Behind the Couch

1980 Dir. Lewis Jackson AKA You Better Watch Out When he sees his mother canoodling with someone dressed as Santa on Christmas Eve, something snaps in little Harry Stadling’s head. Years later, when he’s all growed-up, Harry has developed an obsession with Christmas, and with being Santa Claus. Intent on delivering presents to those he deems ‘good’, Harry sets off into the night with toys stolen from the factory where he works, determined to bring joy to the hearts of children - whether they like it or not - and vengeance upon his bullying co-workers. Part psycho-on-the-rampage narrative, part character study, Christmas Evil is many things; most of all surprising. To begin with, it really taps into the arguably inherent creepiness of the notion of a man who leaves presents for children by entering their house in the dead of night via their chimneys. Of course, for a modern audience, many of the moments in the film - such as when Harry (a brilliantly unhinged Brandon Maggart)...

1972 Dir. Sergio Martino When she loses her unborn baby in a car accident, a grieving woman becomes the target of a Satanic cult who may have been responsible for the death of her mother many years ago… Sergio Martino’s All the Colours of the Dark is a psychedelic trip of a giallo filtered through the gothic aesthetics of Hammer Horror and the Satanic Panic-induced paranoia of Rosemary’s Baby . Reconceptualising the usual conventions of the giallo into a plot about a Satanic cult’s advances on a traumatised young woman, it falls into a miniscule group of films critic Kim Newman dubs ‘giallo-fantastico’; gialli which boast overtly supernatural aspects as well as typical troupes such as sexual perversion, blackmail and murder. Adding to the delirious nature of the plot are abstract dream sequences and myriad moments which cunningly blur the line between reality and deranged fantasy. Jane (Edwige Fenech) has increasing panic attacks, hallucinations and nightmares which are woven ...

Exquisite Terror is an independently produced periodical, the intention of which is to take a more academic, analytical approach to the genre of horror. This is Exquisite Terror III . Isn't it beautiful? It's now available to pre-order. Inside you'll find in-depth essays on The Exorcist , Jörg Buttgereit, a little something by myself on the presence of cats in horror, exclusive hand-drawn artwork and much, much more. All for only £2.45 . Exquisite Terror is a labour of love for all involved. Print isn't dead - support independent publishing. Click here to pre-order your copy today.  For international sales, please contact info@exquisiteterror.com prior to order. " Exquisite Terror is something rather different… genre fans looking for interesting, sometimes provocative features on the fringe elements of the genre will find much to enjoy here." Strange Things Are Happening

Mouldy mildew, mother of mouthmuck! Issue 18 of Paracinema Magazine is now available to pre-order! Packed full of ridiculously good ‘letters that stay’ on all kinds of genre cinema, this issue includes the likes of When Single Shines the Triple Sun: Duality and Self Discovery in The Dark Crystal by Christine Makepeace, Marriage Bites: Lesbian Vampires and the Failure of Heterosexuality in Daughters of Darkness by Erin Wiegand, 3D’s Use and Potential in Today’s Cinematic Landscape by Caleb McCandless, Speed Racer: The Art of Absurdity by Patrick Smith and The Goriest Film You Never Saw by Jose Cruz. Sound good? Duh, of course! Fancy picking up a copy? Erm, yes! Well then, head over to Paracinema.net and pre-order one now. Support independent publishing, or, you know, face the wrath of the Skeksis! 

Cake by Emma /Photo by me. Behind the Couch turns four years old today! Thanks so much to everyone who has swung by. While this year has been slightly quieter than usual on the blogging front - mainly due to another Argento related project I’ve been working on – I still found time to dander down Elm Street with a movie marathon , swoon over Vincent Price , talk about Italian horror cinema with a pop star, and loiter in graveyards with prematurely buried maidens… There were of course also the usual reviews of old favourites , new favourites , obscure gems and obscure trash , as well as chats with fairytale experts and authors of creepy poetry for children. Behind the Couch was also invited to join LOTT D and get nerdy over horror with its lovely members. This year not only marked the 30th anniversary of Dario Argento’s Tenebrae , but also my (hopefully endearingly) bumbling foray into the world of podcasting; the results of which included helping to put together Parac...

In keeping with Paracinema's Hitchcock Appreciation Month , this month's instalment of Audiodrome focuses on Bernard Herrmann's mesmerising score for Vertigo (1958). Hitchcock's classic tells of a retired acrophobic detective - played by Jimmy Stewart - investigating the strange activities of a friend's young wife. As he becomes completely bewitched by her, the film becomes a haunting rumination on the concept of obsession. Of the score, Martin Scorsese commented: "Hitchcock's film is about obsession, which means that it's about circling back to the same moment, again and again … And the music is also built around spirals and circles, fulfilment and despair. Herrmann really understood what Hitchcock was going for — he wanted to penetrate to the heart of obsession." Head over to Paracinema.net to read my article on Herrmann's masterful score and listen to an excerpt. While you're there, why not revel in all the appreciation of The M...

2010 Dir. Johannes Roberts A number of teachers and pupils staying late in a suburban school are menaced by murderous youths. The problems faced by teachers in British schools have been fairly ubiquitous in mainstream media for a number of years now. As well as having to contend with an overwhelming abundance of bureaucracy and red tape on a daily basis, in increasingly extreme cases they’re also even having to deal with violence from pupils and parents. A number of cases have been well publicised in British newspapers. To ensure I don’t digress, just go here to read about the many trials and tribulations facing those in the teaching profession today. F , along with a number of recent similarly themed films such as Eden Lake and Cherry Tree Lane , as well as the French home invasion shocker Ills , and the American slow-burner The Strangers, highlight how the media’s depiction of a wayward generation seemingly out of control (yes Daily Mail, I mean you) has become fertile gr...

1970 Dir. Gordon Hessler In his attempts to purge his town-land of witchcraft and heresy, a tyrannical ‘n’ puritanical magistrate picks the wrong coven to mess with. After he massacres her followers, local witch Oona invokes a curse upon the magistrate’s family and before long, they are gruesomely picked off by a ravenous beastie… Cry of the Banshee is an intriguing, highly atmospheric hybrid of occult horror shenanigans and werewolf slasher flick (!). Hanging heavy with an eerie, doom-laden atmosphere, it revisits, and arguably rehashes, the story of Witchfinder General - made two years prior - in its tale of a merciless magistrate offing members of his community he believes to be guilty of witchcraft. It certainly revels in the same sadistic violence as its predecessor and boasts floggings, fiery brandings and unfortunate wenches burnt at the stake as witches. Opening with a young woman being forced to confess her dalliances in the occult as the pious Lord Edward Whitman...

1980 Dir. Roger Spottiswoode A group of college kids responsible for a prank gone wrong several years prior, are menaced by a masked killer as they throw a New Year’s Eve costume party on-board a train. The early Eighties is now regarded as the Golden Age of the slasher film. From 1978 to about 1985, cinemas were saturated with gory flicks featuring masked psychos stalking teenagers in lonely locations, gruesomely killing them off one by one. The popularity of these movies was ignited by John Carpenter’s Halloween , and their rigid template was confirmed by Friday the 13th . Each successive title layered on the violence, gore and nudity, neglecting to realise that what made Carpenter’s film so effective was its use of suspense and the anticipation of violence. Terror Train was one of the first (and in my humble opinion, best) slashers to be produced in   the wake of Halloween’s success. It epitomises the sub-genre, sticking to its conventions as tightly as Jamie Lee ...

Friday Night Frights is the Official Starburst Magazine Horror Podcast. It’s brought to you each week by Jon Towlson of Shocks to the System: Subversive Horror Films , who recently invited me to join him for a chat about Dario Argento. Our conversation covers Argento’s entire career, from his beginnings as a film critic and screenwriter, and his international success with the likes of Deep Red and Suspiria , through his recent critical decline and current offerings such as Giallo and the forthcoming Dracula 3D ; we cover the lot! Head over to Starburst’s online lair to listen to/download the podcast. 

In his existentialist tome The Sickness Unto Death , Christian philosopher Søren Kierkegaard stated that the human concept of death marks ‘the end’, whereas in Christian faith it is merely a necessary step towards eternal life, and therefore nothing to fear. Kierkegaard goes on to suggest that when an individual is ‘in despair’ – something which is born out of denying God or God’s plan - he loses himself and risks spiritual death, which the philosopher describes as ‘Sickness unto Death.’ It’s these very themes that are addressed in Éric Falardeau’s debut feature film, the uncompromising and haunting Thanatomorphose ; the title of which comes from the French term meaning the ‘visible signs of an organism’s decomposition caused by death.’ The bleak tale of a young woman who awakens one day to find her body has begun to decay, Thanatomorphose not only features staggeringly visceral imagery, but also unfurls as a deeply personal and thoughtful film. Throughout its duration Falardeau ...

2012 Dirs. Jen and Sylvia Soska Following on from their low-budget but exuberant debut Dead Hooker in a Trunk , the Soska sisters’ sophomore offering is a darkly, wholly unsettling tale of an impoverished medical student who finds herself lured into the bizarre underground world of illegal surgery and extreme body modification. Unfurling as an intriguing character study, American Mary is a much more refined and mature film than Dead Hooker , though it still retains the jet-black humour and off-the-wall tone the filmmakers are quickly becoming known for. Part body horror, part rape-revenge, part black-comedy, the various sub-genres the filmmakers utilise to tell their tale are swirled into one highly distinctive and provocative whole. From the opening moments depicting Mary (Katherine Isabelle, Ginger Snaps ) practising her surgical skills on raw chicken flesh, to the various characters who later enlist her talents to alter their physical appearance, the emphasis in American Ma...

2012 Dir. Federico Zampaglione With his sophomore film Shadow , Federico Zampaglione – Italy’s answer to Rob Zombie – made a concerted bid to breathe new life into Italian horror cinema. While Shadow may have been more influenced by the current slew of ultra-violent ‘torture-porn’ films than Italy’s own distinct brand of bygone horror, it still emerged as an atmospheric and taut exercise in grim tension, with Zampaglione infusing it with enough of his own sensibilities to keep it surprisingly original. With follow up Tulpa , the director has attempted to create a contemporary giallo that is so faithful to its lineage it arguably borders on parody. Based on a story by Dardano Sacchetti, who wrote/co-wrote the likes of Cat O' Nine Tails (1971), Bay of Blood (1971), Schock (1981), The New York Ripper (1982) and A Blade in the Dark (1983) amongst many others, Tulpa is the lurid tale of Lisa Boeri (Claudia Gerini), a respectable businesswoman who secretly frequents a privat...

2012 Dir. Éric Falardeau “ You've never seen death? Look in the mirror every day and you will see it like bees working in a glass hive .”  Jean Cocteau. The title of this unsettling low-budget film comes from the French word meaning the ‘visible signs of an organism’s decomposition caused by death.’ Moodily shot and with very little dialogue, Falardeau’s feature debut tells of a young woman who awakens one day to find her flesh beginning to rot. It unfolds as an unsettling rumination on the fragility of the flesh, an investigation of the body as an object, a commodity, and how we treat it while disconnecting ourselves from it in the process. The film’s emphasis is not on the why, but the how : how will this person react to what is happening to her? With it’s rather Cronenbergian concept of someone essentially trapped inside their own body as it rots away before their eyes, Thanatomorphose is an unflinching body-horror that doesn’t shy away from depicting all manner of disturb...