There are rules in horror movies...understood agreements between viewer and filmmaker as to what can be done and what can't...promises of sorts. The filmmakers are always playing at the border of the forbidden, hinting and gesturing that they will cross that line, and the viewer sits back dreading and ashamedly hoping that perhaps this time the rule will be broken. From time to time, it gets pretty damn close. We are relieved when it remains intact. We settle back into the safe zone, the zone of having not seen what we feared to see. We have once again been successfully horrified, but not scarred. We have been threatened by the unimaginable, but the threat slunk away when the credits rolled, without making good on its word.
But then, once in a great while, a filmmaker comes along and does the unthinkable. He dances us straight into the dark, and what was once beyond the pale is suddenly all around us. The French film À l'intérieur is one of those films.
From the very beginning, we are in uncomfortable territory: our main character is pregnant and her husband has been killed in a car accident. The night before she is to be induced to give birth, her last night at home alone, a woman shows up who desires only one thing: the baby. Set on Christmas Eve in the time of the riots, the hope for help seems doubtful at best. Neighbors are out at holiday dinners; the police are preoccupied with street violence and vandalism. But, help does come. It comes again and again. Each time we are filled with hope, and each time the violence is shocking, and, in one awful instance, heartbreaking. With each newcomer the violence escalates, further bloodying the walls and damaging the mind of our already damaged main character. This is the type of movie where you find yourself talking to the screen, informing, begging, pleading. The brutality is horrifyingly exquisite. And as you think to yourself that it can't get any worse, it does. It does it with a grace that, at times, borders art. (Correction: it IS art.)
And that promise that is ultimately broken? Well, that one you'll have to see for yourself.
This movie is not for everyone. It's not even for all horror fans. No doubt some who see it will deem it vile trash, corruptive, and criminal. I thought it was well-written, well-acted, graceful, monstrous, and terrifying.
The ravine filled with varieties of night sounds, lurkings of black-ink stream and creek, lingerings of autumns that rolled over in fire and bronze and died a thousand years ago. From this deep place sprang mushroom and toadstool and cold stone frog and crawdad and spider. There was a long tunnel down there under the earth in which poisoned waters dripped and the echoes never ceased calling Come Come Come and if you do you'll stay forever, forever, drip, forever, rustle, run, rush, whisper, and never go, never go go go...
The boys lined up on the rim of darkness, looking down.
And then Tom Skelton, cold in his bones, whistled his breath in his teeth like the wind blowing over the bedroom screen at night. He pointed.
"Oh, hey -- that's where Pipkin told us to go!"
He vanished.
All looked. They saw his small shape race down the dirt path into one hundred million tons of night all crammed in that huge dark pit, that dank cellar, that deliciously frightening ravine.
Yelling, they plunged after.
Where they had been was empty.
The town was left behind to suffer itself with sweetness.
The DVD box art for my beloved Blood Moon is a prime example of bad and misleading marketing, not to mention it's just down right atrocious. But give it and click and hear the very cool music which opens the film.
And I promise this will be my last entry about it...for awhile at least.
I feel like I should have gone into more explanation in my last post about Blood Moon (also known as Wolf Girl).
The story is about Tara (played superbly by Victoria Sanchez), a sixteen year old girl who was born with hypertrichosis (excessive body hair) and has been with the freak show since she was a baby. Like anyone, especially a teenager, all she wants is to fit in and be accepted...to be "normal." When the traveling freak show arrives in a small town, the son of a local research scientist becomes smitten with her and offers her an experimental drug his mother is working on. From there, well, things go down hill and it doesn't help that she's become the focus of a group of sociopath teens (played very well by four talent actors including Shawn Ashmore and Shelby Fenner, and not one cliche character in the bunch). The end is surprising and heartbreaking. You really should check this one out.
Here are a few photos, followed by some clips.
Harley (ring leader and father figure) and Tara
Tara
Harley on stage
Teens
World of Wonders (Unfortunately this video jerks a bit)
The Pluck Song
Scientist and her smitten son
And now after all this writing about it, I think I'll watch it!
Horror movies are a major part of my life (obviously, seeing as this blog exists). Probably 80% of everything I watch is a part of the horror genre. They are an element in my life that, no matter what is happening, I can count on and I often take comfort in them. The following is a list of what I call my "comfort movies." Whenever I've had a bad day, feel sad, have a major stressful or painful event, I find myself turning to these movies for comfort again and again. They are like a great big security blanket that wraps me away from the world.
But bad things don't necessarily have to happen for me to watch them, sometimes it's just that I want to feel something familiar -homey. These films, for whatever reason, feel like home to me. I never tire of watching them. They are never far from the DVD player, and I even own some on VHS.
Now, all that said, it doesn't mean that all these films are winners...not all of them are examples of fine cinema, though several of them are.
Here they are in no particular order.
THE LEGEND OF HELL HOUSE, 1973
The whole atmosphere of this film is fantastic. The cinematography is gorgeous and conveys the mood and feel of the film perfectly. I find myself constantly pausing it so I can take in the unique frame of a shot. The opening theme music is some of my favorite in the horror genre.
BLOOD MOON (AKA WOLF GIRL), 2001
This is actually one of my main comfort movies. I played it over and over again one weekend when I had a terrible headache and didn't get out of bed. Even as I lay with my eyes closed, I followed along with the dialogue, listened to th music, and saw the scenes play out in my mind.
Unfortunately, the trailer for this unknown gem is misleading. While it is technically in the horror genre, it is more of a drama set in a standard horror frame -a traveling freak show. It has several musical numbers (strange, I know) with Tim Curry and Grace Jones as performers in the show. I'd kill, or pay a very large sum, to have this soundtrack, but to my knowledge (and ALOT of internet searching) there isn't one.
The movie is beautiful, very original (how often do you see that these days?), well acted, and very genuine. It has a big heart without ever being sentimental or cheesy.
SUSPIRIA, 1977
The original trailers for this were, well, awful. This is a fan made trailer that is much more representative of the feel and mood of the film. Also, it showcases GOBLIN's absolutely flawless score which belongs to horror's movie score canon.
THE BEYOND, 1981
Fulci at his best, in my opinion. The ending shot is to die for.
THE SHINING, 1980
This is my all time favorite movie... ever. It's PERFECT. I've included the trailer (goddamn! I love love love this trailer), and the breathtaking opening sequence which is vast, beautiful, and bone chilling at the same time. Talk about feeling small and isolated.
Trailer
Opening Credits
Halloween III: Season of the Witch, 1982
What can I say? I love everything about this movie. It gets quoted at my house alot. LOVE the opening sequence. Cochran is one of my favorite villains of all time. And yes, I own the "special edition" score.
Fright Night, 1985
I think I have every line in this movie memorized. Also another bootlegged score in my collection.
DEEP RED, 1975
Another fabulous score by GOBLIN. I couldn't decide which trailer to feature since they are both fabulous in their own way. So, here are both.
The original Italian trailer
The American trailer
DAY OF THE DEAD, 1985
My favorite Romero. Is that wrong?
THE HAUNTING, 1963
I think this is the greatest haunted house movie ever made. No special effects here... just scary as hell.
GRAVEYARD SHIFT, 1990
Stephen Macht as the psycho boss Warwick steals the entire movie.
MACABRE, 1980
Okay, so this one is, well, a little embarrassing. All horror fans have some movie like this...the dirty little indulgent secret kept in the back of the closet...that one movie we absolutely adore but would never tell other horror fans for fear of being shunned. It's cheesy, uneventful, and just plain stupid...and I love it. The build up is unbloody and the climax is ridiculous. And I just watched it again as I wrote out this blog entry. (I also watched Suspiria while making this list.) Note: There is nudity in this trailer.
The Severed Arm, 1973. Watched it yesterday. Fantastic concept, not so great execution. Beginning was okay, the middle was terribly boring, and the end was a gem. This is one I'd love to see remade....and I never say that.
Born with Halloween & horror in the blood. Photographer. Writer. Maker of many things. Connoisseur of horror films, with over 25 years of viewing & education.
~All photos, writings, and artistic works done by yours truly across all my blogs are copyrighted to me. **It must be noted, I am former collaborator and wife of the Halloween artist Pumpkinrot. Collaborator: 2008 thru 2018, Wife: 2008 thru 2020.
