Memento Mori (1999)

The film starts with high-school student Shi-eun (Lee Young-jin) running around a track – and straightaway, I had a very good feeling about the movie. Why? Well, because the actress was really going for it, giving the impression she might actually be a genuine athlete. So often in movies, sporting prowess isn’t conveyed very well – oftentimes, quick cutting or a ringer used in long shots, etc. is the order of the day. This sequence demonstrated to me something that is apparent throughout the rest of Memento Mori – the cast and crew give a damn.

If you’ve seen the first entry in the themed Whispering Corridors series, you’ll kind of know what to expect: a bunch of teenaged schoolgirls, intense emotions, frustrations, betrayals and some supernatural stuff. However, Memento Mori is no mere retread of the previous year’s film; this sequel features a new team behind and in front of the camera and tells a different story.

And that story progresses in nonlinear fashion, which is quite appropriate for a film that partially shares the title of a Christopher Nolan film (which was at least a couple of months away from being released when this came out). Students Shi-eun and Hyo-shin (Park Ye-jin) are in love and they don’t mind hiding the fact from the rest of the school, thus casting themselves in the role of obvious outsiders. Shi-eun’s sportiness, her boyish hairdo and hearing problem only serve to alienate her further. Anyway, they decide to write a shared diary, which forms the basis of the film (and its title).

Said journal is found by another student (at a later time in the timeline but not in terms of how the film is presented), Min-ah (Kim Min-sun). She quickly becomes obsessed by the lives of the two lovers, who have since split (again, in real time, not as we’re watching the movie).

What caused the breakup and what part, if any, does a teacher at the school – Mr Goh (Baek Jong-hak) – have to play in all if this? 

A major event causes things to unravel big time, leading to a final act that is orchestrated bedlam of the highest order.

I liked Whispering Corridors quite a bit but I loved Memento Mori. The acting is excellent, particularly from the three main leads. Really, though, there are a number of memorable performances by young actresses who bring their respective characters to life. Life in an all-girl Korean comes across authentically: the humour, the commotion, the noise, the cut and thrust and so on. (Not that I ever went to an all-girl Korean school, you understand.) There are some scuffles between some of the students that look like they could be potentially dangerous. These performers really commit!

The film is written and helmed by Kim Tae-yong and Min Kyu-dong, and they do a fine job of making the viewer feel invested in the characters, the mystery and the developing drama. Yes, this is a horror film but the emphasis is firmly on characterisation, relationships, secrets and all that good stuff. Adding an extra layer of class to the production is Jo Seong-woo’s score, which predominately consists of lyrical, ear-worming piano melodies and ominously beautiful choral singing.

Dracula’s Daughter (1936)

“What new piece of asininity is this?”

Dracula’s Daughter picks up straight after the climax of Dracula (1931), which saw Renfield strangled to death and Professor Van Helsing (Edward Van Sloan) driving a stake through the Count’s heart.

In the seconds since those events, the good professor appears to have undergone a minor name change (he’s now Von Helsing); perhaps this was a half-hearted attempt to distance himself from all those vampire shenanigans.

Renfield (Dwight Fry) – the poor chap’s now lost his life as well as his marbles. Van Helsing (Edward Van Sloan) – he’s undergone an emergency change of name. (Dracula – 1931)

It makes sense, then, that the start of the film takes place in Whitby, North Yorkshire, which, oddly enough, seems to be populated entirely by Cockneys, posh Londoners and Americans. It also appears to be within walking distance of England’s capital…

It’s quite odd, you know – when Von Helsing tells the head of Scotland Yard, Sir Basil Humphrey (Gilbert Emery) about things that have only just happened, he does so as if he’s describing incidents that occurred, say, five years ago. Hmmm… (*strokes chin thoughtfully*)

As Dracula’s cold, undead body grows even colder, the fruit of his loins, Countess Marya Zaleska (Gloria Holden), turns up, having hitherto never been seen nor mentioned. Zaleska, by the way, resembles a cross between Siouxsie Sioux (appropriately enough) and Meryl Streep.

Siouxsie Sioux + Meryl Streep = Gloria Holden. No? Well, I guess it’s just me, then…

Zaleska is an interesting character. She doesn’t share her dad’s lust for blood (although she does need it). Instead, she wants to quit the vampire life, get out of the bat race, if you will.

She identifies the perfect person to help her: psychologist Dr Jeffrey Garth (Otto Kruger) but he’s not so keen, despite an initial attraction to the Countess. In any case, he’s in a steady relationship with Janet (Marguerite Churchill), who looks not unlike Taylor Swift. It’s no surprise, then, given both females’ rock-and-pop-music analogues, that they do not and clearly never will get along.

Marguerite Churchill and Taylor Swift – okay, I’m reaching…

Dracula’s Daughter leans far more into vaudeville than its predecessor – right from the get-go, in fact, with EE Clive’s comedy copper. And there’s a lot more of that sort of thing throughout the movie but, happily, it’s all quite amusing (unlike some of the ‘humorous’ routines in the 1931 film). This sequel is also more of a mystery story than an outright horror film, and features some romantic overtones. Actually, it’s surprisingly sensual for a mainstream American film of the 1930s, especially the sexually charged scene featuring Zaleska and poor unfortunate Lili (Nan Grey) – and, later, the near-seduction of a hypnotised Jane by the Countess after the action has decamped to Transylvania. (The subtext of this scene is, as I choose to interpret it: Siouxsie, the goth, telling unconscious prisoner Taylor, the mainstream pop star: “Your brand of music goes against everything I hold sacred; therefore, I am going to take you, body and soul.”

Countess Marya Zaleska (Holden) has designs on Lili (Nan Grey)

I must say, this is a very decent sequel. I think I actually prefer it to the original, which I have quite a few issues with (one example: Bela Lugosi is fine enough but it always bugs me when he puts the emphasis on the word ‘they’ in, ”The children of the night what music they make.” Eh?)

Anyway, Dracula’s Daughter is very professionally made, quite imaginatively directed and features very effective lighting, particularly during the scenes in which Zaleska beguiles her first victim, and Garth hypnotises Lili. I also liked the montage sequence that is used as visual shorthand for a series of media broadcasts requesting information regarding the whereabouts of the abducted Janet.

Admittedly, quite a lot of the film is fairly wonky and I’ve already touched on some examples. Another is the speed with which our heroes get to Transylvania – a country that seems to be stuck in one hell of a time warp, by the way. I’m sure this film isn’t alone in its credulity-stretching depiction of relative cultures, though. Some 36 years later, Marvel Comics, for instance, does very much the same thing in its (rather good) Tomb of Dracula series.

Gilda (1946)

In Gilda, words are important but cannot always be taken at face value. Words such as “dance”, “swim” and “hate” form a part of some strange lexicon that, once deciphered, becomes easy to understand. There’s visual fun to be had with certain terms, too. For instance, the “libre” sign that is turned down when Gilda (Rita Hayworth) is ‘chaperoned’ by a taxi driver working under Johnny (Glenn Ford)’s orders.

When Gilda tells Johnny that “I hate you so much that I’d kill myself to take you down with me”, we know that only half of that statement is true.

There is also quite a lot of repetition of certain phrases. “He runs the joint” is one example – said first by Gilda and repeated by Johnny’s boss Ballin (George Macready). In this instance, it’s a way for Ballin to assert himself as the true power within this film’s bizarre love triangle.

As with the text, there’s more to many of the film’s characters that might not be apparent on initial inspection. Take Uncle Pio (Steven Geray), for instance. This cloakroom attendant may have a lowly job but he’s more than happy to tell Johnny what he thinks of him – more often than not it’s “peasant”. Actually, when it comes to Johnny, the washroom worker has a fine line in put-downs, “Your source of income is in the office” being one of them.

Really, Uncle Pio is kind of right to lambast Johnny, a punk who got lucky when he met Ballin. The old fella also enjoys certain rare privileges, such as a one-on-one concert performance by Gilda herself.

Of course, using a word or phrase to denote something else entirely was a smart way of getting around the censors during this time in Hollywood. Producers, directors and writers were, therefore, able to tackle subjects that were strictly verboten during this era. Hence, Johnny and Ballin’s unspoken love affair, which threatens to exclude the film’s title character.

Die! Die! My Darling! (1965)

Die! Die! Die! My Darling! – or Fanatic as it was called upon its UK release – is a well-made, well-acted entry in the ‘psycho-biddy’ or ‘hag horror’ movie subgenre. In this instance, the mad old bat is played by theatrical legend Tallulah Bankhead.

This Richard Matheson-scripted, Silvio Narizzano-directed Hammer film follows the formula established in Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? Basically, take a once hugely famous and beautiful leading lady and get her to menace some poor unfortunate. Bankhead’s Mrs Trefoile is not a million miles away from Bette Davis’ Jane Hudson – and, on occasion, she clutches a teddy bear, an obvious signposting of her arrested development. (Coincidentally, Bankhead turned down the role that reinvented Davis for new audiences in 1962. And the actresses were big friends.)

Mrs Trefoile’s shtick is her absolute piety and her perpetual railing against the permissive, sexualised era that she now finds herself growing old in.

The film’s playful title sequence features gel-lit cat and mouse, hinting at what lies ahead (although it’s not really that kind of movie.)

Although, Die! Die! Die! does start off in light, comic mode – before slowly turning into a gripping ‘captive’ thriller. At first, I was a bit worried that the film was going to become quite tedious, what with Mrs Trefoiles many eulogies to God and so on, but things do pick up.

The small cast is excellent. Bankhead is superb value as the sometimes-charming, mostly deranged spinster. Stefanie Powers is very engaging as the fly that enters the spider’s web, and when things get tough, she handles the drama very well. (And the actress appears to allow herself to be thrown about quite a bit too!) I like her character; she’s resourceful (if frequently thwarted).

Donald Sutherland seems to be having fun in a largely non-speaking role, Yootha Joyce’s Anna is strict yet vulnerable and Peter Vaughan’s Harry is a very menacing character indeed.

During the latter stages of the movie, most of the action takes place in Mrs Trefoil’s basement. Here, there’s some nice use of ‘giallo’ lighting, which provides an eerie atmosphere that perfectly complements the reveal of the old lady’s past.

Le orme (1975)

Footprints on the Moon / Le Orme is hard to categorise, the type of film that will likely provoke adoration and dismay in equal measure.

One thing that I think most will agree on is the way it looks; it’s very well-directed by Luigi Bazzoni and beautifully photographed by Vittorio Storaro. The plot, however…

Alice (Florinda Bolkan) is one of many translators who we see working at a scientific conference concerning the likely state of the world by the year 2000. Unbeknownst to her, she appears to have ‘lost’ two days of her life, which ultimately results in her being fired from her job. Alice can’t reconcile the missing days and seriously starts to doubt her sanity. In the kitchen of her clean-lined, ultra-modern apartment, she notices a torn-up postcard depicting a hotel in a place (a country?) called Garma. Intrigued, it’s not long before she flies out to the location in question to try and uncover what happened during those blank days.

Once Alice arrives in Garma, roughly 20 minutes into the film’s runtime, things become even more surreal. It’s as if she’s in a dream, conscious but not awake and with no control over what is happening. In that sense, it’s not unlike cult late-sixties’ TV show The Prisoner. Things just happen, kind of fall into place without any seeming rhyme or reason. Everyone Alice meets appears to know who she is or, at least, some version of her (who is called Nicole). There’s a young red-headed girl, Paula (Nicoletta Elmi), whom Alice spends quite a lot of time talking too. There’s also a middle-aged lady on a beach called Mrs Helm (Lila Kedrova) and there’s a woman who runs a clothes shop played by Caterino Boratto. While all appear to have knowledge of Alice, she doesn’t know them at all. Then there’s a pleasant – if a little insistent – English chap called Henry (Peter McEnery), whom she regularly bumps into.

Who are all these people? Has she been to Garma before? Or does she, perhaps, have a doppelganger?

The film is all the weirder for the way in which it intersperses footage from what is meant to be an old sci-fi film (featuring Klaus Kinski) that Alice used to enjoy as a kid. What has this got to do with anything? Well, you’ll find out by the film’s end – or will you?

My only real criticism of Le orme is the text that appears on screen at the climax, which, if true, rather reduces the mystery. However, it could be posited that this is just another layer of obfuscation. After all, ‘they’ would say that, wouldn’t they?

Le orme is very slow-paced but this works in its favour. I could have watched a lot more of Alice’s wandering about and meeting people she’s never met before but who profess to know her.

As I mentioned earlier, the film looks stunning, not least because of the gorgeous Turkish locations that represent the probably mythical Garma. The visuals are matched by Nicola Piovani’s very haunting score while, in the lead role, Bolkan gives an intense performance, making it easy to believe in a woman straddling the thin line between rationality and delirium

I watched the English dub of this (which lapses into Italian or French on occasion). Normally, this isn’t my preferred way of viewing a foreign film but I must say that it’s done pretty well. It sounds to me, too, as though Bolkan ADRs her own voice – Peter McEnery certainly does.

Blacker Than the Night (1975)

A Mexican horror film that relies on mood rather than viscera. It concerns four young women who share the same apartment. One of their number, Ofelia (Claudia Islas), learns that she has inherited her recently deceased Aunt Susana (Tamara Garina)’s old house – but there’s one catch, she must look after Bécquer, the dead lady’s beloved cat.

Ofelia very magnanimously invites her three friends to live with her in this new (old) home but at least two of the girls aren’t happy that they have to share it with a cat.

Boo! Personally, I’d make it a stipulation that one or more cats be part of any inheritance.

Anyway, they check the house out; it’s looked after by a stern, somewhat suspicious housekeeper called Sofia (Alicia Palacios), who seems to come as part of the package.

Quite a lot of the film is spent watching nothing very much happening. It’s quite sometime before anything really weird starts occurring. However, if a film is sufficiently well made (which this Carlos Enrique Taboada-directed movie is), I’m more than happy to stick with it.

Things start to go tits-up when Bécquer kills Aurora (Susana Dosamentes)’s pet canary. It’s not long before the pussycat is found dead in the cellar and things start to go truly awry.

Librarian Aurora is stalked in her place of work by what looks like an old lady with a cane (Aunt Susana?). Ofelia later discovers her friend hanging upside down; apparently, her heart stopped (is no one even a little bit suspicious about the hanging upside down bit?). Later, Pilar (Helena Rojo) is pursued around the basement of their house but she manages to get out unscathed. She later falls from the top of the stairs after taking fright at the spectre of Aunt Susana. Marta (Lucía Méndez) is the last to die, stabbed through the chest with two knitting needles (at the start of the film, we see the old woman doing some knitting).

As it turns out, the three dead girls had taken part in beating Bécquer to death, which is why Ofelia survives. That was the deal: Bécquer came with the house and they should have paid him more attention. RIP, Bécquer.

I really liked Más negro que la noche; cats and the macabre always seem to go well together. The film’s well-designed, very atmospheric and assuredly paced. The direction is good, particularly the library scenes, and the gals’ mid-seventies’ outfits and hairstyles are always a joy to behold (the guys, not so much so).

There’s a strong sense of macabre morality at the heart of the screenplay; it’s a story of respect (or lack thereof). If the young ladies had been just a little more gracious in their dealings with Bécquer, they would probably still be alive. It’s kind of neat, too, that Sofia – although set up as some kind of malign presence – is actually a decent person who did try to warn the women at various times. I also liked that the first death took place some distance away from the house, which means that simply moving out wouldn’t have stopped the rest of the cat-murderers from escaping the curse.

One of the oddest things about the movie, though, is the reaction to each death. The surviving girls always seem to be quite unfazed and carry on as if nothing had happened. When only Ofelia and Marta are left, they excitedly decide to have a party!

I honestly think that Ofelia was more upset at the death of Bécquer (which I kind of understand).

Haunter (2013)

This was a really wonderful surprise. I happened upon it after listening to an episode of ScreamCast, and I always take note of what co-host Stephanie Crawford says (she’s more lucid talking about films on the fly than I could ever be given time to compose my thoughts). She remarked that she had enjoyed a particular movie, which I took to be this one. As it turns out, I appear not to have listened very intently because I ended up watching something else entirely: Haunter.

That title, by the way: rubbish. I mean, it’s pertinent to the movie but in and of itself it would almost certainly have never made me want to watch it.

Anyway…

Haunter is deliciously creepy and made me feel really quite tense at certain moments – and jump a couple of times – but it’s much more of a ‘ghost drama’ than a horror film. Honestly, I liked pretty much everything about it: the acting, the production design, the direction, the cinematography, the music… I found the story to be engaging and emotional. The basic premise is not unlike something that might occur in, say, a Twilight Zone or Sapphire and Steel episode. Basically, a family appears to be stuck in a time loop, some eerie things are going on – the mom, pop and young brother of Abigail Breslin’s 15-year-old Lisa, seem like nice people but something is not… quite… right.

The film soon becomes a kind of uncanny detective story, which I was really onboard with, as plucky Lisa tries to get to the bottom of things – and attempts to learn who the sinister character (played by Stephen McHattie) is.

I really enjoyed Haunter from start to finish. It’s a poignant, sometimes disturbing experience and the way it ended really got to me. Let’s put it this way, I was really in the mood for this film and really loved the empathetic central character that. Sure, she has her teenage angst but she fights hard to understand why her 16th birthday always seems to be just out of reach. The acting is very strong throughout, particularly from Breslin and mom and pop actors Peter Outerbridge and Michelle Nolden. Other, more ancillary, characters turn up much later but they are all played with conviction and a sense of reality that is so important to make something so fantastical work.

On the strength of Haunter, I feel I must go and check out director Vincenzo Natali’s other films.

By the by, I find that it’s really advantageous going into a movie with as little foreknowledge as possible. (Okay, I did have some expectations about this film. I thought that it was going to be about one of those extreme haunted house attractions. I was wrong, of course.) It’s rarely ever possible to do that, though, but armed with just enough information to pique one’s interest, and without spoiling any surprises, it can be a rewarding experience.

Backcountry (2014), another Canadian film, was one such experience – I knew nothing about that movie’s ‘big bad’ (which almost certainly would have been spoiled by trailers, press releases, reviews and the like) so I was genuinely surprised when he/she/it turned up.

Exorcist III (1990)

To my mind, the third film in the Exorcist film series is confirmation that any instalment that doesn’t have William Peter Blatty’s input is pretty much a waste of time. Sure, this direct sequel to the 1973 classic has its flaws but I still consider it to be a superior kind of horror movie. Blatty did a fine job on his 1980 movie The Ninth Configuration and he does remarkably well here, too.

I will say that this 1990 film is a little unbalanced by the force of nature that is George C Scott but, for the most part, the actor personifies Lt. Kinderman perfectly well. Also, the drollery is a little too forced in places (Kinderman’s carp-in-the-bathtub anecdote comes to mind – Blatty gets the balance right in the 1973 film and the aforementioned The Ninth Configuration).

Exorcist III, much like William Friedkin and Blatty’s seventies’ collaboration, covers some very dark subject matter but it’s in the spirit of the original – eschewing the blood-and-gore approach that a lesser creative would doubtless have employed. Here, the writer-director relies on mood, and a relatively leisurely pace, in order to administer a number of chilling moments, including one heart-stopping scare. I really admire Blatty for keeping all the nasty stuff off-screen. Think about the death of poor old Father Dyer (Ed Flanders) – one really doesn’t need to witness the act – and its immediate consequences – to be disturbed by it. Even a tacked-on exorcism can’t damage the film’s overall worth, despite it going against Blatty’s original intentions.

Not that you asked for it but here’s my advice: watch the original, skip right ahead to this one and don’t bother with the others. (Although, Exorcist II: The Heretic is a pretty fascinating failure.)

They Look Like People (2015)

Two friends that haven’t seen one another for the best part of a decade meet once again. Christian (Evan Dumouchel) has been working his job for seven years and is on a self-improvement kick, training his mind in order to make himself some kind of Master of Industry. He’s sweet on his boss Mara (Margaret Ying Drake) and she seems to like him. Wyatt (Macleod Andrews), on the other hand, is somewhat preoccupied; he’s ready for an oncoming battle that threatens to consume humanity. He believes that aliens are in our midst and while they might resemble people, appearances can be deceptive. Wyatt is also aware that all of this might just be a manifestation of a possible mental illness. With that in mind, he has tried to reduce possible triggers; abstaining from alcohol for a few weeks and cutting out caffeine, for example, but none of this prevents him from believing that they are out to get us.

So what is actually going on? Is this all in Wyatt’s mind or is there some sinister plot to supplant mankind? Writer, director and co-producer Perry Blackshear leaves it up to the viewer to decide and in so doing, he sows seeds of anxiety and paranoia throughout this smart indie movie. The opening sequence, for instance, is really tense and that’s without spelling anything out and relying only on simple, static camera setups. By dialling down ambient sounds, Blackshear is able to create a sense of creeping unease that quickly escalates. What I like about this film is that both scenarios (alien plot or psychological disintegration) are equally applicable and no less disturbing. Whichever way you look at it, They Look Like People is a compelling, disturbing little drama.

Prom Night (1980)

According to many ‘proper’ horror fans, Prom Night is a bit of a dud. It’s “dull” and “boring,” they say. Well, I don’t agree.

Of course, what makes a good genre movie is entirely subjective. I get that. Some people think The Exorcist is “dumb”. (Those people are dumb.)

Prom Night is well directed and edited. The acting is absolutely fine for a movie of this type and some of the characters are quite likeable. There are even moments of genuine pathos.

For me, Prom Night is enjoyable. It’s not particularly grisly (which I’m fine with). It’s also something of a slow burn, which I guess annoys a lot of people.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s no masterpiece but it’s a fun watch that hits that early-80s’ slasher-movie sweet spot.