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Live Poll: Is 'Twilight' Horror?
The legitimacy of Twilight as a horror film as been kicked around the horror community since it's theatrical debut in 2008 with most opinions falling in the resounding negative. Sans vampires and werewolves, Twilight would be nothing more than a romanticized teen drama in the tradition of Beverly Hills 90210 or Gossip Girl. Right?...
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If that were the case, its release would have passed without incident, lost in the shuffle of dozens of other movies just like it (Clueless, 10 Things I Hate About You). But since it does contain supernatural creatures, people are quick to place it in the horror genre with films like the Werewolf of London (1935 ) and Interview with a Vampire (1994), even though it may lack some of the essential elements of a horror film The definition of horror is “the strong feeling of fear caused by something frightful or shocking” and as a genre, horror is built on fear. From Rosemary’s Baby to James Whale’s Frankenstein, these films take us to the edge of our consciousness by exploring subconscious fears of birth, death and the destruction of the individual.
If fear is what is needed to make a horror film, then the major flaw with Twilight is that it overly romanticizes the figures of the vampire and werewolf to the point that they can’t be used as effective objects of cinematic fear. At the very least they might represent teen angst, but films like Teen Wolf (1985) and I Was a Teenage Frankenstein (1957) have already accomplished that task far more effectively in the past.
The classification of Twilight as a horror film is tenuous because it lacks the one thing that would make it a true horror piece, fear. As a result, Twilight is a horror film and it’s not. At best, Twilight and the "New Moon Saga" can be considered a teen drama/horror hybrid in that like science-fiction horror and the horror musical, it tries to appeal to two very different audiences (teen movie fans and hardcore horror fans) to make a buck.
The result has been riotous success with one and complete rejection by the other, making Twilight into the true bastard child of the horror genre and loathed by males all over the horror world.
*Pictured Below: The top ten popular 'Twilight' collectors items.
25 comments
so my vote is no.
It's not horror at all. Horror needs a few elements, fear primarily, More than 2 or 3 deaths that are drawn out and shown onscreen, and a villain.. be it ghost, slasher, whatever.
Twilight really doesn't have any of these. Fear is nonexistent. Deaths are offscreen and quick, also they are few. There really is no villain, save for a few characters that are dispatched pretty quickly offscreen and mainly exist to deepen or shift the love story here or there.
It's a love story, has some metaphorical stuff for coming of age and moving into adulthood, etc. But it's not horror at all. Edward might talk about how he is a "monster", but he's a freakin cupcake compared to Dracula, Severin, Radu, Nosferatu, or even Lestat and Louis.
Even taking away the sunlight effect and adding the glittery thing is a perfect example of this. Unlike Take the Right One In, which made vampires monstrous and still had a solid love story, Twilight delves deeply into the love and leaves out the fearful and darker aspects. Let the Right One In is horror, even though it's more tame and focuses on a building love.
Vampires and shapeshifting "werewolves" aside, Twilight isn't horror. It's a tween romance wrapped in black glittery paper with cartoony vamps drawn on it. The wrapping doesn't make it horror, that would be only achieved through the substance. Twilight lacks this substance, and therefore is not horror.
I've never really been a vampire person (I prefer werewolves) but in my humble opinion there hasn't been a vampire story worth crap since "The Lost Boys" or "Dark Shadows."
So - I agree w/ so many above me who've put it much better...it belongs in the "Should Have Never Even Been Made" category!
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