Speaking of your evil-children marathon--you really need to see Sinister. That's all I'm gonna say, but yeah. It'll fit on that list nicely.
I suppose they wanted the protagonists to be nicer people because it's hard to get engaged with a story about people we don't care about. But they should have had the guts to kill them off. Agreed--I definitely like those people better than the ones in the book, but that no-casualties ending was a bit, "Really?" It feels more like a kids' adventure movie than a horror movie to me. Y'know, like Lost Boys or Fright Night, where the protagonists kick a reasonable about of ass, but don't actually have anything bad happen to them. Which I'm fine with, but it's a very different story.
The whole "evil religions are bad" is still a thing in the story, make no mistake. But the fact that they have something to lose if they don't continue following said religion puts a different spin on things.
I clearly need to read more Pratchett--I'll add that book to my list! I never know where to start with a series that massive. However, that idea of gods needing worship to survive reminds me of Neil Gaiman's American Gods--that was a theme there too. Not my favorite thing from Gaiman, but that idea intrigues me.
I mean, in the film it IS the kids that kill the boy who tries to escape, right? It's not the demon that gets him. So I had no indication that there was anything stopping the kids from leaving other than OTHER kids. It's kind of both, actually. I mean, yes, there's definitely a demonic entity lurking in the field, but we're never explicitly told what it can do or where it came from. Yes, Malachi is the one who killed the boy in the beginning, but he's also following orders--orders he seems to enjoy carrying out more than he should, mind you, but he's got a job to do. Isaac does all the proselytizing and he's the main spokesman for the demon, but it's strongly hinted that he might be lying/making up a lot of what he's sharing with them, and it's hinted just as strongly that Malachi is picking up on that and getting suspicious. And then at the end, Isaac lowers the Age of Favor by a year, which is the justification for him sending Malachi into the field to die.
We never actually know how much is them doing what they have to do keep the demon-thing happy, and how much is them getting a power-trip and taking things way too far. But that's what makes it interesting to me, that gray area that pops up in zealotry in real life.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2013-09-05 01:53 pm (UTC)I suppose they wanted the protagonists to be nicer people because it's hard to get engaged with a story about people we don't care about. But they should have had the guts to kill them off.
Agreed--I definitely like those people better than the ones in the book, but that no-casualties ending was a bit, "Really?" It feels more like a kids' adventure movie than a horror movie to me. Y'know, like Lost Boys or Fright Night, where the protagonists kick a reasonable about of ass, but don't actually have anything bad happen to them. Which I'm fine with, but it's a very different story.
The whole "evil religions are bad" is still a thing in the story, make no mistake. But the fact that they have something to lose if they don't continue following said religion puts a different spin on things.
I clearly need to read more Pratchett--I'll add that book to my list! I never know where to start with a series that massive. However, that idea of gods needing worship to survive reminds me of Neil Gaiman's American Gods--that was a theme there too. Not my favorite thing from Gaiman, but that idea intrigues me.
I mean, in the film it IS the kids that kill the boy who tries to escape, right? It's not the demon that gets him. So I had no indication that there was anything stopping the kids from leaving other than OTHER kids.
It's kind of both, actually. I mean, yes, there's definitely a demonic entity lurking in the field, but we're never explicitly told what it can do or where it came from. Yes, Malachi is the one who killed the boy in the beginning, but he's also following orders--orders he seems to enjoy carrying out more than he should, mind you, but he's got a job to do. Isaac does all the proselytizing and he's the main spokesman for the demon, but it's strongly hinted that he might be lying/making up a lot of what he's sharing with them, and it's hinted just as strongly that Malachi is picking up on that and getting suspicious. And then at the end, Isaac lowers the Age of Favor by a year, which is the justification for him sending Malachi into the field to die.
We never actually know how much is them doing what they have to do keep the demon-thing happy, and how much is them getting a power-trip and taking things way too far. But that's what makes it interesting to me, that gray area that pops up in zealotry in real life.