Casey Young’s Venture Through 31 Days of Voidoween: Week One
Happy October, Secret Movie Clubbers!
If you’ve been to a few of our in-person screenings, you’ve probably seen me, and if you’ve seen any of our recent social media posts, you’ve probably read my name. If you’ve done neither of those things, hello! I’m Casey, I’m a Capricorn, and I love Rupert Holmes’ Escape.
This October, I have less free time than usual and, naturally, I decided to participate in Cinematic Void’s 31 Days of Voidoween. I’ll be giving you all a recap at the end of each week until the end of the month, and you can condemn or praise accordingly!
I’m excited to get started, so, let’s hit it.
October 1st - Universal Monsters
Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954) dir. Jack Arnold
The big mistake a lot of monster movies make is that they focus too much on humans. I was raised in Guillermo Del Toro’s world, so I understand that the normalization of films from the monster’s perspective is fairly recent, but! That’s my taste! Even Universal’s The Wolf Man and Invisible Man are stories told in this way, and are more interesting to me because of the added context/subtext from that approach. Actually, I’m honestly surprised that Creature was made after those and is still so basic in its themes.
On top of that, I just didn’t find it very scary. (And if the point isn’t to frighten, and it lacks any intriguing themes… then what am I looking for?)
October 2nd - Exorcist Knockoff
Abby (1974) dir. William Girdler
With many of the 70s films I’ve seen, there’s a lot of “space”, for lack of a better term, between engaging moments; scenes that don’t advance the plot, tell us anything important about the characters, or contribute to the atmosphere. (Mainly poorly made films do this to trick us into ignoring a bad script, but the prevalence in the 70s almost makes me feel like I’m uninformed on a rule of the era.)
Abby is mostly “space,” but nearly makes up for it with the amazing yet basic effects. I don’t think it’s particularly memorable, but it’s technically well-made enough to watch.
October 3rd - Vampires
Nosferatu the Vampyre (1979) dir. Werner Herzog
Absolutely haunting. Nosferatu well-captures the eerie tone of Murnau’s film, despite being just plain breathtaking. Herzog’s adaptation feels like a fairytale with every landscape shot accompanied by a classical score. Then, with a cut, you’re transported to a cramped, stale room, without it feeling jarring or out of place.
The modernity of this film lets the themes ruminate in a way I appreciate and enjoy, with subtle (but not subtextual) insight into Dracula’s loneliness and revelations of the general sexual tension. You can find both of those ideas in Stoker’s novel and Browning and Murnau’s adaptations, but I think they’re best done here.
Am I allowed to call this one of my favorite period pieces?
October 4th - Folk Horror
The Lair of the White Worm (1988) dir. Ken Russell
I believe Lair of the White Worm deserves a slot in The Film Canon™ ; it’s of few films I would genuinely describe as exhilarating. It’s terrifying and hilarious in a surprisingly even blend, and the visuals are traditionally dramatic, yet, still modern and inventive in a way I’ve never seen this successful. Ken Russell can truly do anything because there is no way all of this should work as well as it does.
October 5th - Seaside Horror
Blood Beach (1980) dir. Jeffrey Bloom
Blood Beach is interesting while staying a little on the goofy side. The harsh contrast and John Saxon make you feel like you’re watching a Columbia Noir, but you’re reminded of what you’re actually watching as soon as another dumb 80s teen gets sucked into the sand (which is awesome, by the way). I wasn’t crazy about it but didn’t hate it either, almost tricked myself into loving it because of how cool a beach eating people is.
October 6th - Monsters
The Blob (1988) dir. Chuck Russell
Like The Thing and The Fly, this is another no-brainer in the garden of 80s Remakes That Infinitely Improve Upon The Original. I think the 80s was a great time to remake insane 50s monster films; that was the first and last decade that paralleled the 50s’ goof to sincerity ratio, and out came the classics!
I don’t think The Blob is as good as the films I mentioned above, but it’s got some good/campy performances and awesome effects, and it’s got a blob! A blob is going around f***ing people up, and it’s truly all I could ask for.
October 7th - Giallo
Stage Fright (1987) dir. Michele Soavi
One of the best films I’ve ever seen. Soavi’s thriller is beautifully staged (haha) and shot, well-written - in both the plot and dialogue departments - and it knows exactly when to slow down and when to ramp up. The suspense is accompanied by realistic sound design and the horror by crazy heavy synth. By the third act, my heart was racing, due to fear and genuine delight in what I was seeing. Also, that owl mask is so f***ing great.
Well! That’s 7 films for the past 7 days! Check back in a week for another recap, and if you want to talk about these or other films, you can follow me on Twitter (@moobi_dummy)!
xoxo Casey