13 Nights of Shocktober: Picnic at Hanging Rock

 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. So, for the days leading up Halloween I’ll be posting some horror movie recommendations to help you celebrate Shocktober.

Night 2: Mystery Night

“That’s just the trouble. Nobody knows what happened.”

Picnic at Hanging Rock

Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975) is not technically a horror film but it is a haunting and unsettling film. It is a mystery with an eerie tone, a mixture of ethereal beauty and dread that lingers long after the credits roll. There is no psycho-killer or monster and only the vaguest hint of the supernatural. The horror of Picnic at Hanging Rock comes from the slow realization by the characters and audience that no solution exists. The existence of the unknown is brought to the forefront, and fear of the unknown is one of the oldest fears in humankind.

To describe the plot of Picnic at Hanging Rock is, in one way, to give away all that happens in the movie. In Australia on St. Valentine’s Day, 1900, a group of students and their chaperones from an all-girls boarding school go on a picnic to Hanging Rock. Some of the girls go exploring the Rock, a series of stony volcanic formations jutting up out of the earth. Three of the girls and one of the teachers go missing. One of them is found a week later completely unscathed but with no memory of what happened. The rest are never seen again. However, this description does not do justice to what makes this such a beguiling and unique mystery picture. 

Every cinematic element (cinematography, score, sound design, editing, performances, costumes) works to sustain a subtle, surreal atmosphere without calling attention to technique. The two most striking and unforgettable elements of Picnic at Hanging Rock are the sun-drenched, soft-focus cinematography by Russell Boyd, who won a BAFTA award for his work, and the pan flute score which, together, cast a big part of the movie’s spell. Cinematographer Boyd hung a wedding veil over the camera lens to create a diffused backlit look. Sunlight catches in the girls’ hair and white dresses and seems to make them glow. For certain close ups director Peter Weir had the actors remain completely still and unblinking while they were filmed in slow motion. The result is almost an imperceptible effect that the brain cannot immediately interpret but the eye can detect and knows something is amiss.  

The potential of the supernatural exists throughout Picnic at Hanging Rock and the rock itself seems to be potentially supernatural or paranormal. On the carriage ride to Hanging Rock the girls talk about its ancient age and how it has been waiting for them for millions of years. There seem to be faces in the rock and the watches of one of the teachers and the carriage driver stop at exactly noon. Somehow all the most logical explanations of what happened to the girls (kidnapping and murder, trapped in a crevice) also feel like the most unlikely explanations. A definitive concrete explanation wouldn’t just be a disappointment, as the solutions to most mysteries are, it would completely ruin the spell that the film has cast. Even if you figured out why they disappeared you would still have to figure out where they went. 

Picnic at Hanging Rock feels like it is based on a true story but it is not. It is adapted from a novel by Joan Lindsay who based the story on a series of dreams. Like a dream, a big part of the movie’s appeal is the many interpretations and theories that can be applied. The emerging sexuality of the adolescent girls, the repressive nature of the boarding school, the imposition of English customs and culture in a place where they do not belong, the ancient nature of the rock, the young age of girls are all important themes that seem to hint at a reason for disappearance. Much has been written on these themes and others and more could be written still. This is part of why Picnic at Hanging Rock lingered despite its negative reception in 1975.  

For me, the most important scene is a conversation between a male employee of the school and the old groundskeeper. The younger man insists that an explanation will be found and lists theories, some logical, some illogical. The groundskeeper asks the younger man if he knows that there are plants that can move. The younger man shakes his head and the groundskeeper shows him a plant whose leaves close rapidly after they are touched. The younger man is left in stunned silence. The groundskeeper says, with plain, unadorned wisdom, “There’s some questions got answers and some haven’t.”

Picnic at Hanging Rock is streaming on HBOmax and The Criterion Channel. 

13 Nights of Shocktober: Halloween III: Season of the Witch

 by A.J.

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: Happy Happy Halloween!

“You don’t really know much about Halloween.”

Halloween III: Season of the Witch

Halloween III: Season of the Witch is universally reviled for a single reason: it does not have Michael Myers. In recent years Halloween III has picked up a small following, but for the most part it is shunned by fans of the franchise and horror fans in general. This film is underseen, underrated, over-bashed, and deserves a reassessment. It certainly has its share of flaws to be sure, but if given a chance on its own terms, this is good over-the-top horror entertainment. 

A bit of background. Halloween II (1981), directed by Rick Rosenthal, continued the story of Laurie Strode, Dr. Loomis, and Michael Myers on the same Halloween night as John Carpenter's original film and, unlike the first film, ended very, very conclusively. With Halloween III, written and directed by Tommy Lee Wallace, the idea was to take the film series in a new direction as an anthology film series with each subsequent sequel taking place around Halloween but having a different story and characters. This seemed like a good idea because, after all, there are more spooky things that can happen on Halloween besides a killer wearing a mask. Why not take advantage of a title as broad as “Halloween”? The film flopped, a harsh backlash ensued, and there wouldn’t be another Halloween movie until four years later with Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers.

This film begins with a toy store owner being taken to a hospital. He is clutching a Silver Shamrock brand Halloween mask and says, “they’re going to kill us all.” A mysterious man in a suit sneaks into his room, kills him by crushing his face, then kills himself by blowing himself up in a car. Dr. Dan Challis (Tom Atkins) witnesses this and is determined to get answers. He finds out the murder victim recently visited the headquarters of the Silver Shamrock toy company. Ellie (Stacy Nelkin), the toy store owner’s daughter, teams up with Dr. Challis to find out who and what is behind her father’s murder. They travel to the isolated headquarters of Silver Shamrock and uncover the company’s sinister plan for Halloween night.

Dan O’Herlihy gives a good performance as Conal Cochran, the head of the evil company. His light, lilting voice makes him seem harmless in certain scenes, like when he’s giving a tour of the factory, but it also makes him especially villainous in other scenes. Cochran’s plan is to return Halloween to its ancient, sacrificial roots by killing countless children all over the country through the popular masks. We see a demonstration of this at the factory and though it is not especially gory or graphic, it is pretty intense and might be a dealbreaker for some. A kid wearing one of the special Silver Shamrock masks collapses when a device in the mask is activated by a signal from the TV and his head caves in and snakes and bugs crawl out from the under the mask. The special effects for the other horror scenes are pretty gross but great effects. There are certainly more graphic and gory images in other horror movies, but these scenes are not for the squeamish. The practical makeup effects add a sense of reality to the grotesque sights and are effective to say the least.

There are subtle touches sprinkled throughout Halloween III that pay tribute to the original but also let the audience know this film means to do its own thing. The title sequence of John Carpenter’s film is a shot of a jack-o-lantern next to the opening credits. The title sequence of Halloween III is a close up of rows of orange dots that are revealed to be a jack-o-lantern on a TV, but the font style of music are different. In John Carpenter’s Halloween, characters watch classic black & white horror movies on TV. In Halloween III, the characters watch John Carpenter’s Halloween on TV and a commercial refers to it as “an immortal classic.”

I can understand the frustration and confusion felt by fans and audiences in general at the time and even now, especially since this is a numbered sequel implying that it comes in sequence or is strongly tied to the original. It feels weird that it is included in the Blu-ray box set, but I’m glad it is. Halloween III stands out and stands alone and that is what is great about it.

Halloween III is not on the same level as the original, but it is certainly more entertaining some of the other Halloween sequels. I’ll admit that like many I was dismissive of this film sight unseen but my enjoyment of it has only grown. The Silver Shamrock commercial advertising the masks and counting down the days until Halloween goes “Happy happy Halloween Halloween Halloween” set to London Bridge is Falling Down and it’s a real earworm. It’s why I call the final night of my 13 Nights of Shocktober “Happy Happy Halloween” and inspired the idea of a countdown. No sequel or remake can come close to John Carpenter’s incredible (even immortal) classic, so why not try something different? It’s goofy at times, scary at times, and lots of Halloween fun.

13 Nights of Shocktober: The Devil Rides Out

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: Christopher Lee Memorial Night II, “The power of darkness is more than just a superstition. It is a living force which can be tapped at given moment of the night.”

The Devil Rides Out 

Christopher Lee is most famous for his roles as villains, which he was great at playing, but occasionally he got to play the hero and when he did, he was great at that, too. According to a few different websites, his heroic turn as Nicholas Duc de Richleau in The Devil Rides Out was one of his favorite roles. Made in 1968 for Hammer Films, The Devil Rides Out was directed by Terence Fisher with a screenplay written by Richard Matheson, based on a novel by Dennis Wheatley. In the U.S. this movie was released as The Devil’s Bride because executives thought the title The Devil Rides Out sounded too much like a western. Hammer is best known for its remakes of the Universal Monsters movies (Dracula, Frankenstein, and so on), and the sequels that each remake spawned, but this non-monster, non-remake is still everything you’d hope for in a Hammer film.

The film begins with Duc de Richleau and his friend, Rex Van Ryn, checking up on their younger friend, Simon, who has recently joined a suspicious “astronomical society.” Right away de Richleau, who is an expert on the occult, sees that this club is actually a satanic cult. He and Rex rescue Simon from being officially initiated into the cult, along with a young woman named Tanith, but then they all face the relentless wrath of the cult and their black magic.

The Devil Rides Out is a campy film now, and may have been even when it was released, but it is difficult to make a serious film about Satanists (with all of their magic spells, robes, funny names, and use of farm animals). It may come off as silly, but that doesn’t mean that the movie isn’t well done or spooky. The movie is set in 1929 and the production design is as good as Hammer’s Gothic horror movies. Simon’s room has large imposing windows and a satanic seal on the tiled floor. The Satanists wear purple robes, sacrifice a goat out in the woods during a ritual, and then dance around and act crazy. After breaking up that ritual de Richleau, Rex, Simon, and Tanith hide out at de Richleau’s niece’s country house. The country house and the English countryside provide a mood of isolation and slight distance from reality.

Not all of the visual effects hold up (adding to the camp value), but there is still some effective imagery, including the chilling appearance of the Angel of Death. The dated effects aren’t a big problem though because this movie relies mostly on the performances of the actors, especially Christopher Lee and Charles Gray as the satanic leader, Mocata. Most of the movie feels like a play; the second half of the movie takes place almost entirely in the country house.

There are a lot of great moments in this movie. In a car chase, Mocata uses black magic to lose Rex who is chasing after a possessed Tanith. First Rex's windshield turns opaque, then a fog is cast as the cars enter the woods. When Simon invites de Richleau and Rex into his room, Lee bounds across the room, throws open the closet, and is aghast at the wicker crate containing a chicken, which confirms his suspicions that his friend is about to join a satanic cult. At the country house de Richleau conducts a counter ritual that requires himself, his niece, her husband, and Simon to lie on the floor with their heads touching. It’s an image that is striking and silly at the same time. Actually, that’s how most things are in The Devil Rides Out, but you believe every moment of it because of Christopher Lee’s performance. He plays de Richleau with a believable authority and a commanding presence. Only an actor with real talent could be so angry at the sight of a chicken in a basket and somehow not go over the top. Lee is great at leading the rituals and casting spells. His serious performance gets us to take it seriously too. The Devil Rides Out is entertaining, spooky, fun, and even a little silly, but the real reason to watch this movie is for Christopher Lee’s performance. 

Horror Movie Month: The Supernatural

The movies that always scared me the most as a kid, and even now, were not about killers with knives and agendas, but the ones about things you cannot see, things that were not of this world—the supernatural. As a kid the things everyone told you weren’t real always felt like they could be real. Was there really a way to prove there wasn’t anything under the bed, or outside the window? How did you know for sure that the time you went into the house all the other kids said was haunted wouldn’t be the one time something out of this world really happened? There’s nothing there in the dark that isn’t there in the light, but how do you know? It’s too dark to see that.

In my search for good horror movies John Carpenter has come up more than a few times. He directed the original Halloween, which is, for my money, the best of the slasher sub-genre. But he has also made some very effective and spooky supernatural horror movies. In the Mouth of Madness is a movie I wanted to see but was too afraid of when it was released in 1994 and I was 9 years old. When I finally saw the movie, it gave me the creeps, but it a good way. In the Mouth of Madness is based on the works of H.P. Lovecraft though no specific work is credited. The story is about an insurance investigator John Trent, played by Sam Neill, who is hired to investigate the disappearance of the ultra popular horror novelist Sutter Cane. Sutter Cane is a combination of Steven King, Clive Barker, and, of course, H.P. Lovecraft. His macabre works seem to be driving people insane and the further Trent investigates he finds that things from Cane’s books appear to be real, and he appears to be a character in Cane’s latest book. The movie has a dated soundtrack and some obvious spooky music cues, but the visual effects, all practical as far as I can tell, are still realistic and effective. The movie plays on the line between reality and fiction, sanity and madness.

11 years after making a movie about a book that makes people insane, John Carpenter took on the next logical step, a movie about a movie that makes people insane, or rather a short film. John Carpenter's contribution to the short lived Showtime series Masters of Horror in 2005 is called Cigarette Burns. It's only an hour long, but it's a very spooky, creepy 60 minutes. In the movie, a young theater owner, who also finds prints of rare films, is hired by a wealthy, and creepy, film buff and collector to find a print of the rarest film in the world, "Le Fin Absolue du Monde." The rare few times that the film was shown all those who saw it when insane. It might be hard to find at the local video store, but if you are able to find a copy I highly recommend it for a great spooky night.

Of course there are a number of other sub-genres that fall into the category of the Supernatural, but I wanted to highlight these two particular films because I feel that they're largely unseen but very effective, well-made scary movies. Ghosts and demons are two other supernatural creatures featured in many movies. The best haunted house/ghost movie, in my opinion, is, of course, Stanley Kubrick's The Shining. People will say, and I agree, that The Shinning isn't so scary as it is creepy, but that's all this movie needs to be. Rather than going for easy scares Kubrick sets a tone of dread and fear best exemplified in the scene that follows. Steven Spielberg said that in this scene if Kubrick had not used the point-of-view shot and instead had Jack Nicholson just appear over Shelly Duvall's shoulder, he'd have had people jumping out of their seats. But Kubrick used the point-of-view shot to created that feeling of impending danger. It's not meant to create mystery, we know that Danny is in their room, so it must be Jack. This shot means that her husband, whom she is trapped with in this hotel, is now a predator.