombies, they were responding to viral plagues that were blood related, such as AIDS.
As i began thinking about the popular monster movies of today, i began to think of films such as Saw or Hostel. These are films that play off the fear of a monster but with a few considerable differences.
In the big Monster films of the past, the monsters were killed by humans working together to destroy the villain. In monsters films of the moment, the monster is human but he has isolated his prey to a point they are helpless against him. In the end, the victims do not over come the villain. At best the victim becomes the villain, reviling in the torture himself.
The 1950s films, while still ending in uncertainty (about whether or not this monster was the last one they would have to kill), there was still a certain amount of hope in the future. Today, the films are reflecting a hopelessness and helplessness. Is this a product of living in a society that believes global warming is going to be our undoing? Is it because terrorism and fear (from both the middle east and western countries) has taken a place of authority in our minds? Is the fear we see in the film reflecting our own fear and helplessness?
I do not know the full extent of what these sort of films are telling us, but i do believe that these monster film are telling us something truly scary about the world we are living in.
