{"id":4720,"date":"2013-12-03T11:05:20","date_gmt":"2013-12-03T17:05:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/zimmerscope.com\/Verbisaurus\/?p=4720"},"modified":"2013-12-05T10:52:33","modified_gmt":"2013-12-05T16:52:33","slug":"the-night-the-hogs-ate-willie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zimmerscope.com\/Verbisaurus\/2013\/12\/the-night-the-hogs-ate-willie\/","title":{"rendered":"The Night the Hogs Ate Willie"},"content":{"rendered":"

My current class at the ol’ University is winding down. The full title of the class is “‘The Night the Hogs Ate Willie’: Southern Gothic and Horror in Film and Fiction.” This title seemed to imply a parity between movies and novels (though “fiction” technically embraces the majority of “film”), however, the bulk of the class has involved the film half of this title. We’ve read a few short stories, and a couple of chapters, but no complete novels. This is fine by me – for one thing, I didn’t have to buy any books for this class (although I get reimbursed anyway, so I guess that’s moot), and, for another thing, I love<\/em> films! Here then, in the order in which we were to watch them, are brief notes on the fourteen feature-length films we were assigned to view for this class:<\/p>\n

Nosferatu<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Okay, so this flick didn’t fit the “Southern” aspect of the class title (it has nothi<\/p>\n

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Nowadays, vampires are gorgeous. Count Orlok proves that wasn't always the case.<\/p><\/div>ng to do with America, much less the American South), but I think it was assigned first just to give us an introduction to the origins of horror and gothic films. Nosferatu<\/em>is an adaptation of the Dracula story. By silent film standards, I found it enjoyable, if a little slow compared to other silents. Many of the tropes found in later horror films can be spotted here. This landmark German film is well worth a view.<\/p>\n

Beloved<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

This Oprah Winfrey vehicle was the longest and most boring film of the semester. Jennifer and I watched it together, and it nearly soured her on watching any of the other assigned films with me. Part of me wants to decry this flick for not having any redeeming qualities, but perhaps it would be more in keeping with the spirit of an English major to simply declare “I didn’t get it.” The first five minutes were cool, though.
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