Watching The people under the stairs
An image from an old film haunted me for some years in my childhood. Only recently did I discover somehow, without watching it, that the image was from The people under the stairs.
Now I’m going back in to a film I may have seen as a child and possibly blocked out, out of trauma.
Afterward
This film was amazing. I need to write up some thoughts on it soon.
The second film in the Friday the 13th series and first appearance of Jason.
I absolutely loved this film.
I found myself constantly second guessing what was going to happen next.
Apart from being an entertaining and very 80’s killing spree around the cursed area surrounding Camp Crystal Lake, I thought this was a really well made, and clever horror film.
The opening scene was, for the lack of a better word, perfect. The sustained tension through the entire five to ten minute opening with the first film’s lone survivor almost gave me a stomach muscle ache i think.
The camera direction was incredible in pointing my attention to places I was certain someone would appear from. Even the shower room POV shot — done Psycho style — ending in the lady all but winking to the camera to say to the audience “I know what you were thinking”, had me smiling to myself.
Smiling and nerve-wracked all the way to the opening scene’s superb climax.
One of the best opening scenes in a horror film I can remember seeing.
The rest of the film was great from beginning to end too, with some great moments of tension throughout.
There was even one particular death that I found myself second guessing again too. I wont say which, but after what I’d consider clever uses of misdirection up until now, I found myself assuming that a certain scene was going to be more drawn out and elaborate than it was.
When in fact it couldn’t have been more straight forward and to the point. #BladeToTheFace
As far as the killings go, this wasn’t as gory as I was expecting it to be. I think that maybe as this series is one of the bedrocks of slasher films, it has a level of infamy that can easily hype it up in the minds of those that haven’t yet seen it. Despite my saying that, I think that the level of violence in general will keep any horror fan salivating.
One thing that did surprise me was that Jason felt much more human than I was expecting. In all of the references I had seen to him up till now, he is portrayed almost like a machine that can not be killed. Although saying that, there was an awesome scene as he is revealed in full for the first time — where he stands up from under a cover, towering over his next victim.
A really imposing figure and one of my favourite scenes of the film.
His ability to get back up after certain injuries seemed almost plausible here too. However, I am fully expecting his recoveries to get less and less plausible as I delve deeper into this series.
I had to smile and grimace at times when either a couple would have sex or someone would say “I’ll be right back” — I was immediately reminded of a key scene from Wes Craven’s Scream, where a horror film nerd would describe these dangers and things to not do in a horror film. It seems that he was right.
I had already enjoyed the first Friday the 13th film some time ago. And now that I have enjoyed this one even more, I am really looking forward to getting further into Jason’s world.
Despite my expecting them to start degrading with originality over time, from what I’ve heard at least, I am really excited to be going on the ride for the first time.
Watching Friday the 13th part 2
Loved the first film but have never got round to watching the others. It’s about time I remedied that.
Watching Suspiria 2018 remake
I am in love with the original Suspiria. Hoping for a different take in the remake.
I think I’m going to try and do the 31 days of Halloween by watching 1 new horror film each day in October. (Or just 31 new horror films by the month’s end is more likely for my timetable)
I may alter the order as I go.
Other Possibles:
Start of the Day’s playlist for 28th September 2020.
The New York Ripper has been one of the most challenging films I’ve watched in recent times. It’s violence and sexuality are off the charts — all in all a cracking Giallo thriller.
New York is being terrorised by a serial killer who seems hell-bent on cutting up young women, seemingly for some kind of sadistic sexual pleasure. And these acts of violence are put front and centre in your face. Every. Single. Time.
The opening credits consisted only of the still image of the dog with the severed hand in his mouth that he’s just found in a bush. With this and the funky 70s television flavour soundtrack, it felt almost like a black comedy of sorts.
I don’t know why I kept getting the vibes of a black comedy in this film. Perhaps it is the super over-the-top depictions of killing and the fact that the killer pretended to be a duck whilst murdering people.
Ducks… Yer… So, the killer begins quacking like a duck as they begin violently cutting open their victims. Stay with me though. At first it was kind of funny and a complete juxtaposition to what was going on on-screen.
But as the film went on, that sound became bloody terrifying to me. Like a razor sharp shriek cutting straight into my brain. Walking down the canal feeding the ducks with my lady will never be the same again…
I liked how there is actually a reason for that duck sound too (no — the killer is not a duck) and it is actually more of a grounded reason than I was thinking it would be.
And when it comes to the identity of the killer, I found myself guessing right up until the point at which one of the characters clocked it. Yes I am a bit slow, but I think that Fulci did a great job at dropping red herrings here and there.
Only after I wrote that heading did I realise how mental it sounds. Oh well, it’s staying. haha.
I don’t often find any sort of pleasure out of people being killed in films — unless they have it coming of course — but I can appreciate a really stunning piece of cinematography from the violence. And this film has those throughout — and not always in relation to a death scene.
Despite many of the scenes being so graphic — in both sex and violence — the director, Lucio Fulci, has created some incredible-looking sequences throughout his film, that just beg to be looked at again and again.
The way in which he uses colour alone is incredible — most notably a scene with live sex performer Eva, as she is returning to her dressing room.
I loved this section so much that I have included five none-spoiler screenshots of it here:
Eva’s scene reminded me of Alfred Hitchcock’s Vertigo. Specifically a hotel room scene in which a character is bathed in the neon green light of the hotel sign outside the window. This isn’t the first time I am reminded of Hitchcock’s work in a Giallo film either.
Some of the scenes in New York Ripper reminded me heavily of a more modern film I’ve seen too — The Neon Demon. No doubt the director of that film, Nicolas Winding Refn, took heavy inspiration from the Giallo genre — something I am only just uncovering for myself in my new obsession.
This scene from Fay’s train ride had some great set pieces in it too. The train itself and shortly after, the cinema:
If you are feint of heart please do not watch The New York Ripper. It uses extreme close-ups of killings like my partner uses Ketchup: in large doses.
However, if you dig over-the-top violent scenes with elements of beauty in films, then this could be right up your street.
Despite my constant mention of violence and sex in this film, it does have a good story. A story quite typical in the world of slasher / giallo films I think: detective tries to track down violent serial killer as more killings unfold in more beautiful and dramatic ways.
And although it shares so many Giallo characteristics, it is uniquely memorable in so many ways.
There is no better feeling than that of creating. Yes, that is a super vague statement but I wanted to write something — anything — and this post is it.
I have spent too much time tonight just clicking around reading articles and watching videos around the world pandemic and the complete fucking cretins governing the people through it.
As breaks from the sadistic act of reading about this country’s disease* and Covid-19, I have been continuing my reading of Stephen King’s book Duma Key. I’m really enjoying it.
For some reason the notion of the feeling of creation being one of the best struck me. Whether the creation of an original work, or the the creation of connections with others. Or the creation of pictures in your mind’s eye from reading great works of fiction.
Bit of a short random ramble, this one, but there you have it.
*The Conservative Party
The next film in my Giallo journey was Dario Argento’s Phenomena — arguably one of his best. Although, to be fair, I haven’t seen a bad Argento film yet.
From it’s wide open start amongst the Swiss countryside — where a student girl misses her bus — to the claustrophopic, insane ending, this film had me hooked and anxious throughout.
I thought that with Jennifer Connelly as the main star, along side Donald Pleasence, I would feel relatively safer than I have with previous GIallo films. I knew her mainly for the film she did the year following Phenomena: The Labyrinth. But how wrong I was.
The film is about a young girl, Jennifer, who is sent to a Swiss girls school by her father. She already knew that she had an affinity with insects, but it is during her short stay at this school where her affinity grows stronger and stronger.
In the area there is a serial killer who seems to be picking off the girls from the school. And after Jennifer witnesses something she shouldn’t have whilst sleep walking, she fears that she is next.
In her travels she meets a local scientist — one who specialises in insects (very apt) — who she teams up with to try and track down this killer on the loose.
Phenomena’s soundtrack was partly done by Goblin, as with other films of Argentos’. And it is as awesome as you can imagine, (if you’ve seen films like Deep Red or Suspiria before). If you haven’t, then you are in for a real treat in experimental music.
Joining Goblin, and some others, on this kick-ass soundtrack, is none other than Iron Maiden. Namely the song “Flash of the Blade” from their 1984 album “Powerslave”. One of my favourite Iron Maiden albums, and the first album of theirs that I bought coincidentally.
The soundtrack does wonders for this film’s pacing. At one point I was anxious and nervous following these characters. But then when that crazy opening to “Flash of the Blade” came on, a huge smile took over my face. I found myself simultaneously foot-tapping to a great song i’d forgotten about, and worried for a woman’s life as she ran from a merciless killer.
Alfred Hitchcock is a huge influence on so many film makers, especially the ones worth their salt in my opinion. Some directors make this more obvious than others in some of their films (and I don’t mean that negatively). One good example that springs to mind is the look and feel of Martin Scorsese’s Cape Fear. I remember feeling that if Hitchcock was alive and made that film, it would be very similar aesthetically*. This was aided in no small way by employing Hitchcocks long-standing music maestro Bernard Herrmann.
*Disclaimer: I’m not a film student so am probably talking absolute crap 😀
Anyway, there is a scene in Phenomena where Jennifer is trying to track down the killers hideout using a very unconventional method — I’ll let you discover the method. But method aside, the entire bus ride she takes from the town centre out to the rolling swiss countryside hills was a complete callback for me to Torn Curtain — Hitchcock’s lesser-known, but no less incredible, political thriller film from 1966.
This feels like the most accessible of Argento’s films I’ve watched up till this point. I mean, they have all been on Amazon Prime, but due to the use of more western actors who I’d known from previous films, this film felt that bit more familiar to me. Of course this is only from my own perspective. Also I often prefer not knowing any actors in these Giallo films — it somehow makes them feel more dangerous.
That said, I thoroughly enjoyed Phenomena for every single moment of its almost-two-hour run time. One thing I’m noticing from Argento is that I am finding myself remembering so much from his films — due to so many of his scenes feeling so iconic.
The violent pane-smashing opening, the unconventional vat of… stuff, and of course that scene with the chimpanzee (spoiler: the chimpanzee survives this crazy story**).
**If I thought a Chimpanzee was going to be killed I probably wouldn’t watch it, so wanted to put your mind at ease there. 🙂
Initial thoughts
What a fucking incredible film. From start to finish I was gripped. Jennifer Connelly is great; Dario Argento is at the top of his game; and Donald Pleasance was a joy to watch as always.
The film was violent, creative and awe-inspiring in equal measure.
And that ending. That vile ending that just kept me second guessing myself until the credits rolled.
Thank you once again, Argento you crazy beautiful film maker.
I picked up Welcome to Hanwell for a few quid in a recent PlayStation Store sale. On first playing it has a good creep factor. Waking up in a morgue and taking your first steps in the dark, dank blood-splattered underground is a great introduction to any horror game.
The opening had me walking through a couple of corridors into the adjoining rooms and office, as it taught me the basic game controls and mechanics. One of these mechanics was looking behind you as you run — this can only mean bad things ahead.
I love the atmosphere of the game so far — despite having been unable to escape this basement area for about 45 minutes or so. The idea of an open-world horror game does tickle my fancy somewhat, so I really hope I can get past this first challenge.
And no — I’m not going to spoil what that challenge is. 😀
I have to mention one thing that has me a bit miffed. I can not find any option to invert the Y axis. 🙁 . This may seem like a petty thing, but I find it super jaring to play any game without the inverted Y axis. I think this can only be due to the many many hours I spent playing Ace Combat 2 on the PlayStation as a youth.
I have tweeted the developers in the hope that it could perhaps get added in an update. Not sure if this will happen, but if you don’t ask you don’t get.
It’s felt like the longest time to get into the swing of things with Resident Evil 4.
When I first tried it about four or so months ago, I didn’t get the appeal – at least not now in a post – RE2 Remake world. After my first failure and struggling with the control system I didn’t think I’d ever go back.
But I did go back — months later — and I am so so glad I did.
Resident Evil 4 has become a favourite of mine. I would put it alongside RE2 Remake in terms of enjoyment and replayability.
The control system felt entirely foreign to me on that first play months before. I went into it expecting similar fluid controls of the recent RE remakes, but instead was greeted by something half way between that and the old tank controls of the originals.
The aiming felt so constricted — having to stop running, begin aiming, and then slowly move the gun’s reticle to where I needed to shoot.
However, after an hour or so of playing something happened — I noticed that I was just moving along and playing the game. I was no longer forcing anything.
What I first thought to be constricting was in fact what was helping to give tension to the game play. The fact I couldn’t walk and shoot meant I had to choose my moves more wisely.
The Eastern European setting is absolutely gorgeous. And the excellent soundtrack really helps tie the whole thing together.
The game never lost its claustrophobic feel for me either. Despite the early parts of the game being in relatively more open surroundings, the levels are designed in a way that leaves many corners to be surprised from. There were many times when I would hear a shuffling noise and not be able to fully pin point it.
Later on, the setting takes on a more Gothic tone in a huge, decadent castle — before leading you to it’s final location, which I’ll leave you to discover. The castle is a really stunning level and some great, sometimes over the top, moments in it.
I especially enjoyed a no-combat section where you have to control Ashley to get her to Leon safely. Some truly spooky moments in that little section.
Overall, the game was much longer than I was expecting. Just as I thought it was moving towards a resolution a whole new chapter would begin. Despite the 16 or so hours of play time I spent, the experience felt so much longer — and I mean that in a good way.
The game really throws you in at the slightly deeper end. I thought I would never get past the first village encounter — it felt impossible with just too many enemies coming at me at once. But after persevering and reaching the end of the first chapter, it felt like it was all coming together.
The early part of the game sees Leon fighting off the village’s residents who have all become victim to a mind-controlling parasite. Controlled by some unseen entity they run at you before slowing to a walk just a few metres away. This gives you that time to aim the weapon and fire — so they don’t just all run at your face at once.
Later on you’ll meet creepy cultists and flying bugs, before working your way through the game’s hierarchy of main villains.
There was one enemy type in particular that was equal parts inventive and terrifying. But I’ll leave you to discover those for yourself, should you dare to play. 😛
Resident Evil 4 went from being a game I couldn’t stand — just down to it’s controls — to one I couldn’t do without now. After getting past the initial confusion over the half-tank/half-fluid control system, it really is a blast to play.
The village and Gothic setting make me even more excited for the upcoming PS5 “Resident Evil 8 (Village)”. Taking what they learnt and developed with RE7 and applying it to this kind of Gothic setting, Capcom could be making something really special to experience.
I can’t recommend RE4 enough. For it’s crazy story, hideous and tough monsters and often cheesy dialogue.
Leon needs you.
Peertube is a self-hosted alternative to YouTube and, to a lesser extent, Vimeo.
I say lesser extent because I think Vimeo’s business model is very different from YouTube’s (Google inc’s).
Whenever a YouTube video is shared on a web page, it is basically like a Trojan horse. Yes, it lets your visitors watch a video directly in your website, but it’s doing so much more behind the curtain.
It is allowing your visitors to be tracked across the web. When a person lands on a web page that has a YouTube video embedded into it, they are seen and tracked by YouTube’s owners: Google inc.
Please don’t do this.
I am very technologically privileged in that I have the know-how to set up my own “peertube” site (an instance as they are called). So I am not saying that people should all use that.
But do at least consider something like “Vimeo” as an alternative, or maybe even self-host the videos on your website if you have the available storage space.
I am in the process of migrating videos in my older posts over to my own Peertube website (My Jams are already moved). If you notice any I have missed, please do let me know in comments below. 🙂
I don’t want the few people who visit my site to be tracked whilst here. I want this to at least be a safe space from the surveillance and advertising swamp that is the modern web.
Explore
If you want to search, or just get an overview of my stuff, the explore page is a good place to start.
Any interesting websites and/or people I have found online, I link them on my blogroll page.
I keep a record of things i use on my… well… my “uses” page.
Album on repeat
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All of my collected posts, grouped by year.
