I Married a Witch (1942) - Stars shine in Clair's bubbly screwball fantasy magic

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A sexually charged and very elegant poster for René Clair's I Married a Witch

A refined gentleman, who is poised to marry a fine woman, has his plans altered when he rescues a strange blond out of a burning hotel. This alluring female turns out to be a centuries old witch, who wants to change his life drastically!

 

I Married a Witch is written by Marc Connelly (Reunion in France (1942)) and Robert Pirosh (A Gathering of Eagles (1963)), with André Rigaud (Bright Eyes (1929)), Dalton Trumbo (Hawaii (1966)) and co-writer/producer/director, great French filmmaker René Clair (Paris Asleep/Paris qui Dort (1925)) contributing lines. It is an adaptation of The Passionate Witch (1941) by Thorne Smith (Rain in the Doorway (1933), finalized after his death by Norman H. Matson.

With a stunning visual energy (cinematography by Ted Tetzlaff (I Want a Divorce (1940))) and a splendid special effects tangent, I Married a Witch is an atypical screwball comedy that waltzes right into your heart and activates your laugh muscles. Fredric March (The Buccaneer (1938)) is a joy as usual, and he is wonderfully matched here with Veronica Lake (Isn't It Romantic (1948)), who is almost superhumanly lovely, - and a bit eerie, - as a cute housewife with allure and frighteningly huge power. A prime example of the 'monstrous female' on film.

Cecil Kellaway (Spinout (1966)) who plays Lake's father in the film is also delightful. Witty dialog, a rapidly flowing plot, and a beautifully carried out production, I Married a Witch is cheeky fun all the way. A bright favorite. 

 

Related post:

 

René Clair: Entr'acte (1924, short) - Clair's creative experiment in movement

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: Unknown

Box office: Approximately 2.75 mil. $ (North America alone)

= Uncertain but likely a huge hit (projected return of 6.5 times its cost)

[I Married a Witch was released 30 October (North America) and runs 77 minutes. Shooting took place from April - May 1942 in Los Angeles, California. Hostilities ran between March and Lake during the shoot. Variety reported that the film earned a 1.1 mil. $ rental figure in North America, coming to approximately 2.75 mil. $ in box office. The foreign release was impeded by WWII and went slow over the next several years, likely with similarly stunted results. A 3.25 mil. $ final gross projection takes this into account, while a projected cost of 500k $ belies March, - the film's leading star's salary level of 100k $ per picture at the time. This would make the film a huge hit. It was nominated for one Oscar, for Best Music, Drama/Comedy (Roy Webb (Top Secret Affair (1957))), lost to Max Steiner for Now, Voyager. Clair returned with a segment in Forever and a Day (1943) and with an entire feature with It Happened Tomorrow (1944). March returned in The Adventures of Mark Twain (1944); Lake in Star Spangled Rhythm (1942). I Married a Witch is fresh at 96 % with a 7.50/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of I Married a Witch?

Inferno (1980) - Argento's satanic, New York-set nightmare masterpiece

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A fashionably colored skull outline with a seductive woman's lips and jaws in a sea of black makes up most of this most elegant poster for Dario Argento's Inferno

A music student pursues tracks from his sister's mysterious disappearance in New York, just after being near to an equally mysterious double homicide in Rome, his place of study.

 

Inferno is written and directed by Italian master filmmaker Dario Argento (The Bird with the Crystal Plumage/L'Uccello dalle Piume di Cristallo (1970)), whose 7th feature it is. Dardano Sacchetti (Turbo (2000, TV-series)) and co-writer/co-star Daria Nicolodi (Suspiria (1977)) contributed uncredited contributions, and the story is inspired by Thomas De Quincey's (Lake Reminiscences (1834-40)) Suspiria de Profundis (1845). It is the second film in Argento's Three Mothers trilogy, also consisting of Suspiria (1977) and Mother of Tears/La Terza Madre (2007).

It is a fantastical, dream-like horror. Its opening scenes in a largely deserted New York City are unforgettable, and so are several incredible scenes later on. The Verdi scene in Rome and the cat drowning scene in Central Park must be called out as among the film's highlights.

Beautifully, atmospherically lit, and designed with exemplary effects, Inferno is memorable as a surrealist, sensually dense, deeply cinematic descent into the dark hell of our subconscious. It is among Argento's best, an unavoidable, strange and wild horror classic.

 

Related posts:

Dario Argento: The Phantom of the Opera/Il Fantasma dell'Opera (1998) - Argento's Leroux adaptation is a kicker mostly for stout fans 

Demons/Dèmoni (1985) or, Cinema of Death! (co-writer/producer)

Dawn of the Dead (1978) or, Mall of Death! (co-composer)

The Cat O'Nine Tails/Il Gatto a Nove Code (1971) - Solid genetics-themed giallo murder puzzle 

The Bird With the Crystal Plumage/L'uccello Dalle Piume di Cristallo (1970) - The great debut giallo of Dario Argento

Documentary about Dario Argento: An Eye for Horror (2002) - Bio. doc. of Dario Argento 

 

 

Watch a modern-made trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 3 mil. $

Box office: In excess of 1.6 mil. $ (Italy only)

= Uncertain but likely a huge flop (projected return of 0.66 times its cost)

[Inferno was released 7 February (Italy) and runs 107 minutes. Shooting took place from May - September 1970 in Rome, Italy and in New York. Argento became ill with hepatitis during the shoot. The film was commissioned after Suspiria's success, but new Fox management saw no quality in the endeavor and the film reportedly only had a tiny release in North America. The gross numbers, except for Italy, where the film was popular, are regrettably not reported. Only 1,126 paid admission in Denmark. With a projected final gross of 2 mil. $, the film would rank as a huge flop. Argento returned with Tenebrae (1982). Eleonora Giorgi (SoloMetro (2007)) returned in Mia moglie è una Strega (1980); Leigh McCloskey (Bones (2011, TV-series)) in Hart to Hart (1981, TV-series) and theatrically in Hearts and Armour (1983); and Alida Valli (La Bocca (1991) in L'eredità della Priora (1980, miniseries)), Verso l'ora Zero (1980, TV movie) and theatrically in Aquella Casa en las Afueras (1980). Inferno is fresh at 63 % with a 5.70/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of Inferno?

Paranormal Activity 4 (2012) - Found footage franchise shows wear and tear

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A disturbing shadow over a sleeping blond girl on a surveillance cam still makes up this poster for Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman's Paranormal Activity 4

Several years after a mother and her son go missing, they suddenly turn up, apparently without having aged, in a home across from a normal family with an adopted son, who in turn becomes friends with the reappeared boy...

 

Paranormal Activity 4 is written by Christopher Landon (Viral (2016)), with Chad Feehan (Banshee (2016, TV-series)) contributing story elements, and directed by Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman (Catfish (2010), both). It is the 4th film in the Paranormal Activity franchise (2009; 2010; 2011).

The filmmakers skip explaining why the family has recording devices capturing everything that happens in all the rooms of their house. Some are webcams that never turn off (...) but apart from these? This makes the scares limited, as we follow the blond girl around, while she also records everything. 

The family is gratingly ordinary, making at least me wonder if I would also appear that ordinary if captured on various devices in my home (impossible!) But the naturalness achieved is nevertheless impressive. SPOILER Children that shift loyalty to unseen forces are scary, and the film's last minutes, before a regular witch army is revealed for a very short time (witches again, yes), are effective. But the formula shows its weak points too often here in the 4th chapter.

 

Related posts:

 

The Paranormal Activity franchise: Paranormal Activity 3 (2011) - Franchise returns to creepy 1988-set beginnings (also by Joost, Schulman)

2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]  

2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]

2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

2010 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess 

Paranormal Activity 2 (2010) or, Haunted California Idiots

Paranormal Activity (2007) - Peli's record-breaking found footage horror smash 

 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 5 mil. $

Box office: 142.8 mil. $

= Mega-hit (returned 28.56 times its cost)

[Paranormal Activity 4 premiered 27 September (Austin Fantastic Fest, USA) and runs 88 minutes. Shooting took place in the summer of 2012 in Nevada and Los Angeles, California. The film opened #1 to a 29 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent another weekend in the top 5 (#4), grossing 53.8 mil. $ (37.7 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 9.5 mil. $ (6.7 %) and Australia with 7.8 mil. $ (5.5 %). It additionally reportedly made more than 9.7 mil. $ on the North-American home video market alone. The franchise returned with Paranormal Acitivity: The Marked Ones (2014) with Landon taking over as director, and 2 more sequels. Joost and Schulman returned with 5 shorts and a video prior to their theatrical return with Nerve (2016). Paranormal Activity 4 is rotten at 23 % with a 4.20/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

 

What do you think of Paranormal Activity 4? 

Practical Magic (1998) or, Witch Sister Trouble

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The two female stars send catty eyes from this playful poster for Griffin Dunne's Practical Magic

Two sisters who are (naturally) diametric opposites return as adults to their witch aunts, when the one sister's happiness has suddenly ended, and the other sister has fallen in love with a dubious Bulgarian.

 

Practical Magic is written by Adam Brooks (Beloved (1998)), Akiva Goldsman (Winter's Tale (2014)) and Robin Swicord (Matilda (1996)), adapting Alice Hoffman's (Second Nature (1994)) same-titled 1995 novel, and directed by Griffin Dunne (Addicted to Love (1997)).

It is a strange film to look back on, and in today's Hollywood environment also incredible as a strong constellation of almost only female stars in a film without a strong pre-existing IP, made on a gigantic budget. Sandra Bullock (Speed (1994)) impresses, mostly, however, by making such an outlandish universe as this concrete and seemingly believe in it. As a viewer I didn't buy a second of it, but Practical Magic has a certain bizarre attraction in its changes from horror to humor to romance, changes that it performs without much success.

The witches are good women, whose power is embraced by their surrounding society here in a film with high production values that best case don't help it, and worst case ruined it.

 

Related posts:

Griffin Dunne: 2005 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I] 

Fierce People (2005) - Wittenborn and Dunne's savagely under-appreciated coming-of-age gem
An American Werewolf in London (1981) - Landis' great, funny, scary werewolf favorite (actor) 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 75 mil. $

Box office: 68.3 mil. $

= Huge flop (returned 0.91 times its cost)

[Practical Magic was released 16 October (North America, India) and runs 104 minutes. Nicole Kidman (Dogville (2003)) was paid 6 mil. $ for her performance in the film. Shooting took place from February - May 1998 in Washington State and in California. The film opened #1 to a 13.1 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it spent another 2 weekends in the top 5 (#2-#3), grossing 46.7 mil. $ (68.4 % of the total gross). Roger Ebert gave the film a 2/4 star review, equal in rating to this one. Dunne returned with Lisa Picard Is Famous (2000). Bullock returned in Welcome to Hollywood (1998); Kidman in Eyes Wide Shut (1999). Practical Magic is rotten at 23 % with a 4.60/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Practical Magic?

Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters (2013) - Wirkola arrives in Tinseltown with a silly turkey

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Two attractive stars in leathery garbs carrying over-sized weapons adorn this poster for Tommy Wirkola's Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters

As adults, Hansel & Gretel have become professional witch hunters, who now happen upon an especially powerful witch, who has connections to their shared lost childhood and a troll by the name Edward.

 

Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters is written and directed by Tommy Wirkola (Kill Buljo: The Movie (2007)), inspired by the classic Grimm brothers fairytale, published in 1812.

It is a completely ludicrous film without any ambition to present us with any kind of plausible reality. Everything is kept in a wholly ridiculous tone, which might have worked, if it had been two comedians portraying the title siblings, (the film is co-produced by funny-men Adam McKay and Will Ferrell of Gary Sanchez Productions), but alas, we are not treated to such foresight here. 

Wirkola's grotesque film can be admired some for taking tackiness and bad taste to new heights. The troll is fun, but otherwise the uncharismatic attempts at acting in Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters are jarring, and the film is told in an eternally droning set piece style, in which the dull score keeps informing us that the scenes we are watching are supposed to be dramatic and thrilling. Aye aye, Mr. composer, sir. - It doesn't work like that.

 

Related posts:

Tommy Wirkola: 2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED III]
2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED II]
2009 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]  

Dead Snow/Død Snø (2009) or, Nazis Awake!

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 50 mil. $

Box office: 226.3 mil. $

= Big hit (returned 4.52 times its cost)

[Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters premiered 17 January (Russia) and runs 88 minutes. Wirkola sold his pitch soon after screening his Norwegian Nazi zombie horror comedy Dead Snow (2009) at the Sundance Film Festival. Shooting took place from March - June 2011 in Germany, including in Berlin, with a later additional shoot in California. The studio postponed the release, apparently to convert it to 3D and to capitalize on co-star Jeremy Renner's (The Town (2010)) rising action franchise fame. The film opened #1 to a 19.6 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it remained in the top 5 for another 2 weekends (#2-#5), grossing 55.7 mil. $ (24.6 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Brazil with 22.7 mil. $ (10 %) and Russia with 18.9 mil. $ (8.4 %). Though there were talks of a sequel, which Wirkola has written a script for, it has not materialized. Wirkola returned with Dead Snow 2: Red vs. Dead (2014). Renner returned in The Immigrant (2013); Gemma Arterton (Tamara Drewe (2010)) in Runner Runner (2013). Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters is rotten at 16 % with a 4.20/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters?

Häxan/Heksen/Witchcraft Through the Ages (1922) - Christensen's great, otherworldly work of satanic horror

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A fascinating, extremely detailed and eerie poster for Benjamin Christensen's Häxan, which mixes sexuality and satanism in its erotic imagery

Häxan begins in a lecture-like fashion with presentation of historical representations of world views, Satan and witch culture, and later delves into these areas as both nonfiction and fictionalized fantasy.

 

Häxan is written and directed by great Danish filmmaker Benjamin Christensen (Sealed Orders/Det Hemmelighedsfulde X (1914)). The original title translates to 'the witch'.

The many text cards in this deeply remarkable silent film inhabit a distinct and keen, underlying intelligence, which is not without humor, and if one has the ability to lose oneself in Häxan, the film can cast an almost hypnotic spell on you. It later evolves into fictional depictions of the fantasies and practices of the Middle Ages, sometimes with acerbic commentaries added to them, and a good deal of them wholly without music.

Nothing in Häxan will make you think that it was shot in Denmark, (unless you recognize some of the few locally well-known Danish actors in it.) The impression is rather intensely otherworldly, and particularly the many devil scenes (with Christensen playing Satan!) are haunting material. Häxan is an extraordinary film about Europe's hair-raising past as it relates to witches and witch culture.

 

Related posts:

 

Benjamin Christensen: Top 10: Best Danish movies reviewed by Film Excess to date 

The Mysterious X/Det Hemmelighedsfulde X/Orders Under Seal/Sealed Orders (1914) - Pioneer Christensen's spectacular spy thriller debut

Watch a modern trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 1.5-2 mil. SEK

Box office: Unknown

= Uncertain

[Häxan was released 18 September (Sweden) and runs 105 minutes. Christensen had found a copy of the 15th century German inquisitor's guide Malleus Maleficarum in a bookshop in Berlin and then developed his script from 1919-1921, where he was able to get extensive funding - and artistic freedom, - from Svensk Filmindustri. He bought and refurbished the Astra film studio in Hellerup, Zealand, Denmark, North of Copenhagen. Shooting took place there from February - October 1921. The production was the most expensive in Scandinavia ever undertaken at the time, and is still considered the most expensive Scandinavian silent film ever made. The Swedish censors required extensive cuts of brutality and nudity prior to release. The film premiered simultaneously in 4 Swedish cities and 2 months later in Copenhagen, accompanied by a 50-piece orchestra performing live. It was screened in several countries over the course of many years, reportedly first coming to America in 1929. In 1968 it was re-released in North America, re-edited to 74 minutes, with a new narration by William S. Burroughs and a jazz score. Though made by a Danish filmmaker and shot in Denmark, the film is mostly considered Swedish, (because funding came from a Swedish production company.) Christensen returned with Hvem Er Hans Kone? (1923). Häxan is fresh at 91 % with a 7.50/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Häxan?

Witchfinder General/The Conqueror Worm (1968) - Excellent Vincent Price performance in Reeves' witch movie classic

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A gnawing, rot-colored and quite effective poster for Michael Reeves' Witchfinder General

During the English Civil War in 1645 a notorious, self-appointed witchfinder and his willing assistant travels around to various hamlets and executes the unpopular wretches, who are thought to be witches.

 

Witchfinder General is written by Tom Baker (The Sorcerers (1967)) and co-writer/director Michael Reeves (She Beast (1966)), based on Ronald Bassett's (The Pompeians (1965)) same-titled 1966 book.

It is an exciting story of phony knights, based on the incredible true story of England's terrible witch mass murderer, Matthew Hopkins, who was responsible for sending around 100 people to their death as pronounced witches from 1644-46. Vincent Price (The Jackals (1967)) is terrific as the wholeheartedly evil title character.

The film is well done with stand-out qualities counted in blood and a horrific witch-burning scene. Regrettably not all the actors live up to Price's example, but Witchfinder General is still a good horror.

 

Watch a short clip from the film here

 

Cost: 83k £, approximately 199k $

Box office: Uncertain, but at least 1.5 mil. $ in North-American rentals

= Uncertain, but at least a huge hit (returned 7.53 times its cost in North-American rentals alone)

[Witchfinder General premiered 15 May (Los Angeles) and runs 86 minutes. Reeves had envisioned Donald Pleasance as the film's title star, but American International Pictures, the film's US co-producing company, insisted on their star Price being used, to Reeves' detriment. The British censorship organ the BBFC read and objected strongly to at least three scripts for the film before filming began. AIP contributed Price's 12k £ salary and 20k £ for the production and thought of the investment as a tax write-off with little chance of a quality outcome. Reeves and Price disliked each other intensely and clashed several times during filming. This took place in England from September - November 1967. Louis M. Heyward directed a nude scene in a pub, which was shot for the German release of the film. The film is not historically accurate. It passed through the BBFC with 'just' 2 minutes removed, partly because Reeves had a distant cousin as one of the censors. Many British critics were appalled at the film's violence. In North America the film was released uncensored, and AIP had Price narrate an Edgar Allan Poe poem for to bookend the film in order for them to market it as part of their Poe series of horror films, which is also were the curious conqueror worm title derives from. It was played on a double bill with The Young, the Evil and the Savage (1968). Reeves biographer Benjamin Halligan claims that the film grossed 10 mil. $ in the US, which would change its status to that of a mega-hit if true. The film was reportedly also a hit in Germany, where it inspired a local wave of folk-horror films. Reeves passed away months after the film's release at age 25, suffering from insomnia and depression, from an accidental alcohol and barbiturate overdose. Witchfinder General is his last film. Price returned with a voice performance in Spirits of the Dead (1968) and physically in More Dead than Alive (1969). Witchfinder General is fresh at 88 % with a 7.10/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Witchfinder General?

The Lords of Salem (2012) - Zombie's disturbing satanic radio witch horror lacks a compelling center

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+ Most Sinister Movie of the Year

Sheri Moon Zombie in satanic goth emo getup on this decay-tinted poster for Rob Zombie's The Lords of Salem

A woman rock radio host in Salem, Massachusetts receives a record with a mysterious melody, which awakens something sinister in her and other women, which hails from the witches of Salem's past...

The Lords of Salem is written and directed by Rob Zombie (House of 1000 Corpses (2003)). Zombie denies us conventionality in the form of murders and relatable characters here: Instead Bruce Davison (Return of the Killer Shrews (2012)) researches around, (he is a Salem witch trial expert), while Sheri Moon Zombie (Halloween (2007)), the filmmaker's wife, gabbles with her maybe-boyfriend with occult stuff in her surroundings.
It never becomes really exciting or scary; the plot is simply too feeble-minded for that. It is a shame, because The Lords of Salem features strong and highly unpleasant imagery; the sabbath in the beginning is enormously hideous; the mystical melody does sound like something straight out of hell, and there is no shortage of strange and disturbing images overall, springing from a concert hall of a religious variety. The Lords of Salem is blasphemous or more accurately satanical, which makes it especially tough diet for Christians. 

Related posts:

Rob Zombie: 2012 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED V]
2012 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED V]
Halloween (2007) - Zombie's remake is a bloody stinker
The Devil's Rejects (2005) - Zombie's crazy serial killer Americana

Watch an interview with Rob Zombie about the film here

Cost: 1.5 mil. $
Box office: 1.5 mil. $
= Huge flop (returned 1 time the cost)
[The Lords of Salem premiered 10 September (Toronto International Film Festival, Ontario) and runs 101 minutes. Zombie was given free reins with a low budget from horror producer maestro Jason Blum to do something supernatural. Shooting took place in California, including Los Angeles, and in Salem, Massachusetts from October - December 2011. Zombie toured with his band, while the film was edited. It opened #16 to a 642k $ first weekend in 354 theaters in North America, where it decreased from there, playing a total of 4 weeks, grossing 1.1 mil. $ (73.3 % of the total gross). The only 2 foreign markets accounted for are Italy with 373k $ (24.9 %) and Spain with 5k $ (0.3 %). Rob Zombie returned with a video promo, a concert film of his own metal band Rob Zombie and theatrically with 31 (2016). Sheri Moon Zombie returned in said promo and theatrically in 31. The Lords of Salem is rotten at 46 % with a 5.3/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Lords of Salem?