If the movie had finished five minutes or so before it did end it would have been a very good horror flick.
And in a year that saw the awesome, singed mythicism of 28 Weeks Later (itself one of the latest in the long line of films spawned by Matheson’s novel), I Am Legend’s digitized aesthetic is too clean to convey true social and moral rot, too processed for a storyline loaded with themes of death and destruction. Likewise, the hordes of mutant zombie/vampires are a disappointing use of CG technology. They’re like digital superballs vying for menace, lacking a genuine physical presence and only superficially connected to their surroundings.
It’s telling that the film works best when Neville is restricted to permeating solitude; the eerie suggestion of the unseen villains is a threat the film is unable to justly manifest in the flesh.
It’ll be a while yet before I can see I Am Legend, but the first quote reminds me of the neglected The 13th Floor. It’s one of my prime exhibits in the “a scene too far” gallery – if it had ended with the scene in the lobby and rain at night, it would have been much stronger. But it can be easier to see that sort of thing when you’re not closely involved in the process, I think.
It’s telling that the film works best when Neville is restricted to permeating solitude; the eerie suggestion of the unseen villains is a threat the film is unable to justly manifest in the flesh.
Of course, it’s not “telling” about anything at all — absolutely everyone in horror and/or thrillers has said something similar. Hitchcock’s variation was “There is no terror in the bang, only in the anticipation of it.”
Ken–I think you and I tend to disagree on this general point. I’m all about the actual threat or I wouldn’t have gotten into horror movies and monster movies in the first place. But that said, I think Humanick is definitely on to something in the case of this particular film, because the monsters themselves really were pretty lame while the threat of the monsters–as seen in Neville’s clock-watching behavior, his impregnable lockdown, the deserted New York City that was the result of their rampage, and especially their crescendoing roars as night falls–was really great. There are tons of horror movies where there’s a much greater level of parity there, from Hellraiser to Alien to 28 Days Later to The Exorcist to The Thing and on and on and on.
Technically speaking, I didn’t take any stance — only noted that Humanick wasn’t exactly being original with his observation. There’s the Hitchcock variant that I quoted, and Stephen King’s stuck with me too — something about what you imagine being on the other side of the door always being worse than what’s actually there.
I have my issues with how modern filmmakers use gratification (too often, too obviously, with no care to build-up, like lovers who can’t be bothered with foreplay) but of course have no issue with gratification itself. Without some culmination and realization of impending doom, all you have is an exercise in editing. You don’t have a story. I just happen to think a lot of modern horror skips right past all that in a heated race to get to “the good stuff,” which is of course not any good at all without proper coaxing.