Fear of Films: Beetlejuice

Say it three times, why don't you? I, like many people who grew up in the 90s, love this movie. It's Tim Burton just before he got too Tim Burton-y. Alec Baldwin, Katherine, Michael Keaton, and freaking Winona Ryder, among even more notable actors, make this a true Halloween holiday favorite.

While the main theme, being different, being a freak, is meant to evoke emotion from the viewer. While that's certainly something I, and more people than you probably thing, can relate to, I don't think it has anything to do with fear in this movie.

From the start, control is a theme. The dowdy couple are bugged by a nosy neighbor, encouraged to move out and leave their beloved house for someone else. Due to events out of their control, the couple dies in a car accident, unbeknownst to them at first. As they try to haunt the new inhabitants of their home, who are completely taking it over with purely Tim Burton aesthetic, they fail to once again regain control.

Obviously Beetlejuice, with his knack in reeking havoc, is able to take control, forcing those in his wake to deal with chaos. Though, the crude, puck-like spirit isn't the only one who controls his situation. Lydia, the heroine, dresses and acts as she wishes, despite knowing she's alone in it. She attempts to take complete control over her life by attempting suicide, which fortunately is thwarted by the care of her ghost friends. In order to save those friends, she gives up all of her control to Beetlejuice, nearly becoming his young bride.

The happy ending is a result of all of those involved triumphing over Beetlejuice--the personification of chaos. The ghosts and family live together in harmony, Lydia seems to have made friends despite her unique and unconventional style. If this were a true horror movie, perhaps Lydia would lose her innocence to Beetlejuice, being lost in the netherworld among the dead, only to be recovered in eight sequels.

Fear of chaos. That's Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice! 

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Fear of Films: Hellraiser & Candyman

Adventures in Poor Taste says, "And yet, despite hardly being in the film at all, the Cenobites practically steal the show.”

These film adaptations of stories by Clive Barker explore fear through monsters. Like a lot of Barker's stories, both of these films rely on esoteric legend or myth to illustrate negative human traits.

In Hellraiser, a smarmy man brings back a strange puzzle box that, after he pushes his curiosity and determination, traps him in a world of pain. His once lover vows to bring him back, and in a way she's committing adultery against her current husband, the rather dopey father of the movie's heroine. And none of those characters are the well-known "monsters" of the film franchise. "Pinhead" and his gang are actually mysterious wardens of the world within the puzzle. They only give you want you desire, are only prompted by those who push their curiosity. In the end, it's greed and lust that plays into the demise of the lovers, who are the true monsters.

Candyman, meanwhile is a more modern tale about an urban legend who consumes the consciousness of the main character. Against pushed by her own curiosity, she probes the proverbial walls of the "Candyman" myth within the projects of Chicago. What starts out as a promising look at socioeconomic positions in relation to urban legends, turns into a thin psychological horror tale.

Despite any shortcomings or highlights each of these stories have, each of them comment on the fact that humans attempt to explain true horrors as a result of human action with unexplainable forces, such as strange magic or urban legend. It's a fear of the truth, a fear of the real evil inside ourselves. 

Fear of Films: Sleepaway Camp

Teen slasher flicks are pretty low on my "Must-Watch" list for no other reason than they're not that interesting or surprising. And, while I figured out the deal with the character "Angela" not too far in, I was still shocked by the last scene. "What the fuck?" was said aloud.

It starts out with a gruesome boating accident in which a brother, sister, and father are involved. It's unclear who actually dies, particularly among the children. A man on shore, who is presumed to be a friend of the father whispers in shock and dismay, "Michael." Real soap opera quality acting. Years later, the young teenage Angela is escorted by her cousin to summer camp. She's terribly shy and even mute at first, most likely because of her accident. There's not a lot of heavy plot--campers mysteriously go missing or die, and no one seems to know why. Most alarmingly, the head of the camp doesn't do anything about it. How convenient for the plot of the movie to continue!

Of course, there's crude sexual tension among the counselors and campers, though very little embarrassing nudity. There's actually a lot of heavy sexual topics, it was a little darker than I expected.

Right off the bat, Angela's has a harrowing experience. The pervy cook propositions her in the dry stock room, which is actually more terrifying than anything a movie can dream up, being that it's so real. Luckily, her cousin catches them before anything bad happens, and the chef gets what he deserves--a hot bath in a ridiculously large boiling pot of water. Who pushed him in there? Who knows?!

There's also an odd scene where we flashback to when Angela and her brother are spying on their dad and the friend who whispered "Michael" in the beginning. The two men are snuggling in bed, a heavenly haze of romance hovers. The two children giggle at their father and his lover. Do they laugh because it's actually confusing to them?

Meanwhile, Angela refuses the advances of one of the nicer boys at camp, Paul. It's obvious that she's hiding something, if not something more than her understandable nervousness about teen sexuality. They're all very concerned about their looks and how they attract other boys, especially older ones. In fact, one of them is actually has a thing with the head of the camp, a grumpy old man who nearly beats up Angela's cousin. There's an awful scene where the meanest and supposedly prettiest of the girls is sodomies with a hot curling iron.

SPOILER ALERT YE BEEN WARNED AHHRG
 
The ending is very blatant. Two of the counselors find Angela with her friend, Paul. She's sweetly humming and stroking his hair as his head sits in her lap. His head is literally sitting in her lap, because she actually chopped it off. Standing up, it's revealed what she was hiding the entire time--Angela is actually a boy. With a bloody hatchet in her hand, she wheezes heavily with a blank stare, seeming possessed. That's what made me say "What the fuck?" because it was actually pretty scary!

The fear here is not of surviving the killer, but clearly of sex. There's so much pressure among these teenagers to be attractive, desired, and experienced, but it's unclear from where the pressure actually comes. The extremes--the deviant chef, the children's failure to understand their father's relationship, the disgusting willingness in which one of the girls insists on being with the grump old camp director, the unfortunate ending of the prettiest girl, all point to the grotesque vision inexperienced and scared people may have of sex. 

Fear of Films: Donnie Darko

Sometime between getting a first apartment and following the rhythms of full-time jobs, I forgot about Donne Darko. It dazzled and enthralled me on both emotional and entertaining levels in college, but admittedly, when I finally rediscovered it last October, I had grown out of it. It's annoyingly dramatic, kind of forced, and overly confusing. Perhaps I was tainted by having seen Southland Tales (Don't do it!), but I just wasn't feeling Donnie Darko last year.

Though, as part of my "Fear of FIlms" vision, I felt that I couldn't not include Donnie Darko. I made a pumpkin pie just for the occasion.

Set in 1988, though released in 2002, Donnie Darko is the title character in this film about "Fear and Love." We know immediately that Donnie is a very special teenage boy--he's first seen biking in his pajamas, barefoot, after waking up in what looks like the middle of nowhere. Arriving home to the family's marker board reading "Where's Donnie?" we see that he comes from the most terrifying place--suburban America, family of five. He's schizophrenic, has lame friends, and falls for the mysterious, weird new girl in school. And, his best friend is a six foot tall many in a bunny suit with a creepy face. Donnie has good teachers (one of whom is played by Drew Barrymore) and awful teachers (Health and Phys Ed teach Ms. Farmer), and he learns from and educates both. The school falls for an infommercial-type motivational speaker, Jim Cunningham (played by freaking Patrick Swayze!), who Donnie eventually exposes for what he really is. Gosh, there's even more stuff, like the thing with the girlfriend, the time travel, Grandma Death. There's way too much stuff in this movie, and I kind of mean that in a bad way.

Upon watching it with less expectation, I still resolved to Donnie Darko being one of those endearing movies that you watch out of tradition.With lines like "Sometimes I doubt your commitment to Sparkle Motion!" it's at least entertaining. The ensemble cast is acts well, each character with amusing and emotional nuances.

There's a lot of themes here, maybe too many. "Fear" comes to mind. While Donnie argues that there is more to life than "Fear and love," contrary to what his dimwitted Health teacher insists (preaching from the teachings of the smarmy Jim Cunningham). Donnie is correct, even though many of the characters are driven by fear (hardly love). So, of what are they all afraid? ...

SPOILER ALERT YE BEEN WARNED AHHRG!

Because Donnie is the only one who dies in the end, he opposes the binary short-sightedness of "Fear and Love," and expresses a seemingly resolved outlook toward death earlier in the film (that there might not be a "God" if "everyone dies alone"), then I would say that everyone else is afraid death. Despite their declarations of morality and wearing shirts that say things like "God is awesome!" they are totally afraid of dying because there might not be anything after that. Donnie is the hero ("What kind of a name is that? Sounds like some sort of super hero.") because he accepts the fear and takes the challenge.

It's fitting that this is the first in this series, since death is the ultimate fear.

Fear of Films: A month of movies about what scares us.

Kitten & pumpkin just because.

 San Francisco lacks the October flare that most of the US has--orange oak trees, ominous chills in the air, and an extended time period for which you can keep a carved pumpkin outside. I miss the "real fall," but that doesn't mean I can't celebrate Halloween with a little bit of tradition. This month, I've a lineup of "scary" movies which will be noted right here.

Stay tuned to see what I watch, and what I write about each movie!