Today I was thinking about what to write, and once again the Twitter prompt from @cinetv saved me, as it motivated me to write about my guilty pleasure. If you have not followed CineTv on Twitter do so. It's a must.
These who have read before my posts might have noticed that I rarely refer to thriller movies. The truth is that I do not like the genre very much -especially splatter thriller- and I have only seen what is considered classic. You know that about vampires (oh, Christopher Lee, how many nights of insomnia you have given me), a few zombies (Night of the Living Dead -to remove it from my list) and the Exorcist (as I said before I watched only the classics but, psss! that film had also a greek flavor).
However, one director that has piqued my interest was John Carpenter, who, although he has made films of various genres, he is described as the MASTER OF TERROR, the man who brought fear and scream to cinemas and haunted our sleep with nightmares ( if we dared to sleep).
I think we all know his works, but I will dare to mention a few for the younger ones
- Assault on Precinct 13
- 1978 Halloween
- The Fog
- Escape from New York
- The Thing
- Christine
- Starman
- Big Trouble in Little China
- They Live
- In the Mouth of Madness
- Escape from L.A.
You may have already seen some of them. I have seen most of them too. But one of his films in particular, is my guilty pleasure
The lord of darkness(1987)
In the basement of a Catholic convent in Los Angeles, a cylindrical glass vessel containing a light green substance has been discovered, which is constantly spinning inside the container. The priest in charge (Donald Pleasant) calls a quantum physicist (Victor Wong) and his team to solve the mystery.
The first analyses show that this substance is an ancient material, older than Jesus Christ and that the cylinder is locked from the inside. Next to the cylinder there is a book that the team of scientists using a computer (This is huge -remember, the film was shot in 1987) is trying to decipher. Through the book it is learnt that the matter inside the cylinder is "Anti-god", a entity more powerful than Satan, and that Jesus Christ was a time traveler who had come to warn us about it.
But the signs are here and the change has already begun. Is it too late to save the humanity from Absolute Evil?So far so good ... The typical plot of a horror movie with a religious background.
However, Carpenter had some great ideas around the film: 1, The genius idea in script of the "dream" that all those involved in the research saw. From the first night, the scientists slept in the monastery and everyone of them saw it, shared it as a warning of what was to follow. The dream was like a video camera scene slowly approaching the monastery, from which a huge dark figure emerged. At the same time, a voice was heard saying, without being able to hear clearly:
"This is not a dream ... not a dream. We are using your brain's electrical system as a receiver. We are unable to transmit through conscious neural interference. You are receiving this broadcast as a dream. We are transmitting from the year one , nine, nine, nine. You are receiving this broadcast in order to alter the events you are seeing. Our technology has not developed a transmitter strong enough to reach your conscious state of awareness, but this is not a dream. You are seeing what is actually occurring for the purpose of causality violation. "
This imposing figure that we subconsciously associated with the Evil that existed inside the monastery, makes you feel awe, a genuine terror that is intensified both from the impression that it was shot with a video camera with an unstable hand and from the voice repeating a warning from the future.
NOTICE: the last video relay!
Believe me, I had nightmares for many years, only from this scene, without the rest of what is happening in the movie. (I will probably have today these nightmares)
2, The collaboration of religion and science to solve the mystery around the cylinder and the use of computers as a means of searching for the truth, without demonizing science, which in every way tries to warn of the Absolute Evil (see above)
3, The homeless who surround the monastery and in fact besiege the scientists who are inside it, obeying the call of Evil.
Bonus in this scene: Alice Cooper (if you do not know him, see here) as the leader of the zombies.
4, The notion [a tribute in my opinion to Alice through the Mirror] of the mirror that is a passage for Evil to pass into our dimension and to conquer our world. (and we do not want these to happen...Thank god, mirrors break)
5, The music, composed by John Carpenter himself, intensifies the fearful atmosphere.
### Why a guilty pleasure? All these are attributes that could make a film good of great. But, if I have to be objective, even though that I watch the film from time to time (I am a masochist, what can I say!), even though it is the only thriller that I have watched more than once, this movie lacks both in script and sequences, expecially in the second part. Sometimes I feel like the director wanted to end the movie as quickly as possible, so he hasted the scenes.
However, this is my guilty pleasure (shhh! Don't tell anyone).
Now I am thinking about it, this film is considered one of the most underrated films from Carpenter, because some think of it as one of his masterpiece, but it didn't get the recognition it should, while others find its weaknesses more than its strong points.
Well, who knows! The critics may have slayed that film, but that doesn't stop me from watching it again and again (it is kind of addictive).
So I might have hit "two birds with one stone".
Thank you for reading!
(I might not sleep tonight)
