Death Becomes Her

Meryl Streep, Goldie Hawn and Bruce Willis star in this wonderfully weird, dark comedy about vanity, revenge and immortality. When talentless stage-starlet Madaline (Streep) steals Helen’s (Hawn) fiance, Ernest (Willis), Helen goes mad plotting revenge. Several years of marriage later, Ernest is a Beverly Hills undertaker and Madaline is washed up and unhappily aging. When they meet Helen again at her book launch party, they expect to find a frumpier version of her. Instead she is more gorgeous than ever, tempting Ernest and driving Madaline mad with jealousy. 

After the party, in a moment of fragile vanity, Madaline seeks out what she assumed was a very exclusive beauty treatment. It leads her to a huge mansion where she learns about a potion that will make her young and beautiful forever. Meanwhile, Helen is busy seducing Ernest and plotting to dispose of Madaline. But this new gift of immortality will complicate their plans and turns out to be more of a curse.

The special effects in this film are pretty advanced and convincing for 1992. The film even won the Oscar for visual effects. They really help deliver the supernatural and gruesome aspects of the film. When the potion is used, it gives off a strange glow as it travels through the body, illuminating veins and deaging the actors before our eyes. Seeing Hawn walk around with a huge hole right through her abdomen, or Streep with her neck so twisted her head is facing the opposite direction can be a sickening sight. It’s the acting that brings out the hilarious dark comedy in these moments, like Streep, not realizing her head is backwards, looking down and crying, “My ass!” 

Bruce Willis’s performance in Death Becomes Her is one of my favorites of his to date. His portrayal makes Ernest so dorky, goofy, and just sad enough to make the audience empathetic. The moments that go nearly over-the-top always bring a good laugh. While at the beginning he seems to be stumbling into some fantasy of having two women fight over him, he ends up in a nightmare where both the women are literally falling apart and depend on him for his undertaker beauty techniques. When tempted to drink the potion, he hilariously questions immortality with “What if I get bored?!” Which is a lot more than the ladies questioned, but makes all the difference. 

In the Halloween season, Death Becomes Her is a funny, twisted piece of light horror. The gothic and gaudy mansions of Beverly Hills in the early 90s are a perfect setting for this modern monster movie. With the gore, love triangle themes and strong sexual references, I wouldn’t consider this a movie for the whole family, but perfect for a fun date night on the couch. 

“Where did you put my wife? The morgue? She’ll be furious!”

Annabelle

Branching out The Conjuring series, Annabelle tells the story of a young couple and a doll that becomes possessed with evil. Mia (Annabelle Wallis) and John (Ward Horton) are a picture perfect couple living in the California suburbs. Mia is adorably pregnant and John is dutifully sweet, even giving his wife a new doll for her collection decorating the nursery. One night they’re awakened by screams. As John investigates, murderers from a satanic cult attack Mia, stabbing her belly. In the nursery, one of the murders slits her own throat while holding the new doll. 

We’re led to believe that this is how the title doll became possessed with an evil spirit. I’m no expert on the fabled Annabelle Raggedy Anne doll that has been kept in a locked cabinet in the Warren’s home and blessed by a priest twice a month, but I think this particular story is not based in fact and purely it’s own yarn. To me, that takes some of the air out of this particular story, especially since most of the others within this Conjuring universe are based on real paranormal cases the Warrens have worked on. 

However, while watching the film I was genuinely interested and engaged. I was genuinely worried during the home invasion scene. The jump scares with the dolls were fun. And I enjoyed yelling at Mia from my couch, asking her over and over why she left that baby alone, again. While this is an enjoyable horror movie, it’s just not that scary. 

However, if you’re a new mom, this movie could be downright terrifying. I would advise that pregnant women and new moms not watch Annabelle, it can be very stressful to see a young mother struggle with this madness and a baby in danger. This could really trigger some postpartum depression and anxiety.

The one scene that I found genuinely frightening was the basement elevator scene. Here, there is a sense of foreboding and terror not just in the situation but with the creepy basement setting, which isn’t something we get in the cozy house or apartment. I was not surprised that Conjuring director James Wan directed this scene. 

In the end, I find myself comparing Annabelle to a chili (yes, I know this is an odd comparison). It’s got all the ingredients for a great horror film, and I enjoyed it in the moment, but afterward I was asking if maybe it should have simmered longer. And what’s up with the hint of rosemary? There’s so much here pointing Rosemary’s Baby, (John and Mia, a satanic cult wanting the baby, ties to the Mansion murders) but the connections seem to have loose ends. I want to check out the next two Annabelle movies out of curiosity, but I don’t expect them to be much better. 

“I’m old. Which means there’s very little that surprises me anymore and if it does, I’m too tired to show it.”

Summer of ’84

François Simard and Anouk Whissell’s 2018 film Summer of 84 is a surprisingly dark tale of American suburbia. The 80s nostalgia factor makes it kind of like a Stranger Things grounded in reality. The story of a kid across the cul-de-sac spying on his neighbor gives the film a suspenseful Rear Window/Disturbia vibe. And the fact that our suspected villain is a police officer is a modern twist on what we expect from authorities we’re told to trust. 

In the summer of 1984 fifteen year old Davey (Graham Verchere) lives in a peaceful, quiet suburb. He rides his bike to deliver his paper route and plays Manhunt, a form of flashlight tag, with his friends after dark. Everything seems ideal on his cul-de-sac, until another teenage boy is reported missing. Soon Davey suspects his neighbor is the serial killer behind all the missing boys. He enlists his friends to help him spy and collect evidence against him. 

This isn’t just any neighbor, Mr. Mackey (Rich Sommer) is a local police officer. He’s lived in the neighborhood long enough to remember Davey as a baby. He’s earned the trust of all the neighbors and community. Still, Davey keeps snooping and finding more and more damning evidence.  Will the adults believe Davey or will he become the Cape May Slayer’s next victim?

The story would be nothing without a fun cast of characters. Honestly, Davey and his friends border on cookie cutter but never fall flat. There’s Tommy aka Eats (Judah Lewis) the kid cracking crude jokes, Curtis (Cory Gruter-Andrew) the worry wart, Woody (Caleb Emery) who looks older, bigger and used to drive stakeout cars. And, of course, there’s Nikki (Tiera Skovbye), the girl next door that gets mixed up in the boy’s spying. And we love to hate the creepy Mackey. The film lets you keep guessing for a while, but I knew that guy was a creep when he sat out on his lawn to watch the neighborhood kids play. It’s an unwritten rule that you just don’t do that unless you’re watching your own kids play. 

I went into Summer of 84 out of curiosity and because I’m trying to watch more films directed (in this case co-directed) by women. What I found was a solidly creepy piece of mystery, suspense and horror. The scare factor is low for most of the film, relying on jump scares much of the time, but quickly cranks up the intensity toward the end. For a good horror film set in reality that will leave you with the creeps, seek out Summer of 84. (I found it on Kanopy, one of my favorite streaming services, free for most library members!)

“You know you can get AIDS from looking through trash, right?”

Oculus

In Oculus two siblings try to defeat the supernatural entity within a mirror that hung in their childhood home. Kaylie (Karen Gillan) the older sister has done extensive research on the history of the mirror’s past owners. It’s grizzly and full of strange, awful deaths. After her younger brother, Tim (Brenton Thwaites), is released from a mental institution, she secures overnight possession of the cursed mirror as it is sold in an auction. She hangs the mirror up where it was in their childhood home and sets up lots of equipment; cameras, computers, alarms and a guillotine-like blade that can destroy the mirror once they get enough proof. 

Proof of what? Tim asks. After years of therapy he believes that the horrible events of their childhood surrounding the mirror were just domestic issues. But Kaylie knows better and as the night and the mirror’s power progresses, the siblings remember the awful events of their childhood and live a new nightmare courtesy of the mysterious lady in the mirror.

This movie is great at playing mind games with both the characters and viewer at the same time. How did the cameras move? When did those plants die? Is there really broken glass everywhere? Is that an apple or a light bulb they just bit into? It’s creepy, disturbing and can get under your skin perfectly. Sometimes it’s fun trying to guess what is real and what isn’t. If you’re like me, you won’t always be right and the surprises keep getting better. 

The visual manifestation of the cursed mirror is worth noting. Usually it’s a lady, pale, dressed in white, watching in the shadows and always with mirror eyes. They reflect out in a blank, malevolent stare. As far as modern movie monsters go she’s no Freddie Krueger, but once you look into those mirror eyes you don’t forget it.

Oculus does not use cheap reflective mirror ideas that I half expected to pop up. No backwards messages on the wall or anything like that. Instead the mirror duality is shown in how the past pairs up with the present and how history repeats itself. As Kaylie and Tim are terrorized as they try to outsmart the mirror, their unhappy memories may help them, but the mirror may have a clearer and longer memory than they do.

Overall, Oculus is a great psychological thriller with an intriguing supernatural element. It’s a smart, thrilling ride that starts safe, with a few mild jump scares, and dives deep into creepy mind games. Oculus is definitely not a good choice for family movie night. But if you’re looking for a good scare to keep you on your toes and guessing until the end, Oculus is worth seeking out. 

“Hello again! You must be hungry.”

The Conjuring 2

My expectations of sequels are usually lower than their originals, especially in the horror genre. When I first watched The Conjuring two years ago I was surprised how well crafted and effectively scary the film was. Since then the sinister ideas and dark images have crept into my mind at night more often than most other horror movies. I finally got the courage to watch its sequel, The Conjuring 2, thinking I would easily laugh it off as I do most horror sequels. Instead I got a fresh new batch of nightmare fuel.

The Conjuring 2 expands on Lorraine (Vera Farmiga) and Ed Warren’s (Patrick Wilson) dealings with the supernatural. The opening scene depicts some of their involvement investigating the infamous Amityville haunting (any horror fan will recognize those windows). Here and at home, the Warrens get visions of a ghastly nun and dark premonitions. Then, they are called to investigate a haunting in England.

The Hodgson’s on Green street in London are a family trying to move on from a messy divorce. Peggy (Frances O’Connor), her two boys and two girls live in an old house, furnished by the previous owners. Strange happenings revolving around the younger girl, 11 year old Janet (Madison Wolfe), begin to shake the family. Was it the homemade ouija board she’s been playing with? Her older sister finds her sitting up at night, talking to the darkness. Janet thinks she’s sleepwalking. It all seems like childsplay until their mother witnesses a strange, violent and unexplainable occurrence right in the girl’s bedroom. It’s a great, startling scene!  When the police are involved, they witness objects move in ways they cannot believe. The media gets involved and records an interview with the girls, where Janet seems to be possessed and speaking for a long dead owner of the house. 

When Ed and Lorraine arrive in England to help the Hodgson family, things turn serious.  Details, crazy shit. Ed gives the children a pep talk to stand up to the bad spirit together. Lorraine confides in Janet about their supernatural experiences. But some of the investigators think Janet is faking all of it and any proof of that could quickly discredit the Warrens. But how will the family fare without them around to protect them?

Something I really admire about this film, and its predecessor, is that their overall look is genuinely scary. The inside of the Hodgson’s house looks haunted. The walls are dingy. The boys little tent is dark and foreboding. Their basement is a dangerous mess. And that corner with the armchair looks absolutely rotten, like these sinister supernatural things have been eating away at the house for years. And then there are the physical manifestations of the things that haunt the family and they’re not easy images to shake from your mind in the dark. 

Throughout the film the cynic in me wanted more explanation about the creepy nun. She seemed out of place in the beginning, and knowing about there’s a film in this series called The Nun, I originally dismissed it as a long con advert. Don’t be as cynical as me, it all connects and pays off in the spectacularly suspenseful end. And I was close to picking up those clues to the demon’s name, that alone makes me want to rewatch the film.

Overall, The Conjuring 2 is a good and scary horror movie, but only nearly as frightening as its predecessor. Still, images of that demon nun seem to lurk in the shadows and possessed voices still ring in my ears. Good supernatural sequels are hard to come by, so The Conjuring 2 is a welcome addition here in my October Haunts. And James Wan proves himself as more than a one hit wonder for scary stories. And overall, The Conjuring saga/Warren files are proving to be a very interesting and entertaining slice of the horror genre. I want to check out more. Perhaps The Nun next. Maybe Annabelle, if I’m brave enough. 

“After everything we’ve seen, there isn’t much that rattles either of us anymore. But this one… this one still haunts me.”

Little Shop of Horrors

If you’re looking for a fun, kooky musical with a taste for blood, Little Shop of Horrors might be exactly what you need. Based off an off Broadway musical, the film stars Rick Moranis as the poor, nerdy Seymour, and Ellen Greene as Audrey his coworker-crush, this story of a strange plant at a flower shop on Skid Row quickly wormed its way into my heart and has become a staple for my family, especially during the Halloween season. 

When Seymour finds a unique plant and brings it back to the flower shop he works at, it begins to draw in new customers. But while the money flows, Seymour learns that the plant, he names Audrey II, needs something special to grow healthy and strong: blood. With a few drops from a pricked finger, Audrey II grows and grows, but soon the plant needs more, driving sweet Seymour to find fresh blood. But no one would miss that jerk sadistic dentist (Steve Martin) dating Audrey, right? 

The absolute best part of this movie is seeing Audrey II in action. Some of the designers and puppeteers who brought Audrey II to life were members of the Jim Henson company. The plant puppets range from small enough to fit in the actors’ hands to so gigantic they take up most of the room in the flower shop. And they amp up the personality with each growth. The huge Audrey II (voiced by Levi Stubbs) singing and scaring Seymour is one of the best treats of the film.

This film is toe tapping fun from start to finish. Boasting some comedic genius from Steve Martin and Bill Murray (their only film together), they make the most out of one unforgettable scene. The film earned 2 Oscar nominations, best visual effects and best original song for Mean Green Mother from Outer Space. Keep an eye out whether you’re watching the theatrical version or Frank Oz’s director’s cut, the endings are wildly different but both so fun and perfect in their own ways.

“I’m just a mean green mother from outer space and I’m bad!”

August and September 2020

Summer is gone, hello autumn! Through August and September I found little time to devote to movies thanks to my two year old’s sleep regression. It’s hard to watch a movie when your kid is up screaming for attention all evening. Thankfully my husband is super supportive, better at the whole bedtime routine and entertains the kids so I can take in a movie on a Saturday. Here are the new-to-me movies I watched in August and September:

August:

• The Lion King (2019 Jon Favreau)
• *Cleo from 5-7 (1962 Agnès Varda)
• Creature with the Atom Brain (1955 Edward L. Cahn)
• An American Pickle (2020 Brandon Frost)
• Night Monster (1942 Ford Beebe)
• Snowpiercer (2013 Bong Joon Ho)
• *7 Weeks (2016 Constanza Figari)
• *Mostly Martha (2001 Sandra Nettelbeck)
• My Neighbor Totoro (Hayao Miyazaki)

September:

• Trolls World Tour (2020  Walt Dohrn, David P. Smith)
• *The Love Witch (2016 Anna Biller)
• *A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night (2014 Ana Lily Amirpour)
• *Unpregnant (2020 Rachel Lee Goldenberg)
• The Peanut Butter Falcon (2019 Tyler Nilson, Michael Schwartz)
• The Conjuring 2 (2016 James Wan)
• The Witch (2015 Robert Eggers)

*indicates a film directed or co-directed by a woman

#52FilmsByWomen

As you might see, I’ve been watching some new-to-me horror movies. Believe me, it’s easier to convince myself to watch The Conjuring 2 on a sunny afternoon than on a chilly evening. I plan to feature it and a few others next month as I expand my October Haunts. Stay tuned and thanks for reading.

July 2020

Just trying to have a safe and relaxing summer.

Happy August, readers! Hope you’re staying safe in this world savaged by a pandemic and about a dozen other threats. If you’re anything like me, you like to take a break from all that with a few movies. Here are the new-to-me films I watched in July:

• *The Virgin Suicides (1999 Sofia Coppola) 
• Hamilton (2020 Thomas Kail)
• What Men Want (2018 Adam Shankman) 
• *Wendy and Lucy (2008 Kelly Reichardt)
• The Witches of Eastwick (1987 George Miller)
• *The Old Guard (2020 Gina Prince-Bythewood)
• Palm Springs (2020 Max Barbakow)
• *Can’t Hardly Wait (1998 Harry Elfont and Deborah Kaplan)
• *The Edge of Seventeen (2016 Kelly Fremon Craig)
• The Hustle (2019 Chris Addison)
• *They (2018 Anahita Ghazvinizadeh)
• *Summer of 84 (2018 François Simard and Anouk Whissell)

*Indicates directed or codirected by women 

New to my kid: Back to the Future

My 6 year old talks a lot about time travel. I think he got a lot of his ideas from the Transformers shows he watches. I gave him a fun Saturday afternoon showing of Back to the Future, with root beer floats to distract from the more mature themes. He loved it! I think Doc Brown is his new favorite scientist. The look on his face each time the DeLorean hit 88 mph was priceless.

I also checked out part of the local film festival here in Indianapolis, the Heartland Film Festival. Due to the pandemic, this year viewers were able to watch films from the festival from the comfort of their own homes. There were also showings at the local drive-in theater to allow for more social distancing. I watched the Indy Shorts Horror selections from the comfort of my own couch. All the short horror films were wonderful and worth the $7 to watch them all. Who Goes There?, an intriguing, mysterious film about sisters encountering a stranger while living on the prairie won the category’s top honor. I was also excited to see another film by my friend Ronald Short in the fest, The Rink, a bloody story of a budding relationship that takes a wrong turn late one night at a roller rink. It’s very cool!

June 2020

My children asking for snacks….again.

Hello summer! In between keeping my kids busy, fetching them popsicles and avoiding a certain plague I’ve found a little time to watch some new movies:

• The Vast of Night (2019 Andrew Patterson)
• Dirty Dancing (1987 Emile Ardolino)
• The Lovebirds (2020 Michael Showalter)
• Ad Astra (2019 James Gray)
• *13th (2016 Ava DuVernay)
• Aquaman (2018 James Wan)
• Little Shop of Horrors (1986 Frank Oz)
• Tangerine (2015 Sean Baker)
• Do the Right Thing (1989 Spike Lee)
• The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958 Nathan Juran)
• Adam’s Rib (1949 George Cukor)

I’m a little behind on my quest to watch 52 films directed by women this year, but plan to catch up in August. Suggestions on films to find are always welcome and appreciated.

Stay safe and healthy!

Portrait of a Lady on Fire (Portrait de la jeune fille en feu)

In Portrait of a Lady on Fire, there’s a moment where the characters discuss the fate of Orpheus and Eurydice. Sophie, the third wheel, argues, why would Orpheus turn around when he was told not to or he would lose his love? I like Marianne’s explanation, “He chooses the memory of her. That’s why he turns. He doesn’t make the lover’s choice, but the poet’s.” Like Orpheus, Marianne knows Héloïse is not hers to keep. She must get married or choose her sister’s fate. And Héloïse acknowledges this, releasing Orpheus’s blame, “Perhaps she was the one who said, Turn around.” Céline Sciamma’s Portrait of a Lady on Fire is a powerful, hypnotic film full of where passion slowly blooms, beauty cannot be restrained and a forbidden love lives on in only memory.

Céline Sciamma’s story centers around a young portrait painter, Marianne (Noémie Merlant), sent to a remote island to paint a young woman, Héloïse (Adèle Haenel) before she is married. Marianne is the second painter summoned, Héloïse’s mother tells her that Héloïse refused to pose for the first one, as she opposes the marriage. Héloïse is also the second bride, her older sister so strongly opposed the marriage she jumped off one of the island’s high cliffs. Now Héloïse is told that Marianne will be her walking companion. Marianne must study Héloïse on their walks and paint her by memory in secret.

The deception is only the first act of the film. When Marianne finishes the portrait from memory, she shows it to Héloïse and confesses her deception. The portrait is too perfect, it could be any woman with Héloïse’s features. It lacks life, Héloïse’s fierce flash of anger, the tired red eyes bagged with grief. Marianne destroys the painting and to her surprise, Héloïse agrees to pose for her. Her mother will be away and they have until she returns to finish the portrait.

What unfolds is a mixture of an affair between artist and muse, Héloïse’s first taste of womanhood and her last taste of freedom before marriage. The slow burn, hypnotic tension between Marianne and Héloïse rises to romance and brings forth a sexier love story than most films can muster between heteosexal leads. Yet, there are no sex scenes, unless you count the couple lying in bed, breasts exposed with Marianne drawing secret portraits in a book, using a perfectly placed mirror.

Their portrait scene where Marianne tells Héloïse all the little nuances she has noticed about her and Héloïse shooting back saying, “When you’re observing me, who do you think I’m observing?” put the traditional artist/muse relationship on it’s head. Usually those relationships are very one sided, the man being powerful, the woman the silent idol. But here, Héloïse’s spunk and the fact that they’re both women make it equal.

During the mother’s absence, the maid, Sophie (Luàna Bajrami) reveals that she is pregnant. Marianne and Héloïse help her to rectify the situation, first by herbs and exercise, later by visiting an older woman who preforms a 18th century abortion. As Sophie lays back during the procedure, a baby no older than 2 holds her hand and plays with her. Later, Marianne paints a recreation of the scene, with Héloïse posing as the practitioner. The symbolism in these acts, these people around Sophie in her moment of need is astounding.

I’ve never seen a film so full of raw, powerful feminism and I love it. Along with the obvious subjects, the film is completely driven by women and their relationships together, whether as lovers, friends, artist/subject, mother/daughter. The actors bear natural beauty, even displaying body hair that rarely graces Hollywood films without a grimace. There are only a few men in the film, none of them have important speaking roles. Portrait of a Lady on Fire is a beautiful, bold and empowering and enthralling film that I hope inspires more female filmmakers to bring their stories to the world.

“It’s a life that has advantages. There’s a library. You can sing or hear music. And equality is a pleasant feeling.”