The October Horror Film Diary: Day 8 - October 8, 2019

Winchester, 2018 USA; Dir by The Spierig Brothers; Starring Helen Mirren, Sarah Snook, Finn Scicluna-O'Prey, Jason Clarke

I seem to recall that around the time of the theatrical release of Winchester there was an episode of the podcast Lore about the Winchester house.  Sarah Winchester was the widow of William Winchester - the firearms magnate who started Winchester Arms. The story goes that after losing William to tuberculosis and her infant daughter, Sarah left New Haven CT for San Jose, CA where in 1884 she purchased an unfinished farm house and turned it into The Winchester House.

The house was legendary for being enormous and constantly under construction, with a random design that made little to no sense - odd shaped rooms, stairways to ceilings, etc. Rumor had it a medium in Boston told Sarah to go west. Rumor also had it that the crazy design and constant construction was Sarah's way of trying assuaging her guilt for making so much money off of a company that created tools of death and that by creating these rooms for the souls of victims of the Winchester rifles those victims could, by visiting their rooms, find peace.Whether or not any of these motivations of Sarah are true is of course up for speculation, but for the plot of Winchester it is considered the truth.

The basic setup is this, Dr. Eric Price (Clarke) is hired by the Winchester Repeating Arms company to head to the Winchester house and investigate if it is indeed haunted or if Sarah has merely lost her marbles.  As she owns 50% or more  of the company, by having Sarah declared nuts the board would be able wrest control of the company for Sarah.

Dr. Price needs the money, so he takes the job.  He also has a thing for the ladies and a thing for laudanum (Deadwood fans may remember that laudanum is a liquid form of opium taken by Alma Garrett in it's early seasons).  He arrives at the house to find that it's crazy construction activity is both the norm and, as advertised, apparently has no rhyme or reason.  He's told by one foreman that rooms are removed almost as often as they are added and that constuction is pretty much 24-7.

He meets Mrs. Winchester (Mirren) who, while peculiar, appears a formidably determined woman but not out and out crazy.  She let's Price know that she is aware of why he is there and that she has some very strict rules she expects him to follow while he is under her roof (for example she knows of Price's love of the laudanum and forbids him to have it at all while he is a guest).  Her niece (Succession's Sarah Snook) and great nephew are also staying with her - the boy seems to be having nightmares caused by the ghosts in the house, causing him to sleep walk.

With it's dependency on jump scares, Winchester disappointingly never really elevates above standard haunted house fare with plenty of CGI effects.  While there are some interesting ideas here, we never see much of the house.  And for a house that, before the 1906 earthquake famously had about 140 rooms, seven floors and over 17 chimnies, this really is a missed opportunity. 

And once again (sorry, spoiler - the ghosts are real!)this is a movie where  our heroes have a some  tasks to accomplish, that they figure out rather easily, in order to give the various ghosts peace to send them on to the next world. I'm not sure why the task oriented give them peace ghost story has become a thing in recent years, but I can't say it's one of my favorite trends.

While Winchester was an improvement over the previous night's selection, we are definitely in a bit of a rut here on our October horror movie quest.   Despite being in the middle of the latest horror golden age, it seems our viewing choices are in a bit of a slump.

The October Horror Film Diary: Day 7 - October 9, 2019

In The Tall Grass; USA 2019; Dir by Vincenzo Natali; Starring  Laysla De Oliveira, Avery Whitted, Patrick Wilson 

For Movie Number 8, Day 7 (on October 9 - this is all easy to keep straight, right) we decided to check out a new film on Netflix based on a Stephen King novella, In The Tall Grass.  We come across Cal and a very pregnant Becky driving through a very flat Kansas.  Becky glances at Cal who, while driving, is eating a greasy looking fast food burger.  Pretty soon they are pulling over so Becky can let go of her queasiness on the side of the road (not sure why, but up chucking has become a prevailing theme in our movie and television watching this month).

They've pulled over between a creepy old church and a field of tall corn - no wait, even though we are in Kansas, it's not corn it's grass as tall as corn.  As the sit, waiting to continue their journey we are a boy's voice call out to them - he's lost, he's scared and he needs help.  After an exasperated sigh, Cal removes his glasses and just dashes off into the tall corn, er, grass, and just like that we are off.  Becky is more hesitant than Cal but OF COURSE she shortly heads into the corn, I mean grass.  It is the title of the film, so clearly this is where we are supposed to go.

What ensues is a little over 100 minutes of running around what is clearly some sort of enchanted field.  We meet another family (including father and modern horror staple Patrick Wilson) separated in the grass, a very mysterious and creepy rock, multiple time lines bending too and fro over each other and along the way learn about some family dynamics and turmoil that must be worked through (another modern horror staple, most notably in the films of Mike Flanagan who also covered Stephen King territory in 2017's Gerald's Game - another Netflix original).

What we don't get - or I didn't get - was a point of it all.  It's creepy, it's weird, but it's never really scary and there's no real explanation for what is going on. While I generally do not find this to be a fault in movies, especially horror movies (I think in general Hollywood movies of late have suffered from over exposition and explanation), but in this case the movie doesn't really get weird enough to make it worth not having an explanation of what is going on... so what we can get from it is that the field caused a lot of suffering for a lot of folks so that someone can come to the realization of the path in life they should be following.  I won't spoil it here, but it becomes fairly obvious fairly quickly.

Overall, this is easily the dud of the Halloween season for us so far.

The October Horror Film Diary: Day 6 - October 8, 2019

The Blackcoat’s Daughter; USA 2015; Dir by Oz Perkins; Starring Emma Roberts, Kiernan Shipka, Lucy Boynton

All right, after a double feature of 70s weirdness and a night off it was time to check out something newer in this golden age of horror. I’d seen The Blackcoat’s Daughter kicking around on the streaming services for some time and thought I’d seen some good reviews, so we thought we’d check it out.

So the first feature by Osgood Perkins (son of Psycho’s Anthony Perkins) is set in an all girls catholic school in the desolation of upstate New York just before their February break. Kat (Kiernan Shipka - Sally Draper from Mad Men) and Rose (Lucy Boynton from 2016s vastly underrated/under seen Sing Street and 2018s Bohemian Rhapsody) are the two girls who’s parents haven’t come to pick them up in time for break. Rose, an upper classmen, told her parents the wrong day (on purpose, we soon find out, so she can go on a date). She has been tasked by school head Mr. Gordon to take freshman Kat under her wing until more parents show up to take one or both of them onto their break.

The empty school and impressively eerie score create an atmosphere of extreme unease.  Add in some weird shots intercut of , well, are they flashbacks?  Visions from dreams?  We don’t really know. Rose is the bitchy upperclassmen annoyed with having to take in such a green freshman in Kat. But soon Kat’s weird passive, vacantness starts to creep Rose out.  Soon after we meet Joan (Emma Roberts), another dyed blonde girl, who seems to have escaped from a hospital of some sort. She soon meets some hospitality from an older man (80s that guy James Remar - you know him, think 48 Hours or The Warriors) who offers her a ride as she sits in the cold night, waiting alone at a train station.

What starts out as a great, atmospheric horror movie that relies on subtlety over jump scares, invites us to go along to figure out how these two stories intersect and to make sense of the weird non-sequitur sequences that show up from time to time. The time line is chopped up a bit, and certain scenes happen several times from several different points of view.

UItimately the effect though is dissatisfying as the twist that occurs near the end isn’t really something one could figure out beyond a guess, as we are deprived information for seemingly just the sake of holding onto information and keep us confused.  And it’s a shame because while it’s working, The Blackcoat’s Daughter is really effective in it’s creepy, isolated atmospherics. There are some really beautiful camera shots and very effective red herring setups for “what horrible thing is going to happen here?” and then those worst fears are not realized.  Then, when one or two the horrible things that do happen in the second half, after all those false alarms, they are extremely jarring. 

But the ultimate payoff under delivers in the same way anticipating a pizza delivery only to finally get the pizza cold and burnt under delivers. And it’s too bad because Roberts, Boynton and Shipka are all great in their roles.

This is the first movie in our October Horror viewing I would flat out not recommend. Viewed on Amazon Prime.

The October Horror Film Diary: Day 5 - October 6, 2019 DOUBLE FEATURE

Maybe it's because we felt guilty for missing a film on Friday.  Or maybe it's obsession. But the first Sunday in October had us taking in two (2) horror movies.  It was a sorta round the globe in the early 1970s sorta thing.

The Bird With Crystal Plumage, Italy, 1970; Dir by Dario Argento; Starring Tony Musante, Suzy Kendall

Giallo is italian for yellow.  It is also refers to a type of Italian murder mystery movie. Dario Argento is Italian for batshit insane giallo and supernatural horror movies.

In post WWII Italy, there was a type of pulpy crime novels that became very popular.  These novels always sported yellow covers.  So when the first films based on these novels began to appear and, like their paperback counterparts, became very popular, they became known as giallos, sort of similar to how the dark crime films Hollywood in the 1940s and early 50s became known as film noir (noir is french for "black")

Most famous for his lurid, primary color drenched Suspiria, Dario Argento's first film is The Bird.  Though he would push every thing further and further as his career progressed, most of his basic trademarks are here:  Elaborate murder set pieces (often in art galleries and other modernistic rooms), private citizens conducting police investigations, bright red “blood”, holes in logic and plotting and twists and turns you never see coming.

Argento is one of those directors for whom the typical Hollywood standards we apply to what a good movie is goes out the window. Dialogue is often wooden and contains awkward plot exposition, and victims and murderers alike eschew obvious actions to accomplish their goals (ie survive and/or murder) in order to accomplish the same thing in a convoluted but visually garish manner. 

The plot here involves American citizen Sam who, while walking home after celebrating the publication of a book he's written (and, most importantly, his check for that book), sees an attempted murder occur as he’s walking past an art gallery.  A woman and a shadowy figure (iliterally dressed in all black with a black hat and mask) are struggling over a knife when the figure jumps down a staircase and runs away while the woman staggers down the stairs clutching her stomach.  Sam tries to help but enters a glass walled vestibule only to find the actual gallery entrance door is locked. The killer must still be around as soon Sam is trapped in the vestibule when the automatic doors he entered through close, trapping him in the vestibule. The woman staggers towards Sam, finally collapsing in a pool of blood in the middle of the gallery.  So now Sam, trapped,  awaits the police, who find the woman to still be alive and Sam to be a suspicious witness.  

Though he is supposed to return to America the next day, the police confiscate his passport, prompting Sam to conduct his own investigation, aided by his model girlfriend.  More murder mystery than straight horror movie Giallos could be very dark and bloody - they are often considered one of the precursors to the slasher films and, like those films, generally sport a cold, cruel, blood thirsty killer.

While the murder ultimately gets solved the real appeal with this film is the numerous twists and many interesting and stylish (60s/70s stylish) set pieces and outfits.  To reveal much more of the film would be to spoil much of the fun - peculiar characters, truly puzzling decisions made by characters, and of course some fabulous outfits and set pieces.

It must be said Argento is a master of atmosphere and building tension, and he also creates interesting set pieces that are often as beautiful as they are convoluted. This is definitely the sort of film that a viewer must be willing to go along for the ride with, but for those who are willing it is a very enjoyable ride.

Blind Woman’s Curse; Japan 1970; Dir by Teruo Ishii; starring Meiko Kaji, Hoki Tokuda
We followed up the Italian Giallo with a very strange Japanese horror/yakuza movie from 1970.  Not a standard horror film, Blind Woman's Curse is more of a film of warring yakuza clans (ie organized crime families) mixed with some horror and supernatural elements.

The gist of the story is the Tachibana clan, led by Akemi who is the daughter of the late previous head, is being challenged for their territory by the Dobashi clan. Akemi is played by Meiko Kaji, who japanese film fans may recognize as Lady Snowblood. Lady Snowblood was a famous bloody revenge/crime film and sequel from the mid 70s that has had great influence around the film world, including on Quentin Tarantino. Many elements of Kill Bill, most obviously the famous sword battle in the snow between Uma Thurman and Lucy Liu, were heavily influenced by Lady Snowblood.

Yakuza films can be very confusing, and this one is no exception.  In addition to the two main clans fighting over territory there are several other characters - a loner yakuza who seems to be cut from a similar cloth as Toshiro Mifune in Kurosawa's Yojimbo/Sanjuro movies or Clint Eastwood's The Man With No Name from his trio of films with Sergio Leone, the mysterious blind woman in the title and her hunchbacked servant, and yet another gang led by a foul smelling gentleman who for some reason walks around wearing a very western shirt, vest, tie and bowler hat and a loin cloth.  There are many  shots involving him that cheekily show half his bare posterior in the frame with whomever he is speaking to.

Fairly early in the film several women who had spent time in jail with Akemi come to join her clan, that Tachibanas.  To show their loyalty they all get large yakuza tattoos on their backs that, when they line up together, form a long dragon.  Soon the women are targeted by somebody who is killing them and removing the skin with the tattoos.

After much bloodshed, back stabbing and some weird supernatural happenings we discover the mysterious motivations and have a final showdown. Without giving it away, it does not quite live up to Lady Snowblood or Kill Bill's showdowns. And overall the film is an interestingly twisted mix of ideas that don't really all come together in a completely satisfying manner.  And much like Argento's Bird, there are many inexplicable actions on the parts of characters. 

Overall Blind Woman's Curse is an interesting mix of genres and ideas, but no doubt once it ends one will be wondering what they just saw. As a horror movie it's, well, not really a horror movie despite some horror elements.  It is a good introduction to the charismatic Meiko Kaji, who later in the decade would go on to star in both Lady Snowblood bloody revenge movies and Female Prisoner Scorpion movies (the latter being essentially Japanese women in prison exploitation films, with the added twists of artsy production and pro-female empowerment).

The October Horror Film Diary: Day 3 - October 3, 2019

A Field In England, England 2013; Dir by Ben Wheatley; Starring Michael Smiley, Reece Shearsmith & Richard Glover

From one artsy horror movie to another, but A Field In England has more than a small streak of black humor going for it (unlike the bottomless bleakness of the previous selection, Hagazussa).  Ben Wheatley has been one of the British directors of note in the 2010s. After several crime oriented pictures (including the highly praised gangster/horror flick Kill List - which I've still yet to see), Field is Wheatley’s first period piece. It’s also in black and white. It also has a cast of mainly 5 dudes (no women and a few more male characters that are not present long ).  It also is one of the most accurately titled films I've seen, as it does entirely take place in the titular field.  Presumably in England.

With a backdrop of the English Civil War, we open upon the edges of a battle.   Beyond various explosions and lots of smoke, we don’t really see much of the fighting.  We see a very frightened man hiding in some shrubbery fleeing both the battle and apparently his commander. Soon this man, Whitehead, joins a motley crew who come together in this chaos by one fellow who wants to bring them all to a waiting ale house for adult beverages.

What follows on this journey to refreshment are a series of deceptions, betrayals, unexplained tortures and lots and lots of psychedelic experiences.  The latter are courtesy of a large amount of hallucinogenic mushrooms that line the field. While there are hints of more sinister perhaps magical things lurking about the edges, the horrors here mostly consists of man’s cruelty to man. But beyond the psychedelic sequences, none of it is on screen.

And about those psychedelic sequences, for those with patience with a movie that meanders about and lots of strange occurrences that are never explained, are a treat. There is a warning at the beginning of the film about some of the stroboscopic effects and the possibility of seizures. They are beautifully shot and created and give this film a touch of the mystic to go with the unsettling feeling it creates.

For viewers willing to go where such a film will take them it is a good time.  But for those viewers who do not appreciate things obtuse and unexplained, this film will not be a positive experience.  Of course I loved it.

While this is a dark film and many will not find it funny, British TV comedy fans may recognize Michael Smiley - Tires from Spaced - and, if they don’t blink, Julian Barrat - Howard Moon from The Mighty Boosh.  For those fans who like dark humor and those shows just mentioned, they will enjoy this one.

The October Horror Film Diary: Day 2 - October 2, 2019

Hagazussa,  Germany 2017 (USA Release 2019), Dir by Lukas Feigelfeld, starring Aleksandra Cwen, Celina Peter, Claudia Martini

For a second film we went for recent German release Hagazussa.  While staying in Germany (for reals this time - no US movie set in Germany...actual Germany in Germany) we headed much further back in time - to the 1400s.

In the tree covered mountains of dark ages Germany we come across a woman and a daughter making their way through the snow back to their remote home.  It soon becomes apparent that they are both shunned by their neighbors as a witch and a witch's daughter.  What follows is a glacially paced film about life as a shunned object of scorn.  It’s picturesque beauty and solemn subject matter bring to mind Robert Egger’s The Witch.  And like Eggers, Lukas Feigelfeld is a first time director who’s debut outing feels like one of a confident, veteran filmmaker.

But Hagazussa is both a slower moving film than The Witch, if you can believe it, with an even darker heart at it’s core.  Told in four chapters, with single word titles like “Horn” and “Blood”, Albrun is apparently all alone in the world for 3 of them (it's no spoiler to say she loses her mother after the first chapter).  And as cruel as the world is to Thomasen in The Witch, the world is evern crueler to Albrun.

The sum total of people who care for  Albrun consists of one - her mother.  Taunted by local children and looked down upon by the local priest, she does seem to pick up one friend along the way.  But then in a film like this, we know where this leads. But in this case, while it's debated amongst critics and viewers how much is supposed to be real and how much is some form of fever dream, it's about as dark a place as a movie can head.

But it is all so very beautifully and patiently photographed.  This is art house horror for sure, the sort that many folks will not have the patience for.  But for those who can handle watching hypnotic beauty and a very slow pace while experiencing some truly disturbing things, this film is worth a view.

I often describe works by Lars Von Trier or Peter Greenaway as exquisite photography of awful, awful things.  I think we can add Hagazussa to this list.

Viewed on Amazon Prime.

The October Horror Film Diary: Day 1 - October 1, 2019

Shadow Of The Vampire, 2000, dir by  E. Elias Merhige, starring Willem Dafoe, John Malkovich

This year’s October Horror Film Diet began with one I hadn’t seen - 2000’s Shadow Of The Vampire.  It tells an imagined version of the filming of the first vampire film ever made - 1922’s Nosferatu.  John Malkovich is director F. W. Murnau and Willem Dafoe is Max Shreck - the actor who played Count Orlock in that silent film.  

This film imagines that Max Shreck was a real vampire who made a deal with Murnau to play a vampire on screen.  While the full details of this deal are not fully revealed until later in the picture, we soon find part of the deal is for Shreck to not feed on Murnau’s crew.  Of course teptation is too much and Shreck cannot hold up to this part of the bargain. This predictably causes all sorts of issues for both the film and  the crew.   Malkovich plays Murnau like an arrogant Dr. Frankenstein of Film, willing to risk any danger for his masterpiece.  He is even often wearing a lab coat, further evoking this director as mad scientist effect.  Dafoe meanwhiel portrays "real" vampire Shreck with creepily demented glee.  The sets and production design have hints of the German Expressionism that was one of the earliest major film movements at the time of Nosferatu's filming.  (Interestingly the 1922 Nosferatu itself was not drenched in this expressionism nearly as much as other films at this time, like “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari” - perhaps the most famous and dramatic example these delightfully nightmarish celluloid worlds).

Not so much a traditional horror movie, Shadow plays more as a dark comedy played very straight. Of course it would appear that many things in real life have been changed for the film. By several accounts the real life Murnau was much more a self doubting artist than dictatorial mad scientst.  The real Shreck, though apparently a specialist in creating creepy characters, was never reported to have any vampiric tendencies and was heavily made up as Nosferatu, complete with prosthetic nose and chin.  And reportedly no crew actually died on the set of this film.

Incidentally Murnau and company made Nosferatu because Bram Stoker’s widow would not give them the rights to Dracula. But apparently the production company went bankrupt after releasing the film as the widow Stoker sued them for similarities between the film’s story and Dracula.  

All in all this was a good choice to start our October Horror Film Fest - one that I'd recommend.  Watched streaming on Amazon Prime.