SUSPIRIA: THE HORROR FILM AS HIGH ART

"I love things on the border of reality and fantasy -- the supernatural" - Dario Argento

Like many films that were originally widely panned by critics (2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY comes immediately to mind), Dario Argento's meticulously and calculatingly crafted 1977 Giallo, SUSPIRIA has evolved into becoming known as one of the best horror films ever made.

For me it is less that and more an art-house curiosity. Surely, it is one of the most visually arresting films ever made, and has a long string of films that have been either inspired by or have had references in an uncountable multitude. Together, Argento's direction, Luciano Tovoli's cinematography, and Giuseppi Bassan's art direction create a psychedelic dreamscape of color and sound (provided by Italian prog rock group Goblin) that is unique in cinematic history.

This article appears in the April 2018 of TOTAL FILM and provides a retrospective of the film that has been remade for.... well, name your reason.

HORROR, SCI-FI, AND SOCIAL COMMENTARY SCORE BIG AT THE OSCARS

I must first tell you that I haven't watched more than a few scant minutes of the Academy Awards in quite a few years. While I appreciate the Academy maintaining a tradition that gives those lucky enough to win one of its categories a pat on the back and a hunk of a gold-plated Britannia metal doorstop to remember it by, I view it largely as a collective, annual secular ritual of self-indulgence on a monstrous scale that has progressively (pun intended) become a platform for lopsided political views. Hey, if they want their festivities hijacked by a group of what's as close to a moral mafia as one can get that's their business, I guess. But the fact remains, this year's broadcast had the smallest TV viewing audience since 1974. That's the same year when audience data began to be recorded. So, what does that tell you? That Academy execs keep running into the same wall and expecting different results?

Frankly, I don't think they give a hoot. Take this acute observation for example: "The ceremonies are a two-hour (that right there should tell you how old this quote is) meat parade, a public display with contrived suspense for economic reasons." Could this have been said recently by somebody like say, Clint Eastwood? Nope. It was George C. Scott in 1970 (!) announcing in advance he wouldn't accept the Oscar if he won because the politics surrounding the Awards were "demeaning". Irony of ironies followed when, during the Best Actor segment of that year's Awards, presenter Goldie Hawn opened the envelope and squeaked: "Oh my God! The winner is George C. Scott!" The film's producer accepted the award on Mr. Scott's behalf. Scott was home at his farm in New York, no doubt, tending his animals.

Just a couple of years later, in 1972, the Apache/Yaqui/Pueblo/French/German/Dutch Sacheen Littlefeather stepped up to the podium on behalf of Marlon Brando's Oscar refusal and ranted on against Hollywood's treatment of American Indians (now more accurately referred to as "aboriginal Americans"). Littlefeather, nee Cruz, thought so much of how her ancestors were being exploited that she decided in a thoughtful retreat from reality to pose nude for the October, 1973 issue of PLAYBOY. Interestingly enough, you don't see that little factoid brought up in her WIKI bio. As for Brando, other than his role as Col. Kurtz in APOCALYPSE NOW in 1979, he was unbankable, continued to gain weight until he was obese at over 300 lbs., contracted Type 2 diabetes as a result, and was pretty much left to reminisce in obscurity in Tahiti about the good ol' days. Put that in your fact-checker and smoke it, people.

Which brings me to another topic that is so glaringly obvious about the Oscars and Hollywood in general, that it openly hides in plain sight. Unless you've been living under the proverbial rock, it's once again open season on gun control with the Tinseltown cognoscenti. This dried up social/political road kill has been trotted out and run over more times in recent years than I can count. Personally, I think that it is high time to you-know-what or get off the pot and make some changes (i.e. more stringent background checks) on not only assault-type weapons, but all guns that are sold, a more rigorous program to keep any type of gun out of the hands of the diagnosed mentally ill, and enforce the laws that are already on the books. And, oh yeah, raise the minimum purchase age to twenty-one.

The MeToo Movement was also out in force, although it appeared that the women were tired of wearing black and opted for their more traditional Oscar garish garb.

Perhaps the biggest hypocrisy of all is that a good many of these causes are based on the underlying theme of violence and bloodshed. So, while well-meaning but ignorant actors are railing about gun control, the use of guns in their films is out of control. There's no denying the road to Hollywood is paved in rivers of blood, but movies are still being cranked out that are awash in violence and gore. That includes horror films, but hey, that's to be expected, right?

Host Jimmy Kimmel paved the way for all of this with numerous statements that he made in his opening monologue. This is one of them: "So, if you do win an Oscar tonight, we want you to give a speech [hear that, Martin Landau?- MMW]. We want you to say whatever you feel needs to be said. Speak from the heart. We want passion. You have an opportunity and a platform to remind millions of people about important things like equal rights and equal treatment." With all his spiel about fairness and the wisdom that comes along with it, he still couldn't help himself by taking a few, unnecessary but unsurprising jabs at the political right and -- like a typical schoolyard bully -- took humorless potshots at people who were not there to defend themselves. Jeez, the Oscars are supposed to be the one time when everyone in the industry celebrates each other, not a roast for selected individuals who diverge from, or don't agree with, their "unified" message. Or, maybe not.

Despite the rank and churlish cloud of social commentary that hung over the 4-hour long, 90th Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre, it was nevertheless pleasing to see that horror and science-fiction films came away with some big wins this year. Guillermo del Toro's THE SHAPE OF WATER wins Best Picture and he himself takes the Oscar for Best Director. It also took the award for Best Original Music Score and Best Production Design. Jordan Peele won for his screenplay of GET OUT, the racially-charged story masquerading as a horror film. BLADE RUNNER 2049 won Oscars for Best Cinematography and Best Visual Effects. Not a bad haul for one show. On a personal note, I was quite happy to see Gary "Dracula" Oldman win the Oscar for Best Actor, right after his Golden Globe take-home just a week or so before. Oldman is an ace of an actor and I don't ever think I have seen him walk through one of his roles. Kudos to Alison Janey, too. I've always liked her work.

So, what does the future hold for the Academy and, indeed, Oscar himself? I don't believe much will change. Actors will still be happy to tell the world about how things should be based upon their superior intellect and vast life experience, and traditions will still erode against the tide of activism. I also predict that, now that Hollywood has covered most of the social agenda, the "next big thing" down the pike will probably be something in the nature of sexual "liberation". Transgender-ism comes to mind. After all, THE SHAPE OF WATER is an unnatural (now called "outsider") love story at its core, and violation of the sexual norm can easily thrive within the inherent outre context of the horror, science-fiction and fantasy film.

Hollywood will remain polarized, as it has really always been. For years, actors and actresses with a different opinion have had to lurk silently in the shadows for fear of being ratted out and blacklisted in certain circles. It is amusing to see that the same, condescending and opinionated people are now being voraciously eaten by their own, and the survivors of this Hollywood zombie apocalypse are falling over themselves in a race to the media microphone to voice their horror and displeasure at the atrocities of their fair-weather fellow travelers. I wonder when the smoke finally clears, if will there be anyone left at all besides the drug-addled and homeless on the streets of Hollywood. But then they might be the next subject to be appropriated for exploitation.

If they weren't so intent on spending their purposely atheistic lives reading their next pile of scripts, they might pause and remember the instructive words of a certain Good Book from the dim distant past that warns against casting the first stone.

The reviews shown below are from the April 2018 issue of TOTAL FILM.

BONUS: A history of the Oscars from TOTAL FILM, April 2018.

ENCYCLOPEDIA FRANKENSTEIN

Last weekend I posted a short article from CONTINENTAL FILM REVIEW called This Family Frankenstein. It very briefly covered the cycle of Frankenstein films, and included some production stills from LA FIGLIA DI FRANKENSTEIN (released as LADY FRANKENSTEIN in the US), starring Joseph Cotten as Baron Frankenstein and Rosalba Neri as Tania Frankenstein

The "Lounge" department of the July 2013 TOTAL FILM magazine shortens it up to one page (albeit A5 size) for an entry in their "Home Film Entertainment Bible". This version covers the legacy of the Frankenstein film considerably more thoroughly, turning it into one of the better capsule summaries of this most famous of monster movie series.

ANATOMY OF A PAGAN RITUAL

Some could say that the filming of the original version of the THE WICKER MAN was cursed. Bad weather, misinformation and public outrage all became stumbling blocks in what eventually became one of the most interesting films of its kind (you know, the pagan, human sacrifice kind).

Included in the October issue of TOTAL FILM is a two-page spread that dissects some of the challenges that befell the director, actors, and crew during its production.

A KRASH KOURSE IN KAIJU

Do you speak Kaiju? Chances are, if you are a deadicated watcher of a monster movies and omnivorous in your tastes, then you no doubt have seen at least a handful.

"Kaiju" means "strange beast", and they are the epitome of the giant monster, and in particular, Japanese monster movies. The most famous is, of course, Gojira (or "Godzilla" in the Western tongue). The big lizard with the nuclear breath has been "attacking the city" -- in other words, Tokyo -- since the 50's.

Kaiju has a giant following among a core group of enthusiastic fans. There is even a magazine devoted to them (see the G-FAN button on the sidebar to the right of this blogroll). FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND magazine even used an entire issue to feature the giant monsters of Japan (my review of this issue can be read in issue #96 of G-FAN).

In the October issue of TOTAL FILM, there is a short-course on Kaiju and its long and rich history. It also contains news of PACIFIC RIM, a new Kaiju film by none other than Guillermo del Toro!

MOVIE NOOSE REEL

Shunned at the box office, the Disney flop, JOHN CARTER, has gained new -- and well-deserved -- life in the DVD market. Multiple packaging, up to and including a 3D offering has made this flick a better seller the second time around.

Surrounded by the usual bevy of mixed-race beauties, Danny Trejo will be up to his usual mayhem in the Mexploitation sequel, MACHETE KILLS. Run-ins with bad guy Mel Gibson, as well as good girls Jessica Alba, Zoe Saldana, Amber Heard, Michelle Rodriguez, and a new babe from Columbia, Sofia Vergara will no doubt end up being loads of fun to watch. Mr. Trejo's profoundest comment? "I get to kiss all of them!" I'm positively green . . .

Yay! Another "ghost story for grown ups"! Proving it's okay to hold a camera shot for longer than 5 seconds and allowing viewers to leave their Dramamine in the medicine cabinet for once, receiving critical high-water marks is THE INNKEEPERS. Pegged as slow to build, it sounds like another film in the same neighborhood as Hammer's recent THE WOMAN IN BLACK.

Rounding out this reel is a short review of the panned ABE LINCOLN, VAMPIRE HUNTER, and an appreciation of the ALIENS prequel, PROMETHEUS.

[SOURCE: TOTAL FILM Aug 2012]

THE GREY: MAN VS. WOLF

Coming to U.S. theaters on January 27 in what looks to be quite a thriller is THE GREY, starring Liam Neeson. While the wolves in this film appear more like the regular four-pawed kind, there are hints of the supernatural to the story. From the trailer shown below, the film's subtitle could easily be called, "Wolf vs. Food".

The "First Look" story is from TOTAL FILM, December 2011.

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WHY BAD MONSTER MOVIES ARE GOOD MONSTER MOVIES

As sure as the moon rises, the film industry will keep cranking out so-called "B-movies". The "B" is usually referred to -- especially with monster movies -- as "Bad", but you won't catch film studios and distributors thinking twice -- it hasn't stopped them since Roger Corman perfected the art form way back in the 1950's.

In the December, 2011 issue of TOTAL FILM magazine, a writer tries to explain the phenomenon -- why these film are made . . . and why we love them so much, framed in the context of the soon-to-be-released PIRANHA 3DD, the sequal of the movie that used more gallons of blood (and possibly on more cleavage) than any other film before it.

PIRANHA 3DD TRAILER

HAS "DARK" LOST ITS SPARK?

The highly anticipated TV-movie remake of DON"T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK suffered from lukewarm attendance at the theaters and has so far earned a little over $30 Million dollars at the box office. Since it disappeared fron screens after only a week or two, it is likely that any additional revenue will come from the DVD market.

Here is coverage of the movie from TOTAL FILM magazine's October 2011 issue.

SCI-FI FILMS BY THE NUMBERS

We earthlings like lists. Maybe it's to create some sort of order in our puny human binary brains. Maybe it's to reassure the priority of things for our puny human binary brains. Whatever the reason, the film industry uses lists all the time to let us know what's best and to leave the rest . . . in whoever's opinion, that is.

The UK A4-sized TOTAL FILM magazine had two -- count 'em -- two, lists in their August 2011 issue. For your puny human binary brains, here's the list:

1. The 10 Coolest Sci-Fi Films Being Made Right Now
2. The 50 Greatest Sci-Fi Movies Ever Made

And here are the articles: 

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