The first film I saw was the 1951 version of Scrooge, S.K.A. A Christmas Carol:
Runtime: 86 minutes
Directed by: Brian Desmond Hurst
Starring: Alastair Sim, Jack Warner, Kathleen Harrison, Mervyn Johns, Hermione Baddeley
From: George Minter Productions
Merry Christmas, everyone! I wanted to make that proclamation in this truncated review, due to me having a busy day that will include having a nice meal w/ family. For the first time I saw this famous Charles Dickens adaptation-which many say is the best cinematic version-on the FXM Channel.
It is an oft-told tale where the miserly Ebenezer Scrooge is a greedy avaricious SOB who is visited by various ghosts on Christmas Eve and despite his advanced age he is shown the error of his ways and the rotten impact he had on various people. It was a great presentation behind and in front of the camera whether it came to how the plot was presented, the cinematography, the editing, the music, etc. However, it was Alastair Sim's portrayal of a three dimensional character-along w/ his expressive face-that help make this so impactful. The changing of the original text also were beneficial in selling the transformation of the lead character.
2021 has too often seemed like 2020, Part 2. At least there have been positives, and today should be a nice one. Hopefully everyone has a nice Christmas or if you don't celebrate the holiday, a nice December 25.
The second was the 2021 documentary Woodlands Dark and Days Bewitched: A History of Folk Horror.
Even if I never acquire the Severin Films boxset All Our Haunts Be Ours: A Compendium of Folk Horror (there are other Blu releases I'd like to have that will be far less expensive than a 15 disc set of 19 movies that from all appearances will be excellent and worth the cost) at least this documentary can be easily streamed for a cheap price. The 194 minute (!) length may cause some to blanche and be wary of it right away but at least for a dork like me, I was always riveted by all the information present and the history lesson that was given. As for the box set itself, it was supposed to be out by now-the release was pushed back, hopefully resulting in a decrease of issues that have sadly plagued boutique releases in recent months.
After an introduction where three titans in the genre came out within a few years of each other (Witchfinder General, The Blood on Satan's Claw, and The Wicker Man) are spotlighted, it is divided into such categories as British folk horror, those from America, the rest of the world, and the sobering reason why this specific genre has become popular again in recent years: the world has sucked as of late & so many bad things have happened everyone is pessimistic about the future. As the documentary doesn't even mention “the black plague” we have had for almost two full years now...
More than 200 movies are brought up, all having clips of at least a few seconds long and plenty of those were new to even me. It was fascinating hearing about different culture and how their folk traditions were the same & differed, resulting in the broad scope of differing tales out there that at times share similarities & themes but typically are colorful and unique in their own ways. Comparing and contrasting examples from the UK, the US, Brazil, Finland, Thailand, and Australia-among others-was fun for someone of my disposition. Besides all the footage shown, a wide variety of different heads were present, most unfamiliar to me but practically all seemed quite knowledgeable about the subject. A wholly appropriate score that matches the images on screen quite well-from Jim Williams-and not only was this a rewarding journey for myself, it will inspire me to see a genre example for review tomorrow. Of course, if you aren't as interested in the subject then there is a probable chance that this straightforward academic presentation won't win you over, yet if you don't fall into that camp...
There isn't the time to go on a long run of those-among other things there are some titles that will be off of Prime at the end of the year-but in the future I should remind myself to watch more.
Finally was a specific folk horror title:
Runtime: 102 minutes
Directed by: Lukas Feiglfeld
Starring: Aleksandra Cwen, Celina Peter, Claudia Martini, Tanja Petrovsky, Haymon Maria Buttinger
From: Several Austrian/German companies
Slow even by my standards, yet it was still interesting enough for me.
As I mentioned in my last review, in the future I'd like to see more folk horror than just “once in a long while”; the rest of the year I have plans for what to see so another one won't come until sometime next month. This specifically was picked by me as more than once in the past I almost pulled the trigger on it but never did. Last night I finally did and while I understand those that found Hagazussa to be “too dull”, “languid”, or even “a cure for insomnia”.
The pace is indeed rather relaxed, even by my patient standards. Yet this isn't a Lav Diaz production; at least personally I was always captivated by the story. Comparisons to The Witch-or The VVitch, if you will-are obvious. After all, the setting is the 15th century and centers around witches, or at least a mom and daughter accused of being such and when the daughter becomes an adult herself, those accusations continue. There's even a black goat, although the two films are otherwise pretty different from each other. Whether or not the claims against the lead girl Albrun are true, her being ostracized from most others does take its toll.
A movie made in film school by Lukas Feiglfeld that was partially crowdfunded, there are some flaws such as the pace. That said, if you relax and pay attention you may find this to be quite the jam. That is an important aspect to note: the viewer has to pay attention as information is never spoonfed to them and you will miss key plot points if you aren't focused on the screen. It has nice performances, gorgeous rural Alps scenery, a suffocating atmosphere, a few haunting moments I'll never forget, several WTF moments, and an awesome dark ambient industrial music score that was atypical music in general-at least to my ears that rarely hears anything from the genre-and manages to be rather effective as when it is present, the unsettling mood it creates is perfect.
Not for all tastes-even for those that love The Witch-yet for some they'll enjoy the movie even more than I did.
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