Novocaine Is More Proof That Horror Filmmakers Make Great, Brutal Action Movies

Ask any stunt person, and they'll tell you: the ability to sell taking a punch is just as important, and perhaps more so, than credibly throwing one. Ask any editor or sound designer, and they'll corroborate this and then some. If you've ever watched raw dailies from an action movie, you'll note how oddly weightless a lot of fight sequences become when they're robbed of their rhythm and the satisfying THWAM sound of their body blows. All this is to say that action in cinema is so incredibly dependent on selling the total effect of the violence, even more than show-stopping stunts and feats of strength and dexterity. Since it's all in the timing, it's no wonder that so many great action directors either come from or are adept at comedy — from Buster Keaton to Jackie Chan.

However, there are just as many great action filmmakers who come from the world of horror, too. Of course there's some overlap with comedy, certainly in terms of working out the pitch-perfect timing of a scare or a kill sequence. Yet there's also a quality that horror folks have over pure comedy or pure action folks, which is that their kills tend to have a lot more impact and brutality than most. Horror directors know that it's not just a scream here and a slice there that makes for violence that lingers in the mind. It's as much psychological as it is visceral, which means that they need to engage the audience's imagination while still providing the bloody goods.

As proof of this, look no further than this weekend's new release "Novocaine," an action movie which dabbles in several other genres including rom-com, film noir, and yes, comedy. While "Novocaine" couldn't be accurately described as a horror movie, its action sequences nonetheless have a lot of edge to them. That's partially because of the premise — the film's hero, Nathan Caine (Jack Quaid), suffers from a condition that prevents him from feeling pain, meaning he can take a bigger beating than most regular folks. Yet it's also because directors Dan Berk and Robert Olsen come from a horror background themselves, and although "Novocaine" is their first action movie, they already got so much of the training they need to make action from horror.

While horror comedy is a genre hybrid that most people are aware has a long and varied history, it feels like the action horror hybrid is one that's less discussed. That doesn't mean it's less prevalent; far from it, as films like "Predator," "Blade," "Overlord," this year's "The Gorge," and pretty much the entire output of Screen Gems during the 2000s and 2010s (which very much includes the "Resident Evil" and "Underworld" franchises) can attest to. 

In most of these films, the emphasis is placed more firmly on the action than on the horror — with the exception of a handful of scenes, no one's expecting these movies to scare audiences so much as thrill them. Still, the horror elements add an additional charge to the action, upping the stakes by including threats like vampires, zombies, and other beasties instead of mere human beings. Even when a film is more fantasy-action or sci-fi action than horror — like "The Lord of the Rings" films, or "Upgrade," or "65" — you can bet that a director adept at horror is behind it. In those examples alone, you have the likes of Peter Jackson ("Braindead/Dead Alive"), Leigh Whannell ("The Invisible Man"), and Scott Beck & Bryan Woods ("Heretic"), all veterans of the genre.

In addition to infusing and blending action movies with horror tropes and techniques, sometimes all a horror director needs to do is give their action movie's set pieces and kills a little extra oomph in order to create a bigger impact. Fans of Sam Raimi's "Spider-Man" films are continually pointing out the scene from "Spider-Man 2" whereupon Doctor Otto Octavius (Alfred Molina) is transformed into Doc Ock and his newly intelligent robotic tentacles attack a hospital room's staff in true "Evil Dead" style. John Carpenter gave "Escape From New York" an eerie sense of reality thanks to his mastery of timing and tone. James Wan took the lessons he learned on "Saw" and "Dead Silence" to lend "Death Sentence" the brutality it needed, and then followed up "Insidious" and "The Conjuring" with "Furious 7," allowing that latter film's otherworldly insanity to seem somewhat plausible, too. 

Perhaps one of the best examples of a horror director bringing some extra sauce to his action films is Renny Harlin, who began his career with the horror movies "Prison" and "A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master." As such, his subsequent action efforts, namely "Die Hard 2," "Cliffhanger," and "The Long Kiss Goodnight," all feature kills that wouldn't be out of place in a slasher film, yet lend the action movie just the right bit of spice.

Early on in "Novocaine," when Nathan describes his condition to Sherry (Amber Midthunder), a coworker he's in love with, she excitedly exclaims that this makes him a sort of superhero — an observation which Nathan denies. Turns out they're both kind of right: while Nathan's ability helps him gain the courage to chase after Sherry upon her kidnapping and fight some bad dudes, it doesn't mean that he's invincible. Just because he doesn't feel the pain, doesn't mean his injuries aren't affecting him in other ways. It's thanks to this blend of heightened genre and grounded reality that Berk and Olsen can get away with some truly gnarly gore gags in the film and still keep a sense of danger, while not letting the movie's violence ever get too realistic to be upsetting.

Thus, "Novocaine" features a ton of moments that emphasize pain and bodily harm, only for Nathan to react nonchalantly to all of it. Nathan experiences everything from being stabbed and shot to having his hand fried in oil, and Berk & Olsen play the audience like a fiddle by showcasing the contrast between what's happening to Nathan physically while not letting it impede him emotionally. Eventually, Nathan even learns to use this disconnect to his advantage, first by slamming his fists into broken glass to create a makeshift brass knuckles, and then enduring torture that would break most normal people but hardly phases him. By the time he's using one of his protruding bones to impale an enemy, he's almost supernatural in his creative brutality.

It's imperative, however, that Nathan remain more of an everyman than a superhero or monster, so Berk & Olsen cleverly emphasize the comedy of the emotional disconnect more than the terror of harm. This makes "Novocaine" a little bit of an aspirational body horror movie, which is a rare thing indeed. At every turn, it's clear that Berk & Olsen are using their knowledge of horror (which stems from their prior films like "Villains" and "Significant Other") to enhance the action, which is something every action director should aspire to do, regardless of their background. Directing great action is like being in a successful music group: you can't merely play the hits, you gotta sell them, too.