Reykjavík Grapevine - 10.03.2017, Page 43

Morbid Curiosity
Exploring the dark with filmmaker
Erlingur Thoroddsen
Words: Parker Yamasaki
Stephen King, the contemporary
father of horror and science fic-
tion, has an interesting theory
about why we enjoy watching hor-
ror movies: “I think that we’re all
mentally ill; those of us outside of
the asylums only hide it a little bet-
ter.” Psychologists and social sci-
entists have analyzed
and theorized endless-
ly about the pleasure
we get from watching
something completely
unpleasant. Their an-
swers vary widely, but
almost all are in agree-
ment that it’s not logic
which draws us in,
it’s emotion.
“Horror movies are
often frowned upon
and disregarded as out of hand,”
filmmaker Erlingur Thoroddsen
says. Erlingur’s debut feature
film ‘Child Eater’ premiered late
last year at the Brooklyn Horror
Film Festival, before a theatrical
run here at Bíó Paradís. “When
I was talking about ‘Child Eater’
last fall, I would say that 85% of
the press I talked to gave me a
variation of ‘this sounds super
cool, but I’m not going to see it be-
cause I don’t like horror films,’”
Erlingur says. “I guess that’s
also an inescapable part of its
charm—the horror film shouldn’t
be for everyone, it should rattle
people and push their buttons.”
Laugh, Scream, Repeat
On February 4, only one season
after ‘Child Eater’, Erlingur’s sec-
ond feature-length film, ‘Rökkur’
(“Rift”), makes its world premier
at the Göteborg International Film
Festival. ‘Rökkur’ departs from the
roller-coaster ride of ‘Child Eater’:
scream, laugh, tense. It’s the story
of two men—Gunnar and Einar—
broken up, reflecting on a dead
relationship in a secluded cabin.
It’s more psychological thriller
than classical horror, centered on
themes like relationships, mem-
ory, and “the feeling of letting go
and then regretting it, even if it
was the right thing to do,” Erlingur
explains, hinting at a personal rift
he was experiencing during the
time of writing.
“When I was writing the film, I
kind of never really thought it was
going to happen. That allowed me
to take a lot more risks
and do some weird stuff
in the script, because
in the back of my head I
was like, ‘This is never
going to be filmed any-
ways,’” Erlingur says.
It happened. The first
draft of ‘Rökkur’ was
finished in December
2015 and they were
shooting by March the
fol lowing year. The
film was shot in fifteen days.
Touchy Subjects
Some risks are more blatant than
others. “I am very conscious of the
fact that this is the first Icelandic
film to seriously tackle a gay rela-
tionship between two adult men,”
Erlingur says. “We haven’t seen a
serious depiction of an adult gay
relationship, which I find very in-
teresting if only for the fact that Ice-
land considers itself a pioneer when
it comes to LGBT rights issues.”
According to King’s theory, our
emotions and fears form their own
body which must be exercised. Er-
lingur’s films will work you out.
“Sometimes it’s that roller-coaster
ride feeling, sometimes it’s the
pure awe of seeing what someone’s
imagination can conjure, some-
time’s it’s being forced to deal with
disturbing aspects that have been
dramatized and maybe fantasized,
but still resonate on some basic
level…” Erlingur says, on why he
enjoys watching horror, and why
he creates it himself: “The overall
effect you want from any film is to
have it move or touch you in some
way. Anything but indifference.”
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Open daily from 11am - 6pm

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THE ICELANDIC
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43The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 03 — 2017
“I think that
we’re all
mentally ill;
those of us
outside of the
asylums only
hide it a little
better.”