A Place Among the Dead

I watched the incredibly powerful worldwide premiere of "A Place Among The Dead." It's Juliet Landau's directorial debut. Expect MANY more amazing films from this multi-talented woman. WOW WOW WOW.

I found about this film from an interview by narcissistic personality disorder expert Dr. Ramani Durvasula with Landau and her husband in which they discussed how Landau's parents, the actors Martin Landau and Barbara Bain, were toxic narcissists. I felt the usual shock the general public feels when finding out famous people we thought were all right really aren't, and wanted to hear her story.

I got it, all right. Landau packs a lot into 75 minutes, weaving strands of autobiography, celebrity interviews, and Hollywood storytelling in an entertaining and aesthetically pleasing Henry Jaglomesque manner. The daughter of the man who won an Oscar for playing Bela Lugosi in "Ed Wood," and who herself gave a memorable performance in that film as a vulnerable young starlet, and went on to famously play a vampire in the "Buffy" franchise, is aware of the metaness of her life and career, and lets us in on the details, along the way proving herself an adept at low-budget, high concept thrillermaking herself.

Loosely built around the conceit that Landau and her husband are making a documentary about a vampire preying on young Goth women, the film shuffles though different layers of reality and fantasy, slipping in homages to iconic horrors from "Buffy" to "The Blair Witch Project" while tenderly addressing the similarities between Landau's own private trauma and those of her fans. The gory details of what Martin and Barbara did to Landau aren't dwelt on, but it's clear by the film's climax (in which Landau appears to be channelling the tormented superhero Jessica Jones) that they are the vampires their daughter is aiming to exorcise. And seeing their famous faces flashed onscreen alongside whispered cruel words, representing Landau's memories, is genuinely shocking. I would place this alongside "Mommie Dearest" and Maria Riva's memoir about her mother Marlene Dietrich as a warning against assuming that being talented and famous equals being good.

Juliet Landau's feature film directorial debut explores some dark themes. It's a raw look at narcissism and how one can lose themselves when they find themselves consumed by darkness. Juliet's performance is brilliant. She really opens up and lets the audience see her at her most vulnerable. The cinematography is beautiful. Great cameos by some famous faces playing themselves. The interviews were so natural i thought they were excepts from Landau's unreleased companion project The "Undead" series which features interviews with writers, actors and directors who have worked on vampire driven projects. But, it turns out, the interviews in the film were actually scripted and performed by the celebrities who were playing hybrid versions of themselves. Sheer brilliance.

A truly original work that encourages not only insightful and thought-provoking discussion about the nature and repercussions of narcissism but also deep self-reflection about the effects of narcissism in the viewers' own life and experiences. A fantastically meaningful work from a wonderful artist and team

I have never seen a film like this in my life - just incredible. I thought the way it tackled the subject of narcissism through the metaphor of vampires was just poetic. Juliet's performance was amazing, so much heart and depth - it was also incredibly brave of her open up about something so personal. I wish there were more real and honest films like this out there. I have watched it three times now, every time I watch I notice something new, and every time I am left in stunned tears.