Sarah Appleton & Phillip Escott, a collaborative duo and horror aficionados, have followed up on their 2021 documentary, The Found Footage Phenomenon with a new feature Generation Terror – screening at this year’s Monster Fest in Australia.
Examining horror films from the late 90s to the mid-2000s, this 100-minute feature presents an array of filmmakers and journalists looking back at the genre and how it reflected events of the times.
After the lengthy retrospective In Search of Darkness series, I think these semi-broad documentaries are starting to feel common, granted the specific period explored in this case, does narrow down the conversation. Unfortunately, Generation Terror suffers from being a bit unfocused, which comes down to its very sporadic editing, often getting in the way of certain points our subjects attempt to make. We go from mentioning the Soviet Union’s collapse to Candyman in literally seconds. However, the film does manage to settle on a lengthy discussion of the ‘torture porn’ sub-genre that largely dominated the 2000s. Despite the trope’s very graphic nature and tendency to further push the envelope, the narrative successfully shows how it held a mirror to the amount of senseless violence that was plaguing society in the wake of 9/11 and the subsequent ‘War on Terror’. Appleton and Escott’s use of extreme visuals lifted from noted titles, spliced with news footage, create a kaleidoscope of carnage with an almost subliminal effect on the viewers.
Personally speaking, I checked out Hostel after the sequel and called it quits with the ‘Jigsaw Killer’ after Saw V, which was about three too many. My memories of the gruesome sub-genre are ones I don’t look back on fondly, but as someone who began to embrace horror after watching Scream, I found Generation Terror nostalgic and contemplative. I think it will appeal to most who enjoy extreme horror in general.
Generation Terror screens on Saturday, October 5th in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide. See the official Monster Fest Program for locations and start times.
GENERATION TERROR
(2024, Directors: Sarah Appleton & Phillip Escott)
★★★½
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