1984's THREADS from the UK is a docu-drama
that eschews the kinds of horrors we've been enjoying so far this Horrorfest
for the kind of horror it's very difficult to enjoy: actual horror. That is to
say, instead of monsters, THREADS is about a nuclear holocaust.
Told through the eyes of several working class
characters in Sheffield, notably two young lovers who have just discovered an
unplanned pregnancy (Karen Meagher and Reece Dinsdale), THREADS unfolds in a
very realistic, methodical and detached manner, which only adds to the horror.
The movie purports to present the events
leading up to and following a nuclear attack with great accuracy. I'm not sure
how real the stuff in the movie really is, but the strength of the flick is
that it's totally convincing. It is not set up as a mockumentary and is clearly
fictional, but it has almost none of the trappings of a traditional narrative
and just proceeds as if it's checking off a list of bad shit that happens when
things go nuclear. The cast is totally convincing, the locations are totally
convincing and there is nothing in the chain of events that seems false.
I'm guessing the movie is not readily
available on current formats since I had to watch it on VHS, but this is one of
those cases where the deteriorated format actually lent itself to making the
whole thing seem even that much more real, as if I'd discovered an artifact
from an alternate timeline.
The most famous sequence of this film is
probably the gory hospital scene in which we see several shots of patients
suffering from severe complications from the nuclear attack. That's the most
shocking and graphic part of the movie, but the scariest parts are really the
most mundane ones because it's easy to imagine things like this happening in
real life.
Although it is well made and unique take on
well traveled subject matter, THREADS does suffer a little from slow pacing.
This is a direct result of the choices to make the movie an anti-narrative, so
the greatest strengths of the movie also work against it. Pacing was probably
not as big of an issue when this unfolded before bewildered eyes on the BBC in
the mid-80s, though, and it's worth sticking around for the last shot.
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