International Horror Film Review: Nosferatu, the Vampyre (dir by Werner Herzog)

Posted on October 12, 2019 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Agck! The rats!

Nosferatu, Werner Herzog’s 1979 remake of the F.W. Murnau’s classic silent vampire film, may be best known for Klaus Kinski’s feral performance of Count Dracula but, for me, I’ll always remember the rats.

When Dracula first comes to the city of Wismar, he travels via a boat. Spending the day in his coffin, he arises at night to kill the crew of the ship. (Eventually, the captain’s dead body ends up tied to the wheel to ensure that the boat’s course is not altered.) In order to keep the people of Wismar from realizing that they have a vampire in their midst, Dracula travels with thousands of rats and forges the ship’s log to make it seem as if the crew has fallen victim to the plague. When the boat docks at Wismar, thousands of rats flood into the streets. When Lucy (Isabelle Adjani) later walks through the streets of the Wismar, it becomes obvious that the rats have conquered the city. The remaining people are too busy burying their dead and preparing for the end to do much about the rats. One group cheerfully eats a lavish meal while thousands of rats wait behind them. Later, the rodents have taken over the table. The people are gone but the rats remain.

Werner Herzog has often cited the original Nosferatu as one of the films that most inspired him as a young filmmaker. His remake is both a respectful homage to the original film and also a uniquely Herozgian work. Much as the Spanish expedition at the center of Aguirre, The Wrath of God ended with the raft being conquered by monkeys, the city of Wismar is conquered by both rats and mythology. Even towards the end of the film, when it becomes obvious that a vampire has come to town, the people refuse to believe it. Some wait for God to save them. Some just decide to celebrate the end. But only Lucy, who we are told is pure of heart, is willing to sacrifice herself for the people of Wismar. And yet, the film leaves us wondering if that sacrifice would really be worth it. Are the people of Wismar worth saving? This version of Nosferatu suggests that perhaps they’re not.

Lucy is the wife of estate agent Jonathan Harker (Bruno Ganz). As with almost every version of Dracula, Nosferatu opens with Harker traveling to Dracula’s castle, dismissing the claims of local villagers are being mere superstition, and then eventually meeting the count himself. Klaus Kinski may be made up to look like Max Schreck from the original film but he still turns Dracula into a uniquely Kinski-like creation. Kinski’s Dracula has little of the old world charm of Bela Lugosi or even Christopher Lee. Instead, he’s like a feral animal, hissing out his dialogue and almost always hiding in the shadows. It’s been such a long time since this Dracula was human that he no longer knows how interact with them. Instead, like an abused animal, he cringes when Harker attempts to speak to him. There’s a loneliness to this Dracula and an unexpected sadness in his eyes. Asking him to control his thirst for blood would be like asking a wild animal not to obey its natural instinct to kill. The only time that this Dracula doesn’t seem to be full of self-loathing is when he’s actually hunting blood. Then he moves like a calculating predator.

As one might expect from a Herzog film, Nosferatu moves at its somewhat odd but deliberate pace. (Harker’s lengthy journey to reach Dracula’s remote castle will remind you of Klaus Kinski trying to conquer the Amazon in Aguirre and Fitzcarraldo.) The imagery is surreal and dream-like. I already mentioned the rats and the scene of Kinski stalking the captain of the boat feels like it was taken from a filmed nightmare. It’s also impossible to forget the images of black-clad men, marching down the streets of Wismar and carrying coffins on their shoulders, all ignoring Lucy as she begs them to understand that there is something even deadlier than the plague at work in Wismar.

Both the original and the remake of Nosferatu are classic vampire films. I suggest watching both. Herzog shot two version of Nosferatu, one in German and one in English. Though both versions are essentially the same, I recommend the German version just because, in the English version, it’s obvious the actors are occasionally having trouble performing in a foreign language. The German version feels more authentic. Since the film is basically a visual poem, it’s effective even if you’re watching it without subtitles.

Horror Film Review: One Hour Photo (dir by Mark Romanek)

Posted on October 12, 2019 by Lisa Marie Bowman

I guess some people might argue that the 2002 film, One Hour Photo, isn’t really a horror film.

It’s an argument that I can understand. The film does have its scary moments, like the scene where Sy Parrish (Robin Williams) dreams that his eyes are exploding. But there aren’t any ghosts or vampires or hockey mask-wearing slashers to be found in One Hour Photo. Even the film’s most disturbing moment — in which we see that Sy’s apartment is nearly empty except for a giant collage of pictures that cover his living room wall — is more depressing than scary.

It’s really a very sad movie. In fact, it’s probably even more sad today than when it was originally released. Now, when you see Robin Williams’s sad eyes and you hear him talking about how reality can never live up to a photograph, it’s impossible not to think about the actor’s 2014 suicide. I remember that, when One Hour Photo and Insomnia came out in the same year, there was a lot of talk about how unexpected it was to see Robin Williams playing such dark characters. Now, of course, that darkness is a key part of Robin Williams’s persona.

In hindsight, it’s also sad because one watches the film with the knowledge that, even if Sy hadn’t lost it at the end of One Hour Photo, he still probably be a lost soul in 2019. When we first meet Sy, he’s working at the one-hour photo lab in SavMart. He talks about how much he loves developing pictures. When someone mentions that they’ve been thinking about getting a digital camera, Sy nervously chuckles and says, “Don’t do that, you’ll put us out of business.” Of course, in 2019, people take pictures with their phones and even digital cameras are viewed as being something of a relic. If Sy were around and free today, I doubt he’d have a job. If he did have a job, it’s doubtful it would be one that would allow him to cover his wall with someone else’s photos. Instead, in 2019, I imagine Sy would be one of those people following strangers on social media and printing out all their pictures and probably sending them unsolicited DMs and private messages.

Sy is obsessed with the Yorkin family, Will (Michael Vartan), Nina (Connie Nielsen), and their son, Jake (Dylan Smith). Even though the family barely knows who Sy is, he knows them because Sy has spent years developing (and stealing) their photos. Sy views them as being the perfect family. They’re the family that he wants to be a part of. “Sometimes I think of myself as being Uncle Sy,” he says at one point. But then Maya Burson (Erin Daniels) brings in her photos to be developed and Sy learns that the reality of the Yorkins is not as perfect as the photographs. And Sy loses it.

Actually, there’s quite a few reasons why Sy loses it and the film suggests that, if the Yorkins had never stepped into SavMart, Sy would have found another family on which to obsess. Something is missing inside of Sy. Incapable of dealing with reality, Sy instead deals with posed pictures of happy times. Towards the end of the film, there’s a throw-away line that attempts to offer some sort of insight into why Sy is such a lost soul. Personally, I think the film works better without an explanation. Why is less important than the fact that Sy exists.

In the end, One Hour Photo qualifies as a horror film not because of any paranormal danger but because it’s a film about the horror of everyday life. You never know who might be watching you. That friendly clerk who waits on you at the grocery store might be following you home and imagining that he’s a part of your life. You never know. One Hour Photo is the film that suggests that, lurking behind every friendly smile, there’s a blank Sy Parrish. It’s a scary thought.

Horror on the Lens: Plan 9 From Outer Space (dir by Edward D. Wood, Jr.)

Posted on October 12, 2019 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Watching Ed Wood’s infamous Plan 9 From Outer Space is something of an October tradition here at the Shattered Lens! And you know how much I love tradition!

Some people say that this film has a reputation for being the worst film ever made. Personally, I don’t think that it deserves that reputation. Is it bad? By traditional standards of quality, I guess it can be argued that Plan 9 From Outer Space is a bad movie. But it’s also a lot of fun and how can you not smile when you hear Criswell’s opening and closing statements?

Enjoy and be sure to read Gary’s review!

(And also be sure to read Jedadiah Leland’s tribute to Criswell!)

(On another note: Watch this as quickly as you can because, over the least year or so, it seems like all the films of Ed Wood get yanked off YouTube as soon as they are posted. Copyright violations, they say. Personally, I think that’s shameful. First off, Ed Wood is no longer alive. Wood had no children and his widow died in 2006, having never remarried. Whatever money is being made off of his films is not going to support his family. Wherever he is, I think Ed would be more concerned that people see his films than some faceless corporation make money off of them.)

(It seems like, every year, someone threatens to either remake Plan 9 or produce a sequel. Again, the original is all that is needed.)

Music Video of the Day: Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of These), covered by Marilyn Manson (1996, dir by Dean Karr)

Posted on October 12, 2019 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Goddamn, that pig freaks me out!

Seriously, though, we all know what Marilyn Manson is about and what you’re going to get when you watch one of his videos and he’s been around for so long that it’s kind of hard to get shocked by him. I mean, he’s been imitated by so many other artists that he now almost seems kind of quaint.

But that said, this video is still seriously freaky.

And, of course, this song shows what Marilyn Manson does so well, taking a song that was formerly not scary at all and then making it his own. I mean, seriously….

Enjoy!

Horror on TV: The Veil Episode 8 “Summer Heat” (dir by George Waggner)

Posted on October 11, 2019 by Lisa Marie Bowman

On tonight’s episode of The Veil.…

There’s been a murder! Or has there? Edward Paige (Henry Bartell) swears that he saw someone murdered in a nearby apartment but, when the police investigate, they discover that the apartment appears to be totally deserted. Still convinced that he saw something, Edward is sent for a psychiatric evaluation from Dr. Mason (Boris Karloff, playing a sympathetic role for once). Dr. Mason says that Edward’s not making it up. Edward swears that he saw something. But what?

This is a pretty good episode. Think of it as being Rear Window with an extra twist. Boris Karloff hosts as well as co-stars.

Enjoy!

The Things You Find On Netflix: El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie (dir by Vince Gilligan)

Posted on October 11, 2019 by Lisa Marie Bowman

As one might expect from the sequel film to Breaking Bad, the shadow of Walter White hangs over very minute of El Camino.

Physically, Bryan Cranston doesn’t have a large role in El Camino. Like many of the characters from Breaking Bad, he appears only in a flashback. Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul) spends a good deal of this movie dwelling on the past, perhaps because the only way that he can have a future is by mentally forgiving himself for all the stuff that went on while he was cooking meth with Walter White and, later, for the Nazi bikers who kept him chained up in a cage like an animal. So, it makes sense that we would see a lot of flashbacks, the majority featuring characters who are no longer alive. Cranston’s Walter White only appears towards the end of the film, when Jesse remembers the conversation they had at a diner about what Jesse was going to do with the money that they were making. It’s a bit jarring to see them, largely because Walter still looks like an earnest and frail science teacher while Jesse is still young, loud, and more than a little obnoxious. It’s quite a contrast to what we know will eventually happen to both characters.

For obvious reasons, Walter White isn’t in much of El Camino but his ghost seems to following Jesse through the entire movie. For that matter, so does the ghost of Tod Alquist (Jesse Plemons). It’s not just that a good deal of the movie deals with Jesse trying to figure out where Tod hid all of his money. (Jesse is planning on using the money to hopefully escape New Mexico and start a new life in Alaska.) It’s also that Jesse has been scarred, both physically and mentally, by the Hellish time that he spent as Tod’s …. well, Tod’s pet. Tod treated Jesse like a dog, keeping him on a leash, punishing him for being “bad,” and then offering Jesse pizza as a reward whenever Jesse did something right. To be honest, the flashbacks with Tod take some getting used to, largely because Plemons has obviously aged quite a bit between the finale of Breaking Bad and the shooting of El Camino. But, still, Plemons is absolutely terrifying as the unfailingly polite but definitely sociopathic Tod. At one point, Tod casually brings Jesse over to his apartment so that Jesse can help dispose of the body of his cleaning lady. Tod murdered her because she came across some money that he was hiding in a hollowed-out book. Tod shrugs as he tells the story of her murder, as if his actions are as commonplace as waking up and going to bed.

Throughout Breaking Bad, Jesse spent most of the series being manipulated by evil men. What was ironic, of course, was that Jesse was the only one of those men who must people automatically considered to be a criminal. Everyone thought that Walter was a tragic family man. Tod was largely anonymous and those who did notice him usually assumed he was just an eccentric weirdo. Jesse, on the other hand, was the guy who was continually getting hauled in by the police and harassed by the DEA. He was the one who was viewed as being a danger to society even though he eventually proved himself to be one of the few characters with anything resembling a conscience. In El Camino, Jesse finally gets a chance to determine his own fate. Will he embrace the lucrative but soul-destroying greed of Walter and Tod? Or will he escape and try to make a new life for himself?

El Camino is a visually stunning tour-de-force, anchored by Aaron Paul’s empathetic performance as Jesse. Jesse is no longer as loud as he may have been in Breaking Bad. He’s a man haunted by the past and, watching the film, you know, regardless of whether he makes it to Alaska, the scars will never fully heal. He has the haunted eyes of a man who is never going to be fully okay, regardless of where he ends up. In fact, if we’re going to be realistic, he probably doesn’t have much of a future ahead of him. Those ghosts are always going to follow him and, as Robert Forster’s Ed sagely explains it, much of what has happened is due to Jesse’s own poor decisions.

Still, whatever mistakes he’s made in the past, you can’t help but wish the best for Jesse Pinkman.

He’s earned it.

Music Video of the Day: Rock DJ by Robbie Williams (2000, dir by Vaughan Arnell)

Posted on October 11, 2019 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Hmmm …. so, this video takes a turn.

Things start out with Robbie Williams playing just another dude who is desperate for attention. He’s so desperate that he even gets naked on the dance floor which, let’s just be honest, is nothing that any of us haven’t seen before. When that doesn’t work, he steps it up a notch.

And good for him!

Seriously, Robbie, do what you have to do. If that means removing your skin and your muscles …. well, you do you. Just try not to bleed all over my shoes.

Enjoy!

Horror on TV: The Veil Episode 7 “Destination Nightmare” (dir by Paul Landres)

Posted on October 10, 2019 by Lisa Marie Bowman

On tonight’s episode of The Veil….

Peter Wade, Jr. (Ron Hagerthy) is a rather timid man who would rather design planes than fly them. However, his father, Peter Wade, Sr. (Boris Karloff, who also hosted the episode), is a World War I veteran who has gone from being an aviation hero to owning his own aviation company. Peter, Sr. demands that his son become a pilot. And yet, every time that Peter, Jr. is flying, he’s haunted by ghostly face that 1) puts him in a trance and 2) tries to get him to crash his plane! Could it have something to do with a secret from his father’s past?

This episode is effectively creepy, as any show featuring a possessed pilot and a potential aviation disaster should be. As with some of the past episodes of The Veil, the main attraction here is really the chance to see Boris Karloff doing what he did best. Karloff was one of the great actors and it’s always fun to see him get a good character role.

Enjoy!

Horror Book Review: Book of the Dead by Jamie Russell

Posted on October 10, 2019 by Lisa Marie Bowman

If you’re still making out your Halloween movie list, might I suggest that you pick up a copy of Jamie Russell’s Book of the Dead? Because, seriously — what’s a Halloween movie night without a few zombies thrown into the mix?

Book of the Dead is comprehensive study of the history of zombie cinema, starting with a look at how the legend of the zombie first began and then progressing through White Zombie, the dead films of George Romero, the great Italian zombie films of Lucio Fulci, and finally moving all the way to the modern era. Scary zombies, funny zombies, porno zombies, political zombies, underwater zombies, French zombies; they’re all here! It’s a well-written book, one that was clearly written by somebody who not only loves the movies in general but zombie films in specific. Russell seems to be having so much fun writing about these films that it’s impossible not to share his enthusiasm.

Even better, the book contains a comprehensive appendix that lists and reviews basically every zombie film ever made! Seriously, there all here — from the obscure to famous. When I first started to seriously study the history of horror cinema, Book of the Dead was one of the first resources that I purchased and I used to obsessively study that appendix. It’s thanks to this book that I discovered films like I, Zombie: The Chronicles of Pain. It was thanks to this book that I discovered that there was more to zombie cinema than just corpses eating brains.

This book was originally published in 2005 and, at that time, basically went up to the Resident Evil-era of zombie films. Subsequent editions have been updated with even more zombie films and even more zombie reviews! This is the perfect book for all of your undead needs!

Horror Film Review: Knock Knock (dir by Eli Roth)

Posted on October 10, 2019 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Knock Knock starts out as a satire of vapid male fantasies before then becoming a vapid male fantasy. It then transforms itself into a satire of vapid torture porn before then becoming vapid torture porn. And, in the end, your main response will probably be, “Eh, who cares?”

Keanu Reeves plays Evan, an architect who has a nice house, a nice family, and a nice dog. He also has an injured shoulder, which leads to him staying home while his wife and children spend the weekend at the beach. Evan is looking forward to having the house to himself, especially when it starts to rain. I mean, who wants to be at the beach in the middle of storm, right? That night, Evan is relaxing in his home when he hears someone at the door.

Knock knock.

Two young women, Genesis (Lorenza Izzo) and Bel (Anna de Armas), are standing on his front porch, soaked. They tell him that they’re looking for the address of a party and that their phone has gotten wet and could they please come inside for just a few minutes and get online and find the correct address? Evan agrees. Genesis and Bel enter the house. They tell him that they’re models. They tell him about their girlfriends. They talk about their sex lives and Evan responds with a goofy smile. They ask if they can take off all their clothes and toss them in a dryer. Evan agrees. “Uh, I’ve got some robes,” Evan says and it’s a funny line because Keanu Reeves sounds sincerely bewildered when he says it.

Anyway, you can tell where this leading. It starts with a threesome and then it ends with the house getting destroyed and people getting buried alive and, to be honest, it gets a little bit boring after a while. Perhaps if Evan was truly a loathsome character, as opposed to just an awkward Keanu Reeves, there would be some sort of joy in watching Genesis and Bel taunt him while destroying his home and destroying his wife’s artwork but instead it just amount to a bunch of repetitive taunting. Despite all of their talk about how Evan represents the 1% and how quickly Evan was willing to cheat on his wife and potentially destroy his family, Genesis and Bel don’t come across as being revolutionaries or avenging angels. Instead, they just seem to be overcaffeinated with no real reason for doing what they’re doing beyond the fact that there wouldn’t be a movie otherwise.

Keanu Reeves gives a strange performance in this film. At the start of the film, he actually seems like he’s perfectly cast. When Genesis and Bel first show up at his door, there’s some genuine wit to found in his confused reaction to the two girls. But then, as the film progresses, Reeves has to start pretending to be desperate and that’s never really been his strong suit. Perhaps because he’s trying to keep up with the hyper performances of Lorenza Izzo and Anna de Armas, Reeves starts to shout every single line and it just becomes rather humorous before then becoming rather dull. “STOP IT! I COULD GO DEAF!” he shouts when the girls force him to listen to loud music. Later, when he curses the girls, he sounds like a cartoon character talking about how much he hates Bugs Bunny. I like Keanu Reeves but he’s just not a very good shouter.

I’ve defended Eli Roth in the past and I imagine that I’ll do so again in the future but it’s best to keep the door closed on Knock Knock.