I'm so sick of this trend in horror where it's essentially just random scenes with no explanation. What happened to storytelling? Films like this to VHS to The Devil Inside rely on open-ended plots that give the viewer ZERO explanations. Stop pretending these movies are trying to test the viewer's intellect by letting them figure out what's going on. It's just a cop-out for writers who can't flesh out a plot.
shareI agree. It's getting pretty frustrating to see these anthropology films play out the same way again and again.
I see crappy shortfilms which need at least another 5 minutes to add some plot snippits to flesh out the story but instead they just show something creepy, and next short!
Seems like all the good horror story writers are either dead or senile. It really feels like some rich kids in hollywood write movies for themselves and friends, paying big bucks for whatever dull story falls into their mind. Like it's all about their ego, just to see their movie done and if it will bring some income.
However there are few exceptions :)
Spot on my friend!! I totally agree. It's like they know any plot line they come up will be ridiculous so they "leave it to the viewer."
shareIt depends - short horror stories have been around for ages. Old 50s comics, horror anthologys and so on. As long as the short stories work, it's still storytelling. This film just connected the short stories - with threads that were admittedly open to interpretation. I didn't think any explanation was required to understand each short story, however.
shareYes, some horror (and other weird or surreal fiction) stories have done this for generations. It's an established style. Others are heavy on explanation. In fairness, there have been good works in both categories. I could see where a particular reader or viewer could get tired of one or the other styles if over-exposed to it.
The problem with open-ended stories can obviously be "what the ___ was that supposed to be about?" as we see in the OP's comments. But the problem with a story that subverts ordinary reality but then thoroughly explains its own internal logic is that it loses something of the initial strangeness. It can become more an example of fantasy than horror, the weird, the surreal and lose the "stuck in a nightmare" quality that may be the main point.
People commonly complain about movies spelling everything out for the viewer and talking down to the audience, and then when a movie finally doesn't do that, people complain that there was no explanation. Can't please everyone, I suppose. Southbound does indeed test the viewer's intellect in a way, and you certainly failed that test 😉. If you didn't understand the movie or didn't pay enough attention, you should at least look around the internet for an explanation before assuming there was none. The following page should help you understand and appreciate the movie: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southbound_(2015_film)
sharebut how do other viewers understand the scenes and you not ?
essentially just random scenes with no explanation