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This poster for Robert Eggers' The Witch lingers at the creepy qualities of a goat
17th century New England: An English immigrant family struggles to scrape together enough food and stick together, as a terrible event threatens to drive them apart.
The Witch is the feature debut of great writer-director Robert Eggers (The Tell-Tale Heart (2008), short), stylized on posters and its title credit as The VVitch and subtitled 'A New-England Folktale'. It is a handsomely shot (by Jarin Blaschke (I Believe in Unicorns (2014))), rich on atmosphere and thoroughly unsettling film about a Puritan family who take sin-awareness and self-blame one or two steps too far. It features powerful acting in all the major parts, SPOILER with young Harvey Scrimshaw (Oranges and Sunshine (2010)) as Caleb particularly incredible in his agonizing scenes leading up to his death. Measured in sheer negative power, these scenes are right up there with what Linda Blair went through for The Exorcist (1973), - and so I deeply hope that Scrimshaw is okay today.
Non-Westerners and people with little knowledge of Christianity will inevitably lose meanings and nuances in The Witch. My only criticism of it is about its incessantly oppressive tone, which is as heavy as to make the film at times near the outlandish. SPOILER But in light of its completely occult ending, this may also be fitting.
In any case The Witch is an original and excellent horror.
Anya Taylor-Joy (Split (2016)) in Robert Eggers' The Witch
Watch an official trailer for the film here
Cost: Reportedly 3 - 3.5 mil. $
Box office: 40.4 mil. $
= Huge hit
[The Witch premiered January 27 (Sundance) and runs 93 minutes. For lack of tax incentives there, the film had to be shot in Canada instead of New England, and a remote area of Ontario was chosen. Filming was accomplished only using natural light outside and candle lights inside. The film opened #4, behind holdover hits Deadpool and Kung Fu Panda 3 and newcomer Risen, to an 8.8 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it left the top 5 in its second week and grossed 25.1 mil. $ (62.1 % of the total gross.) The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Mexico with 3.4 mil. $ (8.4 %) and Brazil with 2.5 mil. $ (6.2 %). The film won the Directing Award at Sundance. The Witch is certified fresh at 91 % with a 7.8 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
Barbarism and adventure exudes from this original Italian poster for Antonio Climati's Cannibal Holocaust II, [the Italian title means 'against nature']
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A professor gone missing in the Amazon must still be alive! - A sensationalist reporter and a group of adventure-seeking fellows set off on a danger-filled rescue mission.
Cannibal Holocaust II is a totally unrelated follow-up to Ruggero Deodato's original masterpiece Cannibal Holocaust (1980). This film is even missing cannibals! Unsurprisingly, co-writer/cinematographer/director Antonio Climati's (This Violent World (1976)) original Italian title doesn't include any mention of the non-existing cannibals, and indeed the Cannibal Holocaust II-title was devised solely for the (somewhat appropriately exploitative) distribution-purpose of cashing in on the notorious earlier film. Still, the English nonsense-title is actually somehow well in line with the entire film at hand, which is impressively produced with vicious animals of all kinds (a panther, crocodiles, piranhas, snakes galore etc.) and plenty of exotically presented adventure. The film also has a bizarre 80s-style score (by Maurizio Dami (Top Line (1988)) in the jungle-context and extremely irregular editing. Cannibal Holocaust II is silly, funny and not-so-disgusting. It is sometimes referred to as the film that ended the Italian cannibal exploitation sub-genre.
Watch a funky, short original trailer for the film here that showcases some of its many qualities
Cost: Unknown Box office: Unknown = Uncertainty What do you think of Cannibal Holocaust II? Other such nonsense-titled films that you can think of?
Stunningly elegant poster for Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds
The Birds is one of British master director Alfred Hitchcock's last films, (he had 5 more in him to be exact.) It is an unusual film in many respects, mainly because it is a huge movie of a freak animal attack, something that hadn't been seen before at all to the best of my knowledge. But something that became a popular sub-genre of its own after this; from shark attacks in Jaws (1973) to piranha-attacks in Piranha (1978) and even bee-attacks in The Swarm (1978), people have relished the idea of animals going berserk on us ever since. The Birds, which is based on a short story by Daphne Du Maurier (Rebecca (1940)), mixes comedic tongue-in-cheek-playful romance with sudden terror, as the film turns into a full-blown horror survival story. The choice not to have a score for the movie is unusual as well, but it makes for some tense, uncomfortable moments of silence several times, - but also to some loud bird attacks that start to claw in our ears and overstay their welcomes a time or two. As always, Hitchcock's camera is mobile and story-telling in itself, and ever so elegant, so that merely watching Birds feels like a luxury. Again here with Robert Burks (North by Northwest (1959)) behind it. In Birds, Hitch also has the advantage of very beautiful localities; San Francisco and up the coast to the small coastal town of Bodega Bay. All in ravishing, full but still natural Technicolor. And the matte work and yellow screen composites are amazingly realistic.
Tippi Hedren and Rod Taylor meet cute in a bird shop in Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds
The woman who takes the trip is played by Tippi Hedren (Marnie (1964)) in her screen debut, and she is one elegant and spunky lady. We like her straight away, and Hitch gets us into her romantic prank wonderfully. The object of her affection is played by Rod Taylor (The Time Machine (1960)), who also has charisma, presence and intelligence as well as the good looks to match her. Their chemistry bounces off the screen, and in supporting roles, Jessica Tandy (Driving Miss Daisy (1989)) is good as the restrained matriarch, and Suzanne Pleshette (The Fugitive (1964-65)) makes a fine school teacher. Another device that I think Birds more or less invented is the diner scene debate, in which every-day people gather to share outlooks on the ominous, possibly apocalyptic even, attacks. It's a great scene, and it is followed by lavish amounts of mayhem and catastrophe. The details: - Because The Birds is a special effects movie as much as anything else. The difficulties involved in making this film are truly incredible, as CGI wasn't invented, and Hitch and his crew were the best in the world and not about to lower their bars. This was a mountain of a movie effects-wise, and it gets pulled off impressively, not least thanks to the bravery of all the cast members, who often took real bird attacks on camera for the shots. It all helped earn the film its only Oscar-nomination (Best Special Effects), (but it lost to Cleopatra (1963).) The birds and why they attack SPOILER remain a conundrum, the way Hitchcock and screenwriter Evan Hunter wanted it, to prevent the film from being science fiction, and I think they were totally right. As much as I enjoy it, though, the birds themselves never terrify me; - the whole scenario is just too odd for that, I think. Or perhaps I just can't get afraid of birds. There is a freaky thing about it anyway though, something that creeps under your skin about the random chaos, which is anxiety-provoking and might give nightmares, but terror when I see the birds, - it doesn't happen. The Birds isn't among my favorite Hitchcock's, but it is an odd and great film.
Hitchcock was quite the humorist and loved marketing stunts such as doing these stills:
Watch the long, but truly great trailer for the film, starting with a lecture of birds by the master himself, the great movie-maker and showman, Alfred Hitchcock
Cost: 3.3 mil. Box office. 11.4 mil. 4 = Big hit What do you think of The Birds? Other animal attack movies that you love (or just want to highlight)? What are your favorite Hitchcock films?
A colorful, psychedelic poster for Lucio Fulci's The Beyond
A Louisiana hotel contains a portal to Hell. And when that portal opens ... shit gets ugly!
The Beyond is written by Dardano Sacchetti (Quella Villa in Fondo al Parco (1988)), Giorgio Mariuzzo (Aenigma (1987)) and co-writer/director Lucio Fulci (I Ladri (1959)), with inspiration from H.P. Lovecraft (He (1926, short story)) and Clark Ashton Smith (The Black Diamonds (1907)). It is the 2nd film in Fulci's Gates of Hell trilogy, coming after City of the Living Dead (1980) and before The House by the Cemetery (1981). The original title translates to, '... And you will live in terror! The afterlife'.
The Beyond contains: Copious uses of zoom shots; a funky/timely/confusing score by Fabio Frizzi (City of the Living Dead/Paura nella Città dei Morti Viventi (1980)), surrealistic imagery, locations and characters, (among others are Fulci as a bookseller); brutal animals (dogs and tarantulas attack); multiple eye-stabbing and falling scenes and incredibly lax zombies, (perhaps because Fulci only added them to satisfy the German financier/distributor.) The film is stylish and nightmarishly scary, with incredible images (cinematography by Sergio Salvati (Banzai (1997)) and fantastic special effects. The story is somewhat confusing, again perhaps because Fulci was not primarily interested in presenting a developing, traditional narrative. SPOILER The no-mans-land surreal ending is really something. (And the behind-the-scenes story that the dead, pale corpses lying around are really Italian vagabonds paid in booze to lie there is just awesome film trivia.) Late film critic icon Roger Ebert snorted at The Beyond and gave it only half a star, proving only that he never understood horror movies. The Beyond is a cult favorite if ever there was one.
Listen to Frizzi's amazing main theme from the film here
Cost: Reportedly 400k $ Box office: Uncertain - projected at at least 2.3 mil. $ = Uncertain - but probably a huge hit (projected return of 5.75 times its cost)
[The Beyond was released 29 April (Italy) and runs 87 minutes. Shooting reportedly took place on the basis of a 3-page outline instead of a traditional script, running from October - December 1980 in Louisiana, including in New Orleans, and in Rome, Italy. It grossed approximately 416k $ in Italy and was also released in a row of other markets, including Spain where it was reportedly especially successful. In North America, it was released in 1983 as 7 Doors of Hell, recut, shortening it by several minutes, and with a new score and faulty end credits. This still grossed 455k $ in its opening weekend and reportedly made the distributor a roughly 700k $ profit, which would mean a gross of around 1.75 mil. $. Together, the film should have a gross of at least 2.3 mil. $ and possibly significantly more. In the UK it was released with an X rating and several cuts demanded by the BBFC, the censor organ who also later included it on their 'video nasties' list. - It was not released uncut in the UK until 2001. Roger Ebert gave it a ½/4 star review, translating to 4 notches under this one. Fulci returned with The House by the Cemetery/Quella Villa Accanto al Cimitero (1981). Catriona MacColl (Horsehead (2014)) returned inNoires Sont les Galaxies (1981, TV-series) and theatrically in The House by the Cemetery; David Warbeck (Craze (1974)) in Fuga dall'Arcipelago Maledetto(1982). The Beyond is fresh at 67 % with a 6.50/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]
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