The 31 Days of Horror: Day 31

Facets Features bids adieu to the 31 Days of Horror with straight-up evil. Beautiful, glorious evil.

Haxan: Witchcraft Through the Ages, the 1922 Scandinavian silent directed by Benjamin Christensen, is a historical study of witchcraft, superstitions, accusatory panic and mental illness, based at least in part on the Malleus Maleficarum, the 15th century witchcraft inquisition guide estimated to have contributed to tens of thousands of deaths across Europe (I knew that History of Witchcraft class that I took in college would pay off someday).

Haxan is an absolute marvel, complete with incredible, evocative Hieronymus Bosch-like imagery; graphic reenactments of rituals described in 15th and 16th century witchcraft trials; impressively costumed demons and devils (including Christensen as Satan); and a darkly humorous streak aimed at then-contemporary psychiatric practices.

Unfortunately, the clip featured above is without sound. However, Facets FRIGHT School will bring music and more to this horror great TONIGHT with the lecture, Heavy Haxan: Depictions of Satan on Screen. Facets' Brian Elza and Bruce Neal will explore this classic and the craft of conjuring Satan on screen. I can think of no better way to spend a Halloween night! The wickedness begins at MIDNIGHT.

Be there, if you dare!


- Phil Morehart

The 31 Days of Horror: Day 30

The recent buzz over Paranormal Activity brings to mind another recent shocker which plops audiences directly into horror's midst.

Following the leads of The Last Broadcast, The Blair Witch Project, Cloverfield and Diary of the Dead, the 2007 film (REC) is a first-person immersion in terror told through the camera lens of a Barcelona TV reporter and her cameraman who witness a horrific series of events.

The film begins innocuously with the duo filming the workaday routines of a night-shift fire station for a local TV show. When a seemingly routine distress call from an apartment complex comes into the station, the firefighters race to the scene with TV crew in tow. What they find upon arrival is far from normal, though. The building's occupants are infected with something that drives them to kill. The building is swiftly sealed, quarantining all inside--including the TV crew who capture the ensuing nightmare on camera.

The film is truly terrifying. The shaky hand-held camerawork lends a frightening immediacy to the action, plunging viewers into a darkness that only reveals its hidden violence when the dim camera light is directly on top of it.

As is the case with most successful horror imports from abroad, (REC) received an American remake. Quarantine, starring Dexter's Jennifer Carpenter, follows the same track as (REC)--nothing more, nothing less, supposedly. This begs the question: Why not just release the original film state-side? I ask this question each time a remake of a foreign-language film hits our shores. I'm still waiting for an answer.

I hope to get an answer and more TONIGHT at Facets FRIGHT School. Facets' encyclopedia of cinema Miguel Martinez digs into this new classic of zombie cinema and its place within the new upswing of horror films coming out of Europe at present with his lecture, (REC) & The European Union Horror Revolution. A screening and discussion follow the lecture. As always, the action begins at MIDNIGHT!

- Phil Morehart

The 31 Days of Horror: Day 29

A proper celebration of horror cinema isn't complete without a spotlight on the iconic Bela Lugosi.

The great Hungarian was a master who brought an overwhelming presence to all roles, from movie monsters Dracula and Frankenstein to notorious malevolents Igor, Murder Legendre, Dr. Mirakle, and more. It was a power that Lugosi maintained throughout his career. Even during his frail, drug-addled, tragic final years, he still owned the screen, as evidenced by this brief turn in one of his last films, Ed Wood's z-classic, Glen or Glenda (1953).


-Phil Morehart

Explore Immersive Documentarians & African Cinema!

Hey all! Don't forget! Facets Film School Fall Session 2 opens next month! Two new classes are featured and they're both exceptional. If you haven't experienced Facets Film School, you don't know what you're missing. This isn't your typical film school--no tests, just great lectures and in-depth discussions led by some of Chicago's finest instructors!

Fall Session 2 includes...

LES NOUVELLE EGOTISTES
Mondays, Nov. 16 - Dec. 21
7-10 pm

Instructor Ronit Bezalel examines the work of Les Nouvelles Egotistes, an informal group of documentary filmmakers who place themselves squarely into their films. Films screened include Kurt and Courtney (Nick Broomfield, 1998), Roger and Me (Michael Moore, 1989), Manufacturing Dissent (Rick Caine & Debbie Melnyk, 2007), Super Size Me (Morgan Spurlock, 2004), Louis and Michael (Louis Theroux, 2003) and Parallel Lines (Nina Davenport, 2004).


AFRICAN CINEMA:
MYTH, MAGIC AND RESISTANCE
Thursdays, Nov. 19 & Dec. 3-17;
Tuesday, Dec. 29; Wednesday, Dec. 30
7-10pm

Instructor Kristen Barnes explores the rich cultural landscape of Africa by reviewing groundbreaking works that have been instrumental in defining African cinema. Films screened include Touki Bouki (Djibril Diop Mambety, 1973), Yeelen (Souleymane Cisse, 1987), Camp de Thiaroye (Ousmane Sembene & Thierno Faty Sow, 1987), Hyenas (Djibril Diop Mambety, 1992) and Moolaadé (Ousmane Sembene, 2004).

*Note: Classes will not be held on November 26 or December 24.

For full course descriptions, instructor bios and more, visit Facets Film School online here.

Enroll online here or sign-up at Facets before class begins!
Space is limited. Enroll now to guarantee yourself a seat!

Facets Patron Circle Members get priority and an additional $45 OFF the regular class price of $125. For membership information, click here.

For additional info, call 773-281-9075 or visit Facets.org.

The 31 Days of Horror: Day 28

Jealousy. Fear. Lust. These are the devils that live within human beings. They gain strength when we are desperate and hungry.

These are some of the real-life terrors that haunt the characters in Onibaba, a 1964 adaptation of a very old Japanese ghost story. This is a great cinematic exploration of a time-tested and all-too-true theme--dark forces lie right at the doorstep of each of our souls. If we are desperate enough, hungry enough, angry enough, jealous enough, we just might let them in.

This frightening and beautiful black and white film by Japanese legend Kaneto Shindo (who has literally scores of movies to his name, and has writer, director, and art director credits on this film) features dark, erotic, emotional performances; a memorably scary score that builds to a frenzy; and frightful images you won't soon forget. Thanks, Kaneto, for keeping me up all night! Onibaba should be on your Halloween watch list.


-Jeff Waldhoff (aka Val Lewton's Valet)

The 31 Days of Horror: Day 27

With cinematic vampires being all the rage these days, it is about time we gave their furry cousins, the werewolves, a little love. Go Team Jacob!

Check out this clip from Ginger Snaps (2000), a Canadian indie/horror hit that has spurred two sequels and more than a few imitators (Diablo Cody must have seen this before she wrote Jennifer’s Body). Check out the original for some real scares, good lead performances, dark humor, and (for those who want a meaty subtext with their sweet Halloween candy) a feminist revenge-fantasy set in the minefield of suburban adolescence.

Ginger Snaps is the story of two smart, darkly creative sisters, Ginger and Brigitte. Independent-minded to the point of being social misfits, they would rather stay loyal to one another and to their carefully crafted "outsider" status than try to fit in. But they are also girls on the cusp of womanhood, and forces outside of their control–-some social, some natural, and some supernatural–-are bringing about some changes.

Ginger Snaps is a scary, sometimes humorous film, but it is also has a sinister erotic vibe. Here, the onset of sexual maturity is presented as a mysterious, dangerous, physical transformation (with echoes of Val Lewton’s Cat People). It also pays knowing homage to it's cursed cinematic bloodline--there are great visual references to other horror films (An American Werewolf in London) and dark comedies (Heathers) throughout, for you cinema geeks. This might sound like an old familiar song, but screenwriter Karen Walton and director/co-writer John Fawcett sing this one in a different, feminist, key. This movie takes some chances and has several scenes that will surprise even experienced, cynical horror fans.

Ginger Snaps is not flawless. Some secondary characters are one-note, and the gory last act is certainly not to everyone’s taste. But there is a lot to recommend it, especially the smart, sometimes surprising script and the fine performances from the young leads: Katharine Isabelle, as Ginger, gives a believable angsty-then-dangerously-sensual performance. Emily Perkins has some really great moments as Brigitte, Ginger’s cynical yet loving younger sister who has to grow up fast to deal with a pretty dangerous situation. Mimi Rogers, as Pam, the girls' somewhat oblivious mother, provides both comic relief and some emotional resonance.

This is one shaggy dog story that is worth checking out.

*WARNING: The clip above features some icky images, especially for animal lovers.


-Jeff Waldhoff (aka Val Lewton's Valet)

The 31 Days of Horror: Day 26

Oh, Jean Rollin...Your horror films are so weird and often incomprehensible, but they are absolutely wonderful to watch. Requiem for a Vampire (1971) is one of his best--a dreamy, kinky, surreal, brutal, almost dialogue-free tale of two hell-raising, mini-skirted virgins who become trapped in a vampire's Gothic castle. The reason for their imprisonment? The bloodsucker, known as "The Last Vampire," needs them to continue his bloodline. However, they must remain virgins for this to happen--a requirement that presents problems.


-Phil Morehart

The 31 Days of Horror: Day 25

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is my weakness during the Halloween season. Each year I re-read Washington Irving's 1820 short, watch the Disney cartoon version that hooked me as a youth and top the marathon with Tim Burton's variation, simply titled Sleepy Hollow (1999).

No contemporary director other than Burton could have brought the tale of Ichabod Crane and the Headless Horseman to the big screen (though, I'd pay good money to see an interpretation by Guillermo del Toro). Burton's distinct direction and visual style are perfect for the material, elevating and exaggerating the old New England creepiness and superstitions to incredible levels. And though the film modifies Irving's original story, the changes flow in wonderfully, adding interesting twists without sacrificing the source's legacy.


-Phil Morehart

The 31 Days of Horror: Day 24

Nineteen years before Pan's Labyrinth made Mexican director Guillermo del Toro a juggernaut of fantastical cinema, he directed Geometry (1987). The short, about a student who takes desperate, occult measures to ensure that he aces an upcoming geometry exam, finds the director developing his horror skills, and mixing them with irony and humor. Geometry is a far cry from the complexity of Pan's Labyrinth or The Devil's Backbone, but it's a direct descendant of Cronos and both Hellboy films.

Learn more about del Toro's world tonight at Facets FRIGHT School, where we'll spend the evening dissecting the director's ghostly tale, The Devil's Backbone (2001).

Film scholar Michael Smith will present Ghosts of the Spanish Civil War: Guillermo del Toro's Eerie Poetic Vision, a lecture exploring the film as both a political allegory for the rise of fascism in 1930s Spain as well as a 21st century update of the gothic Mexican horror films of del Toro's youth. In doing so, he will examine how both aspects reveal The Devil's Backbone as the ideal masculine "brother film" to its more feminine companion piece, Pan's Labyrinth.

A screening and discussion follow the lecture. As always, midnight is the time.

See you there.


-Phil Morehart

The 31 Days of Horror: Day 23

Do you think Indian filmmaker Kiran Ramsay (brother of Darwaza directors Shyam and Tulsi Ramsay) saw Evil Dead 2: Dead By Dawn before directing his horror flick, Shaitani Ilaaka aka Devil's Domain (1990)?

You be the judge.


-Phil Morehart

The 31 Days of Horror: Day 22

"Art Cinema, please meet the Horror Genre."
"How do you do, Horror Genre?"
[silence]
"Horror Genre, don't be rude. Say 'Hello' to Art Cinema."
"Uhh, hey?"

That's the late-in-the-workday approach to summing up Nicolas Roeg's stylish 1973 thriller, Don't Look Now. Roeg was personally responsible for the glossy camerawork, and this aspect is only rivaled by Donald Sutherland's performance and that little red parka in terms of its lasting appeal.

The film follows John (Sutherland) and Laura Baxter (Julie Christie) who leave for Venice after their daughter's death, where hallucinations, psychic phenomena, and Roeg's menacing location photography await. Without spoiling anything, it all sinks into a rather unsatisfying third and final act.

And this really doesn't detract from Don't Look Now. It's a film experiment wearing a Halloween mask. I don't think I'm far off by typing that the intention is to provide viewers with an extraordinary experience, immersing us in images that have a psychological impact that bounds way outside the bland narrative about second sight. For paranormal horror with a powerful hook and a soaring finale, I go with The Exorcist, also from 1973.


- Brian Elza

*Editor's note: Explore all the intricacies of Roeg's classic tomorrow, Friday, Oct. 23, at Facets FRIGHT School! Facets Video distribution coordinator Dan Mucha will present Nicolas Roeg's Death in Venice, a lecture explaining how Roeg's trademark dazzling imagery and associative editing work together to create a uniquely eerie masterpiece. As always, lecture at midnight, followed by screening and discussion. This is going to be awesome!

The 31 Days of Horror: Day 21

It's been probably a decade or so since I last saw Brian De Palma's horror classic, Carrie (1976), and I'm kicking myself for putting off a repeat viewing for so long after watching these clips (I couldn't choose just one--they're both too good).

The time lapse between exposures situated Carrie as a Stephen King flick first and foremost in my mind, but this is a De Palma film to the core--uber stylish, with beautiful colors, split-screen usage, and even an overt Hitchcock reference.

The above clips are spoiler heavy--the second one containing the famous ending--so Carrie virgins be warned.


-Phil Morehart

The 31 Days of Horror: Day 20

The British don't have a stranglehold on Gothic chills, as evidenced by this clip from the low-budget Indian horror film, Darwaza (1978), by directors Shyam and Tulsi Ramsay. It's no Hammer film by a long shot (hell, it's a far cry from both Amicus and Tigon, too), but Darwaza's creepy heart is in the right place. That's enough for me.


-Phil Morehart

The 31 Days of Horror: Day 19

While we're on a lighter tone, let's continue with a personal seasonal favorite, Betty Boop's Halloween (1933). The old Fleischer cartoons are all great, but the Betty Boop ones are particularly bonkers--a weird mix of childlike innocence, sexuality (dig Betty's garter), surrealism and often creepy visuals. Enjoy, and I promise some genuine scares (or oddities, at the very least) tomorrow!


-Phil Morehart

The 31 Days of Horror: Day 18

No, the 1986 made-for-HBO musical kid flick, The Worst Witch, starring Fairuza Balk, Tim Curry and Diana Rigg, is hardly a proper horror film, but it contains moments more terrifying (or awesome, depending upon your mood) than any of the genre's traditional entries.


-Phil Morehart

The 31 Days of Horror: Day 17

Rutger Hauer is an absolute badass, and he's at his best in the 1986 thriller, The Hitcher. He's scarily pitch-perfect as the titular lead: a psychopath who turns a young man's cross-country drive into a roadtrip from hell.

Learn more about this unfortunately overlooked horror great and its charismatic star tonight at Facets FRIGHT School! Amy J. Boyd will present Living the Mania: Rutger Hauer & The Hitcher's Psychopathic Thrill Ride, a lecture looking at this horror sleeper, its exceptional cast, and the overall state of horror in the '80s. Screening and post-screening discussion follow.

Cruise on over. The action begins at MIDNIGHT.


-Phil Morehart

The 31 Days of Horror: Day 16

Roman Polanski is everywhere lately, though probably not for reasons the director would have hoped. In that spirit, let's put legal troubles aside for the moment to look at his work, in particular, the undisputed classic, Rosemary's Baby (1968).

Polanski's film version of Ira Levin's thriller is a true horror masterpiece. His innovative direction avoids many genre's cliches, with frightening scenes taking place in brightly lit interiors and a slowly building nightmare quality replacing easy shocks. There is also a rich streak of humor in the film, particularly from Best Supporting Actress Oscar-winner Ruth Gordon as the eccentric agent of Satan who leads young bride Mia Farrow to unexpected motherhood.

Those yearning for more Rosemary's Baby action should head to Facets FRIGHT School tonight at MIDNIGHT for the lecture, All of Them Witches: Rosemary vs. the Satanists. Northwestern University PhD candidate and frequent Night School lecturer Cary Elza will analyze this horror high-point, in particular its relation to motherhood, pregnancy and feminist issues in the mid-Sixties; its legacy in other motherhood-centric horror films (The Exorcist, The Brood, The Omen, Carrie, etc); Polanski's depiction of the city and religion; and more! A screening of the film and a post-screening discussion follow.

Do it!


-Phil Morehart

The 31 Days of Horror: Day 15

Few films have disturbed me more than John McNaughton's Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer (1986). Very loosely based on the exploits of serial killer Henry Lee Lucas, the film follows loner psychopath Henry (played to perfection by Michael Rooker) and his equally dangerous, but much more sick, roommate Otis (Tom Towles) on a murder spree through Chicago.

The duo's acts are jarring, both for their heinousness and randomness. McNaughton's simple, to-the-point direction ups the intensity, adding documentary-like realism that cuts to the bone. What really shook me, though, was the film's immediacy.

The dark, run-down and decrepit Wicker Park that Henry and Otis call home is a far cry from the neighborhood as it looks today with its upscale boutiques, restaurants and shops. Regardless, ever since experiencing this flick, whenever I walk down the 1800 block of West North Avenue where the pair lived and killed (a short walk from my own home), a chill still runs down the spine.

*Warning: The above clip is graphic.


-Phil Morehart

The 31 Days of Horror: Day 14

I've yet to see Al Adamson's low-budget, schlocky horror flick, Dracula vs. Frankenstein (1971), but this clip has me sold. It has it all: Dracula played by a Frank Zappa/Jerry Seinfeld lovechild, an actor wearing a drug-store Frankenstein mask, and best of all, the late great king of all horror fans, Forrest J. Ackerman! A bit of research revealed that Lon Chaney, Jr. and Russ Tamblyn also appear in this stinker. Amazing.


-Phil Morehart

Dispatches from the Chicago International Film Festival

This week and next, those of us in Chicago will be treated to the wonderful 45th Chicago International Film Festival. I’ve already seen a few films at the Festival this year and I thought I’d report back to the blog about them. And since the festival asks attendees to rate the films they see on a 1-5 scale, I figured I’d include my own ratings in with these short reviews. Here’s the first...



Henri-Georges Clouzot’s Inferno (Serge Bromberg/Ruxandra Medrea, France)

As we have learned from movies like Hearts of Darkness, The Burden of Dream, and American Movie, documentaries about filmmakers’ monomaniacal drive to realize their cinematic vision can be equally (or even more) compelling than the film that is the documentary’s subject itself. This is, by necessity, the case with Bromberg and Medrea’s Henri-Georges Clouzot’s Inferno, since Clouzot was never able to complete Inferno. What remains of Clouzot’s grandly ambitious and quixotic failure comes to us now in this documentary’s valiant attempt to salvage and reconstruct Inferno’s 13 hours of preliminary footage and vividly beautiful experimental test reels.

Clouzot’s film-that-never-was was to use wildly hallucinatory kinetic art sequences to tell the story of a man’s jealous pursuit of his young blonde love. In this respect Inferno seems to have been conceived as something not unlike Hitchcock’s Vertigo, though Clouzot’s daring avant-garde experimentations in evoking the pangs of overwhelming obsession make Jimmy Stuart’s own brief Technicolor descent into frenzied desire look positively tame. Even in its fragmentary state, what is left of Inferno is a visual candy shop and dazzling to see.

Ultimately, like Inferno, this documentary is about obsession--in this case it is Clouzot’s driving compulsion to pursue cinematic expression to its boldest and most novel potential.

5 out of 5


-Heath Iverson

The 31 Days of Horror: Day 13

A terrifying opposition to the often misogynistic world of horror is a feminist British gem about chicks kicking ass. The Descent (Neil Marshall, 2005) follows a group of female friends on a journey into an uncharted cave. As they venture further underground, they find that running out of resources is the least of their concerns.

The Descent is an awesome movie in every way. The monsters are legitimately scary, and the story behind them is not so far-fetched. The characters are well developed--at least the ones that don't get killed immediately--and there is something to scare practically everyone. If you have time between screams to pay attention to the cinematography, you'll appreciate the striking beauty of even the most gruesome of shots--a rarity in low-budget slashers.

Check out a clip (excuse the subtitles) for a good October scare while I rock back and forth in a corner reliving the spelunking nightmares that haunted me for a month after I saw this movie.


-Hallie Borden

The 31 Days of Horror: Day 12

The writing of Edgar Allan Poe has inspired countless terrific horror flicks. However, with all due respect to Roger Corman and that prince of gothic-schlock, Vincent Price, no Poe adaptation has yet equaled the dark gothic grace and spectral artistry of Jean Epstein’s 1928 film, La chute de la maison Usher (The Fall of the House of Usher).

An achingly gorgeous gloom blows through this Expressionist masterpiece, the dismal tale of Roderick Usher and his morbid obsession with a painting of his deceased beloved, the Lady Usher. In each frame, this supernatural gale breaths a ghostly life into the spiraling dance of dead leaves, the ghostly billows of a decaying castle’s curtain, the ethereal white burial shroud that trails the Lady Usher’s coffin, and even her tortured translucent spirit itself. Haunting images like these abound in Epstein’s visual style, which, like that of his contemporaries, Murnau and Lang, is incredibly dense and textured. However in La chute de la maison Usher, Epstein’s compositions are always elegantly executed to achieve an unparalleled atmosphere of poetic anguish and dread.

Thanks to Epstein’s unique stylistic approach, which includes elaborate set design, slow-motion photography, bizarre angles, and masterful lighting, La chute de la maison Usher feels remarkably fresh for a 91-year-old film. And it remains genuinely scary. Furthermore, in its current DVD version, the film benefits particularly from an updated and superbly eerie score.

This transcendent ghost story is recommended viewing for cold October nights when the wind is hollowing outside your chamber door.


-Heath Iverson

The 31 Days of Horror: Day 11

Shock treatments seem to be the norm with contemporary horror cinema, so it's a pleasure to find a relatively recent genre entry that deals with supernatural chills over blood and gore. Session 9 (2001) fills the bill, in spades.

Directed by Brad Anderson (The Machinist) and starring David Caruso, Josh Lucas and the great Peter Mullan, the film follows a team of asbestos removers hired to remove the nasty stuff from an abandoned insane asylum. What they encounter inside the massive, decaying site proves far more dangerous than hazardous insulating materials--a presence that slowly breaks each team member down to terrifying levels.

Anderson creates an amazing atmosphere of dread, where shadows, faceless voices and mysterious sounds prove scarier than any seen threat. The true star of the film is the setting, however.

Session 9 was filmed on location at Danvers State Mental Hospital in Danvers, Massachusetts. Built in 1848 (but now demolished), the imposing, multi-building compound connected by a series of decrepit underground tunnels has great lore behind it. Danvers sat on the site of the home of John Hathorne, a judge in the Salem witch trials, and served as the inspiration for H. P. Lovecraft's Arkham Sanitarium. It was also supposedly very haunted. This built-in spooky pedigree translates to the screen incredibly. Danvers is the epitome of creepy. It has a life (or lives) of its own--and it seeps into every frame of Session 9.


-Phil Morehart

The 31 Days of Horror: Day 10

31 Days of Horror fans will remember this infamous clip from the 2007 edition of our horror-a-thon. The repeat is absolutely necessary, though! Truth!

Lucio Fulci's Zombie is awesome for many reasons--the overwhelmingly dreadful vibe, the truly gross zombies, the '70s synth score, the famous eye-gouging scene, the "zombies take Manhattan" finale... However, the bit that everyone remembers--and that makes Zombie truly a horror classic--is the infamous underwater fight between zombie and shark.

Not only does the zombie whip tail, it also takes a bite out of its opponent!

But wouldn't that turn the shark into a zombie?

Find the answer to that question and many more tonight at Facets FRIGHT School, where Facets PR guru Patrick Ogle will present the lecture, Fulci's Zombie: Brains or Entrails?, a look at Fulci's gore masterpiece and its place within the zombie canon and Italian cinema. A screening of the film and a post-screening discussion follow. All for only 5 bones. The action begins at MIDNIGHT.

Be there or be (un)dead.


-Phil Morehart

The 31 Days of Horror: Day 9

The Curse of Frankenstein (Terence Fisher, 1957) has been called the first modern horror film. Produced by the great Hammer Films, it added color, gore and sex to the mix and kicked started a run of horror flicks for the British studio that would last nearly two decades.

Viewed today, Curse seems rather tame, but it had UK critics all kinds of hot and bothered upon first release.

"Among the half-dozen most repulsive films I have ever seen," said a Guardian critic.

"Depressing and degrading for anyone who loves the cinema," opined the Tribune.

Ouch.

You can see what the hubub was about for yourself tonight at Facets FRIGHT School. The action kicks off at midnight with my lecture, Hammer Time: Inside Britain's House of Horror. I'll discuss the history and influence of Hammer on the horror genre, the career of Terence Fisher, and the production, reception and influence of arguably his (and Hammer's) greatest work, The Curse of Frankenstein. A screening of the film and a post-screening discussion follow. All for only 5 little dollars.

See you there!


-Phil Morehart

The 31 Days of Horror: Day 8

George A. Romero's zombie re-boot Diary of the Dead (2007) took the horror auteur back to his roots, both in form and function, working independently with a small crew and moving the undead apocalypse developed in Night of the Living Dead (1968) through Land of the Dead (2005) back to day one: the day the dead first rise. A daring move, but the somewhat clumsy end-product met mixed critical and audience reception. The film's ultimate saving grace came with its DVD release, though.

In addition to the feature film, the disc contains a wealth of interesting bonuses. Behind the scenes footage, featurettes, interviews and more flesh out the film, adding a bit of depth to its one-dimensional characters and explaining much of Romero's decision to undertake it. The main attraction is a series of zombie shorts created for a Diary of the Dead promotional contest on Myspace. They run the gamut from slick, professional affairs to rough, amateur slap-dashes, but they all have a dedicated charm. The best of the bunch is & Teller, which finds the silent Teller of the duo Penn and Teller alone without his partner in magic in a world overrun by the flesh-eating undead. Enjoy.


- Phil Morehart

The 31 Days of Horror: Day 7

Yes, yes, we've already touched on the great Val Lewton in this edition of 31 Days, but since it's the 7th, the doubling-up is apropos.

Working at RKO in the 40s, Lewton developed an ‘ominous over obvious’ approach to the B-horror picture. It was a style he honed to an artful yet blood-curdling precision in classics like I Walked with a Zombie and Cat People. Continuing in this vein, Lewton brought his eerie touch to director Mark Robson’s 1943 film, The Seventh Victim.

Complete with sinister nightscapes, a noir-ish vamp, and a conspiracy perpetrated by an underground Satanic cult, this movie has the goods. And while I can’t verify that Hitchcock or Polanski ever had a look at this chiller, there are moments in The Seventh Victim that seem to clearly presage infamous scenes in both Psycho and Rosemary’s Baby.


-Heath Iverson

The 31 Days of Horror: Day 6

Speaking of The Tingler, the 1959 flick from producer/director William Castle is a Halloween essential--a genuine good-time frightener notorious for the gimmicks that accompanied its original theatrical run.

Starring the legendary Vincent Price, The Tingler was filmed in Percepto!, a gag that entailed Castle rigging random movie theater seats with small buzzers for unexpected audience surprises.

At the climax when the Tingler escapes into a movie theater, the film would appear to break on its reel, revealing the creature's shadow moving through the light projected onto the movie screen. The theater went completely black next, while Price's overhead voice warned, "The Tingler is loose in THIS theater! Scream! Scream for your lives!" On cue, the projectionist would activate the buzzers, "tingling" select audience members.

In addition to the shocks, Castle also attached the above introductory warning to the film, spliced in a blood-red sequence to boost a particularly gruesome moment, parked ambulances outside of theaters, stationed fake nurses in lobbies, and paid plants to scream and "faint" at opportune moments.

Genius. Absolute genius.

The Tingler is just one of Castle's many gimmick-graced films, of course. For more, check out The William Castle Story here. You can also read the original Percepto installation manual provided to theater owners here (praise be to TCM for this gem)!


-Phil Morehart

He Said, She Said

"When I was being driven to the police station from the hotel, the car radio was already talking about it...I couldn’t believe...I thought, you know, I was going to wake up from it. I realize[d], if I have killed somebody, it wouldn’t have had so much appeal for the press, you see? But...f***ing, you see, and the young girls. Judges want to f*** young girls. Juries want to f*** young girls—everyone wants to f*** young girls!"
—Roman Polanski, in an interview with Martin Amis, Tatler magazine, 1979.

“Roman Polanski is a criminal...He raped and drugged and raped and sodomized a child. And then was a fugitive from justice. As far as I’m concerned, just take him out and shoot him.”
—Cokie Robert, on This Week with George Stephanopoulos, Oct. 4, 2009.

The 31 Days of Horror: Day 5

Remember the discussion among MST3K's Joel, Tom Servo, and Crow about whether or not Torgo of Manos: The Hands of Fate counts as a monster just because he has enormous knees? I think we owe a similar re-evaluation of the sex-crazed high-rise dwellers of Shivers (David Cronenberg, 1975).

Too long has the zombie canon excluded this seminal work of body-horror on the grounds that the parasitically possessed rapists are not actually dead (the "rage" infected victims of 28 Days Later were not dead either, but are still credited with jump-starting the running zombie trend). Then again, the real stars of Shivers are not the furious sex maniacs, but the bloody slugs that have hijacked their libidos. If The Tingler wasn't quite explicit enough for you, Cronenberg's typically lurid Shivers should probably do it.


- Ben Warren

In the News & On the Web

Stanley Donen is the subject of a month-long Harvard Film Archive retrospective. -Boston.com

Terry Gilliam talks Doctor Parnassus and more. -MovieCityNews

Pulp Fiction screenwriter Roger Avary sentenced for fatal car crash.
-The Guardian

Columbia Pictures and Michael Mann teaming up to tell the story of renowned war photographer Robert Capa. -Variety

What was the one Wild Things change that bothered Maurice Sendak? (warning SPOILERS!) -i09.com

DC's goes Fassbinder crazy. -DC's

Speaking of Fassbinder, his controversial play, Der Müll, die Stadt und der Tod, is finally debuting in Germany--20 years late. Massive protests and charges of anti-Semitism torpedoed earlier attempts to stage the piece. -Der Speigel

The 31 Days of Horror: Day 4

Larry Fessenden’s Wendigo (2001) is a tight indie-horror flick. I accidentally caught this great supernatural thriller about a Native American spirit haunting the frozen forests of upstate New York on cable a few years back and have been proselytizing for it ever since as it is one of the few truly creepy American movies of the past decade.

Wendigo’s spookiness isn’t about sudden cheap shocks and it earns its scares principally through a gradually accumulating and ever looming sense of dread. It also combines the terrifying rednecks of Deliverance with the phantasmagoric woodland frights of Evil Dead while providing a catalog of every reason why I don’t go camping.


- Heath Iverson

The 31 Days of Horror: Day 3

Ah, Val Lewton. As a producer at RKO, this quiet unassuming man redefined the horror genre by creating taut psychological masterpieces in which inference plays a much bigger role than gore or special effects. Although not a household name (a fact that blows the mind), Lewton left an indelible mark on the horror film genre, influencing everyone from William Friedkin and Martin Scorsese to George A. Romero and the great Alfred Hitchcock.

Lewton's first production, Cat People (Jacques Tourneur, 1942), is a perfect film that delivers its creepiness via menacing shadows, off screen noises and psychological chills. The beautiful Simone Simon is perfectly cast as a frigid young bride who fears that her blood ties to an ancient tribe will turn her into a deadly panther.

Observe Lewton's mastery in all its glory tonight at Facets FRIGHT School! Writer and editor Stephen Reginald will present "It's All in Your Head: The Genius of Horror Producer Val Lewton," a lecture looking at Cat People and its producer's influence on the horror genre and filmmaking in genre.

A screening and post-screening Q&A follow the lecture. For only 5 bucks, this can't be beat. The action begins at MIDNIGHT!

See you there.


- Phil Morehart

The 31 Days of Horror: Day 2

Karl Freund's 1932 classic The Mummy is not only a highlight of the great golden age of horror cinema, it holds up as one of the greatest horror films ever created. Period.

Boris Karloff delivers an iconic, multi-faceted performance as the mummy Im-ho-tep and his alter ego Ardath Bey. However, it's Freund's arresting visual direction and Charles J. Stumar's cinematography that really put The Mummy on the map, creating horror conventions still in use today.

Don't believe me?

Head to Facets tonight at MIDNIGHT and experience The Mummy as you never have before at Facets FRIGHT School. For our inaugural session, Facets' Susan Doll will present, "In the Beginning There Was Universal: The Establishment of the Hollywood Horror Genre," where she'll explore this Universal horror classic and explain how the studio established the Hollywood horror genre with its many popular monster films in the 1930s-50s. A screening and post-screening Q&A follow the lecture. All for only 5 dollars.

This is essential for all horror fans. Do this.


-Phil Morehart

Celebrate with Us!

The Facets Screen Gems Gala is right around the corner!

Join us as we honor Lois Weisberg for her many contributions to Chicago culture, and celebrate 34 years of Facets Multi-Media and the Chicago International Children’s Film Festival! Dinner, a presentation by Facets Executive Director Milos Stehlik, and a live auction will make for a fun-filled evening with fellow film aficionados. Proceeds benefit Facets' year-round programs and the Chicago International Children’s Film Festival.

The Screen Gems Gala will be held Wednesday, October 21, at 6 p.m. at the Arts Club of Chicago (201 E. Ontario). For tickets or more information, contact Gala Coordinator Lauren Whalen at (773) 281-9075 ext. 3076 or laurenw@facets.org.

The 31 Days of Horror Returns!

I love October. The slight chill in the air. Brisk sunny mornings. Changing colors in the trees. All that nonsense. Most importantly, it brings HALLOWEEN.

We're Halloween freaks here at Facets. The holiday allows us to indulge in one of our passions: the horror film. We're diving into it full steam this year, with Facets Night School transforming into Facets FRIGHT School (more on that here) and the third annual 31 Days of Horror!

You know the rules: 31 days. 31 horror clips.

Let's go.



In the years following the release of William Friedkin's supernatural classic, The Exorcist, a stream of copycats hit theaters. Abby (William Girdler, 1974) was one of the strangest.

This forgotten blaxploitation wonder follows Friedkin's film closely, albeit with a much lower budget, cheaper scares and cornier acting. It also features the great William Marshall (aka Blacula), so it's all good in my book.


- Phil Morehart