![]() Whilst “Scream” solidified this approach, Craven was already tinkering with meta-textuality in 1994’s “ New Nightmare,” his sort-of return to the “Nightmare on Elm Street” franchise, where members of the original film are haunted by a demonic Freddy Kruger, who has leapt out of the movie and into real life. Wes Craven, who made a splash in the genre with cutting-edge works like “ Last House on the Left” and “ Nightmare on Elm Street,” used the opportunity to thoughtfully reflect on the genre, deconstruct it, and inspire another successful wave of horror movies. ![]() When things are okay at home, though, things can get a little dull, and the nineties will never be remembered as the best time for horror, largely because America was enjoying a placid period of peace and prosperity (thanks a lot, Clinton). In the sixties and seventies there was something of a horror boom as a response to Vietnam and the shifting civil unrest in America. It’s usually when things are turbulent politically that the best horror movies are born. We’ll leave it to you to judge which category “This Is The End” falls into ( our verdict is here), but in the meantime here’s an eclectic list of ten films from diverse corners of our film collection that we think embody the term nicely, for better or worse. Done excessively it can just be tiresome, and a film can devour itself ouroboros-style or, in a blunter idiom, disappears up its own arse. Done well, it can add density to a serious subject, or levity to comedy, but done badly it can pull the audience out of the story for no reason. It can be intentional, as it is in the films on this list, or accidental (like when a movie featuring Star A playing a handbag snatcher plays the week after Star A is caught snatching handbags). Meta can be autobiographical, satirical, it can be in service of a postmodernist, deconstructionist agenda or unmoored from any agenda at all. Richard Burton in “ What’s New, Pussycat? ,” Jeanne Moreau in “ A Woman Is A Woman,” Bill Murray in “ Zombieland ”), an arch one-liner or even a quick glance to the camera. Oscars 2023: Best Production Design Predictions ![]() Seth Rogen Apologizes for Putting Emma Watson in 'Uncomfortable Situation' on 'This Is the End' Seth Rogen, Pottery Maker: How 'This Is the End' Inspired Him to Get Into Design It’s merely another step in the ever evolving sub-category of the meta movie, and it inspires today’s feature. But that is the level it’s taken to with this week’s “ This Is The End,” in which a host of young Hollywood stars including Seth Rogen, James Franco, Jonah Hill et al play, well, a host of young Hollywood stars including Seth Rogen, James Franco, Jonah Hill et al. But including the odd meta-textual quip is one thing (there is another example in the self same movie where Grant refers to the character played by Ralph Bellamy as looking “like that actor, Ralph Bellamy”) - stretching that impulse across a whole film is something else entirely. A meta-textual layer, if you will, known in these po-mo times as “meta” for short, because we’re pretty much on first-name terms with the concept by now. Archibald Leach, of course, was the unglamorous moniker that Grant was born with, and while by no means integral to an understanding of the plot, that knowing reference does give the remark an extra layer. “…the last man that said that to me was Archie Leach just a week before he cut his throat,” says Cary Grant in “ His Girl Friday.” At which a certain portion of the audience (if they caught the gag at all, so rapid fire is Howard Hawks’ movie) presumably smiled sagely to themselves.
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