#khorror

Tell Me Something (1999)

also aouad writers: let’s make him the fINEst motherfucker in the whole show

GET TO KNOW ME MEME: favourite movies

Let’s talk about Hellbound.

It’s another Korean Horror on Netflix that was first brought to my attention by my martial arts instructor – that’s actually a funny story.

We were talking about Korean Horrors while I was in my Squid Game 240 outfit.

“Have you watched Squid Game?”

“…yes.”

“Do you see what she’s wearing?”-My friend in the class

It took him a moment, but then he realized I’d been through the entire class dressed in a Squid Game tracksuit (I don’t yet have a martial arts outfit or a belt, as I was doing a monthly trial).

His point was to say, there were similarities in style in the videography between the two. That’s not where the similarities end, of course. They both have an ending that is absolutely frustrating, but that’s not why I want to talk about it.

The story of Hellbound is that there are supernatural creatures that rise up and take people to Hell. These people are given a decree, sometimes years out, sometimes seconds out, before three black, smokey hulks appear and torture them to death.

It is assumed that they sinned. A religion rises up on this assumption, the “New Truth” which is an offshoot of Christianity. However, it does not have Original Sin as a part of its tenants.

An infant is given the decree.

This shakes the foundation of the New Truth, and naturally has the potential to cause an existential crisis for all the followers, so they attempt to cover it up, just as they covered up their leader receiving the decree. The New Truth is aware that innocents can be condemned, but believe it is better for people to understand otherwise.

They believe it is better for this to have meaning, rather than none.

The way people attribute natural disasters to have meaning, rather than none.

Yet, there is another line of thought – those who are willing to think of it as accidents, with no meaning. One of them is a man who’s daughter received the decree while she was a child. She was given 10 seconds, and then she was killed.

For him, it was better to spend life thinking it was a terrible accident that could happen to anyone, at any time, for no reason, rather than to try and think of what terrible sin his daughter could have created, and to be ashamed of her. He found more peace in that.

 I think this touches on a core part of humanity, and two of the major strains of philosophical thought that we see in the world: Everything (or most things) having Reason, or Nothing having Reason.

There are those in the world who fear that, if there was no reason for anything, and if people believed there was no reason, then everything would fall into anarchy. It is this concern which motivates many of those in the New Truth to, well, hide the truth. This is a true belief in the world, and the cause of many existential crises: “Does my life have purpose? Is there a meaning to life? Is existence an accident? A coincidence? Does my life or the life of others matter?”

One can settle for a purpose based in their life, but many want something outside to validate them, like a divine being, or for some, aliens. They need something outside of their lifespan, outside of their life, to give them meaning. And then it’s okay. They’ll follow the rules set by this Other, and live for them.

So if something ever contradicts that Other…problems arise.

That’s where Hellbound ends, on the contradiction – and more. It ends with the decreed baby becoming known to the world. It also ends with the decreed baby living due to a sacrifice by the parents – showing as well that the fiends don’t always kill the correct people. Two problems.

It then ends with someone condemned to Hell returning, which is what frustrates me so much but ANYWAYS.

It ends with the question: Is it better to have Meaning even if it is a lie, or is it better to have Truth, even if it takes away meaning?

I like to think that the truth would be better, but I do worry that for some people, it would be like opening a gate, and freeing them to do terrible things because there’s no divine retribution awaiting them. I fear the people who fear hell, and have that alone to keep them in line.

The show doesn’t provide an answer with how it ends right on that moment. Season 2 may provide an answer, but season 1 certainly shows how living a life with meaning is…and it involves a lot of violence to keep people in line, a lot of shame, guilt, and anguish.

So if you’re looking for a critical look at religion in general, and can stand the amount of gore and violence – and it’s a lot. Like, I’m okay with gore and violence, and I felt it was excessive and needless at times – Hellbound may be worth a watch.

Then again, its philosophical question of “is a life with meaning better than a life without meaning” has been asked for decades, and you can likely find plenty of other shows and films that address it, too.

Cult Moody’s 31 Films for Halloween - Week Week 4

My yearly Halloween film selections to celebrate the holiday! These include horror, sci-fi, cult, B-Movie or Exploitation films I have never seen.

22. Ghostwatch (1992)

23. Mommy (1995)

24. Mommy 2: Mommy’s Day (1997)

25. Whispering Corridors (1998)

26. Memento Mori (1999)

27. Wishing Stairs (2003)

Part 1 -https://ryanmoody.tumblr.com/post/664550065105502208/cult-moodys-31-films-for-halloween-week-1-my

Part 2 -https://ryanmoody.tumblr.com/post/665264521548595200/cult-moodys-31-films-for-halloween-week-2-my