Behind the Couch

March looks set to be a good month for fans of Dario Argento.  My book , an introductory guide to his film work, is due out on the 25th. It examines his entire output to date: from his earlier gialli such as The Animal Trilogy and Deep Red , through his elaborately gothic fairytales Suspiria and Inferno , right up to his more recent contributions to TV's Masters of Horror , the conclusion of his Three Mothers trilogy, Mother of Tears , and his latest thriller, Giallo . I also look at his work as producer, including titles such as George A. Romero's Dawn of the Dead , Lamberto Bava's Demons and Michele Soavi's The Church .  This month also sees the publication of a new edition of author and film critic Maitland McDonagh's seminal book,  Broken Mirrors/Broken Minds: The Dark Dreams of Dario Argento. I recently chatted to Maitland about the new edition and her love of Argento films. Stay tuned for my interview with her, which I'll post later in the month.  Stay...

1963 Dir. Herschell Gordon Lewis A bushy-eyebrowed caterer messily murders various women in order to resurrect an ancient Egyptian goddess. Several inept detectives attempt to track him down and put a stop to his nefarious deeds.  Produced by exploitation guru David F. Friedman, and economically directed by Herschell Gordon Lewis, Blood Feast abounds with an impish glee and carefree abandon. With not a shred of decency or taste in sight, inconveniences such as plot and story are flung aside in favour of shoddily staged scenes of carnage and makeshift mayhem. Hurrah! This title holds the dubious honour of being the first ever ‘gore movie’ or ‘splatter film’ – films centred around gory special effects and scenes of depravity and sadism. Back in the early Sixties all this was new and subversive and naturally horror audiences thirstily lapped it up as they clambered to catch a glimpse of what would become a milestone in schlock cinema. Anyone who has seen Blood Feast will know...

The Dead Outside is Scottish filmmaker Kerry Anne Mullaney’s feature directorial debut. Gripping, atmospheric and quietly unsettling, the film unfolds as a post-apocalyptic psychological horror tale of loneliness, loss and madness. A mysterious neurological pandemic has ravaged Britain. Two survivors seek refuge in an isolated farmhouse in deepest, darkest Scotland. The pair forge a tenuous relationship until the arrival of a stranger throws everything into turmoil. As well as dealing with serious trust issues, the three must also fend off attacks from the infected population besieging the farmhouse on an increasingly frequent basis… The Dead Outside screened at the first Yellow Fever Independent Film Festival in Belfast last year and received several awards at the 10th Annual Estepona International Horror & Fantasy Film Festival, as well as garnering nominations from the likes of Frightfest, Night of Horror and BAFTA Scotland. It was released to DVD this week and I was for...

1978 Dir. Richard Attenborough Down on his luck magician Corky (Anthony Hopkins) finds success when he introduces a ventriloquist's doll into his act. The doll, Fats, seems to have a mind of its own though and spookily exerts control over Corky. When Corky seeks solace in the countryside and begins a relationship with his high school sweetheart Peg (Ann-Margaret), Fats takes matters into his own murderous hands... With a script by William Goldman and director Richard Attenborough at the helm, Magic is indeed a classy affair that exhibits a surprising amount of nuance, subtly and stellar performances - especially from a young Anthony Hopkins. This is after all a movie about a killer doll. Isn't it? The film successfully juxtaposes the bizarre with the mundane, and mixes elements of psychological horror with the blatantly supernatural. This is highlighted perfectly in the opening shots of a cluttered flat full of bizarre bric-a-brac that sit alongside everyday household ob...

1988 Dir. Sandor Stern As children, Leon and Ursula Linden (David Hewlett and Cynthia Preston) are taught important life-lessons by their emotionally vacant ventriloquist father (Terry O’Quinn), who demonstrates with his medical doll ‘Pin’ – as in Pinocchio. When their parents are killed in a car crash, things take a turn for the dark and twisted as Leon becomes obsessed with Pin; eventually dressing the life-size doll in his dead father's clothes and insisting that visitors to the house meet him. Eventually Pin begins telling Leon what to do. And who to kill… A PLASTIC NIGHTMARE! Opening with a placid, vaguely spooky piano score, and exhibiting a stately creepiness akin to those melodramatic made-for-TV thrillers we all love so much, Pin gradually unfolds as an intriguing and fascinating psychological study of a young man’s descent into madness, brought about by his stifling childhood, emotionally vacant parents and an inability to relate to anyone other than an anatomy d...

1992 Dir. Bernard Rose Whilst researching her thesis on urban legends, student Helen Lyle (Virginia Madsen) becomes intrigued by the legend of the ‘Candyman’ (Tony Todd) – the son of a slave who was brutally tortured and killed because he fell in love with the daughter of a white plantation owner. He is said to appear when his name is spoken five times into a mirror and he has a hook for a hand. Whilst carrying out her investigation, the sceptical Helen repeats his name and is subsequently plunged into a nightmare world where reality and fevered dreams become meshed together as she is stalked by the spectre of the Candyman and held responsible for a series of grisly murders. Could the legend be true or is Helen simply losing her mind? Can she clear her name before it’s too late and she becomes the latest victim of the formidable legend that is the Candyman? Beginning with our protagonists discussing the power of legends and the subtext of folklore, Candyman opens with a creepily...

2010 Dir. Joe Johnston Upon returning to his ancestral home to help search for his missing brother, Lawrence Talbot (Benicio Del Toro) is viciously attacked by the same mysterious beast that is revealed to have torn his brother to shreds. Quickly recovering from the ordeal, Talbot soon realises that the beast was a werewolf and he is now marked by the same curse – doomed to transform into a slathering beast under the light of the full moon. Can his father (Anthony Hopkins) and his brother’s widow Gwen (Emily Blunt) help him find a cure before it's too late? It’s an amazing feat that The Wolfman made it to cinemas at all given its troubled production history. The project was originally set to be helmed by Mark Romanek ( One Hour Photo and various Nine Inch Nails music videos ), however he was dissatisfied with the level of studio interference and was soon replaced by director Joe Johnston ( Jurassic Park III ). Countless reshoots, re-cuts and test audience screenings later a...

Whilst pouring over the latest issue of Sight & Sound I came across an article commemorating the life and work of film scholar Robin Wood, who sadly passed away in December, 2009. Wood had a profound influence over critical readings of films - particularly horror movies, (and in particular again - slasher films), with his groundbreaking work focusing on the concept of the ‘Return of the Repressed.’ Wood stated ‘The release of sexuality in the horror film is always presented as perverted, monstrous and excessive; both the perversion and the excess being the logical outcome of repression.’ These ideas were fleshed out in the three part essay ‘ An Introduction to the American Horror Film ’ (Part I: Repression, The Other, The Monster ; Part II: Return of the Repressed ; Part III; The Reactionary Wing ). This essay was published in The American Nightmare: Essays on the Horror Film , which was edited by Wood and his partner (academically and romantically) Richard Lippe. Wood was o...

BTC: Caitlin McIntosh delivers a fantastic performance of great conviction – and conveys so much with basically no dialogue. What made you decide to cast her in the role of Laura? How did you go about assembling the rest of the cast and crew? WW : Caitlin - what a find she was. She came from the main agency here, Talent Plus, and she actually came in to read for the part of a 17 year old girl, but when she walked in, she CLEARLY wasn't 17!! She was very healthy and buxom and in her 20's. What had happened was that she had a very old headshot that hadn't been updated, so she came in dressed like a kid, her hair all poofy. We immediately gave her the pages for the Laura audition and had her read for that part instead. After auditioning all of the actresses, I reviewed the tapes over and over and just kept coming back to Caitlin. I met with her again at a coffee shop to talk, and this time she knew what she was going for - she showed up with her hair down, and when she took...

BTC: Why do you think the vampire is such an enduring figure throughout cinema? WW : Just like the mythological creatures they are based on, the fictional vampires we create are very adaptable. The vampire is one of those cinematic images that has done well with updates and re-makes. The basic story and character are solid, so every time there is an advance in sound or colour or technology, an update works very well. Vampires have gone from being talky melodramas to Technicolor blood fests and then more recently, action vehicles and teen romances, and we've even seen minority vampires. Vampires aren't " Citizen Kane " or " Casablanca " - they can be re-worked again and again without offense to classic cinema, constantly updating with the times and changing. " Interview with the Vampire " is a brilliant practical example of this theory, a story of how a vampire changed and adapted over time, with the inclusion of many different architectural an...