Saturday, October 24, 2015

Derangement Level: Renfield

I just haven't been keeping you properly informed about the annual Halloween film festival that Dr. Theresa and I continue to enjoy. We watched the Spanish language version of DRACULA, famously shot at night on the same sets where the Bela Lugosi version was being shot during the day. I liked the woman who played Eva, the "Mina Harker" character. She made me think of Naomi Watts in MULHOLLAND DR., in that she started out seeming like a real square ingenue (like, is she PLAYING a bad actor or IS she a bad actor?) and then it's all a ruse because she shows you she really knows how to go crazy when the time comes. Then we watched OVER THE GARDEN WALL by Pat McHale and INSIDIOUS: CHAPTER 3 and TO THE DEVIL A DAUGHTER. Not much to recommend TO THE DEVIL A DAUGHTER, except this startling thing (pictured) that Nastassja Kinski sees when she looks in a mirror. It made me think of a sea monkey! And Denholm Elliott gave a supporting performance that reached Renfield levels of derangement. Next: CRIMSON PEAK, which helped ghost movies maintain a still-respectable 50% in the Halloween tally. I'm not counting TO THE DEVIL A DAUGHTER as a ghost movie, though there was a ghost in it. Devil movies have crept up to 20% of our Halloween movie consumption this year, a disturbing trend we'll continue to keep our eye on. The first words of CRIMSON PEAK are the same as the title of one of my old "blog" "posts" - "click" here for the thrilling revelation.