My apologies for missing last week's Friday Frights - had a migraine.
But here we are with the last installment, some stuff I find just really creepy and scary. I watch and and read a lot of horror, but little of it actually scares me. These things did.
The Shining by Stephen King
King's tale of a fragile family isolated in a haunted hotel is somewhat overshadowed these days by Stanley Kubrick's adaptation, which is a shame. There's no denying that Kubrick's film is creepy and beautiful, but it lacks the emotional heart that makes King's book resonate even after the thrill of its terrors has faded. More frightening than the ghosts and hedge animals that prowl the Overlook Hotel's halls are the fact that a flawed, well-intentioned man will have his weaknesses exploited so he can harm the people he loves the most. Now that's scary.
Halloween
John Carpenter's film set the precedent for dozens, maybe hundreds of horror films, but few if any have ever been able to touch it. The unease of the film sets in long before darkness has fallen and the unstoppable Michael Myers is carving up babysitters. There's a peculiar emptiness to the suburban town where the terror takes place, so we know early on that final girl Laurie is all alone, even though she's ostensibly surrounded by neighbors who could help.
"The October Game" by Ray Bradbury
A man who's trapped in an unloving family plots a most gruesome revenge one Halloween night. Last line: "Then, some idiot turned on the lights." Just go read it, you will not be disappointed. The EC comics adaptation is well worth seeking out as well.
"Hush" episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer
The fourth season of Buffy had its ups and downs, but there's no denying that "Hush" is a highlight not just of the season but of the entire series. Silent, cadaverous demons known as "The Gentlemen" have come to town, and steal everyone's voice so they can start carving out victims' hearts in peace and quiet. Though the episode has a great deal of humor (mostly deriving from characters attempting to communicate without speaking), the horror is present as well, from the ghastly, grinning Gentlemen to victims' frantic attempts to cry for help after their voices have been taken. Essential viewing, even if you don't care for the series.
Hope you've enjoyed the Friday Frights!
Friday, October 30, 2015
Friday, October 16, 2015
Friday Frights: Tales of Ordinary Madness
The worst horrors come not from boogeymen or werewolves or vampires, but from the mind. Yes, our minds are tricky things that can plague us with terrible things, and nowhere is this more clear than in these tales.
Repulsion
It's clear from the opening frames of this influential horror film that something is wrong with Carol (Catherine Deneuve). She appears to be in a fugue-like state as she goes about her job as a beautician, but her beauty and passivity keep others from inquiringly too deeply about what goes on in her head. Slowly we come to realize that Carol is, in fact, deeply disturbed. The clues pile up: her reactions of fear and loathing to anything dealing with men and sex, her fascination with a crack in her apartment's wall, her nightmares/fantasies that hands are coming out of the walls to clutch at her, her withdrawal into catatonia as food rots in the kitchen, and more. We're never directly told the cause of Carol's state of mind (though we can make some educated guesses). It's a fascinating, elliptical film, whose influence in use of sound in particular can be felt in movies to this day.
The Yellow Wallpaper
Charlotte Perkins Gilman's famous short story takes us into the mind of a woman who is, by her own admission, suffering from "a slight hysterical tendency" (and possibly from postpartum depression). She's more or less confined to a single room and forbidden any reading material or visitors, as her patronizing husband deems these too stimulating and will impede her mental recovery. But the narrator soon becomes fixated on some particularly ugly yellow wallpaper in her room, and the more she ponders it, the further her mind unravels. The ambiguity of the story makes it all the more intriguing and worrisome.
Assorted films by David Lynch
Lynch's films often feature protagonists in considerable mental distress, at the mercy of the horrors their minds foist on them. There's the last days of Laura Palmer in Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, as she free falls through the toll of years of sexual abuse. There's the in-denial split personality of Fred Madison in Lost Highway, who's running from the consequences of his murderous jealousy. There's the consumed-by-guilt actress who conjures a fantasy to avoid facing the fact that she's had her lover murdered. And let's not even get into the psychodramatic horrors of Eraserhead. Despite the surrealist trappings, these stories are very much tales of ordinary madness, and in their own way, horror movies.
Next week: Humor and horror!
Repulsion
It's clear from the opening frames of this influential horror film that something is wrong with Carol (Catherine Deneuve). She appears to be in a fugue-like state as she goes about her job as a beautician, but her beauty and passivity keep others from inquiringly too deeply about what goes on in her head. Slowly we come to realize that Carol is, in fact, deeply disturbed. The clues pile up: her reactions of fear and loathing to anything dealing with men and sex, her fascination with a crack in her apartment's wall, her nightmares/fantasies that hands are coming out of the walls to clutch at her, her withdrawal into catatonia as food rots in the kitchen, and more. We're never directly told the cause of Carol's state of mind (though we can make some educated guesses). It's a fascinating, elliptical film, whose influence in use of sound in particular can be felt in movies to this day.
The Yellow Wallpaper
Charlotte Perkins Gilman's famous short story takes us into the mind of a woman who is, by her own admission, suffering from "a slight hysterical tendency" (and possibly from postpartum depression). She's more or less confined to a single room and forbidden any reading material or visitors, as her patronizing husband deems these too stimulating and will impede her mental recovery. But the narrator soon becomes fixated on some particularly ugly yellow wallpaper in her room, and the more she ponders it, the further her mind unravels. The ambiguity of the story makes it all the more intriguing and worrisome.
Assorted films by David Lynch
Lynch's films often feature protagonists in considerable mental distress, at the mercy of the horrors their minds foist on them. There's the last days of Laura Palmer in Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me, as she free falls through the toll of years of sexual abuse. There's the in-denial split personality of Fred Madison in Lost Highway, who's running from the consequences of his murderous jealousy. There's the consumed-by-guilt actress who conjures a fantasy to avoid facing the fact that she's had her lover murdered. And let's not even get into the psychodramatic horrors of Eraserhead. Despite the surrealist trappings, these stories are very much tales of ordinary madness, and in their own way, horror movies.
Next week: Humor and horror!
Tuesday, October 13, 2015
Friday, October 9, 2015
Friday Frights: Beautiful Horrors
Horror films don't by necessity have to be ugly-looking. Some excellent movies combine fear and dread with some of the most stunning visuals you'll ever see.
Masque of the Red Death (1964)
One of the many adaptations of Poe stories done in the 1960s, Masque of the Red Death is exceptional for several reasons. It features a nicely evil performance by Vincent Price which, while not rising to the heights of 1968's Witchfinder General, avoids the hamminess that marred some of his genre outings. Price gets good support from Hazel Court and Jane Asher as, respectively, his wife and a young innocent he's bent on corrupting. The screenplay does a good adaptation of the story, combining it with another Poe tale, "Hop Frog." And most of all, it looks gorgeous, thanks mainly to cinematography by Nicolas Roeg. While the plot is (as with all Poe adaptations) slight at best, the use of color is a feast for the eyes, with even such simple things as candles looking lovely in shades of deep green, with the colored rooms and costumes, and, most hauntingly, the various figures of death in all their colors. Watch the trailer.
Suspiria (1977)
Dario Argento's classic is a triumph of style over substance. A young ballerina (the always underrated Jessica Harper) arrives at a German dance academy, and soon discovers that the entire faculty is a coven of witches. Said coven is basically an excuse to show inventive murders, but the film's great triumph is its look. Its use of color (with scenes bathed in gorgeous green, blue, or red light) and use of light (deepest black punctuated by flashes of light both worldly and unworldly) make us believe in the supernatural goings-on even when the screenplay can't. The whole movie has a fever-dream quality that stays with you long afterward.
Watch the trailer.
Les Yeux Sans Visage (1960)
Georges Franju's haunting, melancholy film takes a much quieter approach to horror than the other two films mentioned above. A Parisian doctor kidnaps young women so he can use transplants to restore the beauty of his daughter's face (which was badly scarred in a car accident). The daughter (Edith Scob in an iconic performance) wears a white mask that hides her face except for her eyes, which convey the girl's deep sadness as transplant after transplant fails and her father's attempts become more misguided. The haunting black-and-white cinematography at times gives the film a fairy-tale quality and at other times is coldly clinical in its portrayal of just what the father is doing. Recommended for any horror enthusiast.
Watch the trailer.
Next week: Get out your toys in the attic - it's time for some tales of ordinary madness.
Masque of the Red Death (1964)
One of the many adaptations of Poe stories done in the 1960s, Masque of the Red Death is exceptional for several reasons. It features a nicely evil performance by Vincent Price which, while not rising to the heights of 1968's Witchfinder General, avoids the hamminess that marred some of his genre outings. Price gets good support from Hazel Court and Jane Asher as, respectively, his wife and a young innocent he's bent on corrupting. The screenplay does a good adaptation of the story, combining it with another Poe tale, "Hop Frog." And most of all, it looks gorgeous, thanks mainly to cinematography by Nicolas Roeg. While the plot is (as with all Poe adaptations) slight at best, the use of color is a feast for the eyes, with even such simple things as candles looking lovely in shades of deep green, with the colored rooms and costumes, and, most hauntingly, the various figures of death in all their colors. Watch the trailer.
Suspiria (1977)
Dario Argento's classic is a triumph of style over substance. A young ballerina (the always underrated Jessica Harper) arrives at a German dance academy, and soon discovers that the entire faculty is a coven of witches. Said coven is basically an excuse to show inventive murders, but the film's great triumph is its look. Its use of color (with scenes bathed in gorgeous green, blue, or red light) and use of light (deepest black punctuated by flashes of light both worldly and unworldly) make us believe in the supernatural goings-on even when the screenplay can't. The whole movie has a fever-dream quality that stays with you long afterward.
Watch the trailer.
Les Yeux Sans Visage (1960)
Georges Franju's haunting, melancholy film takes a much quieter approach to horror than the other two films mentioned above. A Parisian doctor kidnaps young women so he can use transplants to restore the beauty of his daughter's face (which was badly scarred in a car accident). The daughter (Edith Scob in an iconic performance) wears a white mask that hides her face except for her eyes, which convey the girl's deep sadness as transplant after transplant fails and her father's attempts become more misguided. The haunting black-and-white cinematography at times gives the film a fairy-tale quality and at other times is coldly clinical in its portrayal of just what the father is doing. Recommended for any horror enthusiast.
Watch the trailer.
Next week: Get out your toys in the attic - it's time for some tales of ordinary madness.
Tuesday, October 6, 2015
Friday, October 2, 2015
Friday Frights: Old-School Spookiness
Hello and welcome to the first of this month's Friday Frights, a weekly celebration of the horror genre.
This week I want to call out some nice, old-fashioned horrors. They're spooky and eerie and a bit genteel, but don't worry — I'll bring on the crazier stuff in future installments.
The Changeling
This sublime ghost story came out in the early 1980s and was buried in a glut of horror films, but it's got a considerable cult following. George C. Scott is John, a composer whose wife and daughter die in a roadside accident. Three months later, the still-grieving John is trying to move on with life; he takes a teaching position at a college and rents a gorgeous old mansion so he'll have the peace and quiet he needs to create. Unfortunately, peace and quiet are in short supply as he is wakened each morning by rhythmic banging noises and experiences other strange phenomenon. It's soon clear that the mansion is haunted by the ghost of a child, and the screenplay cleverly gives John a reason to stay in the haunted house, as he hopes to help the child to ease his grief and assuage his guilt at being unable to save his own child. But John uncovers some nasty, buried secrets and learns why the child's ghost is not at rest.
The Changeling's scares may bore some modern audiences, especially those used to jump cuts and gore shots. There's almost no blood, though there is a fairly upsetting scene of murder. What makes the movie work so well is its melancholy tone and its sympathetic characters, particularly John. Recommended, and it's the sort of movie you can watch with your folks.
The Monkey's Paw
This classic short story by W. W. Jacobs has been imitated countless times, but is premise never gets old. That's because it offers a dark take on the ultimate wish — to bring a loved one back from the dead. A nice old couple obtain the titular monkey's paw, which has the power to grant three wishes. The couple wish for cash, and get it — as an insurance settlement when their son dies in a horrific accident. The grief-stricken mother uses the paw for her second wish — for the son to be alive again. But will this wish be fulfilled in the way she hopes? Read it and let me know what you think.
Carnival of Souls
This low-budget wonder, made by film-makers who usually did educational and training films, opens with a carful of boys challenging a carful of girls to a drag race. The girls' car goes off a bridge and into a river, and a considerable time later, sole survivor Mary is found on the muddy river shore with no clear recollection of how she survive the accident. Mary almost immediately starts driving to a far town to take a job, and along the way finds herself haunted by a mysterious, cadaverous man and drawn to an abandoned lakeside pavilion. While the story of Carnival of Souls is slight and its ending has been stolen so many times that it will no longer be the jaw-dropper it no doubt was back in 1962, it's still remarkable in its use of sound and especially imagery, some of which is still being imitated in movies to this day. It may not surprise you, but it will definitely stay with you.
I hope these works get your October off to a good start!
Next Friday: Beautiful Horrors or, When Scary is Pretty
This week I want to call out some nice, old-fashioned horrors. They're spooky and eerie and a bit genteel, but don't worry — I'll bring on the crazier stuff in future installments.
The Changeling
This sublime ghost story came out in the early 1980s and was buried in a glut of horror films, but it's got a considerable cult following. George C. Scott is John, a composer whose wife and daughter die in a roadside accident. Three months later, the still-grieving John is trying to move on with life; he takes a teaching position at a college and rents a gorgeous old mansion so he'll have the peace and quiet he needs to create. Unfortunately, peace and quiet are in short supply as he is wakened each morning by rhythmic banging noises and experiences other strange phenomenon. It's soon clear that the mansion is haunted by the ghost of a child, and the screenplay cleverly gives John a reason to stay in the haunted house, as he hopes to help the child to ease his grief and assuage his guilt at being unable to save his own child. But John uncovers some nasty, buried secrets and learns why the child's ghost is not at rest.
The Changeling's scares may bore some modern audiences, especially those used to jump cuts and gore shots. There's almost no blood, though there is a fairly upsetting scene of murder. What makes the movie work so well is its melancholy tone and its sympathetic characters, particularly John. Recommended, and it's the sort of movie you can watch with your folks.
The Monkey's Paw
This classic short story by W. W. Jacobs has been imitated countless times, but is premise never gets old. That's because it offers a dark take on the ultimate wish — to bring a loved one back from the dead. A nice old couple obtain the titular monkey's paw, which has the power to grant three wishes. The couple wish for cash, and get it — as an insurance settlement when their son dies in a horrific accident. The grief-stricken mother uses the paw for her second wish — for the son to be alive again. But will this wish be fulfilled in the way she hopes? Read it and let me know what you think.
Carnival of Souls
This low-budget wonder, made by film-makers who usually did educational and training films, opens with a carful of boys challenging a carful of girls to a drag race. The girls' car goes off a bridge and into a river, and a considerable time later, sole survivor Mary is found on the muddy river shore with no clear recollection of how she survive the accident. Mary almost immediately starts driving to a far town to take a job, and along the way finds herself haunted by a mysterious, cadaverous man and drawn to an abandoned lakeside pavilion. While the story of Carnival of Souls is slight and its ending has been stolen so many times that it will no longer be the jaw-dropper it no doubt was back in 1962, it's still remarkable in its use of sound and especially imagery, some of which is still being imitated in movies to this day. It may not surprise you, but it will definitely stay with you.
I hope these works get your October off to a good start!
Next Friday: Beautiful Horrors or, When Scary is Pretty
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