The Letters to the Editor department is intended to be a forum for our readers to express their own opinions and ideas. While we appreciate the many complimentary letters we receive each day, you won't find them on this page. Instead, you will find letters that go beyond or even contradict what we have written, letters that offer a different perspective and provide a different view of science fiction. If you would like to submit a letter, please use our feedback form or send a message to scifiweekly@scifi.com.
-- Craig E. Engler, Editor
Is Voyager Signaling The Apocalypse?
ccording to Science Fiction Weekly, Star Trek: Voyager
is making deals with professional wrestlers to appear on the
show. Isn't this one of the official signs of the apocalypse?
It does sort of make sense, though. TNT, the home of professional
wrestling, destroys the Babylon 5 spinoff Crusade then,
suspiciously, we find out that Star Trek is dealing with
professional wrestlers. Did Star Trek make a suspicious backdoor
deal to destroy its rival franchise?
No, I'm not crazy. I'm mostly kidding here. Anyway, we all
know pro wrestlers aren't bright enough to pull off this sort
of conspiracy. Or are they?
Steve Sloan
ssloan@hiwaay.net
Sixth Sense Issues Touch Us All
can see why the script for The Sixth Sense was snapped up so quickly. It is
a very moving look at life and death and the things that we all find
important in bringing it to closure. It touched me deeply having recently
lost my father; the scene in the car with Cole and his mother is something I believe we all have
wondered when we
have lost someone dear to us.
William Frye
ramsildor@hotmail.com
Farscape Is A Real Treat
ne of the things I really liked about Star Trek: Deep Space Nine was the ever-changing relationships of the principal and secondary characters.
I'm really impressed that Farscape, with its much smaller cast, seems to be
accomplishing the same thing. I'm intrigued that Crichton and Aeryn Sun are
becoming an item (or are they?). I like tuning in to see what D'Argo or
Zhaan's temperament will be like this week. I like the way that Moya (the ship) affects every
character
without saying a word. And Rygel, the character you love to hate, even has
his redeeming moments. After Yoda, I never thought I'd see muppets that are as believable and
interesting as Rygel and Pilot.
If you're not watching Farscape, you're missing a real treat.
Jim James
jimjames2001@hotmail.com
Blair Witch Depends On The Internet
ecent writers to Science Fiction Weekly are correct: Except for the last few minutes
of The Blair Witch Project, the movie is not all that scary. Their use of
the term mockumentary, however, while initially a good description of the
movie, is not what I would call it. I think a better term would be netfilm.
Why netfilm? Because of the film's continuing interdependence on the
Internet to drive interest in it. Like so many others, I heard the constant
buzz over the Internet long before the film's release. I eagerly waited for
this movie for weeks because a group of friends were passing information about it to me via e-mail. I visited
several Web sites, glimpsed eerie clips of the movie and learned of the
"legend" of the Blair Witch. I was hooked before it came to town.
Despite what a few people told me before I saw it, the film is relatively
easy to understand--and make no mistake about it, I knew I was only
watching a fictional film production. But what has surprised me is the urge
to dig deeper into the film's Web sites now that I have actually seen The Blair Witch Project.
There are too many
loose ends in the script to walk out of the theater fully comprehending what
happened on film. Thus, the need to visit the Web sites again and compare
notes and theories on the movie.
And that is why I call it a netfilm. The Blair Witch Project depends on the
Internet before and after viewing it. Actual time in the theater is only a
part of the movie-going experience for this film. Maybe it is a whole new
genre.
Joe Romano
romano@westol.com
Blair Isn't Typical Hollywood Fare
am on the side of the people who found The Blair Witch Project to be a
relentless study in terror, not the horror kind, although it did include
some
of that element, but more the terror of being hopelessly lost with no hope
of being found. It's like a slow death being portrayed on the screen. If
Heather, Josh and Michael had been rescued and lived happily ever after,
people would have cried out "foul" for giving us a typical Hollywood
ending.
This movie is as far from typical Hollywood as you can get and yet many
moviegoers (a good friend of mine included) couldn't accept its
uniqueness. If you don't show everything on the screen nowadays, most
people
feel cheated, thus the vicious overreaction by a lot of people when the
movie just seems to suddenly end out of nowhere. They can't see how it
couldn't possibly end any other way.
I think that critics have perhaps gone a little overboard in their praise
of
this film as a backlash against big-budget Hollywood releases that fail to
"show us the money," so to speak, and leave us wondering why they cost so
much
to make. I believe that the typical opening credit sequence in many
Hollywood films cost more than the entire budget of The Blair Witch Project. Yet what movie will you more likely look back at when the summer
is over and say it definitely got your juices flowing? If it's not Blair
Witch, then you definitely don't mind throwing your hard-earned money away
watching the "same old same old" that the Hollywood bigwigs keep churning
out.
Wayne Robillard
wrobillard@email.msn.com
See Blair For What It Is
ot one letter, not one review, has addressed The Blair Witch Project
in a reasonable manner. We must remember that this film was an independent film: low budget,
limited production capabilities...the film makers probably closed mom and
dad's credit cards trying to make this thing.
We should not ask simply whether or not the film was "scary." We should
ask whether or not the film attained its goal--did it scare us, all things
considered? Given the funds and resources that the film makers had to work
with, was the film effective?
I believe it was. For an indie film, this thing was frightening. I wish
I could have seen the reaction of the audience at the Cannes Film Festival, who were treated to
a film the likes of which is rarely seen in that environment. I am sure the
reaction was incredibly positive.
We need to see this film as it is, as it was intended to be; an
artistic experiment. I believe it was a successful one.
Sean Jeffries
Transfinit@aol.com
Send The Right Message To Hollywood
aving just read Chris Halliday's Issue No. 122 letter "Blair Witch Is No Scam," I would like to say that I welcome his balanced, no-nonsense
assessment of the film, an objective counterpoint to the extreme opinions
voiced over the past few weeks.
The current debate about this film reminds me of other similar debates in
the past, in particular the controversy around The Matrix a few months ago.
In both cases I found fans' scathing attacks were really over the top and
entirely lacking in perspective.
Which is why I would like to pick up what Halliday says toward the end of
his letter, "...in a landscape filled with Hollywood retreads and
blockbuster wannabe's, Blair Witch is a high point of innovative film
making and should be encouraged." I couldn't agree more. I think fans should be more supportive of films that at least
try to rise above the usual Hollywood fare of stereotyped, brainless
productions, films that present ideas under a new light, films that try to
be original.
Admittedly, with more or less success--I myself found The Blair Witch
Project rather unconvincing, certainly not "the scariest movie in a long
time." Nor did I find it "thoroughly gripping." But still, it was
interesting, and I think the film deserves being given some credit for its innovative format, and for breaking away
from the hallowed conventions of the genre.
A more supportive attitude from fans would certainly be a more encouraging
message to send to the film industry; it might just persuade the people who
matter, the producers and the studios, that there is a public for films--whether SF or, in this case, horror--that are not just mindless entertainment but try to be intelligent and original as well as enjoyable.
This doesn't mean, of course, that we should condone just about anything.
All films should be viewed with a critical eye, and idiotic drivel given
the thumbs down it deserves. But this should not include films that make an
effort to respect the viewers' intelligence. In their case, constructive, not vitriolic, criticism is called for. It would be the right kind of message to send to the important people in Hollywood.
Raymond Perrez
rayperrez@hotmail.com
Learn Some Horror History
n regards to the criticism that The Blair Witch Project has received for
being amateurish, stupid, hard to follow and/or watch, and unrealistic, let
me just say this: Take a lesson in history.
Every new generation of horror reinvents itself to look at horror from a
new aspect. At first it was what you didn't see. Then it became what
little you did see. Then it was cheesy rubber masks and inane plots having
to do with nuclear mutation, invasions and such.
Then the '70s came and once again reinvented the horror film genre
with a little film called the The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. While it was not
the first movie of its kind, it was the first real "splatter" movie to
generate any following whatsoever, be it cult or otherwise. The new style was, "Screw it, let's just show everything." The rest of the '70s through the early '90s were just
that. Endless series of stupid movies that horror fans ate up because it
was the only thing out there.
Friday the 13th, Nightmare on Elm Street, Halloween...any major horror
movie series basked in the idea that gruesome violence and predictable plot
points sold well. The only creative horror movies never did very well
until years later, once the cult following was established. (i.e., the Evil Dead series.)
Then, in 1996, the horror movie genre once again reinvented itself with a
little movie called Scream. From its hip language to its young "hot" cast
to its somewhat unpredictable twists and turns, the new style had been
established. And since then, a whole slew of copycats have hit the theaters, mostly with the same
idea. Urban
Legend, I Know What You Did Last Summer, Halloween H20...all tried to
have the same components as Scream, only they missed a crucial point.
A young cast does not a good movie make. As far as I'm concerned, this new style is already dead,
due to the lack
of competent writing, but Hollywood doesn't want you to know that.
But the makers of The Blair Witch Project did know that. And it's about
time somebody made a horror movie that uses all of the best components of
all of the different horror genres of the past century: mystery, suspense,
psychology, humor, realism and, most importantly, one of the first lessons learned by Hollywood
a long, long
time ago:
What you don't see is sometimes more compelling and scary than what you do
see. Bravo to the makers of this film for forgoing the trends and
forgetting what's "in," and just making a really good scary movie.
Rob McDonald
GrandonSqr@aol.com
Get Over The Blair Witch!
would just like to say something to all these people who keep writing
letters about The Blair Witch Project. It's a movie, get over it.
Every time I get a new issue of Science Fiction Weekly, more people express
their opinion on The Blair Witch Project. I thought it was a good movie and those kids are probably making a lot of
money. But I would think that after the first week people would get over
it and go on to the next new movie. Not this movie, though, oh no, we
couldn't leave those people alone. Just because a movie looked real doesn't mean that it is this important that
we have to talk about it every day of our lives. Get over it please.
Maureen Garver
chezzx@aol.com
Carnival of Souls Is A Masterpiece
f you are really interested in seeing a quality horror film that was made
on a shoestring budget, forget about The Blair Witch Project and spend your money
renting a film titled Carnival of Souls. Carnival of Souls is the most
brilliant, ultra-low-budget horror film ever made. It has music that is
hauntingly beautiful, there is no profanity in it, and the actors are all
very
convincing. The popularity of the original 1960s version of The Haunting
is a good sign that Americans still have the ability to know a great film
from a stinker. So forget about following the crowd, and spend your money,
and time, watching the unsurpassed masterpiece Carnival of Souls. To
those of you who will tell me to "lighten up," my response to you is, "Why
don't you brighten up?"
Tim Fonseca
turkmouse@msn.com
Sliders Needs More Episodes
believe that Sliders is one of the best prime-time series of the decade.
I'm sure that most fans would agree that the constant cast changes have
become an unwelcome addition to the show, but I don't think that it's ready
to go yet. We're just getting used to two new cast members and so many unresolved plots can't be
finished in
just 10 episodes. We still haven't satisfactorily resolved what's
happened to Colin and Quinn.
I think the idea of a "composite" Quinn has to be somehow addressed. Is the
Quinn Mallory that we knew for four years dead or alive? At the very least,
I urge the SCI FI Channel to give Sliders at least a dozen more episodes
such that the show can resolve all of its plot lines satisfactorily. I would be happy and content with even a limited sixth season.
I do feel used by the SCI FI Channel, and they have to try to make amends
by giving this great show a proper and complete conclusion to a five year
phenomenon.
Kyle Cunningham
kyle_cunningham@yahoo.com
