Tag Archives: Cinema

Internet! Horror Themes! Blasphemes!

https://www.flickr.com/photos/jeremybrooks/4059116681
Copyright: Jeremy Brooks (2009). Used with Permission. Source: FLICKR.

I sat down with horror cinema expert and creator of podcast The Sixth Dimension Sebastian Mittelman to talk about horror films and the internet, and why they fit together so well. Because, honestly, is anything scarier than the internet?

The Trapdoor Podcast | Episode 1 feat. Sebastian Mittelman. Source: Soundcloud.

You can listen to a teaser of our conversation here, or download the full discussion on The Sixth Dimension.

For your pleasure, you can read the teaser transcript below.

M: Hi, thanks for tuning in to the Trapdoor Podcast. My name is Mireille Stahle, and I’m here with Sebastian Mitellman – cinema genius and twisted mind behind the podcast, the Sixth Dimension. Just a trigger warning, we’ll be discussing suicide, horror themes, and there will be some blasphemies. Enjoy.

M: Do you keep up to date with all the tripe on Netflix?

S: Uh, yes, yes, I do

M: So did you have the misfortune of watching Bird Box?

S: Yes I did, yes. I didn’t enjoy it at all. Um, I was going to turn it off, but I thought I’d give it a chance.

M: Good. ‘Cos really what I want this podcast to be about is just how unfortunate Bird Box was. If only for the fact that I read more than one review saying how original the idea was. And I just found that so laughable, considering how many Japanese cult films there have been about uncontrollable suicidal tendencies, and why on earth the American director, um, Bier-

S: Susan Bier, I think she’s Danish-

M: Danish ­– pardon me.

S: Yeah. But it’s based on a book. So, it’s not entirely her fault.

M: No! No, no. But, um, I just felt I’d seen it a million times before

S: Yeah, and you’re right, not just Japanese films, but films… mainly Japanese films. Suicide club is definitely the first one that springs to mind, ‘cos it’s got suicide in the title. [I’m] Trying to think of others – Pulse is another one, isn’t it.

M: Yep. Well, Pulse is kind of a similar premise, um, and does end up also being apocalyptic.

S:  Yeah, CGI shots of Japan and stuff like that, and, other cities isn’t there? But I like the idea of Pulse, where somehow the Internet coincides with the land of the dead, like another dimension.

M: Mmm [affirmative]

S: It’s almost Lovecraft-ian.

M: For me Pulse was a bit more metaphorical. Um, if you look at the way that the possessed – [mumbles] not possessed – but the figures in the videos walk around – there’s nothing really scary about it. In the sense that, the atmosphere is incredibly sinister-

S: Yeah.

M: -but they’re just moving around in a really banal and tedious way within the technology. So I thought it was more of a comment on people’s lack of connection – the internet facilitating but also taking away.

S: Yeah, that’s a pretty good, it’s pretty prescient as well the film. I came up with what I called ‘techno fear’ – a list of a couple of hundred items-

M: -aw you’re too good – it was the techno fear rather than suicide as a theme that I was more interested in, but-

S: Yeah, sure.

M: Um, suicide was the thing that drew me into it I suppose. Bird Box made me think about it, and then I started investigating those earlier films. And there was this technological undercurrent really, even in Suicide circle, there’s the weirdness in the band, Dessert, and they’re singing about the internet, they’re singing about sending an email.

S: Is this at the beginning of the movie when they jump into the tracks?

M: Yeah, yeah yeah. And it recurs a few times.

S: As early as I can remember, from what I understand, like, the internet was created around 1984-1985. And what the internet refers to is network of computers that essentially share information.

M: Mmm [affirmative]              

S: I’m surprised nobody has made a horror film to do with the ‘cloud’ yet.

M: I know!

S: In 2006 there was a book called ‘The Cell’ by Stephen King

M: Yes, I remember that.

S: -and he didn’t use it very well. Back then we had this idea that computers could talk to one-another – It’s like we misinterpreted it. And then in the early 80s there was a bunch of horror movies, and even in the late 70s, of like the- the nature of what computers can do.

M: Mmm [affirmative]

S: -being misrepresented grotesquely. I think one of the first is a film called Evil Seed in 1983, where using a computer, a boy sells his soul to the devil.

M: which fits very well into the fear of the internet and computers in general, of originally being a kind of devilish tool-

S: Mmm [affirmative]

M: Right? people were really afraid of the internet. Right-rightfully so!

S: It was mysterious in the same way that reading was mysterious to people who could rea- the aristocrats could read back in the 11th century.

M: -and if all I knew was the bible, then I would probably think that something that I didn’t understand was the devil.

S: Exactly! And you couldn’t even read the bible-

M: True.

S: -you’d have it told to you. That’s what- that’s why priests were invented.

M: [Laughing]

S: No, seriously! That’s why they were invented!

M: Sorry-

S: ‘Cos all this religious stuff was invented [crosstalk]

M: It’s the word invented that made me laugh. They were invented, Seb, you’re right.

The full conversation is available via The Sixth Dimension from wherever you get your podcasts.

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The Magic Formula: have algorithms killed horror cinema?

Human Centipede themed Necklace. Owner retains copyright. Source: Flickr.

This is a handful of the Merriam Webster Dictionary’s definitions for ‘formula’:

  • A recipe
  • A set form of words for use in a ceremony or ritual
  • A general fact, rule, or principle expressed in usually mathematical symbols

Apparently there’s a formula for the kind of films that I like. I myself am a competitive-baking-meets-gore-meets-nostalgia alt-genre kinda gal, and that’s why on any given day my recommendations list will include both Nailed It! and Saw I through III.

What the dictionary doesn’t mention is that formulas make for very boring movies. Even if they’re a ‘recipe’ for success. In Algorithms to Live By, Brian Christian and Tom Griffiths describe the current cinema landscape/ Netflix-world-domination according to the Explore|Exploit algorithm.

It’s a trade-off that we’re constantly making: go with what you know with an outcome you can predict (Exploit), or take a chance on something which might blow up in your face? (Explore).

Whether the onset of media giants like Netflix have disrupted , or industry profits are winding down Hollywood have given up on Exploration and are now deeply embroiled in the Exploitation phase.

Hollywood have given up on Exploration, and are now deeply embroiled in the Exploitation phase.

If you need any evidence on how this has played out IRL look no farther than <insert any marvel movie ever> (and check out this video of a man in a cape complaining about it)

Algorithmics: A video about how Netflix’s algorithms work. Copyright NBC. Source: Youtube.

But Netflix hasn’t proven to be particularly brave either. Although they’re doing their research differently – they’re applying the same principle.

Maybe this is why Netflix are cancelling shows more than ever. RIP One Day At A Time.

We’ve made the very difficult decision not to renew One Day At A Time for a fourth season. The choice did not come easily — we spent several weeks trying to find a way to make another season work but in the end simply not enough people watched to justify another season.— Netflix US (@netflix) March 14, 2019

Apparently it only takes three episodes to work out if someone is addicted to a Netflix show. And if over 70% of people who start it go on to finish it, it gets another season. Sounds formulaic…

What the dictionary doesn’t mention is that formulas make for very boring movies. Even if they’re a ‘recipe’ for success.

Algorithmic bots give answers to impossible questions. We don’t really know about how they work, because their function is essentially a trade secret.

But what we do know is more data means better bots, and better bots mean that technology companies like Netflix can not only feed you the content they know you to like, but they can create the content before we even know we want it.

So in a nut shell, how do they work?

  1. Establish a goal: in this case, the goal is for users to stay engaged (watch) for long as possible
  2. A little bot measures how long a person stays on the site
  3. The bot does it’s best to pick videos that keep you on the site
  4. The longer you view, the better they score in their test
  5. Make the best performing bot the king-pin, recycle the rest.

Make the best performing bot the king, recycle the rest. It’s a bit Darwinian, isn’t it?

So are they writing the stories with bots now? It certainly seems that way.

There’s not a C-grade horror film on Netflix that I haven’t watched, so naturally I flicked on Mercy Black when it premiered in March.  is scarcely indistinguishable from it’s forgettable forebears — Slenderman, Paranormal Activity III, The Toothfairy…

You can read a misleadingly glowing review by Heaven of Horror.  Honestly it was a stinker, and it feels that a lot of the ‘Netflix Original’ content has the same offensive odour.

Promotional still from Mercy Black (2019). Copyright Netflix US. Source.

Why? I suspect it’s because Netflix’s bots are telling them what movies to make, based on our watching behavior. People like me, and my awful, strange watching behavior. A bit like a Hallmark card with a puppy wearing a sombrero. Executives are rubbing their hands together and saying “It’s time for SON of Aqua Man!”  

What you want might not be what you need

We are increasingly in a position where instead of using tools, we are used by our tools. The risk of course is that when everything you see is curated, serendipitous discoveries become almost impossible. Are robots now the only way to keep up with the demand for content? Let’s bloody hope not.

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