Can a film still manage to terrify its audience? Not just shock or make them jump out of their seats on occasion but to really unnerve viewers to the point that neither the sunshine nor their own flesh is reassuring enough? The filmmaker needn’t resort to any “turns of the screw” or plot twists; nor is it required to spill buckets of blood or pile on the gore. To evoke terror — the finest kinds of frisson achieved by such works — one need only upend, even for a bit, that sense of Newtonian security and allow the possibility that everything that was accepted as fact is wrong. That dead do still live and want to eat your flesh, that killing another human being might get someone off, that God isn’t as benign as we thought — in fact, He hates us. The best in the genre entertain these heretical notions and make them plausible. It isn’t even necessary or even advisable to posit an alternative; only that it exists.
Honestly, the answer’s probably no. This may be due either to the fact that we’ve become jaded or that no one’s making anything that interesting anymore. Never has it been more possible to convincingly depict the evisceration of a body onscreen. But despite the heightened realism of, let’s say, the hacking off a limb or a decapitation prevalent in these trendy remakes of old schlock — where the rending of sinew and the cracking of bone resounds to elicit uncontested suspension-of-disbelief — aspires to nothing more than to make us buy more popcorn (after spilling our first bag). Real horror makes us appreciate the tenuous barrier of our skins: the fact that so many common household items are enough to rend its fabric and cause the visceral soup within to spill onto the pavement. Now that’s entertainment.
Halloween, though, is enough reason to look back at horror cinema and see if one or two of the films still manages to creep you out. (Much like Christmas, just because you ain’t feeling it isn’t enough of an excuse to not participate in the office Kris Kringle.) But with the very real terrors threatening our safety these days, it’s admittedly quite difficult to be unsettled by a work of fiction. Not with real footage of journalists in the Middle East being butchered readily available on the Internet and, despite its low-grade quality, this is more devastating than any graphic imagery in Rob Zombie’s The Devil’s Rejects.
Admittedly, the list below is almost entirely arbitrary and admittedly subjective. The best reason for singling them out is the fact that they’ll be screened this coming Oct. 30 and 31 at Mogwai at Cubao X (Marikina Shoe Expo around the Araneta Centre, near Ali Mall). Programmed by yours truly, these selections are nothing more than personal choices, chosen more for entertainment value more than anything else. But they do have the potential for the purpose and aim described above — otherwise, why bother?
The Tenant (1972)
An underrated gem by Rosemary’s Baby director Roman Polanski, it follows a withdrawn file clerk (played by Polanski) who moves into a new apartment in Paris after its former occupant jumps from its window. After paying the previous tenant a visit in the hospital, his own descent begins: strange hieroglyphics appear in the lavatory, his neighbors are whispering conspiracies against him and even the priest’s sermons at a local service seem to condemn him to maggots — all of it pushing him towards a final act of madness. Written by Roland Topor and co-starring Isabelle Adjani, it was made after Polanski left the US to evade statutory rape charges. As if taking its cue from Hitchcock’s deviant masterpiece, Rear Window, it remains a howl of defiance from the perverse imagination and its right to condemn itself.
Last House on the Left (1972)
Featuring the tagline, “To avoid fainting, keep repeating ‘It’s only a movie... It’s only a movie... It’s only a movie...,’” this was Wes Craven’s breakthrough. Based on Ingmar Bergman’s Virgin Spring, it begins as two teenage girls head towards the city for a concert. Trying to score dope, they are abducted by a group headed by two escaped convicts. In a bizarre twist, their getaway car breaks down and they seek refuge at the house of one of the missing girls. Eventually, the bereaved parents learn of their guests’ crimes and exact a brutal but calculated revenge. Unlike most of today’s fare, this tale of revenge was made as a black comedy, using its gallows humor to function as the final kiss-off to the hippie generation of the 1960s.
Night of the Demon (1957)
Directed by Jacques Tourneur (Cat People, I Walked With The Zombie) this is considered a late masterpiece by the horror auteur. Based on MR James’s classic story “Casting The Runes,” the film tells of an American psychologist’s investigation into the death of an occult specialist who had been cursed by a Dr. Karswell. The enigmatic figure invites the hero to his estate and finds himself threatened with the same curse… to take effect in four days. Known for his collaboration with producer Val Lewton, this showcases the understated, atmospheric qualities of their best films. In particular, the best moments of the film typify this, such as the scene in which Karswell summons a storm on a clear day by doing little more than closing his eyes.
Jesus Camp (2006)
This documentary, directed by Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady, follows several children as well as one of their teachers at a summer camp called Kids on Fire. Through interviews, Jesus Camp illustrates the indoctrination of the young faithful into evangelical Christianity. Here, Creationism has all the answers and George Bush (present as a life-size cut-out standee) stands in as the Lord’s avatar as the children are shown in hysteric fits of wailing as they promise to sin no more. The filmmakers are unsubtle about their intentions but it’s hard to dismiss their work as liberal propaganda given the current climate of the US. Ultimately it’s a chilling picture and illuminates the psyche of the world’s last remaining superpower.
Cannibal Holocaust (1980)
Influencing The Blair Witch Project two decades later, this “mock-umentary” chronicles a film crew heading for a South American jungle to search for real cannibals. They are reported missing and a rescue team is dispatched from the US. The only thing they manage to retrieve is the group’s film footage. Back home, it is processed and pieced together, eventually forming a graphic depiction of the crew’s fate. Although director Ruggero Deodato tries to formulate some sort of moral, juxtaposing the savagery of the tribe with the white explorers (who indulge in real animal slaughter, rape and sadistic murder), it nonetheless doesn’t distract from the gruesomeness of the cannibals. Deodato was tried in court after being charged with the murder of his actors on camera. It was only after they appeared in court (alive and kicking) that he was acquitted.
Also showing:
Perfect Scary Movie (2005)
Featuring interviews with horror legends John Carpenter, Linda Blair, Bruce Campbell and Alice Cooper, this BBC documentary looks at the conventions and history of the horror film. Essential viewing.
Satanis: The Devil’s Mass (1970)
One of the first films about modern Satanism, this film swings the doors to the early days of the Church of Satan wide open and was, for quite some time, the only interview footage of Anton Szandor LaVey available. Includes interviews with neighbors, friends and enemies of Anton LaVey and his church and helps shed some light on origins of the philosophies that were codified in this unique religious movement.
Documentary: Does Snuff Exist? (2005)
This is a BBC documentary probing into the existence of snuff material. From pseudo-documentaries to real-life atrocity footage on the Internet, it features interviews with directors Ruggero Deodato (Cannibal Holocaust) and John Alan Schwartz (Faces of Death), infamous serial killers Charles Manson and Tsutomu Miyazaki and critics such as Brian Escott-Cox.
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