The Horror List Discussion and Suggestions (Genre Project)

[DarkImbecile]

I assume that they are telling Carol Anne not to go into the light because that means death, and they are trying to retrieve her rather than smooth her passage.

My memory of my feeling of that scene is that the medium's fear is that the evil presence is hiding in that light rather than merely "death", but I could be wrong (or maybe it's just not clearly spelled out). I might revisit this one.

I just rewatched Poltergeist a few weeks ago, and I think Colin's interpretation is right; I think the medium even describes the souls in the house as being "lost on their way to the light".

[Feego]

I just rewatched Poltergeist a few weeks ago, and I think Colin's interpretation is right; I think the medium even describes the souls in the house as being "lost on their way to the light".

Yes she does. The following dialogue is copied from the quotes section on IMDb:

Tangina: There is no death. There is only a transition to a different sphere of consciousness. Carol Anne is not like those she's with. She is a living presence in their spiritual earthbound plane. They are attracted to the one thing about her that is different from themselves - her life-force. It is very strong. It gives off its own illumination. It is a light that implies life and memory of love and home and earthly pleasures, something they desperately desire but can't have anymore. Right now, she's the closest thing to that, and that is a terrible distraction from the *real* light that has finally come for them. You understand me?
[Diane shakes her head]
Tangina: These souls, who for whatever reason are not at rest, are also not aware that they have passed on. They're not part of consciousness as we know it. They linger in a perpetual dream state, a nightmare from which they can not awake. Inside the spectral light is salvation, a window to the next plane. They must pass through this membrane where friends are waiting to guide them to new destinies. Carol Anne must help them cross over, and she will only hear her mother's voice. Now... hold on to yourselves.
[brief pause]
Tangina: There's one more thing. A terrible presence is in there with her. So much rage, so much betrayal, I've never sensed anything like it. I don't know what hovers over this house, but it was strong enough to punch a hole into this world and take your daughter away from you. It keeps Carol Anne very close to it and away from the spectral light. It *lies* to her, it tells her things only a child could understand. It has been using her to restrain the others. To her, it simply *is* another child. To us, it is the Beast.
[long pause]
Tangina: Now, let's go get your daughter.

Carol Anne is not dead, so she herself doesn't need to move toward the light and pass through it, otherwise she'll never come back. That's why it's very dangerous for her to move toward the light. The light is not bad, it's just not Carol Anne's time.

[Rayon Vert]

Thanks for the correction - bad remembering on my part, not for the last time!

[colinr0380]

A bit of a tangent but this discussion brought memories of that TV movie about a child dying from AIDS, Go Toward The Light strongly to mind. Its more of a coping with terminal illness drama than a horror film (though there's a fine line), but that's really the film which taught me as a kid about never approaching bright light sources, especially at the end of long tunnels, unless you were absolutely certain you need to go there!

[therewillbeblus]

Berberian Sound Studio
I imagine this film would be even better if the DVD didn't subtitle the Italian in the initial hour. The tension in Jones' psychology seems largely formed by his inability to understand and so us understanding takes away from being absorbed in his tension. The nerve here isn't as raw as in Katalin Varga. This is a far more humourous film and it doesn't seem to treat it's protagonist with the same respect. That's a logical move given that what Jones' suffers isn't anywhere up to what she did, but I would have liked this more as less of a joke.

The fear of the unknown and feelings of isolation are great sources for the genre. Strickland handles it well giving a lot of care to the experience of those ideas. He crafts an excellent film, but I mean to say that it would become a great film with just a slight more sincerity towards its protagonist. Certain choices are great. Never seeing the film adds a lot whether it be maintaining the tone, leaving Jones' reaction ambiguous, or just not rendering the whole film a farce on every level. The repeated silence sign is a pleasantly creepy motif along with a myriad of other positives. Basically, when I think of the film I think of The Cremator, probably a bigger resource than any giallo, or The Belly of an Architect and how they handled a similar relationship to their protagonists in a superior fashion. The Greenaway in particular seems relevant given how that likewise deals with an absurd protagonist undergoing very real horrors. Despite Greeenaway seeming more wry in his artistic personality and developing the protagonist in the manner of joke sees the problem he faces as one worth empathizing with. I'm not sure if I get that here. Perhaps that is because of how obscure Strickland keeps elements of the horror.

Seeing this last in my weaving through Strickland’s primary features helped me understand the problems pointed out above when viewing his filmography through a more versatile context, though I agree with pretty much all of it. This seems a lot more like In Fabric in a playful rendering of the absurd holding no bounds including that of character. The film’s stance may be less classically empathetic than Katalin Varga or The Duke of Burgundy (it feels ridiculous to call the relationship between creator or audience to any of Strickland’s characters ‘classic’ in any way) but there is a respect insofar as the people in these more obscure works are toyed with less (like in a film by the Coens or Lanthimos, for example) and treated with an equality as every other aspect of the viewpoint Strickland imposes toward the entire milieu.

Even still, there is a love for his characters in both this and In Fabric that recognizes their humanity before opting for an insane spill of style to covering all with goop, prioritizing a laughing absurdist position over sobering characterization. I don’t think Strickland loses that perspective even when his interests shift, but the attention can be lessened and ultimately clouded by the attitude. Since I’m obviously coupling this with his latest film and categorizing the other two together by a (probably arbitrary) denominator of position/hierarchal placement of viewpoint for intent, it’s hard to think much of this film when analyzing from this lens in the context of the limited oeuvre. To knives’ points it does feel like a half-measure between those two and his latest full-tilt venture, though I think it would be more fair to call it a ‘halfway mark’ instead and fully committed to whatever it’s doing. I’m not sure it fully works either way, even if I can see (from the future/now) how Strickland is torn between priorities he’s testing out within his open-minded perspective and eclectic interests of angular exploration. If I hadn’t seen In Fabric this might be a more curious film, but I see it as a bridge to realising that masterpiece.

[bottled spider]

Just to tie up the loose ends on the discussion about The Light in near death experiences, this scene from There's Something About Mary may clarify matters.

[colinr0380]

There's also the Day Today report about near death experiences, that I'm afraid underpins far too much of my information about the afterlife!

[thirtyframesasecond]

Sure, and that’s the uneven curiosity of Green for me- I never know when he’s going to phone it in with an ambivalence-as-apathy to the material, or if he’s going to put the energy and effort into the right places. I think he does try, or thinks he’s trying, but only clicks occasionally. George Washington, All the Pretty Girls, and Pineapple Express have a lot of talent behind the camera, but everything else lives on a wide range of good to terrible, and I haven’t even seen that Jonah Hill Sitter movie that I hear is worse than Your Highness.

I missed this but Undertow is his best film and a very, very good film by any measure.

[therewillbeblus]

Lipstick: Parts of this worked for me, largely because of the complicated details that are twisted into the mix to layer a tiresome genre. First, there is the curiously elusive deconstruction of Sarandon’s profile coupled with his frighteningly unexpected jump to violence with little to no warning. He’s weird, sure (and the aggressively terrible music he plays her in earnest is a perfect initiator to bubble some anxiety that’s about the jump off the rails) but the development moves from passive jealousy and emasculation to violent control without the building blocks of characterization to create a stable road. This is what makes this film horror rather than a thriller: the unexpected change in personality, the reminder of social unpredictability, both in the narrative and in severing the rules of our relationship with the medium, in denying these clues that help forge mastery of the viewer. It’s an intelligent setup, though the trigger warnings are extra high here as a result- these rapes are even more brutal than usual - a weird sentence to write but true. The sisters’ relationship helps to save some of the rest of the movie because the stakes of any revenge aren’t wholly pathological like in Ms. 45 or purely selfish, but based in love, empathy, and protection of another- basically a kind of altruism instead of self-possessed catharsis, or at least that’s a slight additive subtext to the clearly impulsive actions that define the vengeful breaking point.

The film is also a kind of social horror, especially viewed today, regarding the sexist trial tactics that actually work. I can’t imagine watching this film as a woman. To be honest, I had a hard time as it is. For all the nuances for which I can credit this film, there are faults that I can’t ignore. The film’s middle section is painfully ambient in an uneven mixture of moods, a courtroom drama that transmits its own cold shivers in gaslighting and powerlessness followed by a mature resilience, only to reveal that attitude as a facade.

This sounds like an original departure for the genre and it kind of is, but it’s more interesting conceptually than in practice. The bookends of horror help amplify the body of the film as its own shade of discomfort in juxtaposition, but the problem is that the resilience itself in letting go and moving on feels refuted and invalidated as an effective coping skill, which has puzzling implications for those living with trauma through that exact method of resilience (as opposed to, say, violence - so like, most trauma survivors?) - I admire the ideas and offbeat structural ambitions, as well as the impressive stylistic methodology in craft that I haven’t even touched on, but ultimately I feel like there’s a lot of strong moments in a film that doesn’t exactly hold them steadily together. Maybe that’s the point, to view this as a horror film, a bad dream of the powerlessness of women in a dramatically patriarchal society, rather than a cathartic revenge fantasy? I can buy that, and the film may work better when viewed through that lens, but I still liked about two thirds of this, and which two of those thirds depends on which position I want to take. The first part is great no matter what, though.

[Rayon Vert]

For those looking for viewing suggestions, here’s my “short” list of ~100 films I’ve set aside to whittle a top 50 out of

SpoilerShow

A Bucket of Blood
All the Boys Love Mandy Lane
Alone in the Dark
An Unlocked Window (the Alfred Hitchcock Hour [1965 version])
Anguish
A Night to Dismember
AntiChrist
Bad Dreams
Beetlejuice
Black Swan
the Blackcoat’s Daughter
the ‘Burbs
Carrie
the Crazies (new)
Dead Alive
demonlover
Der Fan
Detention
Don’t Go to Sleep
Don't Look Now
eXistenZ
the Faculty
Fascination
Fear
Final Destination 3
the Fly
the Flypaper (Tales of the Unexpected)
Frailty
Freaked
Freeway
Fun
the Girl in a Swing
Glasser: Shape (music video)
Halloween
Happy Death Day
Hard Candy
the Hitcher
Home Sweet Home
the House on Sorority Row
the House of the Devil
the House on Haunted Hill (remake)
I Married a Witch
I Still See You
Inferno
Innocent Blood
Intruder
Invasion of the Body Snatcher (1978)
Isabel
It Follows
L'annulaire
La vie lointaine
Lake Placid
Last House on the Left
Le puits et le pendule
the Legend of Beaver Dam
Lifeforce
Link
Lipstick
Lord of Illusions
the Lost Boys
Maniac (1980)
Matinee
Monsters
mother!
Near Dark
Night Has a Thousand Eyes
the Nightcomers
the Old Dark House
Opera
Over the Garden Wall
the Owl Service
Phantom of the Paradise
Planet Terror
the Prowler
Psycho
Scream 2
Single White Female
the Skin I Live In
the Slumber Party Massacre
Sorority Row
Sound of My Voice
Spellbinder
the Spiral Staircase
the Stepfather
Surviving Edged Weapons
Targets
Terror Train
Texas Chainsaw Massacre: the Next Generation
Torture Garden
Tremors
Triangle
Tucker and Dale vs Evil
Twixt
the Uninvited (2009)
Upstream Color
the Village
Wait Until Dark
the Walking Dead (1936)
War of the Worlds (2005)
When a Stranger Calls Back
X: the Man With X Ray Eyes

Domino, when you did that really extensive slasher run (which I'm having trouble locating), did you post a top ten of those or something to that effect? If not, would you be able to come up with one (if it's not too much effort)? I probably will not cover slashers for this project, but I'm just curious about the results of your viewing exercise, and maybe would refer back to it at some point in the future.

[domino harvey]

I posted a top ten (in alphabetical order) of 80s Slashers in the thread for the Burning a few years back:

Alone in the Dark (1982)
Anguish (1987)
Bad Dreams (1988)
Home Sweet Home (1981) Although this one is more of an "advanced studies" recommendation
the House on Sorority Row (1983) And in a rare case, the remake, Sorority Row (2009), is even better-- do a double feature!
Intruder (1989)
Maniac (1980)
the Prowler (1981)
the Slumber Party Massacre (1982)
Terror Train (1980)

[Rayon Vert]

Thanks!

[domino harvey]

I forgot I posted links to my initial writeups for those ten as well, it may be helpful too

Alone in the Dark (1982)
Anguish (1987)
Bad Dreams (1988)
Home Sweet Home (1981)
the House on Sorority Row (1983) (and Sorority Row)
Intruder (1989)
Maniac (1980)
the Prowler (1981)
the Slumber Party Massacre (1982)
Terror Train (1980)

[Rayon Vert]

The Hound of the Baskervilles (Fisher 1959). (1st viewing) Another limit case regarding the horror category. A few changes have been made to sex it up just slightly and make it a little scarier, in fact quite a few have been made in terms of the plot itself, but I was surprised how, prologue aside, still overall tame this was, and in that view more of a “mainstream” film for Hammer. Again extremely solid acting on the back of great casting, and pleasing aesthetics. Overall though I still prefer the Rathbone version, in part because of the black and white photography fits the story better (although the colors here are subdued and it’s lit appropriately). Whether on the side of evil or good (see his Van Helsing also), Cushing is almost always recognizable as the same single-minded obsessive!


Dracula Has Risen from the Grave (Francis 1968). (rewatch) It feels like perhaps changes have been brought in to appeal to a younger audience, with a young couple-to-be taking the place of the adult foursome in the previous Dracula Prince of Darkness, the lad here a chest-baring, beer-drinking, atheist dead ringer for Roger Daltrey, the girl the especially appealing Veronica Carlson. The sex is played up more strongly too, with a lot of more obvious, late Hammer cleavage shots. The purity of the atmosphere in the previous two Dracula entries is sacrificed somewhat, but I find this very enjoyable in its own right. The story and characters involving the young people, the Monsignor uncle and the folks at the inn are well-written, staged and played, and interestingly the religious angle with Dracula is ramped up (he’s taking revenge for an exorcism performed on his castle – Dracula’s Revenge would have been a more apt title than the nondescript, and slightly inaccurate, one used). The theme of Dracula as seductor/rapist is more pronounced here also, and Francis brings his own stylistic touches, like the use of color as Mr. Sausage wrote, and I love those sped-up shots of Dracula maniacally whipping his carriage horses through the forest. Lots of different thrills here, the most entertaining of the series and possibly in the end the most likeable for me.


The Plague of the Zombies (Gilling 1966). (1st viewing) A new turn for Hammer contributing to the development of the zombie film, but it definitely builds on the pre-existing Dracula/Frankenstein/etc. Gothic tropes: an undead state created by infectious-disease, grave robbing, the hidden occult circle, and cast in the very recognizable 19th century Hammer universe. But it’s a really solid and well-made film. Tremendous sets, really nice photography and direction, interesting and good newcomers like Clare, Pearce and Williams along with the reliable-as-usual Morell. The innovative zombie scenes come at the end, but the progressive mystery uncovering and the atmospheric drama thriller that make up most of this film are truly successful and enjoyable in themselves.


Poltergeist (Hooper 1982). (rewatch) Given that Spielberg not only produced it, but came up with the story and co-wrote the screenplay (which wasn’t the case with E.T., released a week apart), in addition to at least having a hand in the direction as we know by now, he’s definitely the auteur here. This is like the darker, mirror image of E.T., with the paranormal replacing the aliens: the southern California suburbs, the young blonde girl and the older boy, the very detailed, realistic ordinary middle-class life setting, the toy-filled bedrooms, bicycles, dog, etc. It’s definitely a fun and well-made film, and the horror/terror level isn’t mild but at the same time still retains the quality of a good old-fashioned fright fest. It’s a bit of a strange brew that way, like a horror film for kids that at the same time is too intense for (young) kids – maybe a film for grown-up kids is the best description (this division is reflected in the fact that, according to Wiki, the film initially got an R rating but Spielberg & Hooper managed to then get it changed to PG). Maybe that, along with the level of spectacle, makes it a likeable but not quite a favorite film for me. I remember later in the 80s when Aliens came out how Ripley was the subject of social commentary on a shift in female characters taking up previously male exclusive action hero roles. This isn’t exactly the same sort of film but it’s striking how the mother Diane is the central (action) heroine figure here (and JoBeth Williams’ performance is definitely a stand-out aspect of the film), and this would at first glance provide a counter example or exception to the more frequently observed accent on the significance of the father (present or absent) in the director’s films.

Just a weird, synchronistic little note: a few days before I was watching a video detailing the Shining documentary Room 237, and I was paying close attention to a lot of the film’s details during this revisit and when Carol Anne contacts the spirits through the television set for the second time, in her parents’ bedroom after the storm, the clock on the TV reads… 2:37. Likely a coincidence, but given how this film explicitly references many other films (Star Wars, Alien, A Guy Named Joe), maybe just not?


The Abominable Snowman (Guest 1957). (1st viewing) Average at best, though with some good moments. This is more of an adventure drama, with eventually the threat of the creature looming. There are some parallels to King Kong, with the lead expeditioner in it for financial and fame motivations we find out. Cushing’s role is the sober scientist, and frankly a bit dull. Attractive location shots in snowy mountains alternate with more obviously studio stage close-ups. In the end, the promise of monster horror eventually evolves into something with more of the feeling of science fiction.


The Omen (Donner 1976). (rewatch) I don’t know what the current consensus is about this once very popular and iconic film, but it seems you don’t hear about it much anymore. I was surprised how very good it still was overall, even if some of the material is a bit silly and the dialogue in some scenes could have used some work. The story is very strong and the mystery narrative is interesting, woven around the developing events around Damien’s unfolding destiny. (Just after viewing the film, as I was re-reading parts of Noël Carroll’s book The Philosophy of Horror, there’s a chapter where he discusses how almost all horror plots revolve around knowing the unknown, either through the “overreacher” plot or most often the “complex discovery” plot, and he then goes on to use the example of this film as an especially successful instance. It rings very true to me when he says that the viewer’s involvement in this process of discovery is an important source of pleasure that people derive from the genre. Just in this last batch, that was definitely true for me here with this film, as with The Plague of the Zombies.)

There are several really memorably staged scenes, mostly around the kills, and almost a bit of a vampiric undertone at times (“drink the blood of Christ” Father Brennan keeps insisting, whose attempts to inform and convince the ambassador, by the way, could not have been more ineptly and ineffectively thought out!; the method that has to be used to kill the son of Satan; the way the nanny attacks Peck near the end), and there’s a general Gothic feel about the Thorn mansion. That tricycle scene really prefigures The Shining, another film where the father is intent on killing his son. And that last shot really is one for the ages. Good-looking photography throughout by Gilbert Taylor, and nice score by Goldsmith here, as with Poltergeist (that guy sure knew how to write memorable tunes ).

[barryconvex]

Demon Seed (Donald Cammell 1977)

If Avengers: Age Of Ultron's central plot involved Ultron trying to get Scarlett Johansson pregnant, Demon Seed's makers could've sued for copyright infringement. This story of an evil AI that leaves the confines of its laboratory, takes up residence in Julie Christie's house and becomes obsessed with impregnating her (if you've seen the Treehouse of Horror XII segment House Of Whacks, you know the story) is somehow weirdly plausible despite being patently ridiculous. And also totally excellent. Its level of silliness is through the roof and there's one particular plot hole the size of the Grand Canyon but the clumsy practical effects are infectious, it never devolves into mindless violence/gore and both Christie and Fritz Weaver (who plays her husband, the inventor of the AI) are engaged enough to keep things from falling apart. I enjoyed the hell out of this.

[colinr0380]

The other thing to add is that the AI in Demon Seed is voiced by Robert Vaughan! And the film seems a bit more prescient than it once did (Though still incredibly silly. I do remember it making me eye the teasmaid warily for a few years though) now that we potentially have the 'internet of things' on the horizon!

It is slightly strange to think that the thing that might link all the three Donald Cammell films together is the theme of horrible assaults taking place in high class kitchens! And of twisted parodies of domesticity in general.

[Slaphappy]

Demon Seed is wonderful AI shlock. The sleazy HAL meets Frankenstein’s monster plot is based on Koontz book and Cammell’s direction and visual touch brings it weirdly abstract and mind altering appeal. I would not be surprised if Under the Skin and Ex Machina had taken some influence.

[colinr0380]

Not to mention Inseminoid, which is probably just as much influenced by the trippy impregnation sequence of this film as by Alien.

Here's the Moviedrome introduction to Demon Seed from 1997 by Mark Cousins, when it was shown as the second half of a double bill with Westworld! It was also the same year Moviedrome showed Fahrenheit 451, which also features at least one iteration of a character played by Julie Christie similarly house-bound and communicating through screens!

[zedz]

The other thing to add is that the AI in Demon Seed is voiced by Robert Vaughan! And the film seems a bit more prescient than it once did (Though still incredibly silly. I do remember it making me eye the teasmaid warily for a few years though)

That teasmaid is probably sitting forlornly in a cupboard somewhere thinking back fondly on the days when she watched you sleep and was hoping against hope that one day you'd see her as more than just an appliance.

[domino harvey]

I thought Demon Seed was horrible and ridiculous. I personally didn’t get a lot of enjoyment out of the rape and torture of Julie Christie by her kitchen, so I couldn’t really enjoy it on a goofy level either

[colinr0380]

The other thing to add is that the AI in Demon Seed is voiced by Robert Vaughan! And the film seems a bit more prescient than it once did (Though still incredibly silly. I do remember it making me eye the teasmaid warily for a few years though)

That teasmaid is probably sitting forlornly in a cupboard somewhere thinking back fondly on the days when she watched you sleep and was hoping against hope that one day you'd see her as more than just an appliance.

I'm ready to have to pay for having cheated on it with that coffee maker in recent years.

[knives]

Upgrade (dir. Whannell)
I kind of wish there was less Robocop and more Cronenberg to this as its the one part to this film that I wasn't digging. It's conception of the future is the right mix of impractical and realistic to be continuously fascinating. Likewise the camerawork and lighting is just over the top enough that I was impressed and having fun with what new tricks Whannell would present next. The upgrades are fascinating as well with just enough of a play to the moral to make it seem more than just a blood and guts fest, though even as just that it's a lot of baseline fun. A lot of that has to do with the lead who has a Tom Hardy puppy dog quality that keeps him sympathetic and pitiable in the face of his increasing guilt.

Which makes the one drawback all the more frustrating. The script plays coy with who the big bad is even though its obvious from frame one because like Whannell I've seen Robocop. It makes this fresh film appear trite and tired and forces an rather narratively inorganic body to a compelling premise.

Split (dir. Shyamalan)
Seems to start off as a Psycho riff. Fortunately Shyamalan is almost instantly bored by that saving us his version of a DePalma film. Instead we're given another shot of his ideas concerning myths which make the ending sensible at least from a thematic stand point. It's also a fun movie with Shyamalan continuing to play his horrors to comedy like with The Visit. Despite the comedy the horror also works incredibly well being unnerving to an incredible degree. The Kanye scene for example starts off as a comedy masterpiece with me laughing hard until I was too off put to say anything.

Overlord (dir. Avery)
Here's something I never thought I would have to say for a Nazi zombie movie. This was a tad too milquetoast and Oscar friendly to really satisfy the use of Nazis as zombies. I don't mean this should have been a blood soaked mess, but most of the film plays indistinguishably from a Fred Zinnemann version of the war. It's nearly an hour into things before we see our first severed head for heaven's sake. Even though I dislike it this really does put into relief how well calculated Tarantino's Nazi fudging played with exploitation sleepiness in an interesting way. Wake me up when Sion Sono makes his Nazi zombie movie. Maybe then we'll have an exciting one.

Life (dir. Espinosa)
A dumb version of Alien that to be honest kind of worked for me due to its cruelty and brisk pacing. Despite the corporate bro feel to the opening the film manages to succeed thanks to understanding that it is the team professionalism that makes this sort of film work. Unlike other recent Alien films, I'm looking at you ironically Scott, this is about a united team doing their best to deal with an emotionally distraught situation.

[therewillbeblus]

PSA that there are some newer horror shorts available to see free online at MyFrenchFilmFestival. Some people here may get more out of Diversion than I did, but I can recommend Une sœur and La Nuit des sacs plastiques easily, with the former holding more universal appeal, and posted some thoughts here.

[Rayon Vert]

The Witches (Frankel 1966). (1st viewing) This came out later in the same year as The Plague of the Zombies, and there are striking similarities in the basic setup: voodoo witchcraft practiced secretly by a community in a quiet and quaint English town (when at some point the protagonist, played by Joan Fontaine, is threatened she’ll be sent to Cornwall, I wondered if this was an in-joke referencing the earlier film). Except that it’s set in contemporary times, and yeah there are no zombies. The film tends to get dismissed it seems, but until the last act, which yes you could argue spoils the movie because it’s so awful (see Mr. Sausage’s write-up), this was definitely interesting, if not at all in the same league as something like The Plague. It’s only near the end that we get a nighttime scene, so most of it is a series of incredibly bright, daytime settings, that in itself effectively helps to creates the sense of something kept completely out of sight and in contrast to what we’re seeing. There’s also a strange little sexual dimension there with the friendly-to-each-other adolescent girl and boy getting separated by the elders, and a line about older women being interested in witchcraft because it’s a “sex thing”. The film gets compared sometimes to The Wicker Man but as it goes on and Fontaine starts getting targeted, there’s also a somewhat Rosemary’s Baby vibe about the film that starts developing, although the suspense is not nearly as successful of course.


The Mummy (Fisher 1959). (rewatch) I have to agree here again with Mr. Sausage that is an exceptional Hammer film. A tight and suspenseful script, with Lee really intimidating as the monster (watching this so soon after The Plague of the Zombies, it struck me how the zombie figure definitely has a precursor here). It’s also very steadily and stylishly directed and shot. The flashback sequence to ancient Egypt, which has a quasi-documentary feel, affects the pace a little, but it’s extremely pleasing to the eye, as all of this film is really. There are also subtexts-out-in-the-open here if you want them: the veneer of civilization hiding impulses of lust and murder, and revenge for England’s colonial-imperialist ambitions – the latter creating a nice ambivalence of sympathy/revulsion in the viewer for the villain, in the same way that the mummy itself is a figure of both terror and pity.


The House on Haunted Hill (Castle 1959). (rewatch) Second time still didn’t work for me. The combination of a slight note of comedy or archness, and the fact that it’s obvious early on for the viewer, but not for the characters, that strings are being pulled by someone, creates a sense of distance from what’s going on. It isn’t helped either by all those forced scares (like the recurrent shrieks).


The Devil Rides Out (Fisher 1968). (rewatch) This frequently takes its place on internet lists of top ten Hammer films and deservedly so. Despite the fact that it reworks Dracula tropes into the satanist cult theme (the power of the crucifix, hypnotism, the female disciple who does the master’s bidding), it nevertheless has imagination and a modern feel, and as Mr. Sausage wrote works largely because it plays it for real. A fairly strong script, but it really struck me that Fisher here gives the material a lot of extra weight with the quality of his direction, in things like framing, types of shots and editing – really some of his best work. Some really stand-out sequences here, like the car chase and Mocata’s visit to the Eatons’ house to try and recapture his initiates.


The Vampire Lovers (Baker 1970). (rewatch) I think my initial appreciation was negatively affected by my surprise at the slightly soft porn quality of some of the sequences. I definitely liked it a lot more this time around, and Mr. Sausage is right that the sexuality is motivated by the story. On the other hand, all that nudity and the sheer quantity of bosom shots just for their own sake really signals a more “decadent” turn for Hammer. Nevertheless the imagery can be potent (like the huge cat nightmares), there is a lot of atmosphere, and the direction is very competent, and a lot of this looks good, whether in the interiors or in the exterior sequences, apart from less-than-ideal matte paintings. I’m not seeing what Mr. Sausage reads into Carmilla, though, in terms of an ambivalence about the young maidens’ deaths, although her desire for them is clearly present. I’m not familiar with the Le Fanu novel, and I don’t know if all the major aspects are the same and if they’re better explained there, but there’s something left a bit wanting in understanding what’s the motivation of the vampire here, or maybe the mystery is part of the point. Are the young maidens mere nourishment, and if so why is their agony made so lengthy? I also didn’t quite understand why another person gets turned into a nefarious associate, seemingly turning vampiric herself, but then later evidently not having been bitten, while these victims are made to die rather than just become vampires themselves. In any event, it’s hard not read the ending as men bent on getting rid of the peril of lesbianism!


The Legend of Hell House (Hough 1973). (1st viewing) I just noticed this was discussed earlier by colin and twbb, because I saw it on the strength of it’s getting ranked on several best-of-70s-horror lists. An incredibly simple and quick plot setup with the skeptical physicist, his wife and two mediums holing up in a haunted house to pierce the mystery. Points for originality in some places, but this got a bit dull for me after about a third of the way, maybe because the characters are a bit two-dimensional, and most of the action beyond the razzle-dazzle around them is the psychodrama played out between them. A chamber piece basically, which isn’t my cup of tea to begin with, I’m sure explaining partly my lukewarm reaction.

[bottled spider]

Regarding The Vampire Lovers, I didn't see the point of having essentially the same story occur twice, first with Emma, then with Laura. (Or do I have that backwards?). The first episode is redundant. And I share your confusion, not in this movie alone, over why vampire attacks sometimes result in death and other times in conversion to vampirism. (I'll probably vote for this.)