Nosy bastard!

[malbowski13]

I am a nosy bastard! I want to know backgrounds on characters. I just read a review on the Black Christmas remake and countless Rob Zombie's Halloween reviews where people bitch about learning back-stories about the characters.Point being, why is this a bad thing?
I find it juvenile to say "This guy is an insane killer, who cares why he is that way?" As long as it doesn't take up too much of the running time of the film, why is it bad?

[tsmooth31]

sometimes when i watch a movie i would like to know what made this person crazy or why they do what they do..but usually i dont really care..i mean just look at the world today how many weirdo crazy fucks are out there?? and im sure most dont really have one reason other then a bad fucked up childhood..if a movie doesnt explain it i just figure the killer had some messed up things done to him as a kid

[malbowski13]

I guess it would be boring to do a back-story if nothing ever happened.

[maycanady]

I've always said that when too much backstory is given on a villain, then they're no longer as scary. Michael Myers was a hell of a lot scarier in the first Halloween film when he had no obvious motive for killing.

[Evil Dave]

Backstory is good for horror that focuses on realism and psychological thrills. For a straight out gore/shock fest though, it's really not necessary.

[lazario]

Backstory is for suckers. Frontstory is where it's at.

[malbowski13]

Horseshit! OK, action heroes- def not necessary.You don't need to know what happened to them cause they just kick ass and that entertains most people. But to be a truly fucked-up individual capable of the most grotesque actions has to come from somewhere.I don't buy that some people live long,normal lives with nothing happening then all of a sudden ...SNAP! "He was such a quiet person, blah, blah, blah". Like I said Horseshit! Imagine Jason without the shit about him drowning or every other slasher where the truth about that person's background is revealed at the end/climax of the film? I guess it's a balance : too much and it's overwhelming-
too little and it leaves you wondering!

[Evil Dave]

I agree. Many times it makes the character more believable if you know where their craziness and anger is coming from. Thus, it makes the movie better.

[lazario]

I was sort of just-playing before. It's totally case-by-case. Jason's reputation was much more established, I think, by watching him kill a lot of people. Not belitting anyone by saying that. However, look at the movies... I think that's what you have much more than any real planned, plotted backstory. That's what people decide to take away from the movies. But they were much more in-the-moment situational. Atmosphere-driven. Style-driven, in a way. Suspense-driven.

In fact... when Friday the 13th films incorporated backstory, more often than not- they're blasted: A New Beginning, Jason Takes Manhattan, Jason X, Jason Goes to Hell, Freddy Vs. Jason.

[Evil Dave]

Yep, I agree. The general tone of the movie has a lot to do with whether a backstory is necessary or not.

[lazario]

And besides- backstory is like proof that the filmmakers actually spent some time thinking about what they were putting on the screen before they shot it. But, it's like value. If I'm saying it right. There's a lot of things you can see that show just how much the filmmaker is thinking about the movie. Characters, style, plot, atmosphere. Backgrounds, foregrounds. People, objects.

It's too easy to just say the story alone is all that makes or breaks characters and situations. Besides, just how many times do you hear people talking about stories offline?

[malbowski13]

True. But almost all of my friends just like eye-candy movies.Oh look an explosion...YEAH!!! A few people I know won't even watch subtitled movies because it's too much for them. Sure miss out on a lot of great films that way.