Similars - Peeping Tom and The Resident

I finally had a look-see at Peeping Tom, where art and science come together. This young male had been a life long research subject for his father's research on the nervous system and fear. Mark Lewis seemed to be a combination of an extension of his father's fear response research, coupled with a talent for photography and film. This peeper directed his own movie about fear, called "The Walls are Closing In"; the ultimate fear being watching your own death, orchestrating the police investigation and ultimately his own death as the last part of his film.

The next night I watched a film which I thought was a ghost story, but it was not. The 2010 Hammer Production of The Resident with Hilary Swank Jeffrey Dean Morgan, and Christopher Lee. Definitely creepy.

Similarities? Both Peeping Tom and The Resident have male main characters; disturbed with parent hangups. The main characters in both films live in the old inherited house and rent rooms; both men have sexual hangups, and a love of voyeurism. This voyeur is especially creepy because  (a) it's in the heart of Manhattan (b) it's an entirely plausible story line (less the usual horror death scenes.)
Both films lead to the same conclusion - don't rent - buy a home!
I enjoyed class with everyone - have a good summer.
Janice Garren

The Horror...The Horror...The Horror

I cannot say that I had ever taken horror films all that seriously before taking this course. I spent (or perhaps misspent) a good portion of my youth seeking out the lowest budget, worst horror films that I could find. I thought they were hilarious, and I still do. There is something very amusing and even charming about watching someones earnest effort to make a scary film, and fall so unbelievably short. I have watched and enjoyed many popular and higher budget horror films as well. My favorite of which is The Shinning.

The Shining has a million different interpretations but to me illustrates a central idea that I had realized during this course. Horror film monsters were almost always humanoid in form but it seems after WWII, real humans became the villains. The advent of Film Noir points to this as well. I believe this says that the most frightening monster is mankind. After the atrocities of the holocaust and the war itself, it was apparent that humans are capable of the most truly revolting, insane, and terrifying acts. Even in films with monsters, the monsters were created or antagonized by humans. Our own fears can turn us into the monsters that we are afraid of. The fear of being alone or unloved-Eyes Without a Face, Creature from the Black Lagoon, and The Last Circus. The fear of being controlled-Island of Lost Souls and Videodrome. The fear of the human mind-Psycho, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and Peeping Tom. The fear of the future or the unknown-the Universal monster films and Don't Look Now. All of these fears have the potential of becoming a living nightmare. In the end the monster that you feel lurking in the shadows might just be hiding in the mirror.

PSYCHO - TRAILER (1960)

Here is the original teaser trailer for Alfred Hicthcock's horror classic with the master of suspense himself taking us on a tour of the Bates Motel.  Smart, clever and quite funny.

The Last Circus

Beside the house I grew up in, there was an electric fence. I'm not sure who started it, but my siblings and I along with our neighborhood friends all had our turn getting shocked then tricking or coercing the next kid who hadn't touched it yet into doing so, all to experience the "fun" jolt. It wasn't enough voltage to inflict any real, lasting pain but, it didn't feel very good either. We all got a real kick out of watching each reaction. That's what watching, then recommending this film is like. The Last Circus is rather unpleasant to experience but the shock is oddly worthwhile. I actually really like this film. As a matter of fact I'm watching it on Netflix as I write this. Once you get past the over the top violence and insanity, there is a really strong message. That message to me is: if people battle for absolute control or possession of something (a country) or someone, they will ultimately destroy it and themselves. The line between dedication and fanaticism can so easily be blurred when it comes to something worthy of great passion.

The Last Circus - Director Interview

I couldn’t stop thinking about last night’s film, The Last Circus. I was impressed with the political metaphor, and the way that De la Iglesia set vibrant colors on circus items against the gray, muted colors of the rest of the film. I found a short interview with De la Iglesia and Caroline Bang (the girl between Javier and Sergio). Interesting thing to note: The large cross at the end is not only a real place, but the skulls of the dead are also real – relics of Franco and war. I will be watching this movie again, and again. Here is an interesting excerpt and a link to the rest.

LWLies: What was it about the circus that worked as a metaphor for telling this story?

De la Iglesia: I think it is a way to talk about my life. My life is like a circus, and I am like a clown. To live, to survive, is to have a disguise. Everybody wants to be funny, to have a good time with others. All my friends and me and my past is something like a circus. In other ways, maybe my country and my kind of life is similar [to a circus]. I remember my past, when I was eight years old, I lived a strange nightmare with bombs and violence in the streets. I wondered why, and I have the feeling that I didn’t deserve this. So maybe this movie is my revenge.

http://www.littlewhitelies.co.uk/interviews/alex-de-la-iglesia-and-carolina-bang-12300

Two of my favorites...

Both of these movies came out in the late 70's and apparently that was a very influential time for imprinting on my psyche. These, to me, are the epitome of the horror film. The encompass the supernatural, the things we can't see, the disembodied voices, the religious implications of what we consider good and evil, and the helplessness we feel when we are not in control of our surroundings.
If you haven't yet been "horrored" out, put these two on your list.

TIM BURTON'S "ED WOOD"

Now that you have had a taste of "Plan 9 From Outer Space", it's time to check out this great bio-pic.

One final word……

The most profound idea I gained from this class is horror is not easily defined or catergorized. With so many styles/types of horror, such as:

horror drama – Dracula, Bedlam

horror comedy – Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein

horror thriller – Don’t Look Now

horror noir – The 7^th Victim

horror action – King Kong

And so many sub-genres, like supernatural horror, explotation horror, science fiction horror, psychological horror, monster horror… It crosses so many genres, sub-genres, its easy to see why horror is so hard to define.  I also learned why horror can sometimes differ from culture to culture, there are some types of horror which are universal to just being a empathic human being, such as no one likes to be strapped to a gurney and violence against children is always met with extreme prejudice. The international horror films were the most interesting to me and I found myself drawn to them in my after-class viewing. It provided context and an alternative view from the “hollywood-style” production movies.

Also, going though the 100 or so years of the evolution of horror it became somewhat apparent, especially after the 1940s, horror films were emblematic of the issues of the time. In the 50s it was the aliens (read: russians). In the 60s it was psychotic killers/thrillers (read: sexual revolution). In the 21st century, its become the era of the anti-hero. There are no black hats and white hats, just lots and lots of shades of gray. Think of Dexter, Jigsaw....even some mainstream "heroes" like James Bond have strayed into the horror realm at times in thier films, being both victim and unfeeling killer.

Horror films are truly an art form. It evokes, hopefully if its good, a strong response in its viewers. The horror stories have been around as long as humans have been around. We are an interesting species…capable of the most beautiful dreams and the most terrible nightmares. The yin and the yang, the light and the dark. It is possible to have light without dark? Is art possible without knowing the dark side? Is it possible to understand the human condition, in mind, body and spirt, without knowing our dark side?

The piercing the veil… the pulling back the curtain to look into the back room of our souls…what will we find back there? Horror films provide a window into a side of ourselves, the Id, Freud hopes our Superego never loses to.

Rosemary and the baby

In spite of how scary this photo looks, and the reputation this movie has as a horror film, I did not find the movie to be at all frightening. The premise: Rosemary and her husband have come into contact with a coven of witches. When Rosemary becomes pregnant she discovers the coven and suspects them of tampering with her pregnancy. Between trying to protect herself and her baby, and trying to tell people of her plight, she seems cuckoo. The baby doesn't show up until the end of the movie, we never get to see the baby, but we understand from the dialog that the baby is a product of Rosemary and Satan and that he has odd eyes, hands, and feet.
The scary knife she holds is because she went on a hunt for the baby they said had died. Sneaking around a building full of witches made her feel as if she needed a bit of and edge (no pun intended...). She never used the knife, never threatened anyone with the knife--and they call this a horror movie?! The scariest thing in the movie was how little the husband sold his soul (and the soul of his firstborn) to the devil for.

The Masque of the Red Death

"Don't mourn the death of Julianna, we must clebrate. For she has just married a friend of mine."
                                                                                                                              - Vincient Price

This movie I must say was my absolute favorite. The richness of the colors, the direct and extreme color and room decors,the solid storyline, and the BELIEVABLE actors and actresses. The strong moral belief of the maiden and her love interest against all odds was visible and duly noted.And though Vincient Price is my Prince of Horror, I fell in love with Death and his brothers. This film was well put together and I would recommend it to anyone.  

My Favorite Psychological Thriller - "Rope"

In an older post, Stephanie said she preferred the “psychological thriller” over the horror/gore movie. I’m with Stephanie. I want to share one of my favorite psychological thrillers before the semester ends. It’s a little Hitchcock movie called Rope. Here is the IMBD description:

“Two young men strangle their ‘inferior’ classmate, hide his body in their apartment, and invite his friends and family to a dinner party as a means to challenge the ‘perfection’ of their crime.”

It stars James Stewart, Hume Cronyn, and Farley Granger, just to name a few. There is little violence and the end feels very much like a Sherlock Holmes mystery being solved, but the audacity of these two killers serving dinner on top of a trunk holding the body of their friend is incredibly tense. The film is based on a play from 1929, so the movie feels like watching a play since most of it takes place in one apartment. I highly recommend this movie if you prefer this type of film.

Great line: “Good and evil, right and wrong were invented for the ordinary average man, the inferior man, because he needs them” (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0040746/).

Frontier(s) - Gore-Fest

Frontier(s) is the kind of gory movie I have been avoiding for years. It is a French film with English subtitles from 2007. The plot is interesting. The story is about five young Parisians who pull off some sort of high-dollar (euro) heist and go on the run into the French countryside. Only four of them get out of Paris. They end up at a “deceptively peaceful” inn on their way out of the country – but they never leave the inn. Well, some of them don’t. A weird family of Nazi-cannibals live and kill on this property and the adjacent abandoned coal mine. Frontier(s) marries traditional characteristics of horror movies, with action, and erotic thriller movies. The film serves up cannibals, caves, claustrophobia, zombies, Nazis, guns, bawdy babes willing to have sex with men after knowing them for four minutes, mutes who slaughter (a la Texas Chain Saw Massacre), erotic innuendo when killing, and even a vampire moment that finally kills the last of the “bad guys.”

Of the four Parisians, the pregnant girl is spared. The maniac family knows she is pregnant, even though she isn’t showing, and decides she would be a good wife for one of the Nazi son’s. I was most amazed by the pure gore of this movie. It was just too much for me. The back of the box says, “The French answer to Hostel and Saw.” There were several disappointing scenes where the young Parisians ran into the abandoned coal mine to escape instead of out the darn front door. Running into danger is so aggravating, and since the movie Scream, very obvious and seemingly silly to the audience.

A superb claustrophobia scene makes this worth a watch, but other than that, I don’t think there is much going on here. I went back to look at the post that Tom posted about Faust. We’ve come a long way from the struggle between “good over evil.” This film made me choose between sympathy for either the cannibal-Nazis or the violent, police-killing, bank-robbing, young Parisians. It’s an easy answer, but in a movie like Frontier(s) I think it’s not about good and evil, especially good over evil, but a choice between whom is the least evil. And, of course, how much blood an actor can hold on the outside of their body.

Videodrome

I thought this was a good movie. It didn't seem confusing to me; it seemed as though the premise was, in a mixed metaphor kind of way, you are what you eat. Or in this case, you are what you watch. The gun was outside of him, the gun was inside of him, the gun became him (or rather, he grew the gun). Videodrome (or violence) was outside of him, and then literally it was inside of him as they inserted the VHS cassettes into his gut.
I have to believe that we watch that stuff and play the violent video games and slow down when passing a car accident on US 19 because A) we're glad it's not us, and B) we can more easily deal with the normal crappy stuff that life hands us because IT ISN'T THAT BAD.
Does this make Max and what he does for a living any more palatable? No. He's still an opportunistic scumbag who has a change of heart after, and only after, he sees first hand what the violence does to people. If videodrome had never made his own personal life hell, he would have kept on producing those shows and watching pirated videos.
Speaking of pirating...I thought Harlan (pictured above) was one of the creepiest parts of the movie. The guy you think is your friend for two years...turns out to be against you from the beginning-sacrifices you like the scientist sacrifices the rat he's been feeding.
The lines I liked: "I am videodrome made flesh." Didn't Jesus say he was the word made flesh? So, we can become good or evil just by turning towards good or evil? Hmmm.
And this scene, where Harlan says: "North America's getting soft, patron, and the rest of the world is getting tough. Very, very tough. We're entering savage new times, and we're giong to have to be pure and direct and strong, if we're going to survive them. Now, you and this cesspool you call a television station and your people who wallow around in it, your viewers who watch you do it, they're rotting us away from the inside." How many of us have not thought that the US is lagging behind and that tv, entertainment in general, and the laziness those breed are part of the problem?

THE LAST MOVIE

"The Last Circus" will be the final film we will see in class.  If you have a clown phobia, prepare yourself.  The movie deals with...

LUST

TEMPTATION

DERANGED CLOWNS

CLOWNS WITH MACHETES

CLOWNS WITH GUNS

SLASHER CLOWNS

SHE THINKS IT'S A HORROR FILM

Writer/Director Alex de la Iglesia

Audition

What's in the bag?? Is it a person? Is it a half man/woman the killer chopped up and put back together? If it is ..it was not scary and very lame.

Although this is a Japanese film it is typical of some American horror films. It drags along with nothing much exciting happening until the end, has the same plot as many horror films with a friend warning the main character not to see that woman because she give him the creeps. What?? He sees her anyways?? And she turns out to be a psycho who had a abusive childhood so she is going to cut off your foot and stick needles in you?? Uh yes..yes she is.

It is also one of those confusing endings also..is it a dream? A vision come true? Who knows but not the best movie.

A new movie: "Retreat"

This is the trailer for the movie I mentioned in class last week. How many of these people are crazy? How many are sane? How long would it take a sane person to go crazy under the circumstances. It's on my list of movies to see!

VIDEODROME- Research links violence to video games

BYU NewsNet - Research links violence to video games

News flash!

Maniac

This film is pretty similar to Peeping Tom or Psycho, in that it features a serial killer who is haunted by the memory of one of his parents.  In this case, it is his mother, and he removes the scalps of the women he kills to put on mannequins in his apartment, all while talking to himself from his mother's point of view, or talking to his imaginary mother.  It's a pretty disturbing film with some gruesome deaths, and the low budget style adds a kind of eerie realism to the story and captures the early 80s New York City nighttime vibe.  The killer in the film is actually a pretty unattractive guy, with a mustache, greasy hair, and a big beer belly, which is different from the more normal looking killers in Psycho and Peeping Tom.  He's also always moaning and panting while he stalks the women, which adds another layer of creepiness.  Apparently, the director of this movie directed a bunch of hardcore porn films before this, and I guess that shows in the overall style and content.  Joe Spinell, a character actor who is also in The Godfather Part II and some of the Rocky movies, does a pretty good job as the maniac.  Overall, I would recommend this if you want a pretty creepy, gory, serial killer-type movie.

Don't Look Now ... Recent Accolades

 

 

 

 

 

 

"Don't Look Now, the 1973 chiller starring Julie Christie and Donald Sutherland, has been named the best British film of all time by a panel of industry experts. 

Their first choice was Don't Look Now, Nicolas Roeg's Venice-set drama about a grieving couple haunted by the death of their young daughter. It featured an infamous sex scene which shocked audiences of the day.

"After all this time, people see the film more clearly. When it came out, audiences were less used to it. That scene would've been like someone bursting out of a cupboard and shouting, 'Boo!'" Roeg said yesterday."

May 8, 2012, The Telegraph

I love this movie, but there's got to be more about the "old women" theme in Venice Italy. Naughty and nice?

 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/film-news/8311268/Dont-Look-Now-best-British-film-of-all-time.html

Thumbs up--Thumbs down for Videodrome

This 1983 classic film paradoxically kept me spellbound and yet totally repulsed me! At times I was compelled to finish watching through my childhood pose of "hand over face peeping through two fingers." (some habits are hard to break)  After a term of watching Horror Genre films, I've come to the conclusion that "horror is not my thing!" 

"There is nothing real outside our perception of reality" - hmmm....this has become a classic statement somewhat over used by 2012.

Love this one - "The TV screen has become the retina of the mind's eye" - priceless!

And last - "It has a philosophy and that's what makes it dangerous" - speechless!

During the sex scene between Max and Nickie I was uncomfortable with the blood trickling down her neck from the hat pin inserted into her ear....Ouch......Hmmm........take a little bloody S&M, add a dose of soft porn, combine it with a dash of horror, and what do you have--Videodrome

OVER THE EDGE

Here is a selection of films that are streamable on Netflix.  I promised you a list of horror movies that had either strayed over or barreled through the line of taste.  Everyone will have a different opinion about whether these movies are worth viewing or not; about whether they are trying to say something or are just crass exploitation.  One of them I have not seen and don’t plan too.  One of them might not belong on a horror list.  A few of them I believe are quite good.  All of them are extreme.  I don’t expect any of you to watch these, but if you feel brave…

If you venture into any of these forbidden territories, let the rest of us know about your journey.

Videodrome

Professor O’Blivian is a prophetic man. He could be talking about the social media and technology that rule our lives today, and not just TV. When he says that “Videodrome” produces an outward growing tumor that will one day be one giant tumor – basically a collective consciousness – that rules our world, I got goose bumps. This movie is engaging and symbolic. I got a kick out of seeing the phallic-looking gun emerge from the TV set. Cronenberg hired “acclaimed horror novelist Dennis Etchison” to novelize “Videodrome.” The novel was released at the same time as the movie, but it is now out of print (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Videodrome). There are a few plot themes that I don’t quite fully understand, so I will be watching this again.

Peeping Tom

Peeping Tom is a strange but entertaining film. I’m not sure it is the same caliber as “Psycho,” but it is a solid psychological thriller. I think the end had to happen the way it did because there is no real way for Mark to redeem himself. He is so much like a child that to see him carted off to prison is too much of a fluff ending. The girlfriend, Helen, seems more like someone who thinks she can help Mark out of his weirdness instead of a love interest. Helen’s mother, Mrs. Stephens, is a wonderfully creepy character. She knows Mark needs to confess “something” for redemption, and that a woman’s nurturing touch can coax it out of him. I wanted him to tell her! Obviously, this is the only “cure” for him since his mother died early in his life and his father was a maniac. Sounds always add intensity to movies and this is no exception. The cries of the women (or was it Mark) on the tapes at the end of the movie are the perfect sounds to propel Mark’s suicide. I loved this movie.

Follow this link to Roger Ebert’s website to hear what he thinks. He loved this movie too. This site is also a good place to read more about how Martin Scorsese worshipped the works of Michael Powell.

http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19990502/REVIEWS08/905020301/1023

Some of the special effects looked very fake in this film but I guess for the early 1980's it was pretty good. As for the plot it started off interesting but became kind of stupid and confusing in my opinion. I guess I did not understand if he was having these visions why did some people who never were exposed to videodrome have the visions also? Was the Daughter really involved and just wanted him to kill for her? Did his belly really open up or not because the assistant and the head of videodrome put the video's inside him...Also the gun ..Just a confusing film. I understood the meaning they were trying to get across but thought it could have been a better film.

The Beyond

The picture above is actually of the less insane of the two eye-gouging scenes in the movie.  The movie is pretty ridiculous, but it's also entertaining.  The story involves a New Orleans hotel that is built above one of the seven gateways to hell, but the plot is really a flimsy excuse for some of the craziest death scenes I've ever seen.  I don't know if I would recommend it, but if you can handle over-the-top gore, it is a pretty tense and scary movie.  The music is also good, and the cinematography is done in one of my favorite styles from the 70s-early 80s, with fluid, active, poetic camera movements, featuring plenty of zooms, pans, slow-motion, and montage editing.  The movie also features something that I never really understand in horror films, where nobody believes the main female character when she tries to tell everybody that the hotel is haunted, despite the fact that there are zombies walking around and people dying all over the place.  Then again, when I was certain I encountered a ghost last spring, nobody believed me or even cared, so maybe it is a pretty accurate portrayal of human behavior.

A Bucket of Blood

1959 - Roger Corman strikes again! These B-movies are timeless in a myriad of ways. Actually this one was remade in 1995. But I believe there is something about seeing them in black & white that just can't translate well if made into color.
Some of the pithy tongue-in cheek one liners are provokingly thoughtful:
"blind fish swimming in a cave of aloneness"
"this could bring a return to realism" as they view "real life" sculptures
"all that is--comes through the eye of an artist"
The film is black humor towards the "art world."  I liked this movie very much. It seems psychological thrillers are my "horror" film of choice.

Great selection Professor Tom !

Texas Chain Saw Massacre - Bratwurst Anyone?

Well, I have avoided this movie since 1980 – when it scared me to death. Today, I was happy to face my fears and watch this for a second time. Tom said it was kitschy fun, my son said it was really cool, so I was ready to laugh and find fun moments that would make me see this movie in a different light. I was wrong. This movie is a terror-ride from hell. I was not turned off by the gore, it was the screaming, the idea that people would want to eat other people, and, my God, the grandfather needing to drink a steady supply of blood to stay alive – what’s up with that, he does not even resemble a vampire. The use of sounds made the whole movie much more intense. The sounds (generator, chainsaw, screaming) came slowly and built through the film to intensify the craziness. Impressive. The insane hitchhiker was the weirdest, and, I guess, the best character. The worst character was the guy in the wheelchair. If MTV had been around in the 1970’s they would have made a special award for the best scream and given it to the girl who plays Sally. On the IMBD website, the trivia section says that Sally’s finger is cut for real for Grandpa to suck on because they couldn’t get the fake blood to work. I recommend this movie if you want to feel a loss of equilibrium and if you are on a diet – I lost my appetite.

John Carpenter's The Thing, etc.

For a while it seemed I was the only person I knew who hadn't seen this movie, but I finally got around to seeing it and I thought it was awesome.  The make-up and practical effects were amazing and pretty outrageous, and the psychological elements of the story make it a pretty compelling film.  I'm a big fan of movies set in barren, snowy landscapes, or where characters are trapped by a snowstorm or other elemental forces, which is one of the many reasons I love The Shining as well.  The effects reminded me somewhat of the effects in Videodrome, and I definitely prefer the early 80s practical effects and puppets to modern CGI, even if they sometimes look fake or goofy.
Speaking of snowy movies, I watched most of Rare Exports, which Tom recommended, and though it was well-made and pretty interesting, I didn't really like it as: 1. I'm a fan of the real Santa Claus, and 2. I think Santa Claus is scary enough as is.  If you think about it, he is an immortal man, living with an army of elves in seclusion from the rest of humanity, who spies on you all year long and breaks into your house every year to give you things you want, without you having ever met him (or having met him once briefly in early December).  The fact that he seems to be a nice guy makes it creepier for me, as these behaviors would be understandable for a "bad" person.  I understand that it is a gimmick, but the whole "taking a familiar character and making him evil just to see what happens" just isn't that compelling for me.

Monsters

I enjoyed this film. It was not a typical monster or horror film. It did have a lot of social issues and had me wondering what I would do if I was in the same situation. I felt the film was pretty realistic as compared to other alien type films. I liked the dynamic between the two main characters and could relate to them. This is not the typical good winning over evil with a happy ending movie and that is another reason it seems realistic to me.

28 Days Later

TRAILERS  |  IMDB  |  AMAZON  |  added: Feb 28th, 2003
  directed by: Danny Boyle

Unrealistically scary.  Some monkey-loving group goes to film and save monkeys being used for research. One lone scientist (or lab tech) tells them not to open the cage, and voila - monkeys eat the face off of the animal loving female.
Fast forward to "28 days later." Three of the most unlikely characters make it through an instantaneously transmitted infection - a hospital patient who wakes up hooked up to an IV all alone, wanders through the streets thinking he is the last man alive only to find monstrous humans lurking in the darkness. Superhuman in power, out for blood and transmission of the virus, a young woman, a young girl, and the hospital patient make it to a military encampment. This was so thrilling I am saving the end to see how a handful of soldiers and these three make it out alive or kill the virus.
These bloodthirsty monsters live in darkness, like vampires. They have superhuman strength and an uncontrollable urge for tearing humans apart, like werewolves.  They are difficult to kill, like zombies.
Everyone is living off old sodas and junk foods in this movie.
Stay tuned for the ending.

2002 Poster on E-Bay last bid $243 - signed.