The Brain and the Body

I've seen two horror films in the last week or so. As I like to describe them, one is of the brain and the other is of the body. One traces the gradual decline of a single individual as he gets deeper and deeper into a situation he can't escape, while the other revels in more traditional horror tropes like gore and the undead. Both are impeccable crafted endeavours that never once feel like anything on screen was unintentioned. Of course, whether they differ is a gulf so wide that chalk and cheese would baulk.

Simon Killer comes from the production house that brought us the stunning directorial debut of Sean Durkin, Martha Marcy May Marlene in 2011. Director and co-writer Antonio Campos' unnerving, is dramatically too cool for school in many ways, Simon Killer is certainly not the film that I had expected given the rather dark title and creepy (and excellent) poster. Much more than a backpacker Parisian Psycho, it follows a young American tourist in Paris as he digs holes so deep he can't get out. First by pretending to be the recipient of a beating in order to stay at the home of an affectionate prostitute, and then by struggling to keep the darkness within him covered up.

The film's co-writer (I presume there was quite a bit of improvisation in that regard) is star Brady Corbet, one of the most interesting actors working today alone based on the list of directors he's worked with. His filmography isn't extensive, but considering he's worked with Gregg Araki (Mysterious Skin), Michael Haneke (Funny Games US), and Lars Von Trier (Melancholia) as well as the aforementioned Sean Durkin on Martha Marcy. He obviously fostered a good working relationship with the team and is now a creative force behind Simon Killer.

Make no mistake, this is purely a horror film in broad psychological terms. There's no blood and not even any thrills despite working within a thriller template. The horror of the piece is in Corbet's performance. He is so good in the role as Simon, mentally unstable and unable to contain it. With him working at such a great level, it's a shame the film didn't pick up to meet him. It's not that the film's first half doesn't work, it's just that characters routinely do things that show such poor judgement. It's hard to be reeled in. Towards the end, however, Campos appears to elevate the material thanks to more abrasive editing and a more hurried pace. Gold stars also for the use of Spectral Display's "It Takes a Muscle to Fall in Love" to such unique and unsettling effect. B-

What the psycho-chills of Simon Killer lacks in the blood and gore department are more than made up for with Xan Cassavetes' Kiss of the Damned. A film that's as super lush and stylish as it is super ridiculous and, at times, over-the-top. One could almost call it a campire tale given its propensity to be flashy and abundantly into its own colourful aesthetic. The film, Cassavetes' debut feature after her 2004 documentary Z Channel:A Magnificent Obsession, frequently looks like Sofia Coppola directing a Florence + The Machine video (and, surely not coincidentally, Coppola's name appears in the end credit thank yous) with some impeccably rich costume and production design. Shame the actors drown in them, which can make for a slower second act.

I think Jason at My New Plaid Pants put it best: "there's a lot of talk in Kiss of the Damned about the magnetic force of Milo [Ventimiglia]'s presence, and you kinda wanna laugh every time it's spoken of." Vampires are, after all, meant to be compelling creatures and lure with lust, but while Milo - as well as the parade of women that surround him all throughout the film - is a very good looking man (that beard is working all sorts of wonders for him) he doesn't exactly command the screen. The women, too, are mostly airy beings that float about through scenes, although if that was Cassavetes' intentions then at least she cast well and got actors that have some truly captivating voices.

Where the film really succeeds is is the sound work. May sound like a strange observation, but it's true. The sound work in Kiss of the Damned is phenomenal and seeing it in the theatre certainly packed a punch that home entertainment would otherwise lack. The abrupt switches in music styles mixed with copious screams, canny dialogue dubbing, and high-pitched sound effects, not to mention the deep bass that appears to be a constant within the sound mix. The work here is a genuine wonder and was one of the reasons that I remained so focused and alert during the somewhat less exciting (if more gruesome) second half. I found Kiss of the Damned to be a much more intoxicating experiment than, say, Amer, which I think some may compare it to thanks to their pastiche patterns. B

Both Simon Killer and Kiss of the Damned are available on demand in America. Simon is also in limited release now, Damned will be in cinemas from May.

Review: Martha Marcy May Marlene

Martha Marcy May Marlene

Dir. Sean Durkin

Country: USA

Aus Rating: MA15+

Running Time: 102mins

“Do you ever have that feeling where you don’t know if something’s a dream or a memory”, asks Elizabeth Olsen’s deeply traumatised Martha. It’s a line that perhaps best encapsulates Sean Durkin’s fascinating debut feature about a girl who escapes a commune and spirals under the eye of a disillusioned sister. Durkin has crafted his film with such a magical, mysterious sense of fluidity where images blur into one and memories of the past merge effortlessly into the present. It is a towering achievement of construction and simmering tension that sees this heretofore unknown Olsen sister navigating a trajectory that is both tragic and deeply wounding. If We Need to Talk About Kevin was an arthouse take on the "demon seed" subgenre of horror, then Martha Marcy May Marlene takes a similar metaphysical path to a slasher flick as this one girl is slowly, but surely, chased down. Not by a physical being per se, but by the psychological scars of a hurtful society. They're coming for her, and she has nowhere to go but to hide for as long as possible until the inevitable comes.

The situation that Martha finds herself in is not entirely explained, nor delved into with any great details, she merely finds herself in the company of a commune. This cult-like place is watched over with unsuspecting menace by Patrick, played by a growling John Hawkes. The brief glimpses of this near self-serving community are initially quite placid, but much like Martha’s re-integration into society, things go wrong very quickly. The film opens with Martha making a seemingly half-hearted attempt to escape through the woods of the New York Catskills early one morning. That she is found later on but her commune brother in a nearby town is not the scary part; the scary part is that they let her go.

Sumptuously filmed by cinematographer Jody Lee Lipes, Martha Marcy May Marlene – the “Marcy May” and “Marlene” refer to alternate personalities that Martha adopts at various intervals – appears to be filmed through a swatch of delicate lace, as delicate as the central character even. The deep greens and blacks don’t look quite as natural and rich, but are leant an almost dreamlike quality as if seen through sleepy half-closed eyes. Continuously filmed with obstructed lines of sight, it has a visual verve that belies its origins. I am always impressed by lower budgeted films like this that are able to craft such specific tones, and along with the impressive sound work – Martha sits alongside recent titles The Turin Horse, Antichrist and Meek's Cutoff as films that have made nature sound so eerily foreboding in the cinema – Durkin has allowed the locations of his film to help shape the story rather than merely accentuate it.

The ambiguity of the ending will surely leave audiences questioning what they have or have not seen, with its quiet demeanour will ultimately prove too impenetrable for some. I, on the other hand, found its relaxed-like-molasses atmosphere to be the perfect compliment to the powerful story. The encroaching horror weaselled its way into Martha's mind as well as mine, and several scenes towards the end – in particular a disastrously unnerving dinner party sequence that should have netted Olsen an Academy Award nomination – ratchet the tension up to levels that feel inconceivable at the outset. Like the guitar that Hawkes’ magical leader strums in front of an adoring crowd, Durkin works his film’s elements masterfully, timing everything perfectly so as to create maximum impact for even the slightest of incidents. Martha Marcy May Marlene isn’t a film I shall forget too quickly, it’s hushed terrors nagging like an itch under the skin. Its final haunting passages of deeply rooted paranoia are unforgettable. A

The Best (and Worst) Posters of 2011 - Part I

I like knowing that I've forged this little niche in blogging about movie posters. I like to think that I'm doing my part for the discussion and appreciation of the artform that I enjoy so much, and that I do so in the face of such flagrant disregard for the process of designing key art for films. I mean, a quick google search will show you that most people who do a similar list to this (usually much shorter) only seem to regurgitate the same few names without even trying to broaden their view. I try to cast as wide a net as possible when i comes to compiling this list, I really do. I search through all the major film festivals to see if any of those difficult titles had some eye-popping designs arrive while I wasn't looking and I try as best as I can to seek out international versions of posters. It's a shame that many truly memorable designs don't get seen until long after a cut off date (a mix of release date shenanigans and general lack of exposure), but I certainly try. The 50 titles below includes several local Australian designs, some films I'd never heard of and that i doubt will ever get any kind of release, teasers and final concepts, and films from America, UK, Thailand, Australia, Japan, France and South Korea. I hope it begins to cover the territory.

Please note that, as always, I have kept the list to films that surfaced this year. None of this 2012 bullshit, yeah? I mean, The Dark Knight Rises' teaser wouldn't have made it on here anyway, but I think it's a bit unfair to titles like Toomelah, If a Tree Falls or L'amour fou to take up space with something that hasn't even been seen by anybody yet. It's bad enough these lovely works of poster design get fobbed off for the likes of Rise of the Planet of the Apes without having to compete with designs for movies nobody has even laid eyes on. Leave that for 2012's list, yeah?


50. Toomelah
49. Archipelago
48. Birthday


47. If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front
46. Snowtown
45. Daydream Nation


44. Tyrannosaur
43. We Need to Talk About Kevin
42. A Dangerous Method


41. Immortals
40. Martha Marcy May Marlene
39. The Skin I Live In


38. Aita
37. L'amour fou
36. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy


35. Father's Day
34. Dream Home
33. Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives


32. Hesher
31. Super 8
30. Scream 4


29. Incendies
28. Urbanized
27. Bridesmaids


26. Blame
25. happythankyoumoreplease
24. We Need to Talk About Kevin


23. The Ides of March
22. Septien
21. The Tree of Life


20. Shame
For being smutty without being cheap and crass.


19. Needle
For being playful with the film's plot as well as the poster's own concept. Love the detailing.


18. Weekend
17. Pariah
For embracing the Instagram effect, but doing so with vivid colours and nicely done credit blocks.


16. Albert Nobbs
For actually having some personality, as opposed to the end product.


15. Sleeping Beauty
For being as ornately crafted as the film it's selling. For having the actress actually pose for a poster.


14. A Horrible Way to Die
For teasing the "horrible way to die" through creative typeface.


13. 13 Assassins
For being visually spectacular and a left of centre choice to sell a traditional samurai movie.


12. Meek's Cutoff
For representing the film's more homespun nature. For inventive use of colour and illustration techniques.


11. Martha Marcy May Marlene
For being dark and brooding, alluding to the disintegration of its lead character through text. For evocative colour.


10. Melancholia
For somehow becoming an iconic, striking piece of cinematic imagery. For playing games with film content.


9. Burning Man
For such eye-popping use of colour, framing and imagery.


8. Don't be Afraid of the Dark
For retro chills and tricks of the eye. Size reminds me Aussie daybills and VHS video covers.


7. Cold Weather
For having the balls to do this whole "minimalism" thing for an actual poster. For being better than most of the others. For having a gallery look.


6. One Day
For evoking romance and dancing perilously close to the edge of a perfume commercial.


5. We Need to Talk About Kevin
For its mad gothic vibe, illusions to past classics (hello Rosemary's Baby and I Walk with a Zombie) and impeccable plays of light.


4. Kaboom
For its ribald technicolour. For being as rough-around-the-edges and colourfully wacky as the film it's selling.


3. I Saw the Devil
For giving us but a glimpse of "the devil". For reinventing the text-over-image design concept in a fresh way. For actually scaring me.


2. Jane Eyre
For rich and textured imagery. For those unique colours and a truly painterly central pose.


1. Here I Am
For having the most startling and dreamy use of colour of the year. For the juxtaposition. For the mother of pearl. For the defiance. For the intricate simplicity. For the beauty.

And that's that. We'll hopefully be getting to the worst posters of the year very soon as well as some fun "awards" type of stuff just for kicks. Do you agree/disagree with much of the list? Is any of this surprising? What was your favourite of the year? Do speak up in the comments or on Twitter.