The Substance

 

The Substance

2024

Director- Coralie Fargeat

Cast-Demi Moore, Margaret Qualley, Dennis Quaid

            Demi Moore plays Elizabeth Sparkle, a Hollywood star who was once all the rave but now finds herself becoming irrelevant the older she gets. These feelings are intensified by her boss (Dennis Quaid) who only sees value in someone young and pretty.

            Elizabeth finds out about an underground medical procedure that will supposedly create a younger, hotter, perfect version of herself, but with some vague stipulations. The procedure creates Sue, a young sexy girl with a near perfect body. The stipulation is that Sue and Elizabeth can’t exist together and their continued existence requires them to voluntarily relinquish control to each other in a seven day cycle.

            The movie is a kind of feminist Jekyll and Hyde but rather than focusing on the psychological implications of good and evil, it is a body horror focusing on the self-loathing that can come with decrepitude, especially for someone that has derived much of their self-worth from attractiveness.

            Pretty early in the film, you’ll notice the copious amounts of nudity and in your face sexuality, especially with Sue. But its not gratuitous. The overt, almost candy coated, sensuality is juxtaposed against images of increasing decay, creating a powerful effect on the viewer. Good horror is supposed to conjure up strong feelings and The Substance does that. It elicits arousal and revulsion in tandem.

           If you’re not familiar with “body horror”, the genre focuses on our relationship with our bodies; the biological, physical space that we occupy. The horror, rather than coming from an external source like a serial killer or a monster, comes from the loss of control of our own biology. Made famous by the films of David Cronenberg and Frank Henenlotter in the 1980s, the genre often uses mutation, mutilation or infection as the mechanism of horror. Our fears of disease and our fascination with botched plastic surgeries are real world examples of body horror at work in our lives.

Most body horror involves one or a few fantastic elements inserted into an otherwise mundane world. The Substance uses an unrealistic scenario to highlight our very real obsession with youth and beauty, as well as the extent that people are willing to go to hold onto them, even if only for a little while longer.

            It’s a very small-scale movie, basically a two woman show, creating a more intimate knowledge of the characters. Having said that, if you get the chance to see it on a big screen, I’d encourage it. The movie is very much visually oriented, getting much of its power from the images rather than the narrative. Fans of body horror will find a lot to like about The Substance. Even if you’re not familiar with that genre, the film will still create a lasting impression that will stick with you long after you’ve finished watching.

Dreamscape: A 40 Year Retrospective

 

Dreamscape: A 40 Year Retrospective

1984

Director- Joseph Ruben

Cast- Dennis Quaid, Max Von Sydow, Kate Capshaw, Christopher Plummer, David Patrick Kelley, George Wendt, Eddie Albert, Peter Jason

            Alex (Dennis Quaid) is a psychic who squanders his gifts leading an irresponsible lifestyle, supporting himself by gambling on horse races. He gets recruited into a secret, government funded project to enter people’s dreams. The project is ran by Max Von Sydow (Flash Gordon, Needful Things, The Seventh Seal), a pure scientist only interested in the exploratory possibilities. Behind him is a shadowy government figure (Christopher Plummer) who wants to use the program for spying and assassination.

The President of the United States is plagued by dreams of nuclear annihilation and is brought to the dream program for help with his nightmares. Alex is aided by a scientist (Kate Capshaw) and opposed by another psychic, Tommy Ray (David Patrick Kelly), a sociopath who is training to be a dream assassin.

Dreamscape was a highly original movie for its time with an all-star cast. But four decades later, how well has it aged? Does it still hold up and what is its place in film history?

Dreamscape was one of the first movies to be released with the PG-13 rating (right after Red Dawn, which was the first). Actually, it feels very much like the dark fantasy films that Disney was making in the late 70s and early 80s, films that would scare the crap out of you but didn’t have sex or too much violence. There's no nudity and minimal violence, so I think the PG-13 rating must have come from the disturbing imagery, which one might expect from a movie that takes place in dreams.

The special effects are all practical and still look pretty good, especially the Snakeman, a cobra headed monster that haunts a child’s nightmares. The dream world is a combination of post-apocalyptic landscapes and German Expressionism architecture.

The thing that really holds up are the performances. Max Von Sydow  was charismatic in any part and Christopher Plummer always played great Bond level villains. David Patrick Kelley, though, steals the show as the sociopathic Tommy Ray. David made a career of playing memorable villains. He’s probably best known as the gang member Luther, from The Warriors. Slightly younger fans might remember him as T-Bird in The Crow. Both of those villains, however, were chaotic. Tommy Ray is calculating and ice cold.

Given the fertile material that the dreamworld offers, its surprising that more films haven’t dipped into the premise of Dreamscape. Probably the best-known examples of similar movies are the supremely disturbing The Cell (2000), the Japanese anime Paprika (2006) and the Christopher Nolan thriller Inception (2010). Compared to those, Dreamscape blends some of the disturbing imagery of a horror film with science fiction concepts but also introduces elements of a political thriller via a plot to kill the President.

Something that sticks out to me after a recent viewing is how unlike an 80s movie it seems. The 80s fashions are toned down and there is no 80s music. This prevents the movie from feeling quaint and dated like a lot of other movies from the era.

Dreamscape won’t leave you scratching your head like Inception and it certainly won’t leave you needing therapy like The Cell. It walks a a middle ground, a little bit scary, a little bit thrilling, but still entertaining, even after 40 years. And though it was PG-13 by mid 80s standards, it has no nudity and minimal profanity or gore, so it’s a good film if you’re trying to put together a Halloween playlist suitable for younger viewers.

Abigail

 

Abigail

2024

Director- Matt Bettinelli-Olpin, Tyler Gillett

Cast- Alisha Weir, Melissa Barrera, Dan Stevens, Kathryn Newton, Will Catlett, Kevin Durand, Angus Cloud, Giancarlo Esposito, Matthew Goode

            A group of criminals, each with a specific skillset, is hired for a kidnapping job. Their target is the young daughter of some billionaire. Their goal is to ransom the girl back for 50 million dollars. Unbeknownst to them, the little girl is a vampire who quickly turns the tables on her would be abductors.

            It’s an interesting premise, but the film doesn’t rely on that one novel idea. Its much more creative than you’d expect from a medium budget Hollywood film. The directors have some horror bona fides, having directed Ready or Not and installments in the VHS and Scream franchises. You get your moneys worth with an hour and fifty-minute run time, but the movie never bogs down or gets boring. It starts at a quick pace and holds it up through most of the film.

            Probably the biggest contributing factor to the film’s enjoyability is its good cast, several of whom have experience in genre and horror films. The film’s protagonist, Melissa Barrera, has appeared in the last two Scream films and stars in the upcoming Your Monster.

Dan Stevens, who plays the leader of the motley crew, stared in the folk horror film, The Apostle, and is pulling double duty in the theatres right now, also appearing in Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire. This is also not his first vampire film, having appeared in Vamps with Alicia Silverstone way back in 2012.  

Kevin Durand, who plays the crews muscle, will definitely be a familiar face having starred in multiple episodes of the TV shows Stargate SG-1, Swamp Thing, The Strain and Dark Angel. He’s also pulling double duty in the theatres, starring in the upcoming Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes.

Giancarlo Esposito needs no introduction. He’s one of the best villains in Hollywood right now. The most familiar face to fans of new horror will be Kathryn Newton, who is carving out her own niche in Scream Queen fandom, having just starred in Lisa Frankenstein earlier this year.

            The film apparently started as a reimagining of Universal’s Dracula’s Daughter. If so, that concept went out the window pretty quick. Dracula’s Daughter is a serious lesbian vampire film exploring some pretty heavy themes. Abigial is a fun horror movie that isn’t as much a horror comedy as much as light hearted gore with haunted house trappings. Besides the cast, the film also has a good score and pretty good make up and FX with buckets and buckets of blood.

            If you are expecting a serious, fear inducing horror film, this isn’t it. On the other hand, if you want something entertaining with some actual surprises without cheap jump scares, check out Abigail.

Green Snake

 

Green Snake

1993

Director- Tsui Hark

Cast- Maggie Cheung, Joey Wong, Vincent Zhao, Wu Hsing-kuo

            Based on a Chinese folk tale, Green Snake is the story of two snake spirits that take the forms of beautiful young women.

White Snake (Joey Wong) is 1,000 years old and seeks out a relationship with a local school teacher whom she views as a nice and honest man. White’s aspiration is to move along the karmic wheel and become a human and sees her relationship with the school teacher as part of that journey.

Green Snake (Maggie Cheung) is much younger (only 500 years old) and as such is impetuous and flirty. Not interested in being human, she still enjoys being a snake. She sets her sights on a young, powerful Buddhist monk. White warns Green about the folly of this, as the monk has little tolerance for non-humans and is a powerful demon hunter.

White pursues her romance with the school teacher and Green becomes jealous for what she doesn’t have. She flirts with the school teacher, creating tension between the couple and her sister. What’s worse, White has hidden her true nature from the school teacher who doesn’t seem to have what it takes to handle the truth, forcing White to live a lie to hold on to love.

Wanting a romance of her own, Green decides to turn up the heat with the monk. He indulges her flirtation, believing his willpower can resist her erotic charms. He fails miserably, and instead of accepting responsibility for his own weakness, he turns his anger on the snake sisters, vowing to destroy them.

At first glance, Green Snake is similar to the Chinese Ghost Story trilogy. Tsui Hark produced those films and directed Green Snake. Joey Wong stars in all of them. All take place in a fantasy feudal Chinese setting. But the similarities are all superficial.

Chinese Ghost Story is an optimistic story, essentially saying that love can conquer all, even death. Green Snake, on the other hand, tells us that love doesn’t have much of a chance against prejudice, fear, and religious zeal. The demon hunting monk is as single minded and self-righteous as any European witch hunter.

The hope for growth, and it’s pain, is also a central theme. Early in the story, the monk comes across a spider that has been working hard to reincarnate as a human. The monk dismisses the spider’s efforts and condemns it to restart its work on the karmic wheel. As White becomes more human, the gap between she and Green becomes apparent. A wedge is driven between the sisters through no one’s fault.

Beyond its central themes, Tsui Hark spends a lot of effort constructing beautiful visual images. The special effects aren’t nearly as convincing as Chinese Ghost Story, but Green Snakes’ sets are vivid and almost other worldly. Chinese Ghost Story, by virtue of its story, was set in dark, gloomy surroundings. Green Snake is quite bright and vibrant, which, in the end, just serves to highlight the somber message it is juxtaposed against.

Green Snake isn’t as entertaining as Chinese Ghost Story (which is, in my opinion, the best thing to have come from the hey day of Hong Kong cinema with the exception of maybe 2 or 3 other films). Green Snake is a harder film to watch because of its somber message. But it is thought provoking and moving and worth a view for any fan of folk horror, Eastern mythology, or classic Hong Kong cinema.

Want more? Check out a review of the entire Chinese Ghost Story saga here: