Feature: China bans horror movies
Updated: 2008-03-25 11:57
Since starting in 2006, Yang's Horror Paradise website has attracted almost 1,000 members nationwide, making it a most popular site on douban.com, a Chinese website dedicated to the sharing of books, DVDs, music and films.
The Horror Paradise members often debate the content, techniques and art of horror movies.
"Contrary to the stereotype impression of horror movies as superficial or violent, they reflect deep and insightful themes."
He cites The Descent (2005), which depicts the experience of six women who are hunted by strange subterranean beings when they get lost while exploring in a cave in the mountains.
"It's a great film about our susceptibility to the evil side of human nature when our survival is at stake."
Du Jian, a senior student at the Chinese Youth University for Political Sciences in Beijing, agrees. "Classical horror movies are a vivid description of human nature."
Du's favorite is Dead Silence (2007), in which a puppet seeks revenge on the descendants of townspeople who brutally murdered its long dead ventriloquist owner. "I've learned through the movie that even lifeless things deserve our care, especially those that have accompanied us for a long time, because we develop a sense of intimacy with them."
But both Yang and Du admit that some horror films are downright unpleasant and nasty. "I don't like the movies that are full of just graphic scenarios," says Du.
Their reasoned defense of the genre has highlighted what is perceived to be a huge generational divide, into which the GAPP drove a giant wedge with its ban.
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