The Star of Azazel - Azazelin Tähti

Stumbled on a sympathetic documentary from the great National Film Board of Canada. 'The Fairy Faith' manages to picture glimpses of something that is very close to my childhood roots of imagination, and that place I hold very dear and an essential part in finding integrity to and from the world.

If there is something good to be said about the current decade, we seem to be living a rennaissance of horror. I am hesitant to name it a golde age of horror, as we are still missing much of the revolutionary art of the silent horror films. But I think we are getting close if this keeps going. It would be nice to see a decade like the 80's, where horror and phantasy seemed to be everywhere.

I am especially happy that some of the most excellent examples of recent horror fiction represent the genre of supernatural horror, and not the repetative violence and cheap scares of the slashers. And then there is the gorno (Hostel, Human Centipede) that I do not watch at all.

The following might contain minor spoilers:

The Haunting of the Hill House was superb. And now we have another brilliant series - Marianne. The latter was for me a real dream come true, as it features my favourite antagonist, the witch. The first half of the series was for me 11/10, and it just blew my mind. It flew far above my expectations. But when this incredible actress Mireilla Herbstmeyer left off, for me the series plumeted, until it managed to give most pleasent surprise with the excellent final episode.

One of the better horror movies I've seen lately is Babadook, and it is way up in the top ten of best horror movien endings ever. The biggest let down must be the new Child's Play. I actually went to the movies to see it. There were like five people watching it, and I always enjoy an empty theater, so the mood was alright. Now I was never bothered with how they turned Child's Play into a black comedy. It worked, just like it worked with Evil Dead. But the supernatural root cause of Chucky has now been erased, and the film has been reduced to a sci-fi movie that tries to be psychological horror with some slasher thrown in. It is embarrasing to watch. And gone is also the personality of Chucky that made the later comedies work.

The new Child's Play is a robot film, so if you are a robot fan you might want the give it a go. The actors and the setting were actually ok. It was just the unpleasent surprise with the new Chucky that ruined it for me.

obnoxion wrote: ↑Sun Oct 06, 2019 3:48 pm One of the better horror movies I've seen lately is Babadook

A great movie indeed!
I like the end as it refers to the psychological component. (I would write more about it but I don't want to spoil it for others)

There have been a lot of good horror movies in the last years. I also like the first chapter of Insidious and almost all "ghost under your bed" -movies.

Yeah, Babadook is one of the best "new horror movies" in my opinion. Not a horror movie, but I liked very much a film called A Ghost Story. It was pretty deep an unique movie.

Kenazis wrote: ↑Sun Oct 06, 2019 10:28 pm Not a horror movie, but I liked very much a film called A Ghost Story. It was pretty deep an unique movie.

I've been meaning to watch it for a while now! I think I will write a few words about it here after I've seen it.

A ghost story as such, regardless of the genre, is for me the best story to have; be it Shakespeare's Hamlet or Dickens' Christmas Carol. Even in a very mundane story, so much as a hint of an apparitiom lends the story a beautiful and powerful dimension. It is often best if it is just a stray thought in the story.

But I thouroughly enjoy the traditional Gothic context. The little things that buid up that context are like a language of the soul for me, and each detail is like an excessively meaninigfull word. It is like they cannot do away with German language in Philosophy or Hebrew in grimoires.

The first films were, after all, derived from the phantasmagoria shows, and the whole concept of film was closely associated with ghostly apparitions. The first movies eere often Gothic. Thus even a hint of the ghostly in any film can always be considered as an aknowledgement of the innermost being of the art form as a whole.

obnoxion wrote: ↑Sun Oct 06, 2019 3:48 pm And now we have another brilliant series - Marianne.

I started to watch Marianne and it is indeed an excellent „watch alone at night“ series.
I have some sympathies for the main character "Emma", even though (or maybe because) a lot of viewers seem to dislike her. Quite often the problem with modern movies or series are main characters wo are too damn perfect, beautiful and good in every way. Emma is more like a female anti-hero with a drinking problem and a poor choice of clothing instead of a ever-good barbie doll.
And in fact, the way Mireilla Herbstmeyer plays Marianne is brilliant, quite often actors overdo the creepy face so it comes across more silly than terrifying but she nailed it.

Cerastes wrote: ↑Thu Oct 24, 2019 12:53 pm I have some sympathies for the main character "Emma", even though (or maybe because) a lot of viewers seem to dislike her. Quite often the problem with modern movies or series are main characters wo are too damn perfect, beautiful and good in every way. Emma is more like a female anti-hero with a drinking problem and a poor choice of clothing instead of a ever-good barbie doll.

I think the actor portrays Emma's insecurities quite well. And how despite these social insecurities, she is remarkably brave when the stakes are high. Perhaps it is because her bravery is summoned is such clandestine situations, that her virtues never channel into a stable self-esteem. She hides so much even from her closest friends, to say nothing of her traumatic relationship to her mother. All in all, she is remarkably resilient.

Cerastes wrote: ↑Sun Oct 06, 2019 9:12 pm obnoxion kirjoitti: ↑One of the better horror movies I've seen lately is Babadook
A great movie indeed!
I like the end as it refers to the psychological component. (I would write more about it but I don't want to spoil it for others)

I will say this, though: Jennifer Kent, the director of the film, has said that the character Babadook was inspired by Lon Chaney as the "Man in the Beaver Hat" in London After Midnight - the famous lost film, where Lon Chany looks absolutely amazing.

Speaking of Lon Chaney, it has been say that his skill in movement was exceptional due to his both parents being deaf and mute, making Chaney adept at communicating with mimicry. I wonder if there is an element of dance (in the demanding sense of the term) in his performances? I have taken an interest in dance art, and one of of the dances I am getting fascinated with is the Japanese Butoh, which comes close to the impact of high horror cinema.

I've often praised (Indo-)Persian poetry here, and perhaps I've also mentioned how beautiful I find the city of Teheran in pictures and movies. Then Henry Corbin's books introduced me to the depth of Shi'ite esoterism.

Now it seems that every movie from Iranian directors I decide to watch is brilliant.

"Taxi Teheran" by Jafar Panahi isn't occult film, but it certainly is mercurial. I always enjoy films that present everyday life with keen insight. It is a fluent film, but subtly poetic.

"A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night" by Ana Lily Amirpou is one of the best re-interpretation of the Vampyre film that I've seen. I mostly enjoy classical vampire films, but this one has a unique atmosphere that is hard to put into words. And if you can make a film that cannot be described with words, by that alone the film is justified.

Baba Anvari's "Under the Shadow" is a multileveled masterpiece, where psychological and supernatural horror blend in unpresented manner. The milieu of the 80's Iran is superb, and it really gives a new undertone to Yazoo's hit song "Don't Go". I see in this film a lot of those elements that were good in the Poltergeist-films, but perhaps that's just me. Some say this was the best film in 2016, and I can understand that.

If any of you have any suggestions on good Iranian films (in any genre, from any era), I wiLl be most interested.