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The Element of
Horror in Science Fiction Video Productions
I just spent about 4 hours on an otherwise boring saturday afternoon doing various searches through the Amazon videos database, in the realm of general science fiction and fantasy. What struck me immediately was the fact that the search included horror videos galore along with regular sci-fi and fantasy. I was hoping this wouldn't happen with Amazon, as it does with so many other databases and sci-fi video resources. Obviously, just about every sci-fi database in the world carelessly mixes horror with science fiction content, despite the fact that there is a huge difference. This can be traced to the earliest sci-fi/horror classics, which combined aliens with mutations and monsters for sensationalist profit-motivations. Due to the careless mixing of horror with science fiction and fantasy in the production of science fiction serials (such as X-Files, War of the Worlds (1988), etc...), it has become impossible to completely separate much of the most current sci-fi videos from the horror realm, however, I would like to think that there has to be some way to make it easier to browse the sci-fi and fantasy realms without running into vampires, axe-murderers, and other disgusting images that more properly fall under the topic of horror. In other words, when I do a "general" search of science fiction and fantasy, why should I have to run into so much horror? Why is horror placed under the realm of "general" science fiction and fantasy? Why isn't it simply put under the realm of "general" horror? Yes, I understand that much of horror is also considered science fiction, but that is the problem. Horror, imo, is not science fiction, and the people who carelessly include it within the realm of science fiction are wrong to do so. Here's why. Horror movies were originally created with an extra sensation -- the sensation of horror to scare and frighten, as well as terrorize -- whereas science fiction does not exploit that sensation to the same extent. True, many science fiction movies and serial episodes include elements of horror, but they do not exploit that sensation the way horror movies (or serials) do so. There is a huge difference between the inclusion of horrific elements and the exploitation of those elements for sensationalist profit. The difference is one of complete content. Horror movies (or serials) use horror elements as the major theme throughout the videos, whereas true science fiction emphasizes other elements which stand out as either equal or dominant to the horror. A true science fiction video cannot be dominated by horror, otherwise it is not sci-fi, it is horror. The best example of this kind of confusion is with the Alien Trilogy. Anyone that thinks the "Alien" movies are science fiction would be wrong. Alien is a horror movie with a science-fiction setting. The reason why is because the dominant theme is a running sensation of horror that never stops, never lets up, for more than a minute. IMHO, horror should be included as a big red warning on the label of videos, just as nudity and sex are included as warnings. In fact, I am seriously suspicious of a culture that fails to warn the viewers of horror elements in the same way it warns the viewers of nudity and sex and/or violence. I am suspicious because horror causes nightmares much more than nudity and sex, and violence alone is much more under control than horror, which unlike violence, usually permits much less defensive resistance. Think about it. The censors apparently want our subconscious to be prepared to deal with nudity, sex, and violence, but they don't care if our subconscious is taken by surprise and overcome by horror. I have to wonder why that is so. I mean, is it because they like to shit on us now and then and force us into submission beneath their superior will? Not only is horror not included with a warning on the label, it has been completely interwoven and confused with science fiction in general. While I have made these points to people in forums and most have agreed with me, about 20 percent of the people did not agree. A poll taken in one forum showed results in which 20 percent of the people seemed to think that the inclusion of any amount of horror in science fiction did not disclude it from being a part of the science fiction genre, even when horror dominated it. When I tried to make the point that simply having a sci-fi setting when it was dominated by horror did not make it true science fiction, but made it horror, the 20 percent disagreed wth that conclusion. In other words, about 20 percent have no problem with the fact that movies like Alien and Event Horizon are sold as science fiction with no warnings on the label about the fact that they are completely dominated by horrific sensationalism. Fine, some people have no problem with the confusion, but a majority, according to that same poll, agree with me and obviously, do have a problem. If we are truly a democratic world, where the majority rules, wouldn't it be appropriate for the movie and video industry to give us those big red warnings on their labels? Now, here's the real problem. It doesn't matter what the people think or want, not when the corporate profiteers make all the big decisions. This is another reason why I am so suspicious. Real horror movies have no problem advertizing the element of horror on their labels, in fact, the element is emphasized and obvious. But many science fiction movies and videos, on the contrary, tend to hide it. Why? Because science fiction, in general, is very popular, whereas horror is less popular. By hiding the element of horror in a science fiction, the producers attract a larger viewing audience. It's that simple. If they were required to put big red warnings on the labels, the chances are good that those warnings would reduce the viewing audience considerably. A perfect example of this exists with the Alien Trilogy. The very first Alien movie attracted considerably more viewers to the theaters and made quite a lot more profit than the 2 sequels that followed it. Why? Because the people that attended the first movie and sat through what they realized was nothing more than a not-so-low budget horror movie with a science fiction setting decided they didn't want anymore of that shit in their brains and didn't bother to attend the sequels. The same can be said of the short-lived late 80s series "War of the Worlds". War of the Worlds was very popular during the first season, because science fiction was very popular. It was popular enough to be carried into a second season. But eventually a large percentage of the viewers became disgusted by it because, despite its science fiction label, it was dominated by horror. The horror that dominated the War of the Worlds series were the aliens which were graphically displayed taking human bodies for hosts throughout the series, ad nauseum. This element of horror dominated every episode to the point of absolute disgust. I can recall trying to eat a late supper while watching this series and getting sick to my stomach at the time, such that I could never eat supper while watching it again. Now, if the series didn't rely so heavily on the graphic display of this disgusting body-snatching process, and balanced it with more cool alien space-ships and technology, it might have done better. But it was instead dominated by the alien body-snatching in such a way that all we got, for the most part, was a dramatic soap opera with horror added every 5 or 10 minutes. Sure, we all loved the fact that the humans were fighting these things in a secret war and making some progress, but the sick shit was just too overdone for true lovers of science fiction. It is quite understandable that so many people continue to confuse horror with science fiction, given the fact that horror is a recurring element and theme in so much science fiction. But this doesn't dismiss the idea that big red horror warnings could save a lot of us from sudden upset stomachs. Are the producers really afraid that such warnings would reduce their profits? Maybe it would hurt some science fiction movies, but if a series is done well enough, like the X-Files, I don't think they have too much to worry about. In fact, X-Files is perhaps one of the best examples of a science fiction series that balances all the sci-fi elements so well that even an odd episode dominated by horror once (or thrice) a season had no adverse effect on its popularity. With the X-Files, such a wide range of themes and subjects are covered that everyone has their favorite episodes, including the horror fans. Isn't that the best way to produce a science fiction series? I suppose putting big red warnings on the labels of each and every episode of X-Files with elements of horror in it would be expecting a bit too much, but on the other hand, I, for one, would have preferred being warned about some of those episodes which were completely dominated by horror (yes, there were a few every season). For example, in Season 3, there were 4 episodes that were dominated by the element of horror; 2Shy, Grotesque, Teso Dos Bichos and Hell Money. If I were even more picayune about horror in science fiction, I could easily include at least half a dozen more episodes from X-Files season 3 in that list, but I'm following strict guide-lines when I make the distinction. Here's the strict point. If an episode includes an equal or greater element of sci-fi along with the element of horror, then it isn't being dominated by horror, therefore, it passes as something closer to true science fiction. A perfect example of this is Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose, because along with the element of horror (vicious murders) is a greater emphasis on psychic clairvoyance. Another example is Syzygy, in which several unresolved murders coincide with a rare planetary alignment and a close look at astrological research. I almost included War of the Coprophages in the horror episode list, but decided against it because Mulder discovers, during the course of the investigation, that the nasty bugs are actually tiny robots, and this emphasis on futuristic technology saves it from being labeled just another bad horror show. My final point to make is that horror should be an element that falls more readily under the Gothic label than the science fiction label, because that is where it had its beginnings (Think Shelly's Frankenstein or Stoker's Dracula) and that is where most horror can be found, in the Gothic genre. Sure, there would still be some science fiction videos dominated by horror that would be confused with true sci-fi, but it would be much less, because the Gothic label would weed out so many of them. Vampires and other mythical beasts found in fantasies would not continue to be be confused with science fiction, but could be found under a search for gothic and fantasy. Are vampires and ghosts elements of science fiction? No, they are elements of gothic and fantasy. So, if i do a search for science fiction videos, there shouldn't be any vampires or ghosts dominating the themes. Sure, there may be some trace elements of horror, as I already agreed, but these elements would not dominate the themes. In other words, if I want to watch a video about vampires or ghosts, I'd do better to search under the topic of gothic and/or fantasy, and if i wanted to watch a video about robots, space-ships, or alien worlds, I wouldn't run into something like "Invasion of the Space Vampires from Planet X" while doing a search of the science fiction genre. Nick Z., 10/21/07 |
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