I just watched They Came Back

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danielma
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I just watched They Came Back

Post by danielma » Wed May 16, 2012 12:20 pm

Well...I finally got around to watching They Came Back out of curiosity...I wanted to see how it compared to Handling the Undead mainly.

Well...it's not hard to see the similarities...I mean They Came Back has a couple who's son comes back...quite similar to Mahler and Anna with Elias.

Not to mention that the kid in They Came Back jumps from a balcony and then proceeds to get up and walk away...Handling, well Elias died from falling from a Balcony

They Came Back has the girlfriend who's dead boyfriend returns...Handling has David and Eva (of course)

It's not hard to see the similarities here between both stories...I don't think JAL ripped them off though, might have just been "Storytellers thinking alike without knowing"

But I will say this, Handling is by far the better story of the two. I liked a lot of the ideas in They Came Back but in the end it just fell flat. For one, I hated the fact that the dead don't look dead. I mean they could pass off as Human...they're a little slower but for the most part, they just look human. One of the things I found fascinating in Handling is the idea of decomposed bodies returning. In Handling, there is a scene that I find both devastating emotionally and quite horrifying in its own way. It's the scene where Mahler is bathing Elias and he is describing Elia's mummifying body. It's heartbreaking simply because Mahler so desperately wants him to be the Elias he remembers, but you also have the physical representation that Elias isn't Elias...he is dead...his physical appearance is not the appearance Mahler remembers...I found that just gut wrenching and very emotionally crippling.

With They Came Back you don't get that sense simply because those beings look like they could pass off for being alive. It really bothered me and in the end, it lost its central idea of people dealing with death. These people don't look too different from the living, most of them have a hint of intellect and personality...they can engage in sexual acts...you could almost swear blind that they were human if it weren't for the thermal readings.

Also, I don't know if I like the idea of them not explaining what exactly happened in that film...I just felt the film was flat. Good idea, but not really done well...I also didn't find it emotionally engaging...I mean Handling, there were some scenes that were tough to read because of how emotionally provoking they were (David and Magnus visiting Eva is one of those moments)...I didn't really have any moment like that with They Came Back

If anything, it made me appreciate Handling the Undead more so because I think its a better take on that same idea. I've always felt that there were flaws with Handling, I think its a good book but quite flawed in some areas...but after seeing They Came Back...it made me appreciate Handling the Undead a little more.

I think They Came Back is worth a look, especially if you liked Handling the Undead...but at the end of the idea, I thought Handling was a superior take on the idea
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