Horror, Merely an Excuse to Summon Countless Realities
Written by CHEN Huei-Yin
Scattered between the 1940s and the turn of the millennium, the timespan of the films featured in the “Midnight Playstation” program mirrors a disjointed psychological state. These films are neither part of the new wave of female horror films that has surged over the last decade, nor do they belong to the recently popular body horror genre. In fact, none of the films in the program are standard horror films, as none of the featured directors have been known as “masters of horror,” and their careers have not been entirely devoted to creating absolute horror and suspense.
Just like the duo Willard HUYCK and Gloria KATZ, who once directed the notorious Howard the Duck, they accidentally made Messiah of Evil early in their careers simply because the producer specified the genre. As the director of Kitchen Sink, Alison MACLEAN is deeply interested in the narrative structure of genre films and the techniques for manipulating the audience’s psychology, but she admits that the film “is never a pure genre… it’s almost just like a kind of framework to look at other more psychological things.” Claire DENIS is even more straightforward; she says there is not so much violence in Trouble Every Day. It is not a gore film, but more of a love story.
In fact, this program can be conceived as an extension of the program, “Master in Focus Playhouse: Peggy Ahwesh.” The ideas of genre deconstruction and hybridization were strongly inspired by AHWESH’s works. Particularly, in her films such as The Scary Movie, Nocturne, The Color of Love, and The Deadman, we see how she intricately intertwines elements of video games, ritual, parody, horror and erotica, fantasy, and nightmare, branching out into a new path that diverges from pure horror.
It all begins with Kitchen Sink, setting the tone for the program with its mundane and domestic setting that draws out a bizarre encounter that feels both like a nightmare and a love story. Alison MACLEAN utilizes the Pygmalion myth from Greek mythology by swapping the genders and setting the scene in a kitchen, employing the genre film conventions to stir up an abyss of darkness. The repetitive actions of scraping, trimming, and pulling in the film shape the image of the Other, as well as the undefined relationship and unsettled emotional connection between characters. The film thus manifests the process of a metamorphosis entwined with fear and desire.
By contrast, Rest in Peace, Days Are Numbered, and The Way of the Wicked exhibit a much lighter tone. Rest in Peace showcases the collaboration between Rachel AMODEO and Dame Darcy, seamlessly blending neo-Victorian comics, underground art scene, and silent film style. These titles possess a playful and mischievous nature that unexpectedly exudes a unique charm.
If Messiah of Evil seems like a spread of zombies from the outside, and a mysterious and soul-devouring force lurking inside, then Trouble Every Day does not aim to manifest horror—but becomes it. The film opens with a lingering kiss, accompanied by the music of the band Tindersticks, which tears open unhealed wounds, releasing a desire powerful enough to consume everything.
And if these feature films share a common thread, it is “madness.” In Trouble Every Day, the mental instability of the character drives her husband to lock her in a room; in Messiah of Evil, the corridors of the hospital echo with a woman’s hysterical screams, and in The Other Side of the Underneath, “madness” even becomes its central theme. Jane ARDEN adapted her stage work into this film, portraying women undergoing group psychotherapy sessions in an asylum.
By employing “madness,” the films not only respond to the prevailing representation of “psychotic women” on screen but also attempt to reveal complex realities through playing in-between the blending and deconstruction of genre elements. Horror, after all, is merely an excuse to summon countless realities.
