Horrible Writing

As a writer of horror (and the greatest horror is in trying to get published) I watch horror movies. Part of the fun is that some poorly made movies can be quite good while some studio productions can be awful. The difference is in the writing.

I’m sure we’ve all seen horror films that are dashed together startle scenes and gory with no plot or storyline. Good escapism they may be, but they leave you hungry. The mind craves a story to follow, even in horror. Especially in horror.

I’ve recently entered the market for buying a house. I’m a first time buyer. Probably it wasn’t a good idea to binge watch the Amityville trilogy. The first film is okay, being loosely based on the book. The second film is more disturbing than scary and that’s because of an evil father. The third is pure tripe.

Amityville 3-D has plot lines raised and dropped like fire bombs over Dresden. So spare in its writing that actors are frequently given no lines, they stand stupidly watching things that’d make a warrior scream. No wonder the screenwriter was billed under a pseudonym.

I’m not picking on this film alone. The point is that what makes a film good is the writing. Of course, if you’re reading this blog you probably know that few people like to pay for writing. Literary magazines sometimes try, book publishers actively try to avoid, and some movie producers abhor paying writers. They are, however, the ones who spin and weave the threads that make whole cloth.

It’s a curious state of affairs that those who come up with the ideas, the story line, the narrative arc, are devalued in the process. Perhaps its because we struggling writers yearn for whatever we can get. Society prefers cheap entertainment. When it gets what it pays for, as in some horror movies, it will complain. After all, it’s less costly than paying a writer.

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K. Marvin Bruce

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