The most important slasher movie
Oct. 28th, 2004 01:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
yendiI've mentioned before how much I love this time of the year, as every channel shows more horror movies in October than during the entire rest of the year (although I suspect that airings of the Silent Night, Deadly Night series peak in December, and the Leprechaun movies are probably shown mostly in March).
And IFC, already a great channel, really has fun with this season. A few years back, they aired Adam Simon's The American Nightmare and a number the '70s horror flicks mentioned in that documentary.
This year, it's Italian horror.
On Saturday, it's Dario Argento night, as we get a documentary on the man and the films Suspiria, Inferno, and Deep Red. All are must-sees, of course, although beware the really awful dubbing.
On Sunday, we get Mario Bava night. Bava's not as well known as Argento, but he should be. We get another documentary, and two decent films, the cheesy Baron Blood and the wonderful Black Sunday.
But then we get the treat.
They're showing Bay of Blood.
The Mother of All Slasher Films.
Yeah, other films are important (Psycho did more for the murder-as-fetish concept than any film before and nearly since). But this was the archetype for almost every slasher of the '70s and beyond. Cunningham stole scenes from this (including the infamous Double Coitis Interuptis moment) for the F13 movies with less subtlety than Rob Liefeld (and much of the '80s were swipes from Cunningham, of course). It's not a "good" film in the traditional sense, or even a good Bava film. The "plot" is an excuse to have lots of folks die in ghastly ways. But so many of the horror cliches come from this movie. You've got the sex/death associations, the jarring musical cues, the shock ending, the random teens who wander into the plot just to fornicate and die, much of the country/city differential that Craven and others would play with, the local folks warning everyone of danger, etc. There are also twists that too many of the copycats didn't even try to replicate, but Bava was a lot better, even when wallowing in slasher heaven, than most of his compatriots. Folks who are fans of the genre might be disappointed that this film predates the "final girl" archetype, but it's easy to see even that part of the formula developing as a reaction to this film.
(aside: Yes, the film was released as "Twitch of the Death Nerve" later in its American run, but I'll still to the title that IFC is using).
I'd highly recommend all six films (and both documentaries) this weekend. Unlike, say, American Movie Classics (which considers the later Halloween films and anything featuring Larry Drake horror "classics"), IFC is showing groundbreaking works of horror that don't get seen often enough.
Now if only they'd make it a long weekend and add a night of Fulci.
And IFC, already a great channel, really has fun with this season. A few years back, they aired Adam Simon's The American Nightmare and a number the '70s horror flicks mentioned in that documentary.
This year, it's Italian horror.
On Saturday, it's Dario Argento night, as we get a documentary on the man and the films Suspiria, Inferno, and Deep Red. All are must-sees, of course, although beware the really awful dubbing.
On Sunday, we get Mario Bava night. Bava's not as well known as Argento, but he should be. We get another documentary, and two decent films, the cheesy Baron Blood and the wonderful Black Sunday.
But then we get the treat.
They're showing Bay of Blood.
The Mother of All Slasher Films.
Yeah, other films are important (Psycho did more for the murder-as-fetish concept than any film before and nearly since). But this was the archetype for almost every slasher of the '70s and beyond. Cunningham stole scenes from this (including the infamous Double Coitis Interuptis moment) for the F13 movies with less subtlety than Rob Liefeld (and much of the '80s were swipes from Cunningham, of course). It's not a "good" film in the traditional sense, or even a good Bava film. The "plot" is an excuse to have lots of folks die in ghastly ways. But so many of the horror cliches come from this movie. You've got the sex/death associations, the jarring musical cues, the shock ending, the random teens who wander into the plot just to fornicate and die, much of the country/city differential that Craven and others would play with, the local folks warning everyone of danger, etc. There are also twists that too many of the copycats didn't even try to replicate, but Bava was a lot better, even when wallowing in slasher heaven, than most of his compatriots. Folks who are fans of the genre might be disappointed that this film predates the "final girl" archetype, but it's easy to see even that part of the formula developing as a reaction to this film.
(aside: Yes, the film was released as "Twitch of the Death Nerve" later in its American run, but I'll still to the title that IFC is using).
I'd highly recommend all six films (and both documentaries) this weekend. Unlike, say, American Movie Classics (which considers the later Halloween films and anything featuring Larry Drake horror "classics"), IFC is showing groundbreaking works of horror that don't get seen often enough.
Now if only they'd make it a long weekend and add a night of Fulci.
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(no subject)
Date: 2004-10-28 10:52 am (UTC)Similarly, when I did my Movie Show radio gig yesterday morning, one of the other critics reviewed the new Larry Cohen Collection box -- he mentioned that it had "Q" in it, and I involuntarily squeaked, "Q!!!!" way too loud ... I am SUCH a geek.
(no subject)
Date: 2004-10-28 11:35 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2004-10-28 11:20 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2004-10-28 11:36 am (UTC)Oh hell, I love all the movies of his that I've seen.
(no subject)
Date: 2004-10-28 01:22 pm (UTC)Damn my old roommate for taking his tv with him when he moved out! Damn him to hell. Hmmmph!
(no subject)
Date: 2004-10-28 01:54 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2004-10-28 02:42 pm (UTC)There was an Argento season at the National Film Theatre in London a couple of years ago. My favourite of his, Tenebrae, was in it, complete with a talk by one of the editors.
So he talks about having the Italian film and the English soundtrack, and wants to know when they'll have the time to do the 'fitting', getting the lipsync right, for the international release.
'Fitting, what is fitting?' says Argento...
I don't think he's ever cared about it.
(no subject)
Date: 2004-10-29 10:42 pm (UTC)Ohhhhhhh, such Tivoing will there be...