4 Shots From 4 Films is just what it says it is, 4 shots from 4 of our favorite films. As opposed to the reviews and recaps that we usually post, 4 Shots From 4 Films is all about letting the visuals do the talking.
Today’s director: the brilliant Michele Soavi!
4 Shots From 4 Michele Soavi Films
Stage Fright (1987, dir by Michele Soavi, DP: Renato Tafuri)
The Church (1989, dir by Michele Soavi, DP: Renato Tafuri)
The Sect (1991, dir by Michele Soavi, DP: Raffaele Mertes)
Dellamorte Dellamore (1994, dir by Michele Soavi, DP: Mauro Marchetti)
With only a few days left until Halloween, I wanted to make sure that I continued an important tradition here at the Shattered Lens by sharing this film with our faithful and wonderful readers. Messiah of Evil was first released in 1973 and, since it’s in the public domain, it has since been included in a countless number of bargain box sets from Mill Creek.
I can still remember the first time that I saw Messiah of Evil. It was on a Monday night, many years ago. I had recently picked up a 10-movie DVD box set called Tales of Terror and I was using the movies inside to try to deal with a bout of insomnia. I had already watchedThe Hatchet Murders (a.k,a. Deep Red) and The House At The Edge of the Parkand, at two in the morning, I was faced with a decision. Should I try to sleep or should I watch one more movie?
Naturally, I chose to watch one more movie and the movie I chose was Messiah of Evil. So, there I was at two in the morning, sitting at the edge of my bed in my underwear and watching an obscure horror movie while rain fell outside.
And, seriously — this movie totally FREAKED me out!
Messiah of Evil tells the story of Arletty (Marianna Hill), a neurotic woman who drives to an isolated California town in order to visit her father. Her father is an artist who specializes in painting eerie pictures of large groups of black-clad people. However, once she arrives at his home, Arletty discovers that her father has vanished and left behind a diary where he claims that a darkness has overtaken the town.
Meanwhile, a mysterious man named Thom (Michael Greer) is wandering about town with two groupies (played by Anita Ford and Joy Bang) and interviewing random townspeople. One crazed man (Elisha Cook, Jr.) explains that “the dark stranger” is returning. After meeting Arletty, they all end up moving into her father’s house.
But that’s not all. There’s also an odd albino man who shows up driving truck and who eats mice….
Messiah of Evil is literally one of the strangest films that I’ve ever seen. It’s shot in a dream-like fashion and the much of the film is left open to the viewer’s interpretation. There are two classic scenes — one that takes place in a super market and one that takes place in a movie theater and the movie’s worth watching for these two scenes alone.
Messiah of Evil is a film that will be appreciated by all lovers of surrealism and intelligent horror and I’m happy to share it with you today.
Continuing today’s Atlantis theme, here’s a song about the lost continent from Donovan.
It’s kind of a silly song. I mean, just listen to Donovan’s opening monologue. But that chorus is next to impossible to get out of your head and, even more importantly, the song is iconic due to its use in Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas. Try to listen to this without thinking about Billy Batts and that night at the club.
Known as both Atlantis Interceptors and Raiders of Atlantis, Ruggere Deodato’s 1983 film imagines what would happen if the lost continent of Atlantis rose from the ocean in the vicinity of Florida.
In today’s scene that I love, the Atlanteans make their first appearance and they turn out to be a bunch of refugees from Mad Max. Seriously, why would an underwater civilization need that many motorcycles? And who knew that punk rock was so big in Atlantis?
That said, the guy with skull mask is definitely menacing.
4 Shots From 4 Films is just what it says it is, 4 shots from 4 of our favorite films. As opposed to the reviews and recaps that we usually post, 4 Shots From 4 Films lets the visuals do the talking!
As our song of the day may have revealed, today’s director is the great Italian filmmaker, Ruggero Deodato!
4 Shots From 4 Ruggero Deodato Films
The House On The Edge of the Park (1980, dir by Ruggero Deodato, DP: Sergio D’Offizi)
Raiders of Atlantis (1983, dir by Ruggero Deodato, DP: Robert D’Ettore Piazzoli)
Body Count (1986, dir by Ruggero Deodato, DP: Emilio Loffredo)
Phantom of Death (1988, dir by Ruggero Deodato, DP: Giorgio Di Battista)
For today’s horror on the lens, we have 1973’s The Night Strangler.
This is the sequel to The Night Stalker and it features journalist Carl Kolchak (Darren McGavin) in Seattle. (After all the stuff that happened during the previous movie, Kolchak was kicked out of Las Vegas.) When Kolchak investigates yet another series of murders, he discovers that paranormal murders don’t just occur in Las Vegas and aren’t just committed by vampires.
I actually prefer this movie to The Night Stalker. The Night Strangler features a truly creepy villain, as well as a trip down to an “underground city.” It’s full of ominous atmosphere and, as always, Darren McGavin is a lot of fun to watch in the role in Kolchak.
One of the great oddities of the horror genre and the world of grindhouse films is that 1980’s Cannibal Holocaust has got one of the most beautiful soundtracks ever recorded. Composed by Riz Ortolani, here is the amazing Main Theme From Cannibal Holocaust.
The 1986 film, Raiders of the Living Dead, features what may be the greatest song ever written about zombies. For your listening pleasure, here is George Edward Lott’s The Dead Are After Me!
For today’s scene that I love, here is the classic scene from 1980’s Inferno, Dario Argento’s follow-up to Suspiria. In this scene, Irene Miracle takes a fateful swim. I’ve seen this film several times and this sequence still creeps me out! Not only does it remind me of my own very strong fear of drowning but I also wish someone had been there to say, “Don’t do that, you’re going to ruin that pretty dress!”
This scene is Argento at his most dream-like and frightening.
Through the Shattered Lens 