Mal ,'Serenity'
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Wait, it's not supposed to be? From the previews I assumed it was a mash-up of Single White Female and Wolf.
I have no idea. It looked like psychological thriller/horror to me, but the guy writing for Cinematical was making a (sort of labored) case for horror not getting critical nods unless they were packaged as not!horror.
The trailers I've seen sure don't make it seem like a feel-good dance movie, I'll say that.
I'd have to know exactly how this guy is defining horror - it's definitely shot and edited like a horror film, but nowhere is it implied that anything supernatural is going on. (There are scenes which are clearly taking place only in Natalie Portman's head, but the question is never is-she-crazy-or-not, just a matter of degree.)
Horror doesn't have to be supernatural, does it? I thought it just had to be very scary. Like, say, Misery.
Yeah, horror doesn't have to be supernatural at all. I think at least one definition is that the goal of the picture has to be to scare the audience, or to create an atmosphere of fear and uneasiness.
Like Jess said, it didn't come across as horror to me, more thriller. Although the entire audience had that relief-laugh at the end and a sort of "all righty then" vibe. First words out of my mouth were "man, that was seriously f'ed up".
Would Jacob's Ladder count as horror? Because that seems similar to Black Swan.
Not that I've seen Black Swan; when I found out it wasn't supernatural (how much was I hoping for a were-swan?), I wasn't interested. I haven't liked anything Aronofsky's done, and in my head he's Darren from Slings and Arrows.
the fact that Tighten [I love that it wasn't spelled "Titan"]
I had seen the name before seeing the movie, and hadn't realized "Tighten" was a pun on Titan. But then I LOL'ed when the guy wrote his name and misspelled it, because that was so him.
Would Jacob's Ladder count as horror?
It certainly horrified me. Honestly, Jacob's Ladder disturbed me deeply, and for a very long time. Even now, certain images flash into my mind and cause me to shudder.
Yeah, I think you can have horror with perfectly natural but scary things going on. I don't know that there's a real difference definition-wise between terror and horror, but I tend to associate the latter with shock and denial/rejection on the part of the protagonist or victims, whereas the former is fright paired with acceptance of the scary circumstances.
I think at least one definition is that the goal of the picture has to be to scare the audience, or to create an atmosphere of fear and uneasiness.
Yeah, I still can't really see Black Swan qualifying - there's really nothing overtly scary going on at all. Aronofsky is definitely using horror tropes, and some of the psychological stuff would be pretty horrifying if it weren't ultimately (IMO) so shallow and silly, but he's not using them to tell a scary story.
I didn't realize The Wrestler was Aronofsky. I am glad I saw it but I would never watch it again.