Notes on Reproduction: Benjamin and giallo.

For years I've been interested in the kung fu movie. I really didn't know why, until I thought about it the other day. Although the action in the film can be fun to watch, I was amazed at how many of these films were made. Some were written as police thrillers or as post-apocalyptic dystopias or as supernatural parables. Much like the Saw franchise (as pointed out by Chris), once production companies have a successful formula they will just churn out the films until they reach critical mass.

Now I'm watching giallo films. I'm kind of a newcomer to the genre, which is little embarrassing since most horror fanatics have already encountered these films ages ago. Anyway, I recently watched The Black Belly of the Tarantula, and the other night I watched Twitch of the Death Nerve. Ron Kurz, screenwriter for Friday the 13th Part 2, literally lifted two scenes directly from TofDN, and perhaps the original Friday the 13th was inspired by its Italian predecessor.

TofDN had its moments. The gory murder scenes were vivid enough, but the poor editing made most of them laughable. Don't get me started on the plot - it was so convoluted I had to refer to the film's Wikipeida article to keep up with the confused story.

So, back to my original question: why am I so interested in schlocky B-movies and sequels? I'm thinking about reproduction. If, for instance, an original film is made (by original I mean innovative) and then the film is reproduced as a sequel, as though the filmmaker is trying to imitate the aura produced by the original, how is the aura maintained, or is it? If a sequel is a continuation of the narrative, does the tone or atmosphere also continue? Wouldn't the next chapter or volume in a story move in a decidedly new direction?

I just produced questions here, but that does lead me closer to Benjamin's theory than I originally surmised. Questions? Comments? Any recomendations for future giallo viewings?