SomeJazzyRat posted:

The List

Proto-Slasher
1. The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920)
2. Fritz Lang's M (1931)
3. The Old Dark House (1932)
4. And Then There Were None (1945)
5. House of Wax 1953
6. Night of the Hunter

I'd also like to include the poster for the BFI 2014 re-release, as it's just so friggin gourgeous.

And the 1999 BFI re-release, which makes it look like a low--rent Tarentino knock-off.


Wow, that was a film. Certainly one of the best, and the one that ties the most to Caligari out of all of the ones in this series. Though it is of note that it's first half and end are both fairly conventional, though there's the chunk in the middle that has immortalized it as one of the best films made. The bookmarking segments set the film in a fairly conventional rural setting, as you would expect from most films of the era. As far as it matters, most of the shots look like they could be from the Andy Griffith Show. Though as Rev. Powell, portrayed by Robert Mitchum in the starring role, comes to invade the world of Johnny and Pearl Harper, the film starts taking on a more stylized look inspired by German Expressionism. However, Caligari achived it's look by painting fake shadows and shapes to create a surreal quality to the story. But this film does the opposite, using light and shadow to create not necessarily an unreal atmosphere, but one that is colored by perception and memory. It uses it to present a truth about the point of view of children and their perceptions. Take for example, these two shots:


The first shot is when the relation with German Expressionism clicked with me. It's not in the way they use the sets or the shots, but in the way that they're using the light to create something that's off-kilter. A feeling that's introduced with the Reverend's invasion of the children's home. And then there's the second, where it's use of negative space outside the built set is incredibly inspired and foreboding. And as the Reverend's pursuit starts to control their lives more and more, the film starts taking a more artificial, and thus impressionistic, tone. The best example comes from the 2014 BFI poster just up above. Admittedly it's created out of a composite of scenes from one segment the film, but the style and tone of the film is still there. It ends up creating a fairy tale-esq epicness to the feature. Like a harsher version of Wizard of Oz.

As for it's relation to horror, I can imagine that a lot of filmmakers took the films sinister pursuit by a foreboding character. Even the subtler, metaphorical pursuit by an authority figure that no one but the protagonist believes has evil intentions. Though, as much as the divide can be quite thin, there is a divide between horror and thriller. And while the film may jump that line from time to time, the film is distinctly a thriller. Though I say that, I don't think I have much of the vocabulary to pin point why. It just doesn't have that hopeless feeling that many have, or that fetishistic linger on peril or interpersonal destruction. Maybe it's just because I consider the film a type of epic, and that epics generally hold my tones and genres to them, and thus it would be unfair to label it as such. Anyways, the film phenomenally well crafted and interesting, and I would like to hear other's thought on it. Seek it out if you can, though somebody is fairly protective of it (and for good reason) so it is hard to find outside of purchasing it outright.

Next Up Eyes Without A Face