21st CENTURY TERROR [email protected] www.mondomoviehouse.wordpress.com
Week 7: Death Becomes Her
The Vampire • Nosferatu (1922) – a dark shadow cast by the 1st World War • Dracula (1931) – the vampire as ultimate capitalist – the shadow of the 1929 crash • Dracula (1958) – the shaking off of post war sexual repression – the vampire as sex symbol
Daughters of Darkness (1971) Harry Kumel • No fangs • No Garlic • No Castles • No stakes
The Mid-80s Vampire Resurgence • Fright Night (1985) • Vamp (1986) • The Lost Boys (1987) The Vampire’s Kiss (1988) • Even though large studio offerings such as The Lost Boys and Fright Night easily eclipsed more independent features like The Vamp and The Vampire’s Kiss –the most successful vampire films barely counted as ‘blockbusters’
Near Dark (1987) Kathryn Bigelow • None of the ‘gothic’ tropes of other more clichéd vampire films
Let the Right One in (2008) Tomas Alfredson • Directed by Tomas Alfredson • Produced by Carl Molinder and John Nordling • Screenplay by John Ajvide Lindqvist • Based on his novel, Let the Right One in • Cinematography by Hoyte van Hoytema • Edited by Tomas Alfredson and Daniel Jonsäter
• The washed out colours provide a more blank background on which to overlay the horror • Blood spatters over ‘virgin’ white snow provide a juxtaposition reflecting the other polarizing elements within the narrative • Innocence/loss of innocence • Adult/childhood
• Life/death • The paedophile element of the storyline which is explicit within the original novel is played down in the film and is given a more ambiguous feel • This was a conscious decision by the director, feeling that intense part of the novel may struggle to be dealt within the context of a feature film’s smaller canvas • It’s another good example of a horror film which offers a less romantic vision of the vampire • The ‘realities’ of this unreal situation, with all the problems that brings are bough to the foreground • This is very much a Scandi-detective drama meets Dracula
A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (2014) Ana Lily Amirpour • Directed by Ana Lily Amirpour • Produced by Justin Begnaud and Sina Sayyah • Written by Ana Lily Amirpour • Cinematography by Lyle Vincent • Edited by Alex O’Flinn • Music by Bei Ru
“It’s a film that crosses boundaries” Mark Kermode • Black and white – harks back to the past, but is very modern too • It’s Iranian culture but shot in America
Influences • Nosferatu • Jim Jarmusch – Stranger Than Paradise • Eraserhead • Near Dark
Ana Lily Amirpour • Born in England but moved to Miami when she was young • Graduated from UCLA • Produced a number of short films • She describes it as an ‘Iranian spaghetti western vampire film’ • Refuses to be drawn into any arguments about the film’s supposed feminist ‘message’ • Has played bass in a band, very drawn to pop and pop culture
• Dark fantasy • Romance • Horror • Western • It’s indie • It’s traditional
• Fresh • It’s black and white • It’s modern
It appears to have no particular time or place • It’s Iranian but could be a nether world between Iran and certain American cities • 50s • 80s • Modern • About characters who are out of place and out of time
The Witch (2015) Robert Eggers • Directed by Robert Eggers • Produced by Rodrigo Teixeira, Daniel Bekerman, Jodi Redmond, Jay Van Hoy and Lars Knudsen • Written by Robert Eggers • Cinematography by Jarin Blaschke • Edited by Louise Ford • Music by Mark Korven
Robert Eggers • Born in 1983 • Raised in Lee, New Hampshire • Moved to New York in 2001 • Director, writer and production designer
Short Films • Hanse and Gretel (2007) • The Tell-Tale Heart (2008)
The Witch (2015) Robert Eggers • Though The Witch is an American/Canadian production, the film has a very British feel
The Premise • The 1630s, a family is banished from a Puritan Plymouth Colony • When the baby disappears, the family encounter evil forces from the wood beyond their farm • It is never made clear whether the evil forces they encounter are real or imagined • There are references to rotten crops • This feeds back to stories about the Salem Witch Trials, which allude to the fact that people may have been ingested rotten rye crops • The fungus on the crops was Ergot – which causes LSD like hallucinations
• Cases of ergot poisoning (known as ergotism) were well-documented in medieval Europe, and often caused victims to experience the same symptoms as the "bewitched" Salem girls. • The film carries an unsettling, quiet eeriness • The washed out colours and rustic feel help us forget we are watching a fiction, it feels more real • Even the ‘fantasy’ elements feel somehow authentic, as if this could happen • The ambiguity of the narrative and what we (or the family) are or aren’t experiencing helps to heighten the drama and create a genuinely terrifying set up.