A few weeks ago it was announced that the house where the Amityville Horror events took place was up for sale. In 1977 Jay Anson wrote The Amityville Horror: A True Story which told the story of the Lutz family living in the home in Long Island, New York which was reportedly plagued by paranormal phenomena due to the murder of a family in the home in years past. Anson’s book was turned into a horror film in 1979, and a remake in 2005, with a total of nine films devoted to the tale. Several books have also been published from various perspectives related to the house. Over the years skepticism has been expressed concerning the purported events, but this has not discouraged great interest in the house and its neighborhood over the years. Last month the house was put up for sale with an asking price of $1.15 million.
I have an entrepreneurial mind, but unfortunately I don’t have the entrepreneurial funds to go with it. When I first heard of the sale of the Amityville Horror home I thought that if I had the investment funds I’d buy the house and during the Halloween season it could be turned into a haunted house. In the off season it could be used as a paranormal tour/ghost hunting location. Regardless of whether paranormal events took place in the house, given its reputation over the years there’s gold to be made in its timbers.
While I haven’t been able to catch a showing of Splice yet in theaters, I have kept up with the reviews and commentary. There have been a few exceptions, but most of the commentary has been very positive. This is especially the case with Steve Biodrowski’s review at Cinefantastique Online, a reviewer and website with an opinion that I value. Boidrowski places Splice on a part with Moon, calling it “a thoughtful little movie guaranteed to be the best filmed science fiction of the summer.”
If Splice is such a good film, then why is it doing so poorly at the box office? The Los Angeles Times tries to answer this question in an article titled “Horror of horrors: Did the wrong kind of people like ‘Splice’?” In the piece, author Patrick Goldstein provides several suggestions, including high praise from critics, a “hare-brained scheme” as a basic part of the film’s plot, and perhaps most tellingly, that the film is too intelligent for most audience members:
The New York Times’ Manohla Dargis gave away the game in her review, where she dropped the name of one cerebral filmmaker after another, comparing “Splice” to David Cronenberg’s “The Fly,” seeing affinities to the work of David Lynch and Ridley Scott’s “Alien” and spotting allusions to James Whale’s “Bride of Frankenstein.” For Dargis, it was a delight to see an intelligent film that “explores chewy issues like bioethics, abortion, corporate-sponsored science, commitment problems between lovers and even Freudian-worthy family dynamics.”
In his conclusion, Goldstein seems to give more weight to the “hare-brained scheme” idea as the best explanation for Splice‘s failure to attract a major audience at the box office. But in my view this doesn’t suffice. As Goldstein’s piece itself recognizes, horror and science fiction films, particularly those of the “mad scientist” variety, routinely incorporate plot devices that include scientific practices that push the envelope. In addition, a number of articles can be found on the Internet with discussion on genetic experimentation that some say is not too far away from the fictional scenario of Splice. If this is the case, then perhaps the best explanation is represented in the lengthy quotation from Goldstein above. The film is not the normal fare in horror, science fiction and fantasy. It is reserved in special effects and action, and attempts to interact with key social issues of the day. As I state in this blog’s “About” page, “we live in an age more interested in finding spectacle than substance in popular culture, particularly in regards to the fantastic,” and for this reason I believe audiences have not been attracted to this film in great numbers.
Do the “wrong kind of people” like Splice, film critics as well as reflecting and thoughtful audience members? Probably. But even if the major studios decide not to take another chance on an intelligent horror and science fiction film due to Splice‘s disappointing box office receipts, my hope is that at least independent filmmakers might continue to produce films like it, as well as Moon, and District 9. Is it too much to ask that we have a little intellectual meat and potatoes with our entertainment?
Over time I have built up my Amazon.com wish list of various items knowing that I will never be able to afford or have room for most of what I’ve listed. Even so, there are several items that are a priority for me in adding to my collection, and for some time I have been interested in picking up a copy of Bill Warren’s book Keep Watching the Skies!: American Science Fiction Movies of the Fifties (McFarland). My keen interest in this volume is due to my initial interest in the fantastic that was spawned by Fifties sci-fi films, and my continuing appreciation and ongoing assessment of their meaning.
Through its various printings Warren’s book has become something of a classic among science fiction film fans and scholars, and in a big way. The 1997 edition of this book was way out of my price range, with used copies going for over a thousand dollars at times. With the 2010 release of the The 21st Century Edition the cost for the previous edition has decreased, but the new volume itself is still a hefty $79.20 through retailers like Amazon.com. But even with a cost that exceeds most volumes on science fiction films, at 1,040 pages this book is worth the price.
Keep Watching the Skies! 21st Century Edition is clearly a labor of love for Warren who writes from the perspective of a lifelong fan who’s imagination was captured by these films while growing up in Oregon. He writes about films that he defines as science fiction (“a fantasy film in which the fantastic element is rationalized as being explicable in scientific terms”) and following a formula identified as “Fifties sci-fi” that covers a time span of 1950-1962. Warren notes that his treatment of these films is not academic, but instead is a result of his great affection for them which he feels provides special insights. As I read this in the Preface I was a little concerned about whether the insights would be idiosyncratic or of much depth. Thankfully, I quickly lost these concerns as Warren describes, for example, the influence of the re-release of King Kong on what would become known as “Fifties sci-fi”:
To back up a little, one of the biggest influences on 1950s SF movies was the then 20-year-old classic, King Kong. In the summer of 1952, Kong was reissued with a heavy television and radio promotion campaign. This onslaught of advertising, in fact, was one of the first to heavily use television. As a result, Kong made money – more money than it had in its first release and subsequent reissues combined. …
Without Kong‘s influence, the SF movies of the 1950s probably would have gone in a different, perhaps short-lived direction. … In a way, then, King Kong was the progenitor of the giant insect films, one of the most distinctive subgenres of the 1950s SF movies.
As a fan, researcher, and writer on these topics I should have known about the Kong reissue, and postulated its possible influence on 1950s science fiction films, but must admit I had no idea. Until I read Warren that is. In addition to the interesting discussion of the background, history, and trivia related to these films, Keep Watching the Skies! The 21st Century Edition includes little gems of insight that add to our understanding of these films, and in so doing it compliments academic treatments of them like Mark Jancovich’s Rational Fears: American horror in the 1950s (Manchester University Press, 1996).
If you are a fan of 1950s American science fiction add this volume to your library.
Folklore around the world reflects mankind’s abiding interest in other-worldly creatures including vampires, werewolves, giants, fairies, and spirit beings. This easy-reading compendium will have a broad appeal among the general public. This book will delight everyone who is fascinated with tales of fairies, mystical beings around the world, and the legends and fairytales that feed our imagination.
Gary returns to discuss mythology and mysterious creatures.
TheoFantastique: Gary, thank you for coming back to discuss another of your research areas. As we consider fantastic creatures from various cultures throughout history, including in the present, how does mythological and folkloric studies help provide important considerations for us?
Gary Varner: Myth and folklore link all of us to a common thread. Our pasts in regards to our specific origins, ethnic roots and cultures may be different but we find many commonalities in our folklore and collective mythology. Because so many legends are almost identical, such as those connected with the Yeti, Bigfoot, and Sasquatch it is also very possible that these creatures did and possibly still do exist.
TheoFantastique: What is the basic thesis of your book Creatures in the Mist?
Gary Varner: I have pulled certain themes together to show that similar stories can be found the world over and throughout time concerning mermaids, sea monsters, gigantic bipeds and the little people or fairy. I am always interested in why the stories are so similar even though the geographic areas may be so far apart. Could it be that the “Hobbit” people of Flores Island may have been the origin for legends about little people? Or were there many such ancient groups around the world which resulted in such a widespread belief in these mystical creatures?
TheoFantastique: Can you share a couple of examples of creatures that appear in various cultures, and the types of similarities that may be found among them across cultures?
Gary Varner: The “wild man” or Bigfoot is perhaps the best known of a creature that is recognizable around the world. From the Pacific Northwest to the forests of Russia, China, Europe Central and South America these creatures are always described in the same fashion: very large bipeds with long fur or hair, tailless and normally dangerous. The little people are also well known around the world. They are normally said to be helpful to humans, fond of music and dancing and sometime can heal. But they have also been described as malicious or mean spirited and tricksters. Many Native American legends about the little people indicate that they live in or near water sources and in rock areas. Other than being very tiny, they are often described as appearing in human form but always with very long hair. Little people have become part of legend from North America, Polynesia, Ireland (of course), Wales, Canada, New Guinea, Russia and South America.
TheoFantastique: Do you see any similarities or relationships between the stories of the Wild Men or Giants of cultures in times past and contemporary stories of Bigfoot or Yeti?
Gary Varner: Yes although the Wild Men legends differ in that they sometimes describe creatures of small and sometimes dwarf stature and even appearing as goblins. Their appearances seem to vary depending on the region. Wild people in the forested areas of Europe were said to be of gigantic proportion while those in the jungles of Belize are only four feet six in height at the maximum. All, however, have hairy bodies, are powerful and often said to be extremely fast. The origin of the “Wild Man” legends seem to date to the Middle Ages and may have described bands of social outcasts, living on the fringe of society.
The other legends such as those about Yeti, Bigfoot etc., are entirely different in that they invariably describe a more primitive type of creature.
Giants, however, have and still do exist to some degree. In Greek mythology giants were primordial deities. Giants are common in Native American lore and while most of them are supernatural creatures there are a few legends that speak of giants as beings from other lands as human as you and I. The Cherokee, for example, have a legend of a party of giants that visited Cherokee villages in the 17th century. Said to be twice as tall as common men with slanted eyes, they reportedly “lived very far away in the direction in which the sun goes down.” And, of course the Bible tells of a land of giants that were hunted down and slaughtered by the Hebrews. The interesting thing about these legends is how they were told as historical “events” and not as myth.
TheoFantastique: When I was growing up in the 1970s I enjoyed the program In Search of… that explored various paranormal phenomenon, including cryptozoology, and the contemporary program Monster Quest that does the same. Unfortunately, these programs are usually often disappointing in terms of holding out promise of the alleged existence of fantastic creatures that may inform our folklore and myths, but the evidence is usually lacking. Any thoughts on this?
Gary Varner: Yes, I enjoy Monster Quest now too but always know that any actual creature that they are looking for will never likely be found. They are entertaining and I think that they are worthwhile in that they provide “possibilities” that people should consider. We all need the unknown, the possibility that unusual creatures do exist, that the world is more than what we see everyday to keep ourselves grounded. We need to keep myth alive and who knows, previously unknown and thought to be extinct animals continue to be found so why not keep looking for these mystical beings?
TheoFantastique: Gary, thank you again for your book and your research interests that overlap with that of TheoFantastique.
As might be expected in a film that draws upon characters taken from a religious tradition, in this case Judeo-Christianity, there are plenty of religious elements here for reflection beyond the obvious in terms of the angelic figures of Michael and Gabriel. This includes symbolism such as a cross-shaped hole that forms after an explosion in the door of a building from which Michael takes his weapons for battle, as well as one of the victims from the diner who dies while hanging in an inverted cross position, the same way in which Christian tradition says the Apostle Peter was martyred. Other religious elements include the name of the diner, Paradise Falls, and the inclusion of a child who somehow is desired by both of the archangels, one desiring to save the life of the child and the other wanting to kill it. The meaning of the child is never fully developed in this film, which is depicted more as possessing prophetic significance in terms of telling future humanity how to live rather than in messianic terms of deliverance. But this failure to flesh out an important element of the story, and one with religious significance, is a problem throughout this film. Numerous religious elements are included but they presented without much significance, indicating that perhaps they are intended to do little more than tap into the viewers lingering sense of cultural religious memory rather than being part of a new coherent framework for storytelling or a re-envisioning of traditional religious elements for late modernity.
I recently became aware of a post that my fellow LOTTD member, B-Sol of The Vault of Horror did last month. It is titled “‘Take This, All of You, and Eat It’: The Subversion of Catholicism in Italian Zombie Cinema.” As the title indicates, this post suggests that in Italy, one of the most Roman Catholic nations of the world, a series of zombie films have been made that set out to specifically subvert aspects of Catholic Christianity. This includes the Resurrection of Christ, the resurrection of the body, the soul and the afterlife, the Day of Judgment, and Transubstantiation in Catholic communion.
I believe this post shows great merit for further reflection for religious studies and popular culture studies scholars, but I would add my disagreement with statements from two quotations in this piece. When discussing the ideas of Christianity related to the body and resurrection, we find the following:
As Stephen Thrower writes in Beyond Terror: The Films of Lucio Fulci, “for Christians, the body is a mere waste product, excreted by the passage of the soul into heaven.”
I would agree that on a popular level in Western Christianity the body is de-emphasized in favor of an emphasis on the soul’s escape at death into a heavenly afterlife. This view unfortunately leads to a lack of appreciation for the value of the body both in this life and the next, as well as a denigration of the value of material creation in general. In this way popular Western Christianity seems to represent a pseudo-Gnosticism. But the Christian tradition in general has always valued the body, both in its mortal expression, as well as in its anticipated resurrected and immortal state. With this thought in mind perhaps Fulci’s zombie films subvert Christian misunderstandings and practice of their own tradition rather than the essence of the tradition itself.
A little later in this piece in a discussion of death and the afterlife we read;
“These films,” writes Jamie Russell in Book of the Dead, “ask us to confront the unspoken truth of our existence: that we are, in material terms, nothing more than a collection of organs, blood and messy slop.”
I find it interesting that in light of developments in the neurosciences, some Christians are beginning to rethink the traditional concept of human nature as a duality of body and immaterial spirit or soul. In works like Whatever Happened to the Soul?:Scientific and Theological Portraits of Human Nature, edited by Warren S. Brown, Nancey Murphy, and H. Newton Maloney (Augsburg Fortress Publishers, 1998), a group of scholars from various disciplines argue scientifically as well as theologically for an emphasis on a holistic understanding of human nature that they call “non-reductive physicalism.” In this view the properties once attributed to the soul or spirit are recognized as taking place in the brain and human consciousness without the need to posit an immaterial property or substance, but even so, this need not mean that human beings are “nothing but” organic material with no transcendent significance. So while Italian zombie films do indeed serve as a grim reminder of our physicality and mortality as they are envisioned in a nihilistic universe, it is possible to value our fallible flesh with some hope of possible transcendence.
The Vault of Horror is to be commended for helping horror fans probe Italian zombie films in more depth. This is an example of the best kind of cultural, religious, and cinematic analysis that the horror subculture needs more of.
The publisher is hopeful that the multi-contributor volume will ready for publication this October, and this post includes a copy of the finalized cover by Deena Warner Designs. My contribution is a brief essay titled “Slasher Films as Modern Chaos Monster Myths.” My thesis is that just as ancient near eastern cultures feared the breakdown in the social order with resulting chaos as personified by various monstrous deities, so the killer in slasher films might be understood to fulfill this function for audiences in modern cultures who still fear chaos as our continued fascination with apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic indicates.
I came across an interesting item at the science fiction website io9 with a post titled “Teens pretending to be werewolves.” You will see the news report out of San Antonio, Texas accompanying this post that describes a group of teens who identify with werewolves and gather in groups they call packs. When I came across this item I wondered whether this had any relationship to the Otherkin, those individuals who consider themselves to be something other than human. Perhaps, or it may be something that overlaps with it without being a part of this interesting pop culture phenomenon. At any rate, it is an indication of the power of fantastic mythic creatures in identity formation in late modernity.
If nature gets really ticked off at humanity as a result of the damage to the Gulf Coast from the oil spill, in addition to other instances of environmental destruction, I wonder if the Green Man as a symbol of nature will rise in the form depicted in this illustration. Typically the Green Man is depicted in more benign ways in architecture, but this illustration may be closer to the mark in terms of the symbol interacting with contemporary issues.
Last night I had the privilege of enjoying a few movies at home with my wife, one of which was The Road. This 2009 film is based on the novel by Cormac MCarthy, and it stars Viggo Mortensen, Kodi Smit-McKee, Charlize Theron, and Robert Duvall. It tells the story of the post-apocalyptic struggle of a father and young son as they make their way in a gray world of death and decay in a constant search for food, shelter, and the avoidance of the few remaining humans, many of whom band together in gangs which seek to brutalize and eventually cannibalize those unfortunate enough to cross their path.
Apocalyptic or post-apocalyptic is one of the popular elements of many films in our time, no doubt reflecting our growing anxieties and fears related to social and cultural breakdown where the enemy then becomes humanity attacking itself as a far greater threat than anything external. This is a basic premise of many horror films, from Night of the Living Dead to The Mist. The breakdown of social order threatens us in many forms, from the very real possibility of nuclear conflict to devastation of the environment and possible global economic collapse. How would people survive in a world after such calamities, and just as important, would it be enough to merely survive or would acts of compassion still have relevance in such settings? These are the pressing moral questions portrayed in this bleak and depressing yet captivating film. The viewer is drawn into the story not only through the very real possibilities of a 21st century world facing its own post-apocalyptic challenges, but also from moving dramatic performances from everyone involved, as well as from the scenery of this film done not through CGI, but from real locations of devastation including Mount St. Helens and the areas devastated by Hurricane Katrina.
This is a gripping moral drama, every bit as good as films like The Machinist, that can easily be missed by film fans as cinematic gems like this get lost amidst big budget studio productions. I would encourage those interested in pursuing this film further to read the review of my fellow Cinefantastique Online contributor, Peg Aloi. After that, go to wherever you rent your films to add something special to your Memorial Day weekend.
A few weeks ago it was announced that the house where the Amityville Horror events took place was up for sale. In 1977 Jay Anson wrote The Amityville Horror: A True Story which told the story of the Lutz family living in the home in Long Island, New York which was reportedly plagued by paranormal phenomena due to the murder of a family in the home in years past. Anson’s book was turned into a horror film in 1979, and a remake in 2005, with a total of nine films devoted to the tale. Several books have also been published from various perspectives related to the house. Over the years skepticism has been expressed concerning the purported events, but this has not discouraged great interest in the house and its neighborhood over the years. Last month the house was put up for sale with an asking price of $1.15 million.
