The Movies

I have always had a very active imagination and have always been drawn to fantastical stories and imagery. Some of my oldest memories are from watching movies or going to the cinema.

I still remember that as a treat at primary school, when I was probably 6 or 7 years old, we got to go and watch the Neverending Story at our local cinema at Christmas time. It’s a very dated movie now, but at the time the visuals, the surrealism, and the fantasy, had me enthralled. Not to mention the sadness. There isn’t a kid from the 80’s that doesn’t remember the swamp of sadness and the fate that happened to Atreyu’s horse, Artax. Those kids also wouldn’t fully understand the metaphor until we had grown older and experienced our own versions of hopelessness. 

“Get away from her you bitch”

Aliens - 1986

My true love of movies and the cinema began in the summer of 1988. We lived on a small street of just 4 houses. If my friend at the other end of the row wasn’t around, I had to entertain myself, and on this day, that friend had been called in by his parents. So, I wondered back in to our home. As I walked into the lounge my older brother was watching a movie.

“Where’s mum and dad?” I enquired,

“They’re out, so I am supposed to watch you” was his short reply.

Noticing his attention wasn’t really on me, I looked at the TV. “What are you watching?” I asked inquisitively.

“Aliens” he gave another short reply.

“Can I watch it?” I asked,

“Sure, as long as you stop asking questions and stop talking”, followed shortly by, “and if you don’t tell mum and dad”.

After two hours of having my mind blown by sheer terror and over the top action, my love of not just movies, but Sci-Fi and Horror began.

This also began a journey of influence that has been prevalent through my life and in the art that I produce. My early art as a child and at school used to heavily borrow from inspiring narratives and aesthetics that I saw on the screen. Reflecting the way movies have profoundly shaped contemporary art on a whole.

You just need to browse social media and you can see that visual artists often draw from cinematic storytelling, integrating themes, characters, and visual elements into their work. The captivating visual language of film, including cinematography and special effects, influences artistic compositions and aesthetics. Pop culture references from movies infuse artworks with familiarity and commentary on societal themes.

“Who’s laughing now?”

Evil Dead 2 - 1987

When you pinpoint this into horror movies, they serve as a reflective lens, questioning humanity's deepest fears and moral complexities. Through terrifying narratives and grotesque imagery, they explore themes such as mortality, evil, and the unknown. These films confront audiences with primal fears, challenging notions of safety, sanity and probing the darkest corners of human psychology, exposing the fragility of morality.

Through the depiction of monsters, both literal and metaphorical, horror movies force viewers to confront their own capacity for darkness. Ultimately, they question what it means to be human in a world where terror potentially lurks around every corner, and making them a clear inspiration and influence for me.

Like with my horror films, I prefer the more subtle approach rather than violence and gore for the sake of it. Asking the viewer to conjure their interpretation or imagination to complete the story. Much like the fact that you never fully see the Xenomorphs in Aliens and even less so in Alien. At the time this was drawn from a lack of budget and the use practical effects, but often was more effective because the imagination had to fill in the gaps, creating a sense of the unknown.

As well as fear and violence, a lot of horror movies also include a good dose of humour. Movies such as Evil Dead 2 take the absurdity of the situation and turn it up to eleven with completely illogical and increasingly crazy scenarios. This creates an almost surreal environment where anything can happen and where rules don’t apply, and for me, this is art. Its terror, its humanity, its humour, and there are no rules.

“He’s coming to get you Barbara.”

Night of the Living Dead - 1968

The cold dark of space wasn’t the only kind of nihilistic horror that appealed to me when I was younger. Even before the more recent trends, zombie movies were a great love of mine. Specifically, the Trilogy of the Dead. Layered thick with social commentary, these movies didn’t hold back with the despair and highlighting the fragility of the human race. Whilst also taking the chance to mock humans with humorous reflections of our simplistic ideals through the behaviour of zombies.

"Why do they come here?"

"Some kind of instinct. Memory of what they used to do. This was an important place in their lives."

If you haven’t seen Dawn of the Dead, this question was in reference to why the zombies are congregating at a shopping mall!

“Dead or alive, you are coming with me.”

Robocop - 1987

Some of my favourite movies include a reflection or commentary on civilisation as we know it now, and most commonly this is represented in sci-fi and horror.

Like horror, sci-fi movies also contemplate who we are, but they generally do this in a more philosophical way, probing the essence of humanity through futuristic scenarios. Questioning our place in the universe, exploring existential dilemmas and ethical quandaries. Themes of artificial intelligence, alien encounters, and dystopian futures challenge our understanding of identity and consciousness. Whilst contemplating the limits of human potential and the consequences of our actions.

This doesn’t mean that I don’t like just being entertained by a movie for the sake of just watching a spectacle. It’s just that my favourite movies raise questions in the same way that I like my art to. Confronting moral dilemmas, power dynamics, and the nature of reality itself. Ultimately, I prefer movies that compel audiences to ponder the fundamental questions of existence, prompting reflection on what it means to be human in an ever-changing world.

I could write for hours about my love of the movies and how they influence me. But this isn’t a thesis, however, I am sure I will end up writing more about me love and the influence that movies have had on me.

"You know, Burke, I don't know which species is worse. You don't see them fucking each other over for a goddamn percentage."