{"id":8090,"date":"2017-10-04T19:42:58","date_gmt":"2017-10-04T23:42:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/?p=8090"},"modified":"2018-06-28T13:34:21","modified_gmt":"2018-06-28T17:34:21","slug":"the-horror-of-blade-runner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/the-horror-of-blade-runner\/","title":{"rendered":"The Horror Of Blade Runner<\/i>"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two genre masterpieces were released on the same day in the summer of 1982, both exploring a world in which hard-boiled blue-collar characters struggle to survive in an oppressive, inhospitable landscape, hunted by beings that only appear to be human. One of these films \u2014 John Carpenter\u2019s The Thing<\/i> \u2014 is usually referred to as a horror film; the other \u2014 Ridley Scott\u2019s Blade Runner<\/i> \u2014 is known primarily as a science-fiction parable. <\/span><\/p>\n

But those descriptors can easily be swapped. Carpenter made a name for himself as a premier director of horror films, but Scott in no slouch in the horror department. When he made Blade Runner<\/i>, Scott was already preparing, his next film, a dark fantasy entitled Legend<\/i> (1985) which concerns an innocent hero journeying into a mythological version of Hell. Scott had also just completed his sci-fi\/horror masterpiece Alien<\/i> (1979), a film that he prepared for in part by studying<\/span><\/a> Tobe Hooper\u2019s horror classic The Texas Chain Saw<\/i> Massacre<\/i> (1974). Blade Runner<\/i>, while undeniably a science-fiction film, contains strong elements of horror threaded throughout.<\/span><\/p>\n

The most immediate and obvious horror element in Blade Runner<\/i> is its visceral, graphic violence. \u201cImmediate and obvious,\u201d that is, if you happen to be watching the 1982 International Theatrical Cut of the film (this is Blade Runner<\/i> we\u2019re talking about after all, the movie that put the term \u201cDirector\u2019s Cut\u201d on the map). Until 1992, this version was the only commercially available cut of Blade Runner<\/i>, and was many people\u2019s first viewing of the film, myself included. Along with the theatrical cut\u2019s infamous narration from Harrison Ford and incongruous \u201chappy ending,\u201d the international cut adds additional footage of graphic violence to a handful of scenes. Why these were added and then used as a selling point is hard to say \u2014 perhaps it had something to do with the slasher boom of the early \u201980s, those films sold almost exclusively on their gore quotient. <\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Whatever the reason, the scenes shot by Scott are brutal indeed, and serve to emphasize the \u201cmore-human-than-human\u201d-ness of the Replicants. When Roy Batty (Rutger Hauer) murders Eldon Tyrell (Joe Turkel), the Replicant crushes his creator\u2019s head. In the other cuts of the film this is mostly implied, but in the international cut we see Roy\u2019s thumbs plunge into Tyrell\u2019s eye sockets as blood pours out (in an effect oddly reminiscent of a scene in Sam Raimi\u2019s gorefest The Evil Dead<\/i> from 1983). The moment is made even stranger by the very next shot of Roy in Tyrell\u2019s elevator alone, contemplating his act of murder, with Vangelis\u2019 score screaming away in the background. When Rick Deckard (Ford) finds where the Replicants have been hiding, he confronts Pris (Daryl Hannah), who attacks him viciously, holding Deckard\u2019s entire body up with just her fingers in his nostrils. Later on, Roy chases Deckard in a game of cat-and-mouse, with the Replicant mocking the poor performance of his human hunter. However, Roy\u2019s built-in lifespan is running out, and he plunges a rusty nail straight through his palm in order to keep himself alert just a little longer. These scenes of extreme violence add slightly to the film\u2019s narrative, but contribute a great deal more to the elements of dread and menace present throughout the movie.<\/span><\/p>\n

Scott establishes Blade Runner<\/i>\u2019s dread and menace from the opening scene, when Blade Runner Holden (Morgan Paull) gives Leon (Brion James) a Voight-Kampff test to see whether he\u2019s a Replicant. After the iconic opening shot of the exterior of Los Angeles 2019 (a model shot that the production team referred to as the \u201cHades Landscape\u201d), Holden and Leon confront each other in a claustrophobically small, dark, and smoky room. A faint heartbeat can be heard on the soundtrack as Leon\u2019s test continues, his odd and worried responses to Holden\u2019s bizarre philosophical questions increasing the tension. Holden breaks that tension by observing that it\u2019s all \u201cjust a test,\u201d and asks blithely about Leon\u2019s mother. At that, a loud booming sound occurs along with a flash of light, and Holden\u2019s limp body goes flying backwards. Leon lines up another shot with his weapon, fires, and Holden slams into a wall, as the film smash cuts to another landscape exterior. The editing and sound design of the sequence are used to maximum effect, so that when Leon\u2019s first shot occurs it functions much like a jump scare would. Using his excellent sense of timing, Scott establishes Replicants as beings who are extremely dangerous when cornered. <\/span><\/p>\n

One of the major themes of Blade Runner<\/i> is the decline of humanity culturally as well as physically, and Scott exploits the inherent horror of that theme. The overall look of the film is dark and bleak, with swaths of neon usually the only light source coming through constant rain, allowing for a perpetual \u201cdark and stormy night\u201d atmosphere. Thanks to Leon\u2019s introductory scene, every subsequent scene featuring the Replicants is brimming with menace, with the human characters (and the audience) never knowing when they\u2019re about to strike. When he\u2019s not being shown to be a remorseless killer shooting Replicants in the back, Deckard is constantly outmatched and ineffectual in every altercation, causing the audience to fear for his life as the protagonist (despite how they may feel about him morally). This culminates in the climactic chase scene between Deckard and Roy, with the Replicant pursuing the Blade Runner through the remains of the dilapidated Bradbury building. Roy moves and howls like an animal, in between spouting taunts to Deckard, even going so far as to slam his own head through a wall to catch him. It\u2019s behavior that wouldn\u2019t be out of place in a slasher film, and Scott knows that it will increase the stakes by increasing fear.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ultimately, it\u2019d be hard to classify Blade Runner<\/i> as a horror film, but that has less to do with the movie itself and more to do with how horror is typically classified. Blade Runner<\/i> isn\u2019t \u201cscary,\u201d but as previously mentioned, it has a lot in common with The Thing<\/i>, and it wouldn\u2019t be surprising to see a child scared by the movie if they saw it. While it can be debated whether to add the \u201chorror\u201d modifier to its \u201csci-fi,\u201d it\u2019s undeniable that Ridley Scott imbued Blade Runner<\/i> with a pervasive mood and a visual world that\u2019s lasted for decades, in large part due to the mix of elements and techniques he used \u2014 terror among them.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

Bill Bria<\/a> runs blade in New York City.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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