Can Alien: Isolation redeem 2014?

Due for release on Xbox One, Xbox 360, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3 and PC in late 2014 Alien: Isolation puts players into the shoes of Ellen Ripley’s daughter Amanda, searching the Nostromo 15 years after the event of the first Alien movie.

According to the small amounts of information that have been given in the press releases, Isolation will be a more survival-horror based game, set around one Xenomorph stalking the player, rather than the FPS that Colonial Marines was.

Now while this may have people desperate to give their money over to Sega, we’ve got to keep in the backs of our minds the cesspit that Colonial Marines created when it was released – using video footage rather than in-game footage, the terrible AI of the Xenomorphs that makes them look more like can-can dancers than anything that could be at all threating to someone holding the barrel of a gun to their double-mouths, and the concept of a demo being better than the full game in order to get player’s money before any content is released.

The two lines of text before the trailer fill me with dread as a prospective buyer. While survival horror is the new golden boy in the video game world, with Amnesia: A Machine For Pigs and Outlast being contenders for various “Game Of The Year” awards, there are too many times when that gets pushed to one side in favour of making money. See Dead Space 3.

“The trailer footage shown uses the in-game engine, and represents a work in progress”, says the trailer. Well, that’s a nice get-out clause, says I. Does that mean that the trailer footage is someone demonstrating the engine, or making a film using the engine? And what do you mean by a work in progress? Is this some sort of loophole you can point at in case it all goes wrong and say “We told you so?”

Hopefully, my fears will go unrewarded. The change from Gearbox to Creative Assembly making the game might herald a change in tone (and from the PR responses to other interviews given, they are being incredibly conscious of that fact, and definitely trying to publicise it). Isolation has been under development for three years, so we will all wait with baited breath to see if it turns out to be a world apart – preferably a planet apart – from the reanimated corpse that was Colonial Marines. 

 

Adam Smith (@webnym)

Are You Still Afraid of the Dark?

Sophie Parkin discusses the decline of the traditional horror film. 

Outmoded: Christopher Lee as Dracula.
Image credit: The Guardian

As the dark nights set in, it’s the perfect time of year to watch a scary movie, hide behind the sofa and inadvertently throw your popcorn in the air as your housemate walks into the room. But this year the number of horror films gracing our screens seems somewhat limited.

Gone are the days of classic British horror epitomised by the likes of Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing’s adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula. But therein lies the problem; the audience of 2013 would merely sit and laugh at the now comical ‘bat on a string’ that, in its day, terrified a generation.

It seems that the current call is for gore, blood, flesh, and lots of it.

The more gruesome the film, the more it seems to fit the needs of the modern horror audience. Yet I would argue that the true essence of a horror film lies in a slow moving plot line that is able to build a sense of unease and discomfort amongst its viewers.

Take the 1978 John Carpenter classic Halloween, a slow moving thriller teamed with a chilling score and very little gore. Nevertheless, the story, centred on Michael, an escaped psychiatric patient, managed to frighten cinema goers and had babysitters locking doors and windows for years to come.

In a modern world where this villain would be deterred simply by double glazing and a house alarm, people seem disengaged with the thought of fear of the real-life, masked killer.

The Paranormal Activity series is wildly popular.
Image credit: Total Film.

Instead, we turn to the sudden abundance of ‘found footage’ films. With the likes of Paranormal Activity and The Fourth Kind focusing on ‘real people’ being terrorised and tormented by paranormal entities, there has been a major shift in the focus of the genre.

However, the seemingly random footage of furniture bouncing around rooms lacks any real fear factor. Fear of the unknown is paramount to the makings of a successful horror movie and the endless remakes of classic horror films and the repetitive nature of the ‘found footage’ films seems to beg the question; has the industry simply run out of ideas for a good horror movie?

Hopefully the answer is no, but what film makers seem to have forgotten is that the formation of a villain that can truly terrify is vital. The faceless spirit entities in the likes of Paranormal Activity are not the sort of villains that keep you awake at night and grasping for the bedside lamp.

The notorious characters of horror – Michael, Jason, and Freddy – are so because they had the ability to unsettle an audience and make them fear that the terrifying acts they saw on screen could happen in their own homes.

It’s safe to say that, despite the lack of innocence in the modern generation, there is still a call for a gritty horror film in the 21st century. What Hollywood needs to grasp onto is what truly terrifies people – the fear that their own lives could portray the horror story that they see on the big screen.

Sophie Parkin

Is Horror a worn out genre? Do you get your kicks from old-school ghouls? Tell us on Facebook, Twitter or by commenting below.

Does the Turn of the Page Still Terrify?

It’s the spookiest week of the year, and Thomas Davies and Maddy Walters discuss whether paper or celluloid gives them a bigger fright and whether books or screen provide nightmares for longer…

FILMS – In my mind to have a successful horror story you need three things: involvement, tension and the ‘whoa factor’: the actual scare. In all three of these areas films and games are far better at creating a good scare than books.

As for involvement, a film is more accessible than a book to most people. I’m not saying books are difficult, it’s just films are undoubtedly easier. With a book the words create a barrier of sorts that could stop you from accessing the full dread of a page; the elaborate nature of the language takes away from the raw horror of what unfolds. Games throw you right into the action – you can’t get more involved than that.

For build-up in films and games we have sound. A well-placed soundtrack can do wonders for a scary scene: the odd noise, the whistle of the wind, the dramatic score of Psycho or Jaws, from creepy to heart-pounding. A book can’t provide quite the same experience. It can describe scary sounds but you, the reader, have to make them up in your mind which doesn’t have the same effect as actually hearing a sound. The anticipation of hearing a twanging string piece as the full moon rises is unparalleled in the world of literature even by some of the most evocative descriptions.

Finally, it’s the ‘whoa’ factor where films and games triumph over literature. It’s one thing to read about a goblin jumping on someone from behind, it’s quite another to watch it happen. The horrified expression of the victim, the repulsive look of the monster’s face and the desperate struggle that unfolds before your eyes is much more powerful on screen than when you read about it. This is particularly true in games where you are the victim; there’s definitely an added adrenaline as you fight off demons or zombies that appear out of nowhere. We humans use sight as our primary sense, and it’s films and games that exploit that to their fullest.

Horror films, games and books have a lot of things in common, but it’s only films and games that fully use all the tricks to their advantage. The visuals, the sound and the action suck the audience into the scene and force you to believe in the tale. You may create your own chills from books, but horror films are your worst nightmares.

Thomas Davies

BOOKS – We’ve all had the night: innocently drowsing, the mind wanders, and eyes lose their focus. Suddenly, the shadow created by the clothes hanging on the wardrobe transforms to the shape of the murderer/villain/mad-person from the horror story you haven’t quite been able to shake.

For me, it’s Jack Torrance, protagonist of The Shining. However, it is not Jack Nicholson who haunts my nightmares, but the image I invented for myself when reading the book as an innocent 15-year-old. Since then, I’ve watched the film, and, masterpiece though it is, there is no way the motion picture can compare to the captivating horror of the book.

This is due to the inherent process of reading itself. A book only provides descriptions, and leaves it up to the reader to colour in the details: the look, the person, the setting. The reader becomes part of the story and more importantly, the story becomes part of the person. The direct communication reading provides to the imagination-centre of the brain, the area that (for me, anyway) kicks into gear in the minutes before sleep, means that these are the images that greet my closed eyes on the night the wardrobe and its shadows begin misbehaving. Despite watching horror films before and after reading this book, it’s Jack that haunts my dreams, never the Ring-girl or Jigsaw.

When reading, the mind is active; it cannot look away. When watching, the mind is passive, we can close our eyes, hide behind the pillow, and shield ourselves from the images on the screen. When the images are inside the mind, they become harder to ignore, and possess us in a very real way.

I’m not going to deny that films can be terrifying. Many a night I have spent regretting my decision to watch The Ring, The Exorcist, or Saw, but the fact is that the two hours-or-so spent in front of the television are far more fleeting than the week-or-so spent with a novel. They take up more of my time, and thus become a greater part of my life. And while these films have the power to scare, they exist and will always exist as things in the physical world, regardless of whether I watch them or not. For me, however, a book comes alive when it is read, and much like a horror-story character, once I have given them life, they never seem to leave me alone.

Maddy Walters

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Unconventionally Scary Films for your Halloween

Online Editor James Smurthwaite gives his tips for a slightly alternative Halloween movie selection.

With the cancellation of the Enchanted Forest, many of us will be wondering how else we can entertain ourselves on Halloween.

Of course, the most obvious answer would be to stick on a horror film with our house mates and then periodically attempt to scare each other throughout the night,  but frankly this doesn’t do the spookiest night of the year justice.

There’s only so many times you can see mass mutilation and gore before it gets a bit boring, the Found Footage genre has been done to death and I think we all know that surviving a zombie apocolypse is easy if you avoid the mall.

So what can you watch to give you a good old fashioned 8 hours of nightmares?

1. Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

I know what you’re thinking, ‘who could possibly be scared of a film about a flying car but vertigo sufferers?’

Probably people who see this.

In these days, when every children’s TV presenter and his driver are accused of child sex offences, this scene has become even more poignant.  He does have several supernatural advantages that rack up the fear factor though, try for example that his long hooked nose is used for smelling children’s blood!

Marilyn Manson found this scene so traumatising that he based his on-stage persona on the Child Catcher. That’s how scary this is.

Although to be honest, the adults could have been a bit more pro active in stopping the kids…

2. The Witches

This film begins with a young boy being orphaned and doesn’t get any better.

Witches is the book in which Roald Dahl’s imagination explores its most morbid tangent, and given the creepiness of characters such as Miss Trunchbull, Aunt Spiker and Willy Wonka, that’s a pretty dark place.

Image Credit: Warner Bros

The main antagonist, the nightmare inducing Grand High Witch, has a face not even a mother could love and to be honest, when Luke, the hero of the film, is turned into a mouse he looks pretty unsettling too!

At least the film gives us a happy ending, Luke is transformed back from a mouse to a human being. In the book, Luke is told he will remain as a mouse forever with nine years to live.

3. Shakes the Clown

If you thought one clown in a film was bad (It, Poultergeist etc) then this one will have you piling cushions over your face faster than you can say “hey, hey kids”.

Shakes is an alcoholic clown, who refuses to obey the ‘Clown Code of Ecthics’, and as such, is framed for the murder of his boss.

Whilst the film is actually quite funny in parts, if you’re anything like me, the sheer volume of clowns will border on unbearable, and bring back all those mental scars you’d long since repressed.

Do you agree with James’ list? What unconventional films have scared you? Let us know on Facebook, Twitter or by commenting below.

Review: Deadly Premonition

Please, just call me York.

One of the most common complaints voiced about the modern game industry is that all the creativity and individuality is slowly draining away, replaced by endless, cookie cutter franchises designed by boardroom committees.

We all know the main offenders. Each instalment, often released on an annual basis, seems the same as the last, and you would be forgiven for thinking that the end was nigh, the future is as bleak as a bullet ridden “Call of Duty” battlefield.

However, there are plenty of games out there, hiding on the fringes of the mainstream, that exhibit all the unique identity and creativity that many gamers crave. You just have to find them.

And that’s exactly what I did this summer. After searching online, I found a little-known open world action game that caught my attention, called “Deadly Premonition”.

Released in 2010, the game follows the story of young hot shot FBI agent Francis York Morgan, as he travels to a small town in rural America to investigate a horrendous murder of a young girl. So far, so generic. During the daytime, the player follows the conventional route you would expect; interrogating the townsfolk and trying to find any clue he can to help him in his investigation.

But during the night, York has to do battle with inhuman spirits and a deadly, axe wielding serial killer, which appears seemingly out of nowhere, and vanish almost as quickly.

Many lesser games would take this premise and turn it into standard action shootout, populated with boring characters pulled from the bottom of the cliché bargain bin. But characterisation is one of the first places where “Deadly Premonition” displays more individuality than a thousand mainstream titles.

The town of Greenvale is full of memorable characters, each brimming with more personality than most games manage to conjure up throughout their entire running time.

I could devote a thesis to describing each one of the eccentric cast, but instead, I’ll run through a quick list instead. There’s the ambitious police deputy, the idealistic, gung-ho sheriff, the friendly tree salesman, the elderly Vietnam veteran, the senile old lady who owns an empty hotel, the enigmatic art gallery curator, and so many more.

Yes, they are all archetypes, but they are never stereotypes, each member of the cast revealing hidden depths as the story progresses.

But the real star of the show is the protagonist, Francis York Morgan. Please, call him York. Everyone else does. As a character, he breaks genre convention almost as soon as he is introduced, displaying weird and often disturbing behaviour. For example, in his first scene, York talks on the phone with an unheard person about how he believes Tom and Jerry are engaged in a homosexual sado-masochistic relationship. All the while, he flicks through forensic pictures of murdered women on his laptop, which he often admits he has a “special interest in”.

And that’s only the beginning. York also has a silent invisible friend, whose name is Zach, who he talks to openly in front of other people.

Yes, that’s right. And they just keep coming. He discusses grisly anecdotes about serial killers over dinner, tells anyone who will listen how he used to dress like a “hardcore punk rocker” in high school, and foresees the future in cups of coffee. Its’ safe to say that he is certainly a unique character, and his investigation is a story well worth sticking with, especially once the plot opens up, and takes a turn into the seriously surreal.

But what of the game itself, I hear you ask? The gameplay is the usual mixture of sandbox components: running, driving,shooting, and …unfortunately it’s with these basic elements that the game falters.

The driving is slow and clumsy, vehicles prohibited from driving over fifty. The shooting, whilst borrowing the “Resident Evil 4” over the shoulder aiming system, fails to be either exciting or challenging.

Certain action sequences, mostly involving the demonic Raincoat killer, inject a little life into the proceedings with extremely tense games of cat and mouse. The moments when York is holding his breath, hiding in cupboards and escaping down corridors to avoid death, are tense, but ultimately fall victim to repetition.

The open world of Greenvale is huge, full of large open forest, and the town itself is authentically populated with ordinary people who go about their daily routines. But even all that doesn’t hide the fact that the graphics are hugely outdated, textures patchy, buildings blocky, and colours bland and flat. The frame rate is erratic, often slowing to a deadly crawl in key moments.

The sound design is terrible, with vehicular collisions sounding like tin cans being knocked together. In one of the weirdest moments, a surprised squirrel that shrieked like a monkey appeared. The dialogue is at times cringe worthy , and frankly, embarrassing to listen to. It’s like a short story you wrote, aged five.

So why, despite of these massive technical and design issues, do I love “Deadly Premonition”?

Simply due to the fact that the game presents a weird and wonderful storyline, one that changes direction multiple times, peppered with twists and turns, that alternate from hilarious (whether intentional or not) to terrifyingly bleak and serious.

The protagonist, and in fact, the entire cast are lovable weirdos, who you will eventually come to treat as family. As awful as its overall design is, and as painful as it often is to play, I adore the crazy bizarreness of the game.

“Deadly Premonition” sets up a unique journey, and if you’re willing to battle through the terrible gameplay, I promise it’s a ride you will never forget.

4/5 Stars

 

Andrew Owens

Films to See Before You Graduate: The Silence of the Lambs

Selected for preservation by the National Film Registry in 2011, Katherine Perrington takes time off from Game of Thrones to tell us why The Silence of the Lambs remains king.

This psychological thriller is a work of genius, and if you only see one horror film before you graduate I can think of none that surpass it.

Image credit: Londoneer

Directed by Jonathan Demme, it picked up Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Actor, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay – proving its critical success and commercial success.

Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) is an F.B.I trainee who is recruited by Jack Crawford (Scott Glenn) to interview former psychiatrist turned cannibalistic serial killer Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins) to gain information on a serial killer who skins women, nicknamed Buffalo Bill (Ted Levine).

At first Lecter is dismissive of Clarice, however, he has something to gain from cooperating as he desires a transfer away from the detestable Frederick Chilton (Anthony Heald) who runs the facility where Lecter is kept.

When senator’s daughter Catherine Martin (Brooke Smith) is kidnapped, Lecter offers further information in return for details on Clarice’s personal life. A “quid pro quo” is established, and Lecter delves into Clarice’s hopes and fears; placing her utterly in his power.

Jodie Foster as Clarice Starling. Image credit: Indiewire

As an audience we like Clarice because she is intelligent and we are able to identify with her along with fearing for her. Lecter achieves his transfer and under his new relaxed security he is able to free himself by cutting off a guards face and placing it over his own to confuse the police and escape without notice.

This is one of the most violent and tense scenes, as the audience finally gets to see Lecter in action rather than a caged animal.

Clarice makes a break in the Buffalo Bill case, realising he is making a suit out of the girls skin. Bill has been keeping girls in an old well shaft beneath his house and we see his true demented nature when he makes taunts Catherine, “It puts the lotion on its skin or else it gets the hose again!” This is an irredeemable psychopath using these women as if they are no more than raw materials, worthless apart from their skin.

Clarice tracks him down in a chilling chase as he hunts her in his pitch black basement with night vision goggles. She shoots him and rescues the senator’s daughter, however Lecter is still at large and in a call to Clarice he assures her she is safe but that he will be “having an old friend for dinner.” The credits begin to appear as Lecter walks behind Frederick Chilton and we guess at his fate.

Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter. Image credit: Bloody Disgusting

Though he has significantly less screen time than his fellow actors, Anthony Hopkins’s scenes are among the most riveting and disturbing scenes of the entire horror genre.

Foster gives a wonderful performance as Clarice but Hopkins steals away the spotlight with his malevolent and mesmeric interpretation of Lecter. Lecter shocks us and scares us with his deadly charisma – not to mention his enjoyment in violently slaughtering and eating innocent people.

To put it simply, this film is a horror masterpiece that proves that truly exceptional thrillers do not age as they can capture and thrill audiences of every generation.

Katherine Perrington

What are your films to see before you graduate? Tell us on Facebook, Twitter or by commenting below.

Review: Evil Dead

Katherine Perrington reviews the recent reboot of the Evil Dead franchise and finds that although it isn’t lacking in thrills, you can see them coming from a country (cabin in the woods) mile off…

This is the feature début of director Fede Alvarez and is the fourth instalment of the franchise, acting as both a reboot and a continuation of the series. I am so tempted to give this film a round of applause purely for ticking off half the horror tropes known to man.

Image Credit: Total Film

First, we start with the location which is an old cabin in the middle of the woods, blocked off from civilisation by a river which rises during any mild downpour. The cabin is a good staple of the horror genre offering little protection from the outside as well as hidden basements filled with sacrificial offerings.

This group of incompetent friends are here to get Mia (Jane Levy) off drugs and tensions are running high between her and her brother David (Shiloh Fernandez), as he previously abandoned her and their mother.

The next cliché we see is the creepy book made from human skin found in a basement filled with strung-up animal corpses. The book is bound in a bin bag and barbed wire (clearly a sign to leave it be, if ever there was one). But what kind of horror would it be if the stereotypical geek didn’t read from the aptly named ‘Naturom Demento’, despite the myriad warnings written in blood on the inside? Lo and behold: immediately after reciting a demonic prayer something emerges from the woods outside and quickly takes possession of Mia.

From this point we see the cast picked off one by one, first becoming possessed then being killed by the survivors. Mia is locked in the basement spewing verbal abuse as well as blood from her mouth. The possession is highly reminiscent of The Exorcist and creates a dark humour as the characters try to unravel what is going on. Snippets from the book reveal a demon called ‘The Taker of Souls’ needs five souls to release the abomination from hell.

Image credit: Total Film

To stop this, each of the possessed can be destroyed by fire, dismemberment, or by being buried alive (it’s never easy is it?). David, in an attempt to save Mia, buries her alive before resuscitating her with a car battery hooked to her chest which shockingly seems to work.

But far be it for a horror to have more than one survivor, so unlucky David soon perishes battling the last of the possessed in the cabin, which he sets on fire, killing himself and seeming to stop the demon.

It was at this point that my friend and I debated whether an arm would pop up from the ground or a sinister pair of eyes would appear in the woods, neatly rounding off the cliché check list – and I won! An arm emerges from the ground and poor Mia is left to fight the abomination while blood pours down from the sky. Mia wins the fight and all seems dandy apart from the brief flashback to the book, clearly implying that the demon isn’t done and that there is ample room to spin out the franchise.

Image credit: IMDB

Whilst there are moments of genuine terror, the film lacked originality and it wasn’t difficult to guess what would happen next. There was little emotional investment with any of the characters and their relationships with each other were not believable or well-acted.

Jane Levy did a good job as Mia but the rest were mediocre at best, and the film could have really benefited from some established names. It is enjoyable (to an extent) and no money was spared on the fake blood budget, the props department also must have had fun designing all the makeshift weapons.

Overall, it came across like a patchwork quilt of a horror without a clear pattern or design, instead pinning its hopes on borrowing from what others had done better and with a lot more style.

2.5/5

Katherine Perrington

What did you think of Evil Dead? Let us know via Facebook, Twitter or by commenting below

The State of: Horror Games

It wouldn’t be overly exaggerated to say that as a genre in of itself, horror has gotten something of a raw deal over the last half decade or so, especially when compared to other triple A areas like action-adventure and especially fps’s.

Indeed, there are a good many  articles  and  online  videos  that  wonder if it  will  survive  at  all.

Certainly,  there have  been  a  few  games  here  and  there,  a Dead  Space  or  a Dead  Island,  though  they have  tended  to  miss  more  than  hit  the  mark,  either  becoming  increasingly  action-orientated to the detriment of any real ‘survival-horror’, or simply being action games with grotesque enemies in  them.

In my view, however, we are on  the brink of (if we have not already begun) a revival in the sector.

Amnesia was a smashing success met to  critical  acclaim,  and  the  future  looks  good;  it  has  a  sequel  incoming,  Eternal Darkness (a Lovecraftian cult classic which inspired the former) looks like its getting a spiritual  successor, Resident Evil Revelations is  getting  a  port  to  consoles,  and  Shinji Mikami is returning to work his magic on the new project The Evil Within, to mention but a few developments.

The  question  is  why are we  experiencing  this  boom? I  think  that  one  of  the reasons is that both developers and investors in games have realised that there is still a market for horror games as horror games.

Though the original Dead Space might not have been pure horror (compared to, say, the Fatal Frame series), it was still certainly a horror game, emphasising isolation, resource management and maintaining a strong sense of narrative, and managed to make a decent return.

 

Likewise Amnesia, made on far less of a budget, was popular not because of, say, outstanding Crysis level graphics or multiplayer, but precisely because it knew that it was horror and set out to be just that. Even Slender, with a virtually nonexistent story and poor graphics, has been a hit purely by dint of emphasising those key aspects of what makes horror of any medium successful – such as helplessness, a hostile environment, and a threat far greater than the protagonist.

It’s interesting to note that one of the biggest complaints about action games masquerading as  horror – in  particular, Resident  Evil  5 and  6 – isn’t  that  the controls  are  bad  or  that  the  action  isn’t  satisfying;  it’s  that  they  have  sacrificed everything  that  would  make  a  game  scary  in  favour  of  bland,  shooter-orientated design.

A possible path this illuminates for gamers who want to see horror return is to show the industry that there is still a viable market for horror qua horror.

Purchasing selectively,  and  even  looking  further  afield  for  smaller  games  that  don’t  require  as much investment as triple A ones, and hence do not have to dilute the horror formula to see a return profit, will continue  to show  the gaming industry as a whole  that  the genre still has potential.

That, and buy The Evil Within when it comes out. Do it.

 

James Dyson

The Xmedia Screen Show: Listen to the two latest episodes!

The Xmedia Screen Show, Xpression FM’s film and TV show, run by your Exeposé Screen editors, is still broadcasting every Thursday between 5 and 6pm. The last couple of shows have covered everything from government influence in the film industry to Jason Statham wearing a big hat in his new film, Parker. You can listen to both of these episodes via links to Mixcloud at the bottom of this article.

Image Credit: Daily Mail

Regular listeners will know that they can test their film knowledge in the Quiz at the end. In the first of these two episodes, Owen and Louis continue their ongoing brain battle. In the second episode, newly elected Exeposé Screen editor, Rob, attempts to challenge Louis, a Trivia Tussle veteran. Surely it will end in tears for the newbie? Or maybe not, tune in to witness an incredible answer from Rob!

 

The first episode looks at the innovative techniques used in horror films, such as sustained point of view shots, which are utilised in Elijah Wood’s new film, Maniac. There’s also a discussion of Zero Dark Thirty controversy and an Oscars debrief (we promise this is the last time the persistent statuettes will be mentioned).

 

In the second episode linked to here, topics include possible directors for Bond 24, Iron Man 3’s latest trailer, the ‘real’ Mila Kunis and Jason Statham’s emotional state.

 

That’s right, we really do care and go for the deep subjects on the show.

 

Keep listening folks!

28th Feb 2013: Listen here.

 

7th March 2013: Listen here.

The Dark and Disturbing Mind of Hubert Selby Jr.

His work has been trialed for Obscenity offences, has caused widespread outrage and offense, and his reportedly caused one reviewer to be physically sick: so why are the books of Hubert Selby Jr. re-published as Modern Classics for a new generation of readers? Georgina Holland describes her chilling reading of two of his best-known books as she journeys into the dark and disturbing mind of Hubert Selby Jr…

“If you read this, be careful…”

I came across Selby out of pure voyeuristic intrigue. I had heard that his books were something else: challenging, chilling, explicit, and provocative. What I hadn’t expected was the level of dark disturbia that goes into Selby’s authorial imagination. As the Guardian described it, reading Selby would be “a terrifying journey into the darkest corners of the psyche”*. A dark journey it was, but one that I couldn’t seem to stop.

I would describe reading Selby’s books as a sort of sadomasochistic experience: at points the scenes are so explicit, so chilling, so disturbing, that you can barely read the words; yet I would challenge any reader to put the book down or to tear their eyes away from the page. It all began with Requiem for a Dream (1978), one of his best-known novels that was adapted for the silver-screen in 2000. The plot is made up of two halves: on the one side there is the narration of main protagonist Harry, friend Tyrone, and lover Marion. The trio are slipping into a dark and dangerous lifestyle as what begins as a weekend habit soon evolves into a harrowing heroin addiction. This addiction will eventually tear the three apart and, without giving away too much of the plot, will have severe and crushing consequences for each. On the other hand there is the story of Harry’s mother, Sara, a lonely woman with two dangerous, conflicting, and little-understood addictions: food and diet pills. Requiem for a Dream is a story of addiction and the changes that it can make. As those with a basic grasp of addiction will know, in every case there is a moment when the addict will reach “rock bottom”. With opening chapters that were so saddening that I had to stop reading, I found myself closing the book, looking at the hundreds of pages left for me to read and wondering when will these characters hit their “rock bottom”?

“A terrifying journey…”

Next I moved on to The Room (1971) – again a story of simple structure: the anonymous narrator is a criminal locked up in isolation. What follows is 225 pages of the mental ragings of man left to dwell for years, alone, on thoughts of justice, revenge, and torture. The novel was described by Selby as “the most disturbing book ever written”: a fitting depiction indeed for a book that contains scenes of abuse so graphic that I would compare the experience of reading to be as visually explicit as watching a horror film. But if the book is so disturbing, why not simply stop reading? There is something about the way that Selby writes, with unwavering honesty, that makes his books painfully hypnotic to read. Here is a man who dares to go into the darkest depths of the human mind.

His books penetrate the darkest underworld of our society: prostitution, gang warfare, addiction, mental trauma. His life as a painkiller and heroin addict clearly resonate in every fractured sentence of writing. His works have been trailed for Obscenity offences in Britain and have cause widespread outrage at their content; yet they are published as Modern Classics by publishing houses such as Penguin. Why? Because Selby’s writing is not about the author, the characters, or the troubling content, it is about the reader. In every book he aims to challenge and question our expectations as an audience. From content that is unflinchingly honest and blunt, to a complete flouting of grammar, spelling, and punctuation rules, every page comes as a shock to the system. It seems that Selby wants us to understand our power as readers: if we are able to imagine the graphic and gruesome scenes that are conjured up by Selby, are we not then as bad as the characters that he has devised? What I have discovered is this: Selby’s books are not for the faint-hearted. Once picked up, you will instantly regret turning the first page, but I challenge you to put them down once begun.

By Georgina Holland – Exeposé Online Books Editor

*quote taken from the Penguin Modern Classics edition of “The Room”
Featured image by Sylvia Plachy