Classic Movie Picks: December 2013

by Lani

Each month, I scour the Turner Classic Movies schedule for upcoming films that I can't miss. The highlights are posted here for your reading and viewing pleasure! (All listed times are Eastern Standard, check your local listings or TCM.com for actual air times in your area. Each day's schedule begins at 6:00 a.m.; if a film airs between midnight and 6 a.m. it is listed on the previous day's programming schedule.)

12/10: Patton's Picks
11:45 PM - The Wind Journeys (2009)
2 AM - Aaltra (2004)
This month's TCM Guest Programmer, comedian Patton Oswalt, has chosen two foreign "road movies" which, although they were made within the last decade, I had never heard of until now; both sound intriguing. The Wind Journeys is a celebration of the "vallenato" music of northern Colombia. It follows the journey of a widowed musician and his teenage traveling companion, as they return a precious (and perhaps magical?) accordion to the master craftsman who made it. In Aaltra, a Belgian/French production, feuding neighbors join forces after they are both paralyzed in a farming accident. The two men set out across Europe to confront the Finnish manufacturer of the defective farm equipment, slowed down only by their own lack of legal savvy, money, and common sense.
BONUS: Patton's picks earlier in the evening are worth a watch,too - Kind Hearts and Coronets at 8 PM and 3:10 to Yuma at 10 PM.

12/14, 9:45 PM - Tomorrow is Forever (1946)
Another film that's new to me is this melodrama starring some of my favorite classic movie actors; it's scheduled as part of an evening tribute to Claudette Colbert between the excellent screwball comedies The Palm Beach Story at 8 PM and Midnight at 11:45 PM. A WWI veteran (Orson Welles), disfigured in the war, chooses to be reported dead rather than return to his wife (Colbert) and son. Years later, he re-enters her life, accompanied by a war orphan (Natalie Wood), and though she has remarried, old feelings arise. 

12/18, 2 AM - A Damsel in Distress (1937)

Fred Astaire is the TCM Star of the Month which means that each Wednesday in primetime, including Christmas Day, you're guaranteed a line-up of delightful musical comedies with amazing dancing by Astaire and an array of talented partners. I'm singling out Damsel because it's one of the few Astaire films that I haven't seen. At this point, Fred and Ginger Rogers had made seven musicals together and decided to take a break, which left him free to star opposite a 19-year-old Joan Fontaine in one of her earliest film roles. Fontaine was no dancer, but she certainly fits the part of a sheltered English "damsel" who is "rescued" by an American musical star played by Astaire (not much of a stretch for him either). While this film didn't mark the debut of the next great dance team, it does feature 8 hummable Gershwin tunes, including "A Foggy Day" and "Nice Work if You Can Get It." Gracie Allen and George Burns provide comic relief and some fancy footwork of their own. Astaire's later films often feature complicated numbers devised by Astaire and his collaborator, Hermes Pan, which pair the dancer with unlikely objects, such as a hat rack in Royal Wedding or a shop full of toys in Easter Parade. However, "Put Me to the Test" in Damsel, in which Astaire, Allen, and Burns all dance with whisk brooms, was designed by Burns.

12/21, 10:30 PM - Christmas Eve (1947)
I always enjoy discovering a new holiday movie, especially when it has more to its story than a Hallmark-style romance. To save her fortune from a scheming nephew, an eccentric philanthropist (Ann Harding) has until Christmas Eve to reunite her three adopted sons who have dispersed around the world. The sons are played by George Raft, George Brent, and Randolph Scott and each one is dealing with complications of his own - fiancee troubles, illegal baby adoption, and hidden Nazi loot, for example - that could prevent them from coming to mom's rescue. Will goodness prevail over greed?

12/30: In Memoriam
8 PM - It Started with Eve (1941)
Deanna Durbin
9:45 PM - Bikini Beach (1964)
Annette Funicello
11:30 PM - The Cheap Detective (1978)
Eileen Brennan
1:15 AM - The Loved One (1965)
Jonathan Winters
3:30 AM - Five Easy Pieces (1970)
Karen Black
5:15 AM - East of Eden (1955)
Julie Harris
12/31, 7:15 AM - Tea and Sympathy (1956)
John Kerr
Movie-lovers mourned the passing of many beloved performers this year and tonight TCM pays tribute to six actors and actresses who were not honored with special programming earlier in the year. I'm especially looking forward to the first three films in the line-up featuring three fabulous singing ladies.
- It Started with Eve stars Deanna Durbin at the peak of her career as a singing ingenue, alongside two of her favorite co-stars, Charles Laughton and Robert Cummings. 
- I love the "Frankie and Annette" beach movies, but the plots tend to run together in my memory. Bikini Beach is the one in which the teens must deal with the British Invasion, in the form of pop star Potato Bug (also played by Frankie Avalon), and outsmart a tycoon's pet chimp.
- A spoof of the detective genre, The Cheap Detective, combines the plots of several of Humphrey Bogart's best films with Peter Falk as a Bogey-esque gumshoe. Tonight's honoree, Eileen Brennan portrays a torch singer at "Nix Place" (sound familiar?).

Happy Holidays!

Classic Film Picks: November 2013

by Lani


Each month, I scour the Turner Classic Movies schedule for upcoming films that I can't miss. The highlights are posted here for your reading and viewing pleasure! (All listed times are Eastern Standard, check your local listings or TCM.com for actual air times in your area. Each day's schedule begins at 6:00 a.m.; if a film airs between midnight and 6 a.m. it is listed on the previous day's programming schedule.)

11/4: Selected Shorts
9:44 PM - The Lion Roars Again (1975)
10:04 PM - The Amazing Miss Cummings: An Actress at Work and Play (1975)
These two shorts, selected to complement this week's installment of The Story of Film: An Odyssey focusing on films from the 1970s, put the spotlight on MGM and it's mid-seventies resurgence. I've seen The Lion Roars on TCM before and it's kind of fun to see which films the studio was trying to get audiences excited about in 1975; one tactic - a Logan's Run fashion show. The second short follows child actress Quinn Cummings on the set of The Goodbye Girl, the film for which young Miss Cummings earned an Academy Award nomination. If you're interested in seeing the full film, it's showing on 11/17 at 6 PM.

11/8, 4:15 PM - Patterns (1956)
This feature film has a script by The Twilight Zone creator Rod Serling based on his 1956 Kraft Television Theatre production of the same name. I recently saw the television version and was incredibly impressed by how compelling this story of every-day white collar workers could be. Part of the credit is due to the great performances by Everett Sloane as a cutthroat CEO and Ed Begley as a worn-down veteran employee; both actors appear in the film version as well. The film's lead role of a new executive on the rise is played by the capable Van Heflin.

11/12: Guest Programmer Simon Helberg
8 PM - The Party (1968)
9:45 PM - Dr. Strangelove, Or How I Learned to Stop Worrying a Love the Bomb (1964)
11:30 PM - Brief Encounter (1945)
1:15 AM - Modern Romance (1981)
This month's guest programmer, Simon Helberg, is best known for his role as the nerdy, would-be lothario Howard Wolowitz on the sitcom The Big Bang Theory. As might be expected, his picks reveal a taste for comedy with two selections featuring Peter Sellers and one written, directed, and starring Albert Brooks. Sellers and Brooks are two of my favorite comedians because not only do they a wonderful feel for comedic timing and tone, but they are also both fine actors irrespective of material. In The Party, Sellers portrays an aspiring actor from India who finds himself quite out of his element at an exclusive L.A. party. In the past it was fairly standard for white actors to play characters of other races, with varying degrees of success (or offensiveness); however, today this isn't done as frequently. If anyone feels wary about Sellers playing an Asian character, I would urge you to give this film a chance before making a judgement. His performance is far from a broad caricature, and hopefully the humor and sweetness of the film will win you over. Helberg's 4th pick, Brief Encounter, is a poignant romance starring Trevor Howard and Celia Johnson. I recommend settling in with a bowl of popcorn, and perhaps a snuggly blanket, for a night of delightful films.

11/18, 10 PM - The Elephant Man (1980)
The Elephant Man is a moving story about finding humanity in someone whom society deems inhuman. Directed by David Lynch and featuring a strong cast led by Anthony Hopkins and John Hurt, this film is an American production that feels British due to its carefully constructed setting of London in 1884. Fans of Mel Brooks' comedies may be surprised to learn that his production company, Brooksfilm, is responsible for such a serious period drama; however, with this film and other ambitious projects, Brooks proved to be a daring and canny producer. This film is programmed to complement an installment of The Story of Film: An Odyssey focusing on the 1980s.

11/22: 50th Anniversary of the JFK Assassination
8 PM - Primary (1960)
9:15 PM - Adventures on the New Frontier (1961)
10:30 PM - Crisis: Behind a Presidential Commitment (1963)
11:45 PM - Faces of November (1964)
12 AM - Four Days in November (1964)
2:15 AM - PT 109 (1963)
TCM honors President John F. Kennedy on the 50th anniversary of his death with six films about his life. The first four of the evening are by documentarian Robert Drew (1 feature-length, 3 shorts) offering glimpses into Kennedy's political career, from the Wisconsin primary in which JFK faced off against Hubert Humphrey, to the national crisis of segregation, to his shocking assassination. Director Mel Stuart's Four Days is a feature-length documentary which also deals with the aftermath of JFK's death. PT 109 is a fictionalized account of the sinking of a ship under Kennedy's command during WWII. Cliff Robertson portrays Kennedy as a young naval officer. As someone who did not live through this time, I greatly appreciate that these films exist to teach us about an important and turbulent period in American history, but told from a contemporary perspective, without the advantage of hindsight or pitfalls of nostalgia.

11/26, 8 PM & 11 PM - A Night at the Movies: Cops & Robbers and Crime Writers (2013)
Another installment of TCM's original documentary series, A Night at the Movies, this time highlighting the crime film genre through film clips and interviews. I find these hour-long docs to be fairly light, but usually enjoyable. Anyone who is a devoted fan of classic film will probably already be familiar with most of the titles discussed; however, there's usually some fun bits of trivia and insight from historians and industry insiders.

Friday Night Spotlight: Screwball Comedies

This month's spotlight features one of my favorite classic film genres, and one which barely exists today: the screwball comedy. Each Friday in November will feature several of the most notable entries from this genre of the 30s and 40s introduced by actor Matthew Broderick. Just look at a list of some of the stars included in this series and you'll know you're in for a good time: Cary Grant, Irene Dunne, Carole Lombard, William Powell, Claudette Colbert, Joel McCrea, Barbara Stanwyck, Rosalind Russell, Clark Gable, Myrna Loy. I'm especially looking forward to the line-ups on 11/8 - The Awful Truth, My Favorite Wife, and Love Crazy - and 11/15 - Theodora Goes Wild, Twentieth Century, and Easy Living. Once again, I recommend popcorn and a snuggly blanket (and maybe a martini or two?) for optimum enjoyment.

13 Nights of Shocktober: Candyman

Happy Halloween! The countdown is over and Halloween is finally upon us. Tonight, hopefully, you'll be relaxing, eating some candy, and watching a scary, or not-so-scary, movie. There are a lot of options for tonight and I hope I've been of some help. Here is my final recommendation to help bring an end to Shocktober:

Night 13: "But what's blood for if not for shedding?" Candyman

This movie begins with a cliché: a teenage girl telling an urban legend that happened to a friend of friend. The friend of a friend said “Candyman” five times in front of a mirror and then her boyfriend found her cut open. His hair went white and he’s in an asylum now. This story is told Helen (Virginia Madsen), a graduate student doing her thesis on urban legends. She finds out that Candyman has a hook for a hand and haunts the Cabrini-Green housing project in Chicago. He was the son of a freed slave in the late 1800’s and was a gifted painter who fell in love with a white woman. When her father found out, a mob beat him, cut off his hand, and covered him in honey so that bees stung him to death. His body was burned and his ashes scattered.

Candyman, based on a story by Clive Barker called The Forbidden, is a well-crafted, beautiful and haunting gothic romance. It was adapted for the screen and directed by Bernard Rose who chose a structure and visual style more in line with a mystery film that a fantastical horror film. Helen’s research leads her to the housing project were a woman was allegedly killed by Candyman. Her apartment is now a shrine to Candyman; people have left pieces of candy in front of a graffiti portrait of him. For a long time you feel like this movie may wrap up without any trace of the supernatural. Then, far away and in shadow, he appears.

The score composed by Phillip Glass is evocative of Beethoven’s haunting and romantic piano sonatas. Tony Todd is more than memorable as Candyman, portraying him as a figure of fear and allure. His first appearance is eerie, but his scariest is when he appears in a bored psychiatrist’s office as Helen tries to explain that Candyman is real. However, other scenes give you the feeling this is also a "beauty and the beast" story. The scene where he is carrying Helen in his arms to his alter, set to Phillip Glass’s score, reminds me of a vampire seducing his victim. He tells her, “The pain, I can assure you, will be exquisite. As for our deaths, there is nothing to fear. Our names will be written on a thousand walls… Come with me and be immortal.”

The tagline for Candyman is “From the chilling imagination of Clive Barker” and it is indeed a chilling movie. There is blood and gore but this not a special effects and makeup spectacular like Clive Barker’s Hellraiser or its sequel, Hellbound: Hellraiser II. There are genuine ideas at play here (can something be real, if enough people believe it?) and skill in the storytelling telling. Candyman is not concerned with making you jump out of your seat (though that may very well happen). Instead it wants you lean forward and wonder, even after the movie is over.

13 Nights of Shocktober: Horror Express

by A.J.

This is my favorite time of year, second only to Christmas. Autumn has arrived, the weather is cooling down, and, October becomes the month long celebration of scary movies called Shocktober. There are a lot of horror movies out there, but as a genre, horror is still looked down upon by some mainstream critics and moviegoers. It doesn’t help that, admittedly, there are so few quality horror movies made but, like comedy, it’s a very difficult and subjective genre. So, in the days leading up Halloween I’ll be posting some recommendations for scary movies to help you celebrate Shocktober.

Night 12: "Evolution is a fact, and there's morality in a fact." Horror Express

I'm not the only person recommending horror movies this Shocktober. Every weekday local film buff John Ary is hosting Ain't It Scary Reviews, a special Shocktober edition of the Vulcan Vault review series in which Vulcan Video employees (such as myself), filmmakers, local film personalities, and other special guests recommend lesser seen films for Ain't It Cool News. Today John interviews me about one of my favorite horror movies:

Check in with Ain't It Cool News tomorrow for the final Ain't It Scary Review! For past segments search for "Ain't It Scary" or "Vulcan Vault."

Horror Express will air on TCM on Halloween, Thursday, October 31st at 5:30PM (Eastern Time)/4:30PM (Central Time).

13 Nights of Shocktober: Hellbound: Hellraiser II

by A.J.

This is my favorite time of year, second only to Christmas. Autumn has arrived, the weather is cooling down, and, October becomes the month long celebration of scary movies called Shocktober. There are a lot of horror movies out there, but as a genre, horror is still looked down upon by some mainstream critics and moviegoers. It doesn’t help that, admittedly, there are so few quality horror movies made but, like comedy, it’s a very difficult and subjective genre. So, in the days leading up Halloween I’ll be posting some recommendations for scary movies to help you celebrate Shocktober.

Night 11: "Your suffering will be legendary. Even in Hell" Hellbound: Hellraiser II

Hellbound Hellraiser II is an ultra-dark and gory fantasy horror movie. It was released only a year after Hellraiser which was written and directed by Clive Barker. For the sequel, Barker is credited as producer with Peter Atkins writing the screenplay and Tony Randel directing his first feature. Like a lot of horror sequels in the 80’s this movie begins right where the last one left ended. Ashley Laurence plays Kirsty, who has been sent to a psychiatric hospital after describing the events of the first movie to the police. The hospital is run by an evil surgeon, Dr. Channard, who already knows about the puzzle box and the cenobites. He has another patient, a teenage girl named Tiffany, who is semi catatonic and excellent at solving puzzles, unknowingly working on solving the puzzle box. The doctor succeeds in opening up the Hell World and Kirsty ventures in believing that her father is trapped in Hell.

The landscape of the hell dimension is a vast labyrinth. If you ever wondered Jim Henson’s Labyrinth would be like if it was a million times darker, this is that movie. It is unclear if the labyrinth is meant to be the Christian Hell or if it is an evil parallel dimension. Pinhead and the other Cenobites return, but once again they are not the main villains. Dr. Channard and Kirsty’s stepmother, Julia, are the ones trying to harm Kirsty and Tiffany. It’s interesting to see the Cenobites in their own world. We learn something about their past and even see how a Cenobite is made. All of the expansions and explanations of things from the first movie do not ruin the story because they only raise more questions.

Not all of the visual effects hold up but most still look grotesquely wonderful. If you’re into special effects and gore, Hellbound: Hellrasier II will deliver. Kirsty is still written as smart and as strong as she was in the first movie. Terrible things happen to her but she still does not come off as a victim. I like this movie, but, I must admit that like the first Hellraiser, this sequel runs a bit uneven but I like the ideas behind the film and the imagery enough to forgive its flaws.

13 Nights of Shocktober: Videodrome

by A.J.

This is my favorite time of year, second only to Christmas. Autumn has arrived, the weather is cooling down, and, October becomes the month long celebration of scary movies called Shocktober. There are a lot of horror movies out there, but as a genre, horror is still looked down upon by some mainstream critics and moviegoers. It doesn’t help that, admittedly, there are so few quality horror movies made but, like comedy, it’s a very difficult and subjective genre. So, in the days leading up Halloween I’ll be posting some recommendations for scary movies to help you celebrate Shocktober.

 

Night 10: Long Live the New Flesh: Videodrome

David Cronenberg’s Videodrome was released in 1983 and despite the major presence of VCR’s, Betamax tapes, and cathode ray tube television sets, this movie does not feel dated; if anything, it only feels even more relevant to 21^st century media based culture. James Woods gives a great performance as Max Renn, a sleazy television programmer for a low budget station that specializes in soft core pornography and violence. But Max is on the search for something beyond edgy for his channel; something hard, something visceral. He is shown a program called Videodrome that depicts people being tortured and murdered. He asks who these people are, what’s the plot? He is told there is no plot, it just goes on like that. In 1983 the idea of a television show with no story, or plot, or actors was incomprehensible.

As Max investigates the source of Videodrome, what unfolds is a type of horror noir story in which Max uncovers and becomes involved in a conspiracy far more complex and more sinister than a rogue snuff television program. The finer details of the conspiracy are hard to pin down, but that is not a fault against Cronenberg. His intricate story works successfully because it not only holds up to scrutiny but, more importantly, does not interfere with our experience of Max’s journey.

Nearly every visual effect in Videodrome still looks amazing. Max experiences vivid hallucinations; his mind has been invaded by the Videodrome signal and it mutates his body. A slit opens up his stomach to make it an entry for pulsating video cassettes. His sexually adventurous girlfriend Nicki, played by Deborah Harry, is so fascinated and turned on by Videodrome that she wants to audition to be on the show. It is her image that appears on the television screen to Max as the TV set pulsates and seems to breathe. The scene ends and Max wakes up, but there is no sense that he was dreaming. What Max sees on television and the mutations of his body appear and disappear; he is unsure of reality not because he is losing his mind but because reality is changing. 

Max encounters a media philosopher/prophet called Brain O’blivion. (based loosely on the philosopher of communication and media theory Marshall McLuhan). O’blivion believes that there will come a time when television replaces everyday life; the tool to achieve this is Videodrome. His daughter, Bianca O’blivion, has taken her father’s mission and philosophy a step further, attempting to bring about an age in which we exist beyond our bodies in “the new flesh.” Living in an age in which some aspect of almost everyone’s life exists on the intangible Internet makes the ideas behind Videodrome prophetic, creepy, and intriguing.

 

Videodrome will play at the Austin Film Society's Marchesa Theater on Halloween Night: Thursday, October 31st at 10PM.

13 Nights of Shocktober: Black Swan

by A.J.

This is my favorite time of year, second only to Christmas. Autumn has arrived, the weather is cooling down, and, October becomes the month long celebration of scary movies called Shocktober. There are a lot of horror movies out there, but as a genre, horror is still looked down upon by some mainstream critics and moviegoers. It doesn’t help that, admittedly, there are so few quality horror movies made but, like comedy, it’s a very difficult and subjective genre. So, in the days leading up Halloween I’ll be posting some recommendations for scary movies to help you celebrate Shocktober.

Night 9: "I just want to be perfect" Black Swan

The epilogue of Jason Zinoman’s book Shock Value: How a Few Eccentric Outsiders Gave Us Nightmares, Conquered Hollywood, and Invented Modern Horror, contains an interview with William Friedkin, the director of The Exorcist, in which Friedkin, even more than 30 years after the movie was made, will not call The Exorcist horror. He cites the 10 Academy Award nominations it received as proof. No one considers JAWS to be a horror movie, but no one will deny that it is one of the most frightening movies ever made. The Silence of the Lambs won the Academy Award for best picture and its plot is the stuff of horror movies. Any hint of prestige makes people drop the word “horror” and start using the word “thriller.”

Black Swan was nominated for 5 Academy Awards including best director for Darren Aronofsky and won for Natalie Portman for best actress. It is listed on IMDB.com as a drama/mystery/thriller, but I would only recommend it if you want to be unnerved by a film that is beautifully disturbing. Natalie Portman stars as Nina, a ballerina on the verge of stardom and madness as she prepares for the dual role of the Black and White Swan for a new production of Swan Lake.

Black Swan is shot in a handheld, stripped down style reminiscent of horror movies from the 1970’s like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and The Last House on the Left. Its semi documentary look contrasts Nina’s frightening visions and makes them more unsettling since this film takes place in a non-fantastic world. Blurring the lines between the real and unreal, the rational and the absurd, seems to be a hallmark of the great horror movies according to Zinoman’s book. Black Swan is no exception. There is nothing surreal or dreamlike about the scene in which Nina painfully pulls a feather from her flesh.

I’ve written about Black Swan before in a previous review so I will stop here to keep from repeating myself. The only thing I’ll add is that in 2010 Black Swan was near the top of my “best of” list, and I’ve only come to like it more since then.

13 Nights of Shocktober: Tucker and Dale vs. Evil

by A.J.

This is my favorite time of year, second only to Christmas. Autumn has arrived, the weather is cooling down, and, October becomes the month long celebration of scary movies called Shocktober. There are a lot of horror movies out there, but as a genre, horror is still looked down upon by some mainstream critics and moviegoers. It doesn’t help that, admittedly, there are so few quality horror movies made but, like comedy, it’s a very difficult and subjective genre. So, in the days leading up Halloween I’ll be posting some recommendations for scary movies to help you celebrate Shocktober.

Night 8: Ready for a relaxing vacation at a cabin in the woods? Tucker and Dale vs. Evil

It’s tough to come up with a new take on a horror movie premise, and even if you had one there’s still no guarantee that the movie will live up to the idea. In an era in which movies are self-aware and parodying their own genre it is great to have a movie come along with an interesting angle on an established premise that is more concerned with being entertaining than with being clever. Tucker and Dale vs. Evil is a thoroughly entertaining horror comedy that is also a fun new take on the old premise of a group of college kids who go into the woods and are harassed by rednecks.

The movie starts with a cliché: a group of pretty college students head out into the hills to have what they think will be a fun weekend. Tucker and Dale (Alan Tudyk and Tyler Labine) are two sweet and good natured hillbillies that are spending a weekend at Tucker’s new vacation spot, a run-down cabin, also in the hills. They run into the group of college kids (who have just been told the story of a hillbilly murderer from 20 years before) while they are fishing and kids are out swimming. One of college girls, Allison, is startled and hits her head on a rock. Tucker and Dale save her and take her to their cabin to recuperate. Allison is nervous at first but befriends them and helps shy Dale come out of his shell, but her friends think she has been kidnapped. They set out to rescue her.

A lot of the comedy comes from simple but funny misunderstandings : like when Tucker accidentally cuts into a beehive with a chainsaw and waves the chainsaw in panic; the college kids only see Tucker waving a chainsaw, presumably at them. There are similar gags and, though they seem like simple sitcom humor, they work and are very funny. There is in fact a menacing psycho in this movie (Tucker doesn’t seem to notice that new cabin looks like a murderer’s former lair) and a good amount of horror movie blood and violence, but this movie never stops being over the top which keeps it light and enjoyable. Tucker and Dale vs. Evil succeeds at being a horror movie and a comedy and is a fun, not cynical, spin on a genre and genre clichés for which this movie clearly has much affection.

13 Nights of Shocktober: The Last Broadcast

by A.J.

This is my favorite time of year, second only to Christmas. Autumn has arrived, the weather is cooling down, and, October becomes the month long celebration of scary movies called Shocktober. There are a lot of horror movies out there, but as a genre, horror is still looked down upon by some mainstream critics and moviegoers. It doesn’t help that, admittedly, there are so few quality horror movies made but, like comedy, it’s a very difficult and subjective genre. So, in the days leading up Halloween I’ll be posting some recommendations for scary movies to help you celebrate Shocktober.

Night 7: "Why don't you do a show on the Jersey Devil?" The Last Broadcast

The Last Broadcast is an interesting time capsule from the late 90’s. It presents itself as a documentary attempting to uncover the truth behind the events of an episode of a New Jersery cable access TV show called Fact or Fiction that led to the death of everyone involved except for one person. The two hosts of the show and a man claiming to be a psychic set out into the Pine Barrens of New Jersey to try and film the Jersey Devil, a mysterious hooved wild creature of urban legend, at the suggestion of one of their viewers. Only the psychic comes out of the Pine Barrens alive and he is arrested and convicted for the murder of the other men; but this documentary is meant to prove that something else happened that night.

The key to this mystery is the tangle of videotape the Fact or Fiction crew shot the night they were murdered. We get to see most of the footage from the crew’s final night. They are led through the woods by the psychic and when they become lost tempers flare. While the narrator of the documentary interviews people involved with the case, the damaged tape is being rendered into viewable images. The narrator’s monotone voice gives the whole movie a feeling of unease. As the distorted images from the damaged videotape become clearer, tree branches, a hint of eyes, a face, a shape of some kind, they also become creepier.

The Last Broadcast was made in 1998 but is about events that took place in 1995 when the internet was new and unfamiliar. In an attempt to gain more viewers the hosts of Fact or Fiction began broadcasting on the internet and using a new program called Internet Relay Chat, what we would call voice chat today, to interact with their viewers. It is through the Internet Relay Chat that one viewer suggests they do a show on the Jersey Devil and because this was a time when the internet could provide anonymity, there is also a mystery about the viewer that made the suggestion.

The Last Broadcast is reportedly the first feature length film to be shot on digital equipment. It was distributed digitally to movie theaters. It also predates The Blair Witch Project which was also a low budget horror film about filmmakers lost in the woods that also presented itself as a documentary. These films paved the way for the subgenre of horror movies that would become known as “found footage” movies in the 2000’s. This may not be the strongest mystery movie but the details about the production and its contributions to the horror genre and independent filmmaking along with its portrait of the mid to late 1990’s make it worth watching.

13 Nights of Shocktober: Tomie

by A.J.

This is my favorite time of year, second only to Christmas. Autumn has arrived, the weather is cooling down, and, October becomes the month long celebration of scary movies called Shocktober. There are a lot of horror movies out there, but as a genre, horror is still looked down upon by some mainstream critics and moviegoers. It doesn’t help that, admittedly, there are so few quality horror movies made but, like comedy, it’s a very difficult and subjective genre. So, in the days leading up Halloween I’ll be posting some recommendations for scary movies to help you celebrate Shocktober.

 

Night 6: What's in the bag? Tomie

I'm not the only person recommending horror movies this Shocktober. Every weekday local film buff John Ary is hosting Ain't It Scary Reviews, a special Shocktober edition of the Vulcan Vault review series in which Vulcan Video employees (such as myself), filmmakers, local film personalities, and other special guests recommend lesser seen films for Ain't It Cool News. Today John interviews me about one of my favorite horror movies:

Check in with Ain't It Cool News each weekday for more great Ain't It Scary recommendations. For past segments search for "Ain't It Scary" or "Vulcan Vault."

 

 

13 Nights of Shocktober: Kuroneko (Black Cat)

by A.J.

This is my favorite time of year, second only to Christmas. Autumn has arrived, the weather is cooling down, and, October becomes the month long celebration of scary movies called Shocktober. There are a lot of horror movies out there, but as a genre, horror is still looked down upon by some mainstream critics and moviegoers. It doesn’t help that, admittedly, there are so few quality horror movies made but, like comedy, it’s a very difficult and subjective genre. So, in the days leading up Halloween I’ll be posting some recommendations for scary movies to help you celebrate Shocktober.

Night 5: "Why have you taken the forms of my mother and wife?" Kuroneko (Black Cat)

I first saw Kuroneko, or Black Cat, very late at night on TCM a few years ago and for the first time in a long time I knew I would have trouble falling asleep. But late at night in a dark room is the perfect setting to watch Kuroneko. This Japanese ghost story from 1968 is shot in stark black and white, making it as beautiful as it is eerie. The film begins with a band of samurai descending upon a house occupied by two women: a mother, Yone, and her daughter-in-law, Shige. The samurai attack and rape the women, burn the house, and leave them to die. A black cat finds their bodies.

The women return to haunt a bamboo grove and kill and drink the blood of samurai. In what form they return is unclear: ghosts? demons? cats? Yone’s son, Gintoki, was abducted by samurai and drafted into their ranks. He is now a war hero tasked by a samurai chief who is more bureaucrat than warrior to find and destroy the demon ghosts that have been killing samurai. When Gintoki finds them he wonders why they look so much like his mother and wife, and, if they are his mother and wife, why would they want to kill samurai?

Kuroneko is effective, low key horror at its best. Otherworldly moments are downplayed giving the film a tone of eerie wonder. When one of the women’s long black hair moves like an animal’s tail, or when one reaches for a kettle, but we see a hairy claw pour the sake, the music cues do not shriek; they are subtle or non-existent. The cinematography and set design create an atmosphere and environment that is beautifully haunting and ethereal. Shots are backlit giving white robes, curtains, and the pale skin of the characters a ghostly glow. Everything in the scenes in the haunted bamboo forest and the house where the mother and daughter-in-law now live is made of glowing whites or pitch black darkness. There is no in-between, so the ghosts literally appear and disappear into darkness. I watched Kuroneko again in daylight was still haunted and entranced by what I saw.

13 Nights of Shocktober: The Bird with the Crystal Plumage

by A.J

This is my favorite time of year, second only to Christmas. Autumn has arrived, the weather is cooling down, and, October becomes the month long celebration of scary movies called Shocktober. There are a lot of horror movies out there, but as a genre, horror is still looked down upon by some mainstream critics and moviegoers. It doesn’t help that, admittedly, there are so few quality horror movies made but, like comedy, it’s a very difficult and subjective genre. So, in the days leading up Halloween I’ll be posting some recommendations for scary movies to help you celebrate Shocktober.

Night 4: Does that sound like a bird...? The Bird with the Crystal Plumage

Dario Argento had a career as a film critic before he began writing screenplays, and eventually directing movies. The Bird with the Crystal Plumage is his first film as director and it is an amazing debut. He started his film career working within the traditional boundaries of the giallo, an Italian crime and murder-mystery genre pioneered by filmmaker Mario Bava. While it is clear that Argento is working within this established genre, it is also clear that he is imitating, in the best way possible, Alfred Hitchcock. The plot of the movie is about an American writer, Sam, in Rome who witnesses a woman being attacked. At first he is a suspect but as other attacks and murders occur he becomes wrapped up in the investigation and then becomes a target What Sam cannot seem to remember about the night of the attack is the key to solving the mystery. This may be Aregento’s first film but the stylized production design and composition that would become one of Argento’s trademarks is in full bloom and provides some memorable imagines, mostly notable the attack scene Sam witnesses in an art gallery.

But perhaps the most memorable scene a POV shot of someone falling out of a window. You see the approaching pavement straight on. This shot was achieved by, you guessed, throwing the camera out of a window with ropes attached to keep the camera from actually hitting the ground. It didn’t work.

There is nothing of the supernatural in this movie, but over the course of his next three movies Argento would make his mark on the giallo genre by gradually adding elements of the supernatural and stylized violence, before making a full-blown supernatural thriller: Suspiria. Argento can thrill by creating suspense and mystery just as well as he can with blood and the supernatural. If you’re in the mood to see a well-paced, well-crafted thriller without gore and terror, The Bird with the Crystal Plumage is an excellent choice.

13 Nights of Shocktober: Jacob's Ladder

by A.J.

This is my favorite time of year, second only to Christmas. Autumn has arrived, the weather is cooling down, and, October becomes the month long celebration of scary movies called Shocktober. There are a lot of horror movies out there, but as a genre, horror is still looked down upon by some mainstream critics and moviegoers. It doesn’t help that, admittedly, there are so few quality horror movies made but, like comedy, it’s a very difficult and subjective genre. So, in the days leading up Halloween I’ll be posting some recommendations for scary movies to help you celebrate Shocktober.

Night 3: But which way? Jacob’s Ladder

When people ask “what’s the scariest movie you’ve ever seen?” there are a handful of movies that swirl around in my mind, but I invariably choose Jacob’s Ladder. Tim Robbins plays Jacob, a Vietnam vet who is mourning the loss of his son and experiences flashbacks that become increasingly surreal and frightening. He sees monstrous creatures and he becomes less and less able to tell what is real and what is not. One of the spookiest scenes in the movie takes place at a nightclub where Jacob sees a lizard tail wrapping around his girlfriend’s leg on the dance floor; the strobe lights only adding to the confusion. It is probably the best “freak out at a nightclub scene” in any movie. In another scene Jacob goes to a doctor for his back and ends up being strapped to a stretcher and wheeled down a dirty hallway with body parts strewn on the floor. This movie works best because it combines the anxiety and unease of a psychological thriller with the shock of visual scares. I don’t feel that the ending is a letdown or anticlimactic, though I can understand how some people would feel that way, but the journey to that ending is a chilling one.

13 Nights of Shocktober: The Howling

by A.J.

This is my favorite time of year, second only to Christmas. Autumn has arrived, the weather is cooling down, and, October becomes the month long celebration of scary movies called Shocktober. There are a lot of horror movies out there, but as a genre, horror is still looked down upon by some mainstream critics and moviegoers. It doesn’t help that, admittedly, there are so few quality horror movies made but, like comedy, it’s a very difficult and subjective genre. So, in the days leading up Halloween I’ll be posting some recommendations for scary movies to help you celebrate Shocktober.

Night  2: Werewolves? You mean like in the movies?: The Howling

 

There had not been a werewolf movie, at least not a successful one, for years and years before 1981 when both John Landis’s An American Werewolf in London and Joe Dante’s The Howling were released. The trailers for The Howling even played down the fact that it was a werewolf movie; it only hints of something supernatural and beastly. The movie itself seems to be self-conscious about being a werewolf movie, too.

Most of the movie focuses on Karen, played by Dee Wallace, dealing with the post-traumatic stress of being stalked and attacked by a serial killer. Her doctor recommends that she go to a secluded mountain resort to recuperate. It’s obvious that something sinister is behind this resort and a team of reporters are on the case. This movie waits as long as it can before showing us a werewolf, but once it does it’s a werewolf extravaganza. The excellent look of the werewolves is thanks to special makeup effects master Rob Bottin who also worked on Total Recall, Robocop, and created the shape-shifting visual horrors of John Carpenter’s The Thing. The Howling spawned numerous sequels and, like with any franchise, each sequel seems to undercut the quality of the original and make people shy away from the whole series. I can’t speak for the sequels, but the original is a thoroughly entertaining and enjoyable horror movie.