In the good old days, horror films were just that...horror films.  Nowadays, however, there is a trend to stick horror elements in mystery/suspense flicks.  HORROR-WOOD's own Jeff Beres tracks down this trend in... 

HORROR IN CRIME FILMS

By JEFF BERES

Ever since Scorpio (Andrew Robinson) had himself beat to a pulp in the original Dirty Harry film (I had to turn away when they showed his face), scenes of horror have been "bleeding" into the crime genre. Why is that?

One answer may be the advances made in communication technology. We learn about hideous crimes moments after they occur. And sometimes there are accompanying home videos.

Or maybe our polluted environment is causing more brain abnormalities in our children. The New York Times referred to a recent study in their 2/15/00 issue about scientists who have found a subtle physiological difference in the frontal lobes of the brains of in psychopaths. Are these defects caused by something the mother did or didn’t do?

Or maybe there are so few good crime scripts out there that producers are just piling on the gore rather than spend the time and money it takes to find a quality script.

Whatever the reason, I like it. I think horror and crime make pleasant bedfellows. But before we go on, let’s define our terms. We defined "horror" in last month’s Horrorwood article (Horror in the films of David Lynch) as something that instills "painful and intense fear, dread, or dismay" in the viewer. So that’s horror. Now, what exactly is a Crime film? I couldn’t find a definition on the Internet Movie Database, so let’s make one up. A central element of drama is a good guy and a bad guy. In a crime film, the good guy is usually a member of the Criminal Justice community, preferably a policeman. So we’re looking for films that instill painful and intense fear, dread, or dismay and have a policeman or someone of a similar occupation, as a hero.

Now, let’s see what films fit our definition.

Silence Of The Lambs

The critical and box office success of Silence was implemental in paving the way for other horror/crime films, like "Seven." We have a good guy (Officer Starling, played by Jodie Foster) and a bad guy (no, not Lecter; the bad guy’s Buffalo Bill. Dr. Hannibal Lecter’s (Anthony Hopkins) character is more of a Mentor, like the one Christopher Vogler discusses "The Silence Of The Lambs" poster...in his Joseph Campbell-based screenwriting book "The Writer’s Journey: Mythic Structure for Writers.") Lecter teaches Starling. He helps her capture her prey. This relationship is far more interesting than the chase game Starling plays with Bill. The Lecter character is more interesting because, aside from his nasty habit of eating people, he’s very good company. Smart, articulate, refined; everything a father would want in a son in law. Except for the diet thingy.

On the surface, the relationship of Starling and Lecter brings together the "two colors of a screenwriter’s palette" according to screenwriting author Lew Hunter; sex and violence. Dr. Frederic Chilton (Anthony Heald) points out early on that Lecter hasn’t seen a woman in years. And he shows Starling the picture of the nurse Lecter attacks. So sexual and violent tension is in the air from the git go.

But there’s much more going on here. Lecter wants to rape Clarice’s mind; her soul. He feeds off of her pain. And she’s willing to submit to his "mind fucking" so she can do the job she’s so dedicated to. It really is subliminally sexual. He even thanks her after she confesses about the lambs. And the look on his face is one of sexual satisfaction.

But where’s the horror? Well, there’s plenty. The condition of the bodies Bill discards in the river. The way Lecter satisfies his anger/hunger. And especially Lecter’s escape towards the end of the film with the moth-like vivisection he performs on Sergeant Boyle and the skinning of Officer Pembry’s face.

Lector is everywhere...

And this brings us to a main reason I think crime films are blurring with the horror genre. Each act of violence in Silence increases our concept of how dangerous Lecter is. This is an old screenwriting tool. To make the hero a great hero, make the villain as villainous as possible. Even though Lecter isn’t the villain, he is a potential threat to Starling. And his vileness has expanded into the realm of horror. The more villainous the villain, the greater the hero’s challenge and the greater our satisfaction when the hero kills the villain. Even though Lecter isn’t the villain, he still poses a threat to Starling. And let’s face it. Bill’s a nasty piece of work himself. Next time you watch the video, freeze on the one quick shot of the "skin suit" Bill is making towards the end of the film. Yikes! Odds are the Hardy Boys never ran into anyone quite this deranged.

Here’s that list of "Horror/Crime" films that came up on the Internet Movie Database Search. Looks like some goodies here.  (The links are all ready for you; just click on them to read about the movie.)

1. "Night Gallery" (1970)TV Series
...aka Rod Serling's Night Gallery (1970) (USA)

2. Angst (1983)
...aka Fear (1983) (USA)

3. Black Cat, The (1934)
...aka House Of Doom, The (1934) (UK)
...aka Vanishing Body, The (1953) (USA: reissue title)

4. Black Shadows (1920)

5. Blood of Fu Manchu, The (1968)
...aka Against All Odds (1968)
...aka Fu Manchu And The Keys of Death (1968)
...aka Fu Manchu And The Kiss of Death (1968)
...aka Fu Manchu's Kiss Of Death (1968)
...aka Fu-Manchú y el beso de la muerte (1970) (Spain: dubbed version)
...aka Kiss And Kill (1969) (USA)
...aka Kiss Of Death (1968)
...aka Todeskuß des Dr. Fu Manchu, Der (1968) (West Germany)

6. Bowery at Midnight (1942)
...aka Burial At Midnight (1942)

7. Cardiac Arrest (1980)

8. Choyonghan kajok (1998)
...aka Quiet Family, The (1998)

9. Creature from the Haunted Sea (1961)

10. Curiosity & the Cat (1999)

11. Darklings, The (1999) (TV)

12. Decay (1998)

13. Folterkammer des Dr. Fu Man Chu, Die (1969)
...aka Assignment Istanbul (1969)
...aka Castello di Fu Manchu, Il (1969) (Italy)
...aka Castillo de Fumanchú, El (1972) (Spain: dubbed version)
...aka Castle Of Fu Manchu (1972) (USA)
...aka Fu Manchu's Castle (1969)
...aka Torture Chamber Of Fu Manchu, The (1969)

14. Fotos (1996)

15. Full Eclipse (1993) (TV)

16. Gao yang yi sheng (1992)
...aka Doctor Lamb (1992)
...aka Dr. Lam (1992)
...aka Dr. Lamb (1992)

17. Great London Mystery, The (1920)

18. Hands of Orlac, The (1961) 5.3/10
...aka Hands Of A Strangler (1961)
...aka Hands Of The Strangler (1961)

19. Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1990)

20. Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, Part 2 (1996)

21. Hidan of Maukbeiangjow, The (1973)
...aka Invasion Of The Girl Snatchers (1985)

22. Hidden II, The (1994)

23. His Brother's Keeper (1921)

24. Kyua (1997) 8.5/10 (44 votes)
...aka Cure (1997) (Japan: English title)

25. Love Without Question (1920)

26. Mostro dell'isola, Il (1953)
...aka Island Monster, The (1957) (USA)
...aka Monster Of The Island, The (1957) (USA)

27. Mumsy, Nanny, Sonny and Girly (1969)
...aka Girly (1969) (USA)

28. Night of the Witches (1970)

29. Noche de los asesinos, La (1976)
...aka Suspiri (1976) (Spain: video title)

30. Non si sevizia un paperino (1972)
...aka Don't Torture A Duckling (1972)
...aka Don't Torture The Duckling (1972)

31. Opera (1987) 7.3/10
...aka Terror At The Opera (1987)

32. Orlacs Hände (1924)
...aka Hands Of Orlac, The (1924)

33. Relatos de la medianoche (1989)

34. Rituals (1977)
...aka Creeper (1977)
...aka Ils était cinq (1977) (Canada: French title: dubbed version)

35. Rong shi qi an (1993)
...aka Legal Innocence (1993)

36. Serial Mom (1994)

37. Singapore Sling (1990)

38. Sortilèges (1944)
...aka Bellman, The (1944)

39. Spawn II: Dark Justice (2000)

40. Stalked (1994)

41. Thrill Killers, The (1964)
...aka Mad Doc Click (1964) (director's cut)
...aka Maniacs Are Loose, The (1964)
...aka Monsters Are Loose, The (1964)

42. Torment (1986)

43. Twisted Nerve (1968)

44. Window, The (1989) (TV)

45. Wuye xiongjing (1999)
...aka Guaitan zhi mojing (1999) (Hong Kong: Mandarin title)
...aka Mirror, The (1999) (International: English title)

46. You Bet Your Life (1997)

47. Zärtlichkeit der Wölfe (1973)
...aka Tenderness Of Wolves, The (1973)

Se7en

I find this film extremely watchable. I think I’ve seen it …seven times already and my interest hasn’t waned.

Detectives Somerset (Morgan Freeman) and Mills (Brad Pitt) are in search of a serial killer who’s modeling his murders after the seven deadly sins. Another reason for the addition of the horror element to the crime genre might just be boredom. I mean, how many variations can one make on the serial killer theme? People get tired of the same old stuff. By pushing the envelope of the gruesomeness of the murders, the producers probably hope to keep your interest.

"Dirty Harry" meets "Psycho"...

Luckily, Se7en is blessed with gruesomeness and an ingenious twist on the serial killer theme. And these murders were gruesome: Gluttony was gorged to death with food; Sloth was starved, drugged and bound to his bed; Greed had to cut away a pound of his own flesh; Vanity had her nose cut off before she was poisoned; Lust was … uh, loved to death; and you remember Envy and Wrath.

If you check the credits at the end, Rob Bottin (The Howling, The Thing, Robocop) did the makeup effects. These were masterful effects by an old pro and were almost surreal. Especially Sloth. I assume an animatronics puppet was used, and it went beyond a realistic cadaver effect; many elements were exaggerated, like the sunken eyes and chest and the skull-like head. And the idea that the killer would maintain these conditions over the course of a year is a concept worthy of great horror films. I could easily see this idea played out in a Hammer film with Vincent Price.

Seven Deadly Sins...

And, if you want hands down proof that Se7en can fit comfortably in the horror genre, check out the PC first-person shooter game "Blood," which pays homage to new and classic horror films. Sloth’s room is in the game, complete with pine tree air fresheners.

The Resurrected

Now this may be cheating, but I can’t pass up an opportunity to plug one of my favorite horror films. This film was directed by the wonderful Dan O’Bannon who wrote Alien and wrote and directed Return Of The Living Dead. He’s a wonderful story teller.

John March (John Terry) is a private investigator hired by Claire Ward (Jane Sibbett) to find out what illegal experiments her husband Charles (Chris Sarandon) is performing with the corpses of wizards and magicians. John finds out that Charles is raising the dead, although not without a cost. Like Charles warns us: "The dead … need much blood."

"The Resurrected" montage...

I won’t tell you anymore. If you’re a Lovecraft fan, this film was inspired by "The Case of Charles Dexter Ward." Great acting, great direction, great, albeit low budget, effects. If you like a good story, check this baby out.

So, what did we learn here today? Two things, I hope. 1) Horror elements are good for the crime genre because they increase the villains … villainous-ness. And 2) go right out and rent "The Resurrected." I know you haven’t seen it yet.

Thanks, Jeff, for this revealing look at how today's films tend to mix the horror with cops and robbers.  Classic horror fans can appreciate such genre-mixing in flicks like Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome.

Article copyright ©  Jeff Beres.  Visit his website.

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