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Reel Life |
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Note: The short movie reviews and comments on this page were originally written for my weblog, which I stopped
updating in July 2003. They are reproduced here unchanged, except for corrections to a few broken links.
Depraved pleasure-seeker Frank Cotton solves an ancient Chinese puzzle box that opens a gateway to the demonic world of the Cenobites, who tear him to pieces for their sadistic amusement. Frank's brother Larry moves into the house where this happened with his wife Julia, who once had an affair with Frank. When Larry is injured in an accident his spilt blood brings Frank's shattered remains back to life, desperate for more blood to provide the life force to rebuild his body. He persuades Julia to help him get it, but when the puzzle box is opened once again the Cenobites come to take him back to their dimension. On the positive side the Cenobites look really evil, although they don't actually do very much, and the special effects are suitably gory. It is well directed, keeping the story moving forward quickly and keeping exposition to a minimum. Also, the sound effects are quite atmospheric, with the old dark house having a full repertoire of sinister creaking noises. On the negative side, the characterisation is generally trite and much of the dialogue sounds like it came out of some cheesy daytime soap opera. This is particularly so during the flashbacks to Frank and Julia's affair, which are necessary to explain why she's willing to help him commit murder but which also showcase the film's weaknesses. It is trying to be a psychological horror story that asks big questions about the nature of love and the dangers of sensuality, with the monsters just showing up to provide a big finish, but the characters don't have enough depth to make it work. It also lacks any sense of place. The locations are only vaguely specified and most of the characters have bland mid-Atlantic accents, so although it is set in England the only real reminders of that are a few minor characters with exaggerated British accents. It could be anywhere, which just adds to the soap opera feel. The result is a by-the-numbers splat gore horror film, well executed but lacking anything truly original or distinctive. The Cenobites are memorable but that is mostly just down to their appearance, and a few pieces of startling make-up do not in themselves make a good movie. If the characterisation had been strong enough to carry the psychological themes then it could have been very good, but as it is Hellraiser is no more than mediocre.
Steven Avkast and Locus Wheeler are the presenters of "Fact or Fiction", a cheesy cable TV supernatural show. Desperate to improve their ratings, they follow an anonymous viewer's suggestion that they should investigate the Jersey Devil, and head off into the woods accompanied by sound recordist Rein Clackin and guided by self-proclaimed psychic Jim Suerd. He is the only one to return alive, and when the bloody remains of the others are found he is charged with their murders. The documentary investigates whether this was a miscarriage of justice. The documentary segments mostly consist of interviews with people involved with the show and the subsequent police investigation, with the fateful trip reconstructed from video shot by Steven, Locus and Rein. The extremely low budget is obvious during the interviews, with the flat colour and comparatively low image quality that is the hallmark of cheap video cameras. Also, they tend to be shot in static close-ups which strongly suggest that they've just decorated one corner of an ordinary room to create the set. However, it has a good script which convincingly reconstructs the police investigation and trial, showing how Suerd is doomed from the start because everybody involved assumes that he obviously must have done it. The way that the prosecution uses a montage of out-of-context video clips from the trip to "prove" that he is violent and mentally unstable is all-too realistic. The video from the trip itself is very convincingly done, and typifies the craft and attention to detail that has gone into this movie. Indeed, the very format of the film shows that Stefan Avalos and Lance Weiler, who wrote, directed and starred, thought very carefully about what could be made to work with their limited resources. After a slow start it builds up a strong atmosphere of dread and mystery before the final shocking (if perhaps too abrupt) revelation of the real killer. The underlying theme is how television and movies create an illusion of truth. In mounting this ludicrously ambitious expedition to find the Jersey Devil, Steven is trying to create the illusion that his pathetic little TV show really can solve the mysteries of the supernatural. He is desperately trying to make it something real. The prosecution uses video clips to create the "truth" that Jim Suerd was luring the group into the middle of nowhere so that he could kill them, and the documentary filmmaker is using the same footage to create a totally different version of the truth. The message is that the camera always lies.
Of course the movie itself offended lots of people, but I think it's great. It's got a fast-moving storyline and an infectious energy about it, plus lots of catchy songs. It is also a serious satire which suggests that intolerance and censorship are often more dangerous than the things the censors claim to be protecting us from. As such it is really a statement of what South Park is all about. Indeed, it is amazing how moralising some of the regular South Park episodes are. They often contain messages about right and wrong, and sometimes end with the boys stating what it is they've learned from this week's story. That sort of thing may have been common in the past, but these days if any normal show did that it would look totally lame and would be ridiculed for being so old-fashioned. Yet South Park gets away with it because the rest of the content gives it impeccable subversive credentials. The movie is also notable for the fact that it is basically a musical. It's an animated scatological satirical moralising musical with fart jokes, and how many of those have you ever seen?
Secondly, it does not attack religion in general but only certain negative aspects of it. For example, when Brian is followed by a crowd who think he is a prophet this satirises the credulity of people who will believe anything if it comes wrapped in the trappings of religion. It satirises the groupthink of unquestioning obedience to religious authority figures, and the behaviour of people who are so desperate for a simple answer to life that they refuse to think for themselves. The scene in which someone is stoned for saying "Jehovah" satirises the cruelties and absurd social rules that are imposed in the name of religion. Instead of being anti-Christian it is actually making points that a Christian could readily agree with. More fundamentally, this is not a film about religion at all. Most of the story concerns Brian's involvement with the People's Front of Judea, a ludicrous revolutionary group who spend all their time holding committee meetings and splitting into ever smaller ideological factions. Brian's attempts to get them to do something practical only result in his own capture by the Romans and eventual crucifixion. Their betrayal of Brian, leaving him to die on a cross rather than risk their own lives to save him, is the final proof that they are incapable of doing anything real. It was therefore a furious satire on British socialism, portraying the left-wing politics of the day as an empty and self-serving charade in which bold revolutionary talk obscured an inability to actually do anything.
It's primarily an atmosphere piece, building a sense of dread and horror as the evil Count Orlock descends from his castle to wreak havoc on the quiet town of Wisborg, but the film also has great psychological subtlety in the portrayal of the characters. The cinematography is excellent, and every scene is composed with the utmost care. Director F.W. Murnau also used the most advanced techniques of the day to create visual effects, such as speeded-up movement and trick photography to show Orlock passing through closed doors and opening hatches on a ship without touching them. Trivial to do now, but impressive back then. One of the most memorable images is the appearance of Count Orlock himself, whose pale and emaciated body and long claw-like fingernails really do make him look like a corpse who hasn't stopped moving. On the Eureka Video DVD release that I've got, the atmosphere is greatly enhanced by a superb modern score, which fits the film perfectly. At first, it seems odd that such uncompromisingly modern electronic music goes so well with a film from that era. But it's a reminder that this was a very modern film. It was modern for its time, innovating in an art form that was itself new, and it's easy to watch now because its structure, and narrative and visual conventions, match those that we are familiar with. Then you remember it was made in 1922. I'd recommend the film, and this particular release. It contains two versions of the film (sepia-tinted and the original black and white), commentary track, trailers, and various background information. Turn the lights out and listen through headphones for maximum intensity.
However, it is fundamentally about transcendence, and the possibility of leaving behind our brutal animal natures to become something more. It is also about the limitations of technology, despite the prominence of technological gadgetry in the film. HAL's breakdown is a part of this. So is the famous cut in which it jumps from a shot of a bone thrown into the air by a primitive apeman to a spaceship in Earth orbit. This shows how far we've developed, but it also reminds us that the bone and the spaceship are the same thing: they're both just tools, and we cannot truly evolve just by building better tools. Therefore the film can be read as a religious metaphor, in which humanity can only transcend its earthly bonds by embracing a spiritual transformation. The gradual breakdown of the spaceship "Discovery", sent to investigate the destination of a signal sent by the mysterious black monolith, represents the impossibility of reaching a spiritual truth through material means. The monolith itself, a mysterious and scientifically incomprehensible entity that directs the course of human evolution, represents the intervention of divine power. It offers the possibility of transcendence, but mocks science with its impossible nature. Hence, the mission to Jupiter becomes a metaphor for pilgrimage, with the astronauts following a message in the hope of finding revelation. HAL is the power of the material world, trying to obstruct and destroy them. Of course, none of this was the intended meaning, and since I'm not a religious person it's not the one I take from it. But it does suggest what Vatican officials might see in it. |
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Last Updated: 1 Oct 07 |  |
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