This week’s topic was all about films that have been re-made or re-re-remade as the topic is labeled. The three films we were required to watch for this section were John Carpenter’s The Thing (1982), Gore Verbenski’s The Ring (2002), and Matt Reeves’ Let Me In (2010). The three films of course share the connection of not being original ideas as they all are re-makes. Another similarity is that all of the films included a “monster” in them. The Thing had alien monsters that could transform to look like they were humans. The Ring had one of the creepiest monsters of all time in the killer little girl that looks half zombie and half demon. Let Me In had my favorite monster of all time the vampire as I am sure is known if you have read my blog post #9. With films like these that include monsters I have noticed and it is also relevant in the readings that when something defies reason and logic (like monsters do) it is difficult for humans to comprehend. It terrifies all of the humans in the films just as it would if monsters were real in the world we all live in. I just kept thinking when I was watching these films that there has to be a deeper meaning behind films that include other worldly monsters in them. The deeper meaning that I realized after watching this topic’s lecture is that human beings do not know how to react when something defies science, logic, and reason. When a human is discombobulated to the point of shock it really shows a person’s true character. These three films all had characters who went face to face with these “monsters”.
There is another deeper meaning behind these monster films and that is a monster is symbolic for the real terrors of this world like war, famine, and pandemics. It just so happens that we are living through one of those right now. There is a disease that is killing many many people and it is a real thing. There can be a horror movie about what we are living through right now. I know it has been a while since the spread of Covid-19 started, but it honestly still blows my mind. The terrifying monsters we see in films are personified as these creepy beings, but in real life we still have these terrors they are just seen in a different way. We just get so used to all the terrible things in the world that they do not scare us as much as a vampire would or a shapeshifting alien would. This is because a human cannot comprehend something they have always thought was make-believe or fictitious.