If Ingmar Bergman had grown up in Kansas I could see him making a film like Carnival of Souls. Filmed in grainy black and white, Carnival of Souls is one greatest Midwestern Gothics ever made (it was mostly filmed in Lawrence, Kansas). The film tells the story of a young woman trying to make sense of reality after she's the unfortunate passenger in a tragic drag race. After the car crashes off the river bridge, a scene Tim Burton duplicated in Beetlejuice, young Mary arrives in a new town and lands a church organist job. She gets a room in a boarding house with a nosy landlady, while trying to fend off the advances of her crude neighbor, meanwhile a sinister looking old man keeps appearing at random. I admire how the film gradually moves from the realistic to the surreal, common everyday activities like shopping and going on a walk take on a sinister quality. Eventually Mary comes to realize she may no longer be among the living. We're also in the Kansas of Truman Capote's In Cold Blood and Mary's interactions with creepily bland locals ramps up the sense of foreboding. The minister, straight out of a Norman Rockwell painting, tries to offer Mary some spiritual guidance to no avail. She also sees the local psychiatrist who advises her to get a boyfriend. All the men come up short in this film. As Mary grows increasingly vulnerable, her innocence adds to the sense of dread. Carnival of Souls is a must see cult classic, the artistry of the cinematography and skillful use of local setting are expressionistic and haunting. These images really stick with you. The look and feel of the film anticipated George Romero's Night of the Living Dead, David Lynch's weird America aesthetic, Tim Burton's playful creepiness, even Tobe Hooper's Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Herk Harvey never directed another feature film, but left a real gem for movie fans everywhere. Watch it for free.
John Carpenter's The Fog gets better with viewing, don't ask me why, it's just one of those movies. Released in 1980, two years after Carpenter's low budget hit Halloween invented the modern slasher film, The Fog was viewed as an underwhelming follow up. Instead, Carpenter crafted an atmospheric ghost story inspired by the works of Edgar Allen Poe. Set in idyllic Antonio Bay, the acting and direction feel organic. We meet a menagerie of characters who live on the island, many played by actors who appeared in Halloween, including the sultry late night DJ Stevie Wayne (Adrienne Barbeau), Father Malone (Hal Holbrook), a hitchhiker (Jamie Lee Curtis), local fisherman (Tom Atkins), and town historian (Janet Leigh). Carpenter's decision to not to focus on a protagonist gives the film an amorphous point of view that totally works in its favor, few movies have more effectively used a radio station to drive the story. The first ten minutes do a brilliant job in setting the tone with John Houseman relating a ghost story to a group of boy scouts and then cuts to various scenes throughout the town where everything goes haywire (Carpenter himself appears as a janitor). Electric lights flicker as the fog rolls in. Father Malone discovers an old letter written by his grandfather and learns the prosperity and rich history of Antonio Bay rests on an ugly crime. Vengeful spirits arriving to exact justice for the sins of the past is a theme straight out of the Gothic tradition. Carpenter sets a unique tone that's rich with striking visuals and a subtle use of music that adds to the nocturnal look. The blending of reality with the fantastic never comes off as hokey, there's a smooth hypnotic quality. Like in Halloween, we get a slice of American life encased in darkness. So The Fog is a spine tingling campfire story. A unique horror movie in look and tone with many memorable images and moments.
Vincent Price got top billing but only appears in a few scenes in the 1959 film The Bat, which is really more of a whodunit than a horror film. Based on a popular play by Mary Roberts Rinehart, the story involves a mysterious mansion that's the target of a murderer known as "the bat." Agnes Moorehead plays a mystery writer who moves into the house, after which strange things begin to happen as she and her maid are terrorized by a burglar who wears a mask and gloves with sharp claws - and also releases real bats into the house. Millions of embezzled cash are hidden somewhere in the mansion so everyone in town takes an interest. It's obvious the The Bat was based on a play, it's mostly dialogue with a few cheesy scares. I suppose there's a Scooby-Doo charm to it. Beyond that, there's little more to say about the The Bat other than it's a dated period piece. Price is at his best when playing the suave villain, unfortunately he just goes through the motions as a mildly eccentric scientist who adds little to the story. If interested, you can watch The Bat for free on youtube!
What a way to kick off Halloween 2016 with the whacked out 1979 film The Visitor. Be warned the movie makes no sense, it's a baffling mixture of The Omen, The Birds, and Close Encounters. But, who cares? You get an out of this world cast including Lance Hendricksen, John Huston, Glenn Ford, Mel Ferrer, Shelley Winters, and Sam Peckinpah! The story involves an evil child being manipulated by aliens, while some good aliens try to stop her. Filmed in Atlanta and directed by an all Italian crew, there are some jaw dropping sequences. Prepare for multiple hawk attacks, a zany soundtrack, the worse birthday party ever, baffling dialogue, astrological warfare, ice skating, and even a cameo by Jesus himself. If that doesn't sell it, I don't know what will. The Visitor must be seen to be believed. The DVD has some great extras, including an off the wall interview with Hendricksen.
Clint Eastwood and Tom Hanks teamed up to make a fitting ode to Captain Chelsey "Sully" Sullenberger, the airline pilot who landed his plane in the Hudson River on January 15, 2009 after a flock of birds took out both engines. The script tells a fractured narrative of what happened before, during, and after incident. Hanks plays the reluctant hero as only he can do, never hiting a false note. Aaron Eckhart co-stars as his co-pilot and Laura Linney as his who only appears during telephone conversations. A wintry New York City is another major character, I suspect Eastwood's tribute to the city with memories of 9/11 still fresh in its mind. The recreation of the actual landing and the frantic aftermath to get everyone off the plane are well filmed, never flashy or over the top, much like its hero. At 95 minutes, Sully is a hour and a half of escapism with gratifying moments of dignity and pride. An all around solid effort.
One of the most underrated comedy of the 1990s, The Cable Guy dared to gaze into the dark psyche of Generation X. A commercial disappointment in the summer of 1996, Carrey's fans felt jilted by his dark turn. The movie also introduced a whole range of comedic stars in early roles including Jack Black, Owen Wilson, Leslie Mann, and Andy Dick. Matthew Broderick plays nice guy Steven Kovacs. When getting cable installed for his new apartment the eccentric cable guy makes awkward attempts to bond with him. He offers Steven some free cable but there are strings attached - they must hang out once in a while. At first Chip seems like a kindred spirit until his behavior grows increasingly strange and intrusive, in the vein of Play Misty for Me or Single White Female. The Cable Guy came out just as the "information superhighway" entered the language as the internet was about to conquer the world. No one talks about TV rotting people's brain anymore, internet addictions get more attention, adding another layer of odd nostalgia. Did Generation X watch so much TV it distorted view of reality? That's the sardonic question The Cable Guy poses. The notion recalls the scene in the 1976 film Network: old TV veteran William Holden scolds the younger TV executive played by Faye Dunaway, accusing her of seeing real life as identical to episodic television. An accusation not just at her, but all TV maniacs. Ben Stiller's direction emphasized pop culture references. His 1994 film Reality Bites revived interest in The Knack's "My Sharona" and Schoolhouse Rock. The Cable Guy took a more obscure approach with nods to the Star Trek episode "Amok Time" and other ephemera from 1970s pop culture, including a hilarious send up of the 90s culture of celebrity trials with a parody of Court TV obsessives. Also, don't miss the cinematic references to The Poseidon Adventure and Rosemary's Baby! One of the last true "Gen X" films until the late 20th century kids reached apotheosis with FightClub, The Cable Guy throws a wicked gut punch at television's abstract influence on everything it touches, even more so than the overrated Carrey film The Truman Show.
Leaving the theater for Jason Bourne I was thinking, I'm not sure what that was supposed to be. After a trilogy of first rate action films that redefined the genre in the 2000s, Matt Damon and director Paul Greengrass decision to revisit the material added some legitimacy to the project. But instead of building upon the character's mythology, the script recycles the past three films. Long chase sequences are punctuated by climatic smashing of fast machines, including a high speed pursuit in Las Vegas that conjures odd visions of the Blues Brothers cruising through a shopping mall. Twisted metal everywhere. Damon's co-star Alicia Vikander has little to do except stare intensely at computer screens, her AI character in Ex Machina had way more personality. And Tommy Lee Jones as the CIA head looks like a figure in a wax museum, not helped by Greengrass's penchant for rapid fire cuts and extreme close ups. A humorless and cold genre film.
