Creepy Film Roundup for Halloween 2014

It's that time of year when I have a special craving for ghostly films -- thought I'd share the results of my recent binge-watch in case you were looking for a spooky flick for your Halloween festivities!


The Quiet Ones (2013)
When I first heard about this film, I thought it was tailor-made for me. Paranormal investigators working at Oxford University in the early 70s? How could it fail to entertain? Well . . . first of all, the characters spent about 10 minutes at Oxford before secluding themselves in a bland old house in the country. And though Jared Harris (as the chief academic) is one of my favorite actors, I never really understood his character's goals or motivation. Furthermore, Sam Claflin (who was so engaging in Catching Fire) practically sleepwalks through this film. There were a few interesting moments, but overall I was deeply disappointed. I just wish they'd stuck closer to their purported source material: The Philip Experiment. (And BOO on the filmmakers for using fake photos in the closing credits to represent the real people who "inspired" this film.)


Mama (2013)
I'd read mixed reviews of this one, and now I understand why it might not work for some folks. This film takes risks--particularly with its representation of the paranormal presence--and the risks don't always pay off. But I prefer a film that tries something different and partly fails to one that follows a tired old formula. In particular, I appreciated how this script explored the poignancy, fierceness, and even horror of the maternal instinct. I actually cared about the characters, and this fostered the slow build of dread as they fell deeper into peril. There's more than a little hokeyness to be sure, and the male characters are pretty useless, but Jessica Chastain is fabulous, as are the girls who play her "adoptive" nieces. The ending made me cry.


Stoker (2013)
A grieving daughter meets her uncle for the first time at her father's funeral and is alternately intrigued and repelled by his behavior. This film leans more toward suspense than supernatural horror, but the characters are metaphorically haunted in interesting ways. I'm not certain the plot holds together, but I don't really care because this isn't a plot-driven movie. It's gorgeously filmed and, best of all, gloriously Gothic. (One of my favorite scenes involves Mia Wasikowska's character obsessing over a Victorian guide to funerals and mourning.) If you don't like dark and twisted, this is NOT the film for you.

(BTW, I am soooo looking forward to director Park Chan-wook's next project, an adaptation of Sarah Waters' Fingersmith set in early 20th century, Japanese-occupied Korea. Sounds like a winner to me!)


Lake Mungo (2008)
An Australian "mockumentary" about a family who might be haunted by their recently drowned daughter. This one won't make you jump out of your seat like The Blair Witch Project or Paranormal Activity, and that's because it prioritizes emotional depth over shock value. Certainly there are creepy moments, but mostly I appreciated this spooky mystery for drawing me into the longing and vulnerability of its grieving characters.

If you have any suggestions for creepy/ghostly films, do please leave me a note in the comments!

Last year's Halloween recommendations (all in one post): The Changeling, El Orfanato (The Orphanage), Below, and Janghwa, Hongryeon (A Tale of Two Sisters)

2012 recommendations: The Pact and The Awakening. Also (each a separate post) Dead of Night, The Uninvited, The Innocents, and The Haunting.

And finally, I like this list of 40 Scariest Ghost Movies.

[Cross-posted at Livejournal]

Friday Favorites: ghost movies for your weekend enjoyment

It's that time of year when I especially crave ghost movies, so this past week I revisited some old favorites and tried a couple of new (to me) ones. I have two American and two foreign films to offer. All of them are character-driven, slow burn sort of horror films -- not the type to rely on cheap scares. Maybe you'll see something you want to try this weekend?

Old Favorites


The Changeling (1980), starring George C. Scott.
A grieving man rents a beautiful old house in Portland with the hope of moving on with his life and career. But something in the house disturbs his peace. Goofy murderous rocking chair aside, this is a very atmospheric story with an incredibly sympathetic protagonist. (Oh! If you don't feel for him after the first scene, you have no heart.) The camera work is gorgeous -- long tracking shots that make you feel as though you're wandering through the house. There's an excellent séance scene, too. I love the fact that Alejandro Amenábar, director of The Others, has praised The Changeling as one of his all-time favorite horror films. It is very dated, yes, but so lovely and eerie! (I'm not linking you to the trailer because it's pretty silly.)


El Orfanato/The Orphanage (2007), starring Belén Rueda.
A woman purchases the orphanage that sheltered her as a child, planning to turn it into a home for special needs children. Her son makes a friend within the house -- an invisible but very insistent friend -- and soon thereafter disappears. I saw this film in the theater when it first came out, and I remember screaming during one scene, but overall, it utilizes tension and dread rather than sudden shocks. It contains one of my favorite paranormal investigation scenes EVER, featuring the gloriously spooky Geraldine Chaplin. Like The Changeling, this one will pull at your heartstrings, and I defy you not to cry at the end. (Here's the American trailer, but I warn you that it's a bit overblown.)

New Favorites


Below (2002), starring Bruce Greenwood (and a gaggle of familiar actors)
Okay, all I have to say is this -- HAUNTED SUBMARINE. It gives me chills thinking about it even now, because I can't imagine a location more claustrophobic than a submarine. Anyhoo, this film starts with a WWII American submarine crew picking up survivors of a sunken boat, one of whom happens to be a female doctor. Disruption and spookiness ensue. This film is much more about suspense and tension than horror, and I'm shaking my head as to why I've never heard about it until now. It was directed by the guy who did Pitch Black and the screenplay was co-written by Darren Aronofsky! Plus it features LOTS of familiar faces, including the already mentioned Bruce Greenwood (Captain Pike!), Matthew Davis (Alaric in Vampire Diaries), Scott Foley (Noel! Jake Ballard!), and the always spectacular Olivia Williams (who was lovely in Miss Austen Regrets, among other things.) Very cool film, very much over-looked. (Check out the trailer--same annoying voice-over guy. *sigh*)


Janghwa, Hongryeon / A Tale of Two Sisters (2003), starring Jung-ah Yum and Su-jeong Lim
I'm not sure I can be articulate about this Korean film. It is CREEPY. Definitely the most horrific film on my list. But it's also gorgeous, mysterious, and haunting on multiple levels. So difficult to explain the plot, so I will just tell you it's about two sisters with a history of mental illness, an evil stepmother, and a ghost. I need to watch again to fully comprehend the timeline and backstory of the characters because it's a subtle, complex film that leaves a lot of the work up to the viewer, which I appreciate so much. It shook me up more than any ghost film I've seen recently, but keep in mind that it is slow-paced and enigmatic. And so much better than the 2009 American remake, The Uninvited, which was fine, but not nearly so powerful. (Watch the trailer -- blessedly free of voice-over!)

As always, let me know if you have any suggestions. I'm getting to the point where I feel like I've SEEN ALL THE GOOD GHOST MOVIES. It's a very sad state of affairs . . .

[Cross-posted to Livejournal]

Movie Monday: The Innocents (1961)

As we continue with ghostly B&W films from Martin Scorsese's 11 Scariest Horror Movies of All Time, I must confess how much I love Henry James' Turn of the Screw. I've read it several times, seen the play, seen the opera, seen (& taught) the 1999 BBC adaptation with Jodhi May and Colin Firth, and I never can get enough. Therefore I was eager to see this classic B&W adaptation starring Deborah Kerr.

What Scorsese has to say:
This Jack Clayton adaptation of The Turn of the Screw is one of the rare pictures that does justice to Henry James. It’s beautifully crafted and acted, immaculately shot (by Freddie Francis), and very scary.


The story: a wealthy man hires a young, inexperienced governess to educate his nephew and niece and to preside over the running of his remote country estate. The only catch? He will be elsewhere, and she must never bother him with questions or concerns. Despite this, our governess makes a good start. The house and grounds are beautiful, and young Flora seems a delightful girl.

(Notice the use of deep focus in the above shot--Flora is smiling sweetly, but the shot is a little creepy, isn't it? Overall there is a very claustrophobic feel to the way this film is shot, and it heightens the horror in a lovely way.)


Everything changes when young Miles is sent home from school. He's a charming boy, but Miss Giddens* suspects more is going on. The children sometimes behave oddly together and are suspiciously secretive. The more she learns about their past, the more certain she is that they are haunted . . . and perhaps even in danger of becoming possessed.

*The governess is unnamed in the original story


She is determined to save their souls, no matter the peril.

Like the previously discussed films, The Innocents features a slow build of psychological horror rather than sudden shocks or gore. Still, I'd rank this one a little higher on the fright scale. It's dark, tense, and at times, very disquieting. If there are any other fans of The Innocents out there, do share your favorite things about it (as long as they're not terribly spoilery)!

One thing that lingered in my mind long after the film was over -- the song "Willow Waly." We hear Flora singing it before the opening credits begin, and it continues as a refrain throughout. It beguiles and chills at the same time:



Next week we conclude with The Haunting (1963) -- one of my very favorite haunted house movies of all time!

P.S. I just learned of a 2009 TV adaptation of Turn of the Screw with Michelle Dockery and Dan Stevens (Lady Mary and Cousin Matthew)! What what? By all accounts it is terrible, and yet . . . I might have to take a look.

[Cross-posted at Livejournal]

Movie Monday: The Uninvited (1944)

My second ghostly recommendation from Scorsese's 11 Scariest Horror Movies of All Time is The Uninvited, based on a novel by Dorothy Macardie, featuring a screenplay by Dodie Smith (I Capture the Castle! 101 Dalmations!) and Frank Partos.

What Scorsese has to say:
Another, more benign haunted house picture, set in England, no less atmospheric than The Haunting [which I will feature later] — the tone is very delicate, and the sense of fear is woven into the setting, the gentility of the characters.


The basic plot: during a getaway to the coast, a brother and sister (played by Ray Milland and Ruth Hussey) come across a gorgeous mansion overlooking the sea. They decide to pool their meager resources to buy it. As brothers and sisters often do. No, really! It's charming.

(As I've been reminded by the more sensible forum posters on imdb.com, in that time an unmarried sister would keep house for her bachelor brother, so I shouldn't tease.)


Isn't the house beautiful? Or is that just a model? Sadly, The Uninvited was filmed in California rather than England, and most of the actors are American, but you'll still be swept up in the mystery. Something isn't quite right with the house, you see. The animals run away. Disturbing sounds and cold spots trouble the new owners, and the maid is threatening to leave. The pretty girl down the street, who happened to grow up in the house, tries to leap off the cliff when she visits. What can be done?


Have a séance, of course!

After a slow start (during which an awkward romance develops between the brother and the cliff-leaping girl--their scenes are guaranteed to make you giggle), things start to get truly creepy. There's at least one jump-in-your-seat moment, and the special effects are surprisingly effective. The Uninvited is a great film for an October evening by the fire -- if you can find a copy. I had to buy the VHS tape, but there are rumors of a DVD release in the near future. Or perhaps you can find it on TCM?

Next week: The Innocents (1961)

[Cross-posted at Livejournal]

Movie Monday: Dead of Night

As research for a new story, I recently watched four B&W ghostly films from Martin Scorsese's 11 Scariest Horror Movies of All Time. Note to the scaredy cats: on a scale of heart-pounding,jump-out-of-your-seat horror, these movies rate fairly low, so even you might want to check them out!

The first offering is Dead of Night (1945), featuring stories from H.G. Wells, E.F. Benson, and screenwriters John Baines and Angus MacPhail (the latter of whom wrote for Hitchcock and apparently coined the term "MacGuffin"):


In the words of Scorsese:

A British classic: four tales [my note: actually five] told by four strangers mysteriously gathered in a country house, each one extremely disquieting, climaxing with a montage in which elements from all the stories converge into a crescendo of madness. [...] it’s very playful…and then it gets under your skin.

The frame story for this film is so cleverly scripted and skillfully performed that it's easy to hand wave the preposterousness of how these people came together to tell their tales. Dead of Night also has a lovely Noir* feel to it. There are no sudden moments of screamworthy shock; rather, it's a slow burn of confusion, alienation, and psychological horror.


My favorite story within the collection, based on "The Chippendale Mirror" by E.F. Benson, features a very unique sort of haunting. A man's fiancée buys an antique mirror as a wedding present. One day when he's alone and checking his appearance, he notices that the reflection does not match the surroundings of his apartment. In fact, he sees himself in a darkly sumptuous bedroom with a four poster bed and fireplace, seemingly from another time. He's the only one who sees it, and it starts to drive him mad . . .


The most disturbing tale in the film offers Michael Redgrave as an unhinged ventriloquest whose dummy seems to be rebelling against him. Did any of you ever see Magic with Anthony Hopkins? I did, and I was too young to really understand what was going on. It haunts me to this day, and this story brought it all back. It's worth checking out the film for Redgrave's performance alone.

For me, the only unsatisfying part of Dead of Night was the story of the golf buddies fighting for the love of the same woman. There's a ghost, yes, but it wasn't enough to get me past the idiocy of the premise.

You science buffs might get a kick out of this little bit of trivia from the Internet Movie Database: Cosmolgists Fred Hoyle, Thomas Gold and Hermann Bondi, developed the (now discredited) Steady State theory of the universe, an alternative to the Big Bang, after seeing "Dead of Night". They said that the circular nature of the plot inspired the theory.

Next week: The Uninvited (1944)
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*Speaking of Noir and circular plots, I saw Looper yesterday. LOVED IT. Such an ambitious screenplay is bound to have a few holes in it, but I appreciate Rian Johnson for taking risks and making me think. Lots of fine performances, too. I was totally swept up in the story.

[Cross-posted to Livejournal]