#fred borges

The Long Island Cannibal Massacre (1980)

“Currently, CGI is overused and incorrectly utilized in modern filmmaking, as if by policy. There's a long muddled discussion attached to that statement--about mediums, blockbuster formatting, economics, and real-life vampires that gives me a headache, so I'll leave it at that. I can say without reservation, that computer-generated gore specifically, always fucking sucks. Technology has made many things better all around the world and repeatedly converted once revered, delicate crafts into automated processes. This does not yet, however, include cinema splatter, and it may never. There is perceivably no replacement for the corporeal in this department, the authenticity is integral to the finished product, and it has to be felt on some level. It doesn't need to be genuine human meat or anything ghastly like that, but something actually needs have oozed out, been sliced open, and/or ripped apart to really sell it. No super-imposed slime or digital spray has ever left me fulfilled. It just doesn't cut it. There is no “oomph” or natural reaction to it. It's as if the brain always subconsciously rejects computer generated dismemberment and gloop. Don't get me wrong, CGI can help make a traditional effect stronger and more seamless, but if it doesn't start with something real, the finished product is always hollow.  Big Hollywood went really crazy with it for a while. Things looked hopeless before the 80s rehashing trend forced their hand back towards live action carnage. Similarly, the tempting price tag on shitty graphics made some great recent trashy films possible, but with a terrible penance that leaves them dated before the DVD reaches my hands.  It can stain otherwise great films, no matter the budget quality or genre. Even the best modern kill set up can end in disappointment if it climaxes in a spray of pixels. “Real” or practical cinema gore, on the other hand, can add a layer of enticement and satisfaction to the most modest of productions. The right weirdo (me) will return to a movie year after year based on some spirit, an eye for kitchen-based crafting techniques and little else. I love computers, a lot, but I don't think they could ever replicate the slippery soul behind the good old fashioned kind of movie gross, like the quality, home-prepared meat slinging you find in The Long Island Cannibal Massacre (1980)...”