Singing the Blues

Tomorrow, the St. Lawrence International Film Festival will be putting on a special gala (in Potsdam, NY) where they are screening the Audience Award winner (for best Narrative Picture) from the Tribeca Film Festival – the dramatic horror movie Here Alone. One of the best little glitches that occurred at last years St. Lawrence International Film Festival was when I sat awaiting the showing of The Corpse of Anna Fritz. Instead of the foreign flick beginning, the projectionist mistakenly began to screen Here Alone director Rod Blackhurst’s 2014 short film Night Swim. Thankfully, the festival worker did not stop the compact flick, allowing it to play out before starting the full length feature.

Words are funny (and I don’t necessarily mean ha ha funny). Let me explain by way of an example: if I were to say, select the highest number between 5 and 8 – half of you would likely say 8, while some others would choose 7 (or 7.9), depending on how you perceive the word between. I use the word perceive, because perception is equally as fickle. Three people witnessing an automobile accident can sometimes see three very different things. Words and perception are used in clever fashion to exhume bloody humour in the 2010 comedy/horror flick Tucker and Dale vs. Evil. Co-writer/director Eli Craig (as well as second co-scribe Morgan Jurgenson) flip our perception of what ‘should be’ from the very beginning. Tucker (Alan Tudyk) and Dale (Tyler Labine) are two, for lack of a better word, hillbillies. . . but not those of horror past who enjoy slaughtering local travellers.

I recently met up with actor Steve Coulter at CAPE Cornwall; he is perhaps best known for his turn as Reg Monroe in the television series The Walking Dead. Coulter has also worked an impressive five times with horror maestro James Wan (he has been directed by him four times as well as being in one of his productions). He plays the role of Father Gordon in Wan’s The Conjuring and its sequel The Conjuring 2. I reached out to him to get a quote on the filmmaker. Coulter had nothing but praise for the man, stating "James’s skill in directing horror is, first of all, based on his ability as a storyteller. He knows how smart the audience is, particularly the horror film audience. As such a fan of the horror genre, he knows the usual shortcuts that are made, and he doesn’t take them. He knows what REALLY scares people. And he is such a masterful filmmaker that he knows how to craft those scares so that they are truly frightening, not just the usual Hollywood jump scares. He’s also a master at building suspense." Keep an eye open for an upcoming Star Pick with the actor in the very near future.

Back in 1982, a sci-fi horror film called The Thing got trashed by critics – perhaps it was due to it coming out around the same time as other sci-fi flicks like E.T. The Extraterrestrial and Blade Runner, or because it was too dark and edgy. . . or maybe it was simply ahead of its time. Funnily enough, it is now considered one of the all-time greats of the horror genre. Critics have come around to see the movie in a much more positive light – which explains why it has been placed onto countless lists that recognize great films, horror or otherwise.

Our eyes are the windows to the world. They are one of our most vital senses, and losing our vision is, in turn, probably one of every persons’ biggest fears. That is why the Spanish horror thriller Julia’s Eyes is one of the spookiest film concepts to come out in recent history. Written by Oriol Paulo and Guillem Morales (who also directs the picture), the visionary tale twists and turns as our protagonist, Julia Levin

Though I consider myself well versed in most areas of film, I must say that I knew nothing about the horror cult classic Spider Baby or, The Maddest Story Ever Told, until I began researching for my interview with Beverly Washburn, who starred in this quirky motion picture that was filmed in 1964, though it was only released in 1967 (due to issues with finances and poor distribution).