Ahoy, squirts! Quint here with the next installment of A Movie A Day: Halloween 2010 edition!
[For the entirety of October I will be showcasing one horror film each day. Every film is pulled from my DVD shelf or streamed via Netflix Instant and will be one I haven’t seen. Unlike my A Movie A Day or A Movie A Week columns there won’t necessarily be connectors between each film, but you’ll more than likely see patterns emerge day to day.]
After being underwhelmed by Roman Polanski’s THE TENANT I went into his very famous horror story REPULSION a little weary. I can dig a slow burn. I love Polanski’s ROSEMARY’S BABY, for instance, which is a very, very slow burn of a movie, but I need a payoff if you’re going to make me wait for it.
I didn’t feel The Tenant’s payoff quite earned the deliberate pacing, but I’m happy to report that REPULSION sticks the landing. Boy does it stick the landing.
Being so early on in Polanski’s career there’s a heavy feel of Polanski trying to make his mark as a cinematic artist. There’s a raw, naturalistic feel to this film and a heavy focus on framing. It’s not just a film where every shot gets you to the next one that gets you to the next one and so on, but a film where the young Polanski is an artist and wants every shot to be like a painting. Or a trick.
In short, Polanski isn’t letting the script tell the story, but the camera, which has the beneficial effect of drawing the audience in to this tale of madness.
And what a tale of madness.
Basically we follow the gorgeous Catherine Deneuve as a mousy introvert who is so beautiful that it hides her mental problems. Deneuve’s Carol is seriously troubled, much of it seeming to stem from her inner-conflict about men. She is as repulsed by men as she is attracted to them.
The only small grip on sanity she has is the company of her sister, played by the equally beautiful Yvonne Furneaux, who recently made an AMAD appearance in Hammer’s THE MUMMY. But when Furneaux and her current lover leave for a long vacation, Carol is left at home with nobody but herself and her damaged psyche to keep her company.
There are hints leading up to this section (like the first great stinger, which is a reflection scare as Deneuve catches a glimpse of her nightmare man in a dresser mirror), but it’s not until she’s alone that her mind fully crumbles and she begins seeing some really fucked up things.
Speaking of the Nightmare Man, Carol’s visualization of her sexual fears, David Lynch’s Twin Peaks borrows quite a bit from this movie, especially the character of Bob in Fire Walk With Me. I got the same eerie, skin-crawling creepy feeling when Carol’s Nightmare Man showed up as I do whenever I see Bob in Twin Peaks… It’s unpredictable, he can appear from anywhere and there’s nothing that is impossible for him since he doesn’t have to obey any laws of sanity.
There’s some seriously deranged images in this film and I’d be lying if I said it didn’t get me to jump at least a couple of times. The before-mentioned mirror reveal got me, even if it’s kind of a cheap stinger, and so did a moment where an arm shoots out of a wall.
But more than that it’s Polanski’s sound design. He used the ticking of a clock to build tension in a way that was surprisingly effective. Church bells (there’s a church across the street) always seem to trigger a new horrific moment for Deneuve. Polanski plays some horror scenes completely silent, removing screams entirely and only having the ambient noise of the lonely apartment.
Add in Deneuve’s somehow incredibly sympathetic murderess and you get a mixture so surreal that it is scarily effective.
Final Thoughts: Some might be bored through the first act. Believe me, I understand losing interest in a dull movie, but Polanski’s hunger to prove himself as an artist kept me interested and his pay-off makes the slow burn worth it. For fans of Rosemary’s Baby you’ll see its tonal precursor with this flick. Very impressed. And Criterion’s Blu-Ray is immaculate, an amazing transfer!
Currently in print on DVD: YES
Currently available on Netflix Instant: NO
Here are the next week’s worth of AMAD titles:
Monday, October 18th: THE VIDEO DEAD (1987)
Tuesday, October 19th: THE BLACK CAT (1981)
Wednesday, October 20th: THE BLACK CAT (1934)
Thursday, October 21st: THE COMEDY OF TERRORS (1963)
Friday, October 22nd: DOLLS (1987)
Saturday, October 23rd: SILENT SCREAM (1980)
Sunday, October 24th: SCREAM OF FEAR (1961)
Tomorrow we move to the opposite end of the thriller spectrum to an ‘80s schlocktacular title about zombies that come out of a TV, I think. The Video Dead is next!
-Quint
quint@aintitcool.com
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