Category Archives: Horror

Lovecraft Country Impressions After 7 Episodes

Lovecraft Country is an HBO limited series adapted from the novel of the same name written by Matt Ruff and centers on a group of Black characters dealing with magic, monsters, and racism during Jim Crow America. Mild spoilers ahead.

The story’s protagonist is Atticus ‘Tic’ Freeman, a Korean War veteran, genre fiction enthusiast, and a descendant of the founding member of cult order.

I have now watched seven episode of Lovecraft Country and my feelings are hopeful but with a dash of apprehension.

The characters are well drawn with complex backstories and vibrant inner lives that all the actors of the series portray beautifully. The drama and dynamics are grounded in a realistic approach with the various character struggling with lingering abuse, trauma, and trust issues while still possessing aspirational motivations that speak to a high nature within them. In the face of a racist, unjust, and oppressive system that surrounds them they maintain, for the most part, their own dignity.

The fantastical elements, monsters and magic, are handled quite adeptly with fresh shocks and turns that has prevented the genre elements from becoming stale even seven hours into the story.

My apprehensions arise from concerns of the course of the narrative and the coming conclusion and break down into two major categories.

First; The lack of direct objectives for the protagonists. Tic, for most of the series now, has been searching for and attempting to decipher pages from a magical text with the goal of protecting his family. But it is not clear exactly what he is protecting them from. While there are evil supernatural forces, and one such force attempted to use Tic as part of a dangerous ritual, the surviving members of the cults do not appear to offer a direct and specific threat to Tic. It is not clear what will happen if Tic fails in obtaining ‘protection’ or what will happen if the surviving cultists are unopposed. This would be fine if we were only 1/3 of the way into the story but at 2/3 we need to have a clear appreciation of the stakes.

While the character drama is proceeding nicely, and the characters are being tested on their inner natures and being forced to change and grow that is sufficient for dramatic fiction but lacking for genre stories. Genre is more plot dependent; we need more than Luke Skywalker gaining maturity we need the defeat of the Death Star as well.

My Second apprehension centers on the thematic elements of the story and specifically with the racism of Jim Crow America. It is good to tell this story set in the Jim Crow period. It is a dark disgusting chapter of American History too often swept aside in popular entertainment. My issues do not arise from setting here and being direct in depicting the overt racism, but I fear the series is setting itself up for an unsatisfactory conclusion.

We know that Jim Crow will not end until the middle of the next decade and that systemic racism will persist after its legal abolition. making it a central thematic conflict in the show without a fictionalized character to stand in for it means that the characters no matter their eventually outcome with the cultists will lose in the greater cultural conflict. This is where having a character stand in for the wider culture is a useful device. A white racist character that comes to see the evil and ignorance of their racism can be used to suggest that cultural change and growth is possible and hinting that victory of those evil forces is possible even if your story ends within racist times but Lovecraft Country has no recurring major racist characters to suggest such a growth is possible. Because the racist characters come and go as part of the universal background the background becomes unchanging and unchangeable.

Perhaps that is the thematic intent of the show’s creators but it is very difficult to make failure and futility into satisfying ends for stories.

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The Exorcist is a Very 70s Novel

I just finished re-reading William Peter Blatty’s novel The Exorcist. The story by now is familiar to nearly everyone interested in horror fiction. Young Regan McNeil is possessed by the spirit of demon and her fiercely atheist mother Chris McNeil after exhausting everything the worlds of science and medicine have to offer calls upon a Jesuit priest suffering a crisis of faith Father Karras and an aged but experienced exorcist Father Merrin to save her daughter.

Published in 1971 The Exorcist displays some interesting hallmarks of that period in its construction. Now, I am not referring to disco music or leisure suits but rather the way extra-sensory perceptions and abilities had been absorbed into the public consciousness.

What started in science-fiction print media and had grown throughout the 50s and 60s, telepathy, prescience, and telekinesis became accepted wisdom, along with pyramid power and ancient astronauts.

What does this have to do with a novel about the demon Pazuzu possessing the body of 12-year old Regan McNeil?

Before Karras can appeal to his Bishop for permission to perform the ritual of exorcism he must first eliminate the possibility that the phenomena associated with Regan are natural and explainable by the science at the time. This includes the shaking of her bed, objects flying about her room, and Regan possessing knowledge of events and languages unknown to her.

As Karras grapples with the enormity of the possibility of an actual possession his faith, already shaken, is undermined by the explanation that all the strange events may be caused by telepathy and telekinesis. This is not a by-product of Karras being a person who is weak in his scientific knowledge or understanding, he is a trained and respected psychiatrist. The novel, though published in the early 70s, is so infused with the popular wisdom at the time, that this priest of science considers telekinesis are rational and scientific justification for observed events.

I was a teenager in the late 70s and re-reading the novel for the first time in many decades it is a strange deja vu sensation to be brought back to that unique period in American Culture.

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Blu-Ray Review: The White Reindeer

 

A few weeks ago as my sweetie-wife and I relaxed watching Travel Man, an amusing show that spends 48 hours in various cities and well worth a watch on Hulu, I came across a tweet suggesting that people need to watch this older Finnish film about a woman that becomes a were-reindeer luring men to deaths. I shared the information with my sweetie-wife who instantly wanted to see it. (She has a love of things Finnish.) Searching failed to find any site hosting The White Reindeer for streaming and because my own curiosity grew quite elevated and I ordered a Blu-ray of the film from Germany. (It’s a joy owning a region free Blu-ray player and being able to view discs from literally anywhere in the world.)

Several weeks later The White Reindeer arrived in our mailbox.

With a running time just over an hour The White Reindeer fits nicely into the sort of time slot that from the period would have been a ‘B’ picture but its quality is in no way associated with that ter. Starring and co-written by Mirjami Kuosmanen The White Reindeer’s protagonist is Pirita a young woman who find her newly married life to reindeer hunter Aslak more dull than she had expected as he is required to spend significant time on distant expeditions. In desperation she turns to a local wizard for magical help to make her irresistible but due to either the unusual nature of her birth or the malicious actions of the stone god that grants the power Pirita becomes a shapeshifter transforming in a rare white reindeer that no hunter can resist chasing to their doom.

The director Erik Blomberg avoids the typical transformation effects of the age and instead of lapse dissolves uses clever edits and cuts to suggest the change and promotes the fantastic feel of the film far better than if we had watched Pirita become the reindeer.

The White Reindeer won Best Fairy tale Film at the 1953 Cannes Film Festival the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Film in 1956.

More closely related to horror cinema that fantasy with clear mirroring of Universal’s The Wolf-Man without being derivative The White Reindeer is essential viewing for lovers of international horror films.

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Horrible Imaginings Review #6

Because of the way the online nature of this year’s Horrible Imaginings Film Festival worked once you started a feature or a block of shorts the user then had six days to complete viewing the material before the access closed. That means though I had been unable to complete all the blocks during the official run of the festival I still have several days to finish up blocks of short films before I lose the capability.

Last night after my sweetie-wife retired for the evening I watched the block of short films centered on the theme ‘We’re All in This Together.”

Perhaps the weakest block thematically as nearly every film could easily be placed into blocks such as ‘Blood is Thicker Than Water’ or “People Behaving Badly,’ this selection of film still managed to produce a few standouts.

Hammer follows a man, played by Eric Roberts, who comes home to find his wife engaged physically with another man. While a hammer seems to provide a solution, the final reveal is quite a commentary of jumping to conclusions.

House Hunting explored a possible internet craze that lay just beyond possible but not so far that it could be safely ignored.

But perhaps my favorite of this block is Make A Wish centered on a wife’s surprising and frighteningly violent but loving gift to her husband on his birthday.

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Horrible Imaginings: Reviews 4&5

I missed yesterday so this will be a double review but not doubled sized.

Sunday, we kicked off with the feature Diablo Rojo from Panama. The story concerns an owner/operator of a transit bus, his young co-worker, and witched and demons that pursue them over a dark secret from years earlier. Lost in the jungle area of the countryside with the addition of a pair of traffic cops and a priest they must unravel the mystery and put things right. Competently made Diablo Rojo was perfectly serviceable but did not manage to elevate itself above that. Too many elements were crammed into the same plot and convenient exposition fell from characters that had no justification for that information just because the story required. However, these are issues common to horror and non-horror film and this one was still fun to watch and possessed the most badass priest in a long time.

The blocks for Sunday were on the themes of Isolation and People Behaving Badly. Isolation in general did not work as well as the other block, perhaps because with often only a single character it’s more difficult to craft a good story. People Behaving Badly offered up killers and slasher and gave us more shorts that exceeded our expectations. The standouts from this block were Overkill a farce of the slasher genre, and Waffle and its disturbing take on when the gig economy invades the real of friendship.

Monday my sweetie-wife and I enjoyed the feature documentary Hail to the Deadites about the growth and power of the fandom community surrounding the Evil Dead film series.

I closed out Monday evening with the feature Repossession from Singapore. Jim is a 50-year-old engineer suddenly laid off from his employment and too proud to admit it to his family or to lose his status symbols descends into deceit and desperation to maintain his lifestyle as an evil from his past creeps back into his life bringing horror and helplessness. Repossession is an excellent example of slow burn horror. The first hour of the feature plays as a drama with only hints at something unnatural afoot and the last 30 spirals into deep supernatural terror. Hands down of the feature films this year Repossessionperfectly blending character and monsters is my favorite.

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Horrible Imaginings Review #3

The on-line at home edition of the Horrible Imaginings Film Festival continued yesterday. We kicked off the day completing the monsters are everywhere block of short films the two standouts from the completion of the block were Suspension about a fighter pilot trapped after ejecting in a tree where a monster stalks him and Malakout a haunting stop motion piece from Iran.

We then moved on to the feature film Survival Skills, presented as a narrated training movie for rookie police officers set in 1988. This filmmaker nailed the look and the tone of the 80s perfectly managing to make a satire with loads to say and plenty of entertainment.

Our house then broke for pizza and gaming before my friend and I returned to dark cinema.

Our second feature was The Return a passable tale of a young man facing the demons of his past following the mysterious death of his father. A competent Canadian entry The Return didn’t break any novel or interesting ground but managed to any critical failures.

We closed out the evening with another block of shorts the theme this time ‘Twisted Innocence.’ For me the standouts from this grouping of shorts were Bakemono where a Japanese’s girl encounters a traditional demon from folklore, My Brother Juan told entirely with a young girl being interviewed by an official of the state about her older and sick brother, and winning the award for most disturbing was Milk Teeth set in an orphanage where children pay a terrible price in hopes of being adapted.

Special mention goes to the stop motion short Kim, a charming and witty piece about a siren and her place in the grander ecology.

The festival continues.

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Horrible Imaginings Review #2

Yesterday was my first full day of streaming features and shorts form Horrible Imaginings Film Festival 11.

We started with the Feature Darkness in Tenement 45, a period pieces set in 1953 with New York City being evacuated before a suspected biological attack by the USSR. The film is set in one tenement as the residents deal with dwindling supplies and food and rising tension and paranoia. Sadly, this feature did not work for me. I think the filmmaker’s objective lay just beyond their abilities with a scrip that was functional but not quite there, talent that couldn’t quite carry the subject matter, and cinematography that capture the sense of the time.

We followed that up with a block of short films the theme being ‘Blood is thicker than water.’ This had a number of really good entries with standouts being Smiles from Spain, Separation, and Hammurabi.

At this point in my household we broke for dinner and evening board and card games.

After gaming and with my sweetie-wife retiring for the evening we resumed the festival with the feature Luz: Flower of Evil from Columbia. This feature sported fantastic production values with extensive color grading that recreated the feel on Kodachrome film that helped enhance the feature’s setting in the 1970s. It concerned an isolated community with its charismatic religious leader and their search for absolution in his repeated attempt to identify the reborn Christ. Ultimately though this feature also did not work for me. In the end the film’s conclusion failed to provide a satisfying resolution to theme or character.

We concluded with the short film block “Monster are Everywhere.” Though the evening wore too late and we shall view the final films in the block today. However, the standouts so far are Night Crawl where prisoner tunneling to escape make gruesome discoveries, Spiritual Practice, that centers on a military style training academy for exorcists, and Face your Fears where a young woman frightened of the dark engages in a terrifying game hoping to lose her phobia.

Today the terror continues.

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Horrible Imaginings Review #1 DEAD

The pandemic has forced the cancelation of many beloved events and some, like Horrible Imaginings Film Festival have move to an on-line model for 2020. So, while I have been deprived the pleasure of seeing friends and making new ones at the Frieda Cinema in Orange county this year, I have not been denied access to nearly 30 hours of horror cinema.

While the festival opened Wednesday evening with a double feature of The Brain That Wouldn’t Die and its 2020 remake for me and my sweetie-wife we started Thursday night with the New Zealand Feature length horror Comedy Dead.

Dead is the story of a stoner who has discovered a combination of marijuana and neurological medications that allow him to see and interact with ghosts, the ghost of an uptight and obsessive police officer, an attorney with a drinking problem and house arrest as they search for a serial killer stalking Wellington New Zealand.

Tilting decidedly more towards comedy than horror Dead is an entertaining little movie just under an hour and half the film delivers with talents performances, colorful cinematography, and just the right blend of explicit gore to light-hearted comedy with a touch of heart all wrapped in a light air of mystery surrounding the killer.

Dead made for an excellent launch to this year’s festival and I look forward to diving into the short film block and more feature films from around the globe.

 

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Missing My Shockwaves Podcast

When it came to my podcast listening Fridays used to be horror days. It was the day the new episode of Shockwaves would drop with its multiple hosts discussing the last films that they had watched, the film that they had produced, and interviewing some of the most interesting voices in horror. Then in Jun massive sexual scandal rocked the parent company and Shockwaves vanished from my feed.

I’ve been searching out some sort of suitable replacement but the search has been difficult. There are lots of horror podcast but finding one with the right mix of people with the right base of knowledge feels impossible. Shockwavesintroduced me to several interesting films and while my taste never matched exactly with any of the hosts there was an enough of an overlap that I could find new stuff to watch and even understand them enough to know why we didn’t agree on some.

They will be missed.

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Series Review: Lovecraft Country

Sunday night saw HBO’s premier of the long anticipated series adaptation of Matt Ruff’s novel Lovecraft Country.

I have not read the novel so my impressions of the series and the only ‘aired’ episode so far is driven entirely by the onscreen material.

Episode one centered on Atticus ‘Tic’ Freeman (Jonathan Majors) an army veteran recently discharged following the Korean War’s armistice as he travels home to Chicago because his father has gone missing. Uniting with his Father’s brother George (Courtney B. Vance), who travels researching his guide to safe travels for Black people in Jim Crow America, and childhood friend Letitia (Jurnee Smollett), he travels to ‘Lovecraft country’, rural Massachusetts, following clues to his father’s disappearance and hints of an ancestral legacy.

Aside from a vivid dream sequence at the episode’s opening Lovecraft Countytakes its time revealing its cosmic horror nature instead rightly focusing on character, mood, and critically environment creating a believable and frightening world with terrors drawn from history as well as the imagination. Jonathan Majors is well cast as ‘Tic,’ the bookish young man with a love of pulp adventures now grown into a handsome muscular man but with those same doubts and self-image issues waiting just under the surface. Jurnee Smollett’s Letitia while seemingly a woman who appears primarily as a sensualist also possesses depths and intellect that in the first episode promise greater things for her character and Vance’s Uncle George brings a sense of wisdom and hard-earned experience to the trio.

The cinematography fills a night encounter rich saturated colors from blood red flares while daylight excursions have a washed out colorless and joyless oppression to them, reflecting well the dual nature of the story and the show, fantastical weird apparitions existing alongside with banal historical evil. The show’s soundtrack is a mix of period and modern music and that I found a little jarring but other viewers are less likely to have their suspension of disbelief bumped by the choices.

It is nigh on impossible to adequately judge a story by just 10 percent of its content other than to say that the characters and encounters are all laid out in a pleasing, engaging manner and if the entire series maintains this quality, we are in for one frightening ride.

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