October 24
You wouldn't be too far off that Possession doesn't seem like much of a horror movie at first. Minus a few tiny details that establish our hero of sorts, the first third or so of the film concerns itself with a really messy and loud disintegration of a relationship. She wants a divorce, and He can't imagine why, sending him on a downward spiral which then leads to him trying to figure out how to win Her back. Suspicions of infidelity are confirmed with the third party, only to add a wrinkle in the works: She is with another man that no one else knows about. The identity of this new party becomes a mystery for a little while, until it's revealed and then it becomes all too clear why this is considered a horror film. The very nature of the fourth party is something a spoiler, but even if I were to tell you, words will still fail me in encapsulating this constant battery of hysteria, blood and utter madness that somehow sustains itself for the entirety of its runtime without ever feeling like it ran out of ideas. Simply put, it's an extraordinarily well-made film that feels like a truly comprehensive canvasing of a complex relationship between a man and a woman (both Sam Neill and especially Isabelle Adjani are top-notch the whole way through) while also diving into some deeply derange horror imagery that reminds one of Argento at times, Barker at others, and still feels wholly unique in the imagery on the display as well as its capacity to fray your nerves until little remains. The theatrical approach to the acting, with every actor throwing their backs into, and sometimes quite literally, is matched by director Andrzej Zulawski's breathless visual approach that finds everything and anything in a constant state of chaos, with superb camerawork and lighting setups that take the Berlin setting and make it just unnatural enough to hide its more sinister aspects, frequently in broad daylight. "Volatile" is such an appropriate word to describe the film, as the editing is geared to putting the characters on the edge so frequently that you never know quite when things are going to explode, and certainly explode in the way that they do. It's also the kind of film that manages to get so far out that it might have been made on another planet, but because of how high Zulawski manages to keep up the pitch, even the more crazy elements fit right at home with passes for a normal conversation in this film. Throughout this marathon, it's been a real pleasure to see as many films as I have that I can describe as being truly singular, but this film manages to go one further by feeling like something that's never been done before and is all the more exciting for it. Nothing can prepare you for this film, and that's exactly where it needs to be.
Film for October 25: Before going back to the real-life conspiracy well more times than needed, Oliver Stone got his start making genre pictures like many filmmakers of his generation. The Hand takes the familiar Orlac premise of a recent amputee getting a new hand of a highly dubious source (aren't they always?), but with Michael Caine in the lead role and an early score from the dearly departed James Horner, it's shaping up to be a fun time all the same.
slight NSFW warningposter for Possession said:
You wouldn't be too far off that Possession doesn't seem like much of a horror movie at first. Minus a few tiny details that establish our hero of sorts, the first third or so of the film concerns itself with a really messy and loud disintegration of a relationship. She wants a divorce, and He can't imagine why, sending him on a downward spiral which then leads to him trying to figure out how to win Her back. Suspicions of infidelity are confirmed with the third party, only to add a wrinkle in the works: She is with another man that no one else knows about. The identity of this new party becomes a mystery for a little while, until it's revealed and then it becomes all too clear why this is considered a horror film. The very nature of the fourth party is something a spoiler, but even if I were to tell you, words will still fail me in encapsulating this constant battery of hysteria, blood and utter madness that somehow sustains itself for the entirety of its runtime without ever feeling like it ran out of ideas. Simply put, it's an extraordinarily well-made film that feels like a truly comprehensive canvasing of a complex relationship between a man and a woman (both Sam Neill and especially Isabelle Adjani are top-notch the whole way through) while also diving into some deeply derange horror imagery that reminds one of Argento at times, Barker at others, and still feels wholly unique in the imagery on the display as well as its capacity to fray your nerves until little remains. The theatrical approach to the acting, with every actor throwing their backs into, and sometimes quite literally, is matched by director Andrzej Zulawski's breathless visual approach that finds everything and anything in a constant state of chaos, with superb camerawork and lighting setups that take the Berlin setting and make it just unnatural enough to hide its more sinister aspects, frequently in broad daylight. "Volatile" is such an appropriate word to describe the film, as the editing is geared to putting the characters on the edge so frequently that you never know quite when things are going to explode, and certainly explode in the way that they do. It's also the kind of film that manages to get so far out that it might have been made on another planet, but because of how high Zulawski manages to keep up the pitch, even the more crazy elements fit right at home with passes for a normal conversation in this film. Throughout this marathon, it's been a real pleasure to see as many films as I have that I can describe as being truly singular, but this film manages to go one further by feeling like something that's never been done before and is all the more exciting for it. Nothing can prepare you for this film, and that's exactly where it needs to be.
Film for October 25: Before going back to the real-life conspiracy well more times than needed, Oliver Stone got his start making genre pictures like many filmmakers of his generation. The Hand takes the familiar Orlac premise of a recent amputee getting a new hand of a highly dubious source (aren't they always?), but with Michael Caine in the lead role and an early score from the dearly departed James Horner, it's shaping up to be a fun time all the same.