The Celluloid Bough

Hammer Horror, Reclothed in Black

2012-01-28T07:14:00.000-08:00

The new film forthcoming the Hammer Horror studios is attracting plenty of attention, and this recent piece in the New York Times reiterates the significance of this movie maker's renaissance. Known for decades as a defining maverick in British Horror, the studio has been silent for a number of years...but has recently come back with some very high-quality films.

"The early efforts by the rebooted Hammer, including the acclaimed remake “Let Me In” and “The Resident,” have not found huge box office success. But Mr. Oakes, the chief executive and president, said that those were only “building blocks” setting up his ambitious next move, a $13 million adaptation of “The Woman in Black,” opening Friday. Like the classic Hammer movies, this ghost story, shot in Britain, is a period piece with a high-toned pedigree. (Adapted from a Susan Hill novella, it also was a long-running West End play.) In keeping with Hammer tradition, it has a star. In his first post-Harry Potter film role, Daniel Radcliffe plays a guilt-ridden father and lawyer who starts seeing ghosts while going through the estate of a recently deceased woman. “For Hammer to succeed, it has to honor its legacy,” Mr. Oakes said by Skype." (The New York Times, January 27, 2012)

Let Me In was, of course, a very well-received remake of a Swedish film most thought would fail miserably in an American context. The notion that it was merely a warm-up for the sort of work Hammer really wants to showcase is rather thrilling. As the article points out, younger horror fans may have little to no familiarity with Hammer's legacy and its domination of the horror genre for so many years. To revive its reputation with this ambitious period piece is a well-considered move and one that many of us are eagerly looking forward to. It doesn't hurt that Daniel Radcliffe, a young English actor who has proven his worth via the Harry Potter franchise and recent turns on London and New York stages, is the star. Fearnet.com features this short behind the scenes video that whets the appetite nicely.

Will The Woman in Black bring back the visual and atmospheric hallmarks of the Hammer vampire films of the 1970s? Will it feature tall, willowy women in pale diaphanous gowns moving gracefully through misty churchyards? Perhaps not. But a girl can hope, can't she? Those scenes haunted my childhood and to me they simply scream "Hammer Horror."

Ken Russell: Maverick artist behind THE DEVILS has died at 84

2011-11-28T06:48:00.000-08:00

The controversial, artful and always iconic filmmaker Ken Russell died peacefully in his sleep yesterday, aged 84.

Just last week I was enjoying the girlish feeling of giggling to myself over the fact that filmmaker Ken Russell was my Facebook friend. After he accepted my friend request I wrote to him, "Sir, I love you." His page was actually quite active (he called himself "Unkle Ken Russell") and I imagine he had an assistant or two help him with it. An "event" page was created for the highly-anticipated DVD release of his 1971 film The Devils, which was announced barely two weeks ago. Do join and show your support so that this amazing film can find a new generation of appreciative viewers; it has been unavailable except in poor copies for decades now, partly due to its controversial content. Upon its release it was given a special award in Italy, even as it was banned from being shown in theatres there, due to its damning view of catholicism. This recent interview with Russell from The Guardian looks at the film 40 years later.

Perhaps more than any other, it is this film, about the execution of French priest Urbain Grandier (Oliver Reed in one of his most memorable roles), accused as a heretic, which roils colorfully in the minds of occult film buffs. With its depraved nuns (one of them the glorious Vanessa Redgrave, in a terrifying role as the lovesick, hunchbacked Mother Superior), its hippie-esque witchfinder, and its eclectic, anachronistic design (with sets by a very young Derek Jarman, himself a legendary filmmaker who died tragically young), this unforgettable film relates the fact-based story of an arrogant man wrongly accused of trafficking with the devil. In the late 17th century, of course, this was a sure path to the stake.

Because it is layered with fragments of contemporary iconography, music, morality and cultural references, it is of particular interest to audiences familiar with the contemporary occult revival, which was in full swing by 1971, and certainly influenced Russell's treatment of the story (based on Aldous Huxley's 1952 book The Devils of Loudun).

Russell's work was an acquired taste, some said. And although many of his films were widely admired (like Women in Love(1969), an Oscar nominee), or the rock musical Tommy(1975), or Altered States, or one of my favorites, Mahler(1974), about the reclusive composer, Russell's insistence on utilizing shocking imagery to the point of oversaturation did repel some viewers, just as his use of anachronistic music confused others (as with the decadent Salome's Last Dance(1988), or Gothic(1986), a dark, imaginative look at the creation of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein).
Not content to sit behind the camera, Russell also appeared in front of it, acting in over two dozen films (sometimes appearing as himself). I particularly enjoyed a brief cameo of him in the stunning 206 pseudo-documentary Brothers of the Head, in which he played a tongue-in-cheek version of himself, an elderly filmmaker unable to finish his project due to lack of funding and other difficulties, situations not unfamiliar to Russell in his later years.

It is a sad reality that many artists do not enjoy proper respect in their autumn years, even those who continue to work as Russell did. I trust Unkle Ken's extraordinary legacy will be a potent reminder of the need to appreciate and honor such artists during their lifetimes.

Macabre AND Educational!

2011-11-18T06:22:00.000-08:00

Indiewire reports that the gruesome and oddly amusing claymation film T IS FOR TOILET has been named the winner of the "Next Great Horror Filmmaker" for its creator Lee Hardcastle. The film was submitted along with many others to a competition sponsored by Drafthouse Films, Magnet Pictures, and Timpson Films, which will produce a film "anthology" of 26 segments by different filmmakers called "The ABCs of Death" which was inspired...are you ready?...by children's education books! Each letter of the alphabet is represented.

I doubt the film anthology is intended for children but you never know. This sounds like a fascinating project. You can watch T IS FOR TOILET In its entirety at the linked page.

Two Bits of Movie News!

2011-06-22T16:51:00.000-07:00

First, I had an interesting discussion about the film BLACK DEATH with Theofantastique's John Morehead. Check it out if you have time. John and I hope to have future discussions about spirituality and film.

Second, I just posted over at The Witching Hour blog on the plans to make a film out of Starhawk's novel The Fifth Sacred Thing, and the new Kickstarter campaign to raise funds in the planning stages.

Happy Birthday, Kenneth Anger!

2011-02-02T19:52:00.000-08:00

Kenneth Anger, the filmmaker who made some of the most surreal, glorious and occult-themed films in history celebrates his 83rd birthday today. If you haven't seen his entire collection of short films they're available in two wonderful Criterion DVD editions, Volumes 1 and 2. The disks include a terrific accompanying booklet with commentary by filmmakers Gus Van Sant, Guy Maddin, and Martin Scorcese, who describes Anger's undeniable influence upon contemporary filmmakers, and an intriguing introduction to Lucifer Rising by Bobby Beausoleil, Anger's collaborator who became involved with the Manson Family and is currently serving a life sentence in prison for his role in several murders.

Anger's films Inauguration of the Pleasure Dome (featuring Anais Nin as Astarte), Lucifer Rising, Invocation of my Demon Brother and Lucifer Rising are all seminal films of occult cinema, and form the basis for the imagery and tone of many occult-based films that came in their wake. Anger was himself an occult practitioner, and every one of his films is a ritual unto itself. Mr. Anger, we salute you and your visionary body of work.

Black Death

2010-12-21T19:36:00.000-08:00

Christopher Smith's new film Black Death, opening in the US in March 2011, stars Sean Bean as a medieval warrior exploring a mystery: why do the inhabitants of one small village seem immune to the plague?

In a recent post discussing the new Dominic Sena film, the much-hyped Season of the Witch (opening January 7, 2011), Jason at The Wild Hunt mentioned Black Death as a plague story sure to give the Nicolas Cage vehicle a run for its money. Judging from the trailer, it certainly seems to be less sensational, although the story includes a supernatural component. I also like the look of the cinematography. And it has a great cast, including Bean, British character actor Tim McInnerny, and John Lynch.

Films about the plague are few and far between. Certainly the best known is Ingmar Bergman's The Seventh Seal (1957), starring a young Max von Sydow as a young Crusades knight who plays chess with Death, and sacrifices himself to save a young family from the plague. The Navigator: A Medieval Odyssey (1988) is an intriguing anachronistic film about a young boy who travels through time to save his village from the plague. One of my favorites is Roger Corman's Masque of the Red Death (1964), based on the Edgar Allen Poe short story and starring Vincent Price.

All of these films have occult elements, given the superstitious beliefs surrounding the plague. Ignorance about disease pathology and communicability led many people to think the plague was a curse, caused by witchcraft or demonic possession. In a season of cinema that seems increasingly interested in the topic of exorcism (such as The Last Exorcism and the forthcoming The Rite), this trend of plague films is intriguing, to say the least.

Sorry to have been neglecting this blog in recent months, folks! Maybe some of you have found my new blog The Witching Hour, devoted to pagan perspectives on television, cinema and other media. But I will try to continue to post content on cinema and the occult here, and strive to do so more often than I have in recent months!

New Documentary: American Mystic

2010-04-14T07:43:00.001-07:00

This new film by Alex Mar is currently screening at the Tribeca Film Festival. It's a close study of three different practitioners of alternative spiritual paths, including a Spiritualist in New York, a pagan priestess in rural California, and a Native American shaman/sundancer in South Dakota. The film is as much about landscape and how it inspires spiritual engagement, as it is about these three people and their specific beliefs and practices.

I hope you'll all keep an eye out for this film and go to see it if/when it comes to your city, and buy it when it becomes available on DVD. I am going to try and get a screening copy so I can post a review here. Jason at the Wild Hunt Blog has also posted some great coverage of this film, and has spoken with the filmmaker and producer, so watch his site for a possible forthcoming interview.

The Road

2009-12-30T05:31:00.001-08:00

My review of The Road, John Hillcoat's film of Cormac McCarthy's novel, is up at Cinefantastique Online.

I haven't read McCarthy's Pulitzer-Prize winning novel, but plan to soon. I found very horrifying and moving, with wonderful performances and a very effective visual design. This post-apocalyptic world is horrifyingly plausible, and very thought-provoking. It seems that survivalism has been quietly increasing out there, and not long ago I blogged about the phenomenon of "green survivalism" which is a new twist on the old stereotype. Hoarding antibiotics and ammunition has, for some people, been augmented by learning how to grow and preserve food. And if McCarthy's vision of the future is accurate, there will definitely be a need for food preservation, as there won't be a single tree, shrub or blade of grass left, much less any animals. I think this film ought to be required viewing for anyone in a position of power who makes decisions regarding our nuclear, agricultural or military future. But then, I doubt anyone would actually learn anything.

Season of the Witch

2009-11-21T06:28:00.001-08:00

This new film starring Nicolas Cage and Ron Perlman and directed by Dominic Sena (Gone in Sixty Seconds) portrays a medieval warrior (Cage) who is given the task of escorting a witch (Claire Foy) through the French countryside to stand trial for causing the spread of the Black Plague.

This trailer gives a taste: flaming pentagrams, leaping wolves, telekinetic acrobatics, and lots of horses! Oh, goody: another evil witchcraft film. At least this one looks like it might have an authentic medieval look. Season of the Witch is slated to open in March 2010.

I'd have preferred an adaptation of James Leo Herlihy's excellent novel of the same title; or even a 90 minute video of Donovan performing his classic song. But no.

Rest in Peace, Sergeant Howie

2009-11-16T09:22:00.000-08:00

British actor Edward Woodward has passed away at the age of 79. He will be remembered fondly by many pagan film lovers for his excellent portrayal of Sergeant Howie in Robin Hardy's 1973 horror classic The Wicker Man.

My obituary of him appears here. Woodward was a consummate actor of stage, screen and television, as well as an accomplished singer. He wa salso well regarded for his roles in Breaker Morant and The Equalizer. He was also a lusty, powerful Ghost of Christmas Present in A Christmas Carol with George C. Scott (pictured above). But he will always be Sergeant Neil Howie to many of us: repressed, arrogant, condescending, complex, vulnerable, naive, doomed.

It's difficult to estimate the influence of this strange and beautiful film on the contemporary pagan community. Some pagan viewers find it horrifying; some treat it as pure camp and fun. But for many of us, it represents a dreamlike vision of what is possible within a truly Utopian context, albeit an extreme and bloodthirsty one. But I feel sure many who have dreamed of founding pagan schools and pagan villages have had these images and words in their minds: Miss Rose's pedantic lectures on phallic symbols, the impresario Lord Summerisle's ritual orchestrations, the nightly lovemaking in the town green, the gathering of pregnant women in the blossoming orchards, the constant performance of music. I can think of worse models to emulate.

Farewell, Mr. Woodward, and thank you for sharing your gifts. They will be the stuff of many fond memories for many years to come.

Robin Hardy in New York!

2009-10-20T18:12:00.000-07:00

Director Robin Hardy will be hosting a Q & A following a screening of 1973's The Wicker Man at 92Y in Tribeca, and will also present a teaser/trailer of the new film, The Wicker Tree! A very exciting event, also with live music by Effi Briest, Silver Summit and Wooden Shjips. More information from the Village Voice online.

Sure wish I could be there! I hope you New Yorkers will let us know how it goes!

Ponyo: Pagan? or Pedestrian?

2009-08-29T13:18:00.000-07:00

For anyone interested in its possible pagan themes, I regret to inform that Hayao Miyazaki's eagerly-awaited new film PONYO is a huge disappointment. That's not to say the art direction and animation are not first rate as always. But, by combining forces with Disney, Studio Ghibli has produced a film aimed at kids that simply hasn't the depth, heart or magic of Miyazaki's former masterpieces PRINCESS MONONOKE, SPIRITED AWAY or HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE. Even KIKI'S DELIVERY SERVICE (about the child witch, remember?) has more soul than this.

I have a brief review posted here. I don't go into the underutilized pagan imagery and themes. The fact that Ponyo is a fish born of a mortal man (a wizard no less!) and a sea goddess, who becomes a girl through sheer force of will and her own suggested magical powers, or that Ponyo (it is said) can helo restore the balance of the world through love, are all things which could have been powerful threads in the story. But the details of Ponyo's abilities are almost nonexistent. The reason for the earth's inbalance (maybe to do with all the garbage by the sea shore?) are unexplained. And the relationship between the mortal wizard and the sea goddess (voiced by Liam Neeson and Cate Blanchett, no less) is unsatisfyingly vague. Pity. The film is sumptuous to look upon and often thrilling in its fast-paced action. But the ideas and symbolism so clearly aching to be given expression are given a back seat to silly dialogue and juvenile humor. I blame Disney. Hayao, please stick with your own studio next time.

In other movie news: as always Jason at The Wild Hunt has some interesting updates on the WICKER MAN remake, which has been retitled The Wicker Tree. It seems financial difficulties have been addressed and the production is moving ahead. Speed the Day!

Review of Synechdoche, New York

2009-03-09T11:58:00.000-07:00

My review of Charlie Kauffman's excellent film SYNECHDOCHE, NEW YORK is up now at Cinefanastique Online. This is my first review for this long-standing magazine devoted to horror cinema. I pitched the idea of SYNECHDOCHE as a horror film, which it was originally meant to be. I'm happy to be published in this fine mag and am glad to see them going strong on the web.

Witches on TV! Again!

2009-01-23T11:41:00.001-08:00

Variety.com reports that ABC is developing the John Updike novel (or, more likely, the schlocky film somewhat based on it) for television, with Maggie Friedman of Dawson's Creek as head writer.

My main problem with the film is that, first of all, the main characters were made far more glamorous than their portrayal in the novel. Sukie, Jane and Alexandra were played by Michelle Pfeiffer, Susan Sarandon and Cher, respectively. This took away from the significant issues of competition and sexual viability these women-approaching-middle-age were feeling. Alex was meant to be considerably overweight, for example, and, in the novel, envied Jane's and Sukie's thinness. The competition among them was so fierce, in fact, that the three witches decide to create a spell to kill a young woman who steals the object of their affection from them (Daryl Van Horne, played with delicious devilry by Jack Nicholson). That's the other very important plot point left out: the decision to perform an act of magic that amounts to murder. The sequel novel, The Widows of Eastwick, begins with the idea that the guilt over this murder (performed fifteen years earlier) is still very much alive in Alexandra, at least (I have only read 22 pages or so).

I am an eager to finish reading it, although I highly doubt a film version will be made about older, unglamorous witches. I always hoped someone else would try this again for the large or small screen and deal with the story in a more faithful and this more interesting way. I think it would work in an arthouse kind of way.

Why can't Hollywood engage a complex, realistic novel in a complex, realistic way?

Satanists on TV!

2009-01-22T18:11:00.001-08:00

The previews for next week's new episode of NCIS show an episode dealing with satanism and the occult, complete with one victim who has a huge pentagram tattooed on his back. Because this show is both smart and funny, I hope they'll deal with this topic in a less offensive way than The Mentalist did last week. Check out the controversy over that on the Wild Hunt Blog.

Cinefantastique is now online!

2009-01-11T06:38:00.000-08:00

Thanks to John Morehead for making me aware of this. I am very excited to be able to access this excellent resource for cinema buffs and academics alike. There is a section of archived articles I am practicaly drooling over!

The classic mag for all things cinema in the realms of horror, fantasy, sci-fi and weird, now lives online here. Make sure you link to it! This magazine has published some wonderful articles over the years, including a lengthy and definitive one on The Wicker Man that can be found in its entirety here--you're welcome.

John Boorman speaks!

2008-11-21T21:07:00.000-08:00

It was wonderful to meet filmmaker John Boorman, who accepted the 2008 Excellence Award form the Boston Irish Film Festival this evening, in recognition of his achievements in cinema. Boorman made some brief remarks after the screening of his stunning film The General, and then answered questions from the audience. I had spoken with him briefly earlier, and even got him to sign my two souvenir items: the book John Boorman by film critic and scholar Michel Ciment, and a copy of a shooting script of Excalibur that I bought at least ten years ago in a bookstore in Harvard Square.

I didn't think I'd end up with any chance to do an actual interview, because t was already getting late, so decided to ask about the one film left out of the tribute clips shown: The Exorcist 2: The Heretic. When I mentioned it a couple of people in the audience laughed (rude!) and Boorman at first said "Oh, yes, we left that one out, didn't we?" as if he had not at first noticed it missing from the clips and introductory remarks. He then talked about how he had first been offered the chance to direct the first Exorcist film, but being committed to working n Deliverance made it difficult, and as well, he found the subject matter "quite horrifying: as the father of a number of daughters,I thought this was primarily about the torture of a child." He then said he later read a three-page treatment for The Heretic, based on the work of Teilhard de Chardin, and the central theme was the notion of goodness. He then said doing the film in the way he did ended up being "a terrible mistake" because audiences simply "wanted more of the same" and expected a sequel to be just like the original. He said audiences were "shouting and throwing things at the screen." In spite of this, Boorman said, "It's a good film and certainly it is some of my best work, I think." He then said that so much of what makes for success in film is "hitting the audience at the right time with the right film, it has to be in the zeitgeist of getting it right." He then mentioned that Point Blank did not do wel with American audiences until it was re-released two years after its first premiere, and insisted its success the second time was purely because of timing. "If you're ahead of the audience, you're all right, but if you're ahead of them it doesn't work."

There were some other interesting questions and answers. One man asked why The General was filmed in black and white. Boorman talked of an idea I often discuss in my classes: that the act of watching cinema is like being in a dream state. "Cinema is like dreaming, and we tend to dream in black and white (not me, John! in fact the night after this conversation I had a vivid dream in which I was wearing a rainbow colored gown). If you use black and white you can create a contiguous world that is much more powerful that portraying it in color. But I regret that it's not always possible to make black and white films these days. You can't sell them to television, because TV simply doesn't ant to show newer films that are in black and white,which cuts off your revenues and this makes it very hard selling distributors on the idea. I don't know why this is, it turns people away somehow, perhaps they think it's old or old-fashioned."

(There were more questions from the audience, and answers, including some fascinating comments on film versus video, which I will transcribe in when I have more time later.)

A bit later, when I had a moment to speak again to Mr. Boorman directly, I asked him about color in Excalibur, to which he replied: "We wanted a luminous quality for the entire film, and so we lit everything. Al the forest scenes in particular, we lit with green light, the rocks, the moss on the trees, everything." I asked why green? Was it about nature, or some fairy or magical meaning? He said this was "to underscore the importance and power of nature." A man near us was interested in this subject and brought up other colors (red,etc.) and I mentioned my theory of how each character has a unique color and element palette. I discuss this a bit in my film notes for the Brattle Theatre, where is showing again this Sunday.

It was a thrill to meet Mr. Boorman and hear his commentary. You all can have this same opportunity this evening, when the director will be present at the Harvard Film Archive for the screening of his excellent, controversial film Hell in the Pacific.

John Boorman coming to Boston

2008-11-07T15:11:00.000-08:00

Filmmaker John Boorman will be honored with the Excellence Award at this year's Boston Irish Film Festival. The festival runs from November 13-24 at the Brattle Theatre and the Harvard Film Archive.

We plan to explore some of Boorman's films in The Celluloid Bough; namely Excalibur and Exorcist 2: The Heretic. I have requested the opportunity tointerview Boorman when he is here but his publicists tell ne he is tryong to avoid ding too many interviews; he had agreed to two, has ended up committing to three and mine would be a fourth. Fingers crossed he will wish to be interviewed for our book! The other interviews are, I imagine, for newspapers: mere ephemera!

Mr. Boorman's work stands out as some of the finest in contemporary British cinema. His artistry and skill have been somewhat undersung, I feel. Michel Ciment's book is a fine and fascinating exploration of Boorman's earlist films, through The Emerald Forest.

Why Rob Zombie's Halloween is the Best Halloween

2008-10-29T06:27:00.000-07:00

I rewatched Rob Zombie's remake of Halloween (now available in an unrated cut on DVD) and was once again stunned at what a gorgeous film it is. The first time I saw it, I thought it left too many things unanswered (why did this child who exploded in rage one day decide to suddenly stop speaking and stay silent for over a decade?). But I realized Zombie did go much further than any of the other films in the franchise in trying to offer at least some background on this compelling character, one of the scariest killers in horror cinema.

The film's casting is first rate, and the wonderful tongue-in-cheek choices of character actors who have played killers themselves (Malcolm McDowell, Brad Dourif, Udo Kier, Clint Howard, etc.) is a touch of genius, and Zombie faves like William Forsythe, his wife Sheri Moon Zombie (wonderful as Michael's imperfect but loving mother) and Ken Foree add their considerable talents even to small roles. But perhaps the shining star here is young Daeg Faerch who plays Michael Myers at age 10. Cherubic and world-weary, he is entirely believable as a child whose abuse at the hands of bullies causes him to snap.

Perhaps Zombie's finest achievement in this film is in the moods it captures. The photography (by the excellent Phil Parmet, who Zombie also worked with on House of 1000 Corpses and The Devil's Rejects) and art direction (by T. K. KIrkpatrick) create a suburban community in the grip of Halloween circa 1978 and the present. The small details are mundane but atmospheric: all the pumpkins, the autumn foliage, the middle class houses and ramshackle bungalows. When we see an affluent neighborhood that looks strangely deserted during the killing sprees, the total silence that immediately ensues behind heavy wooden doors slammed shut, we understand the safety of such neighborhoods is really just a form of isolation. The final sequence, when Laurie (Scout Taylor-Compton) is scrambling deeper and deeper into the old house, trying to escape Michael Myers by squirming into holes and breaking through rotting walls, is terrifying and entirely plausible. Zombie is a thorough director who makes sense out of sequences of events, a skill lacking in much of modern horror direction.

Zombie succeeds as a director where earlier ones have failed; some of the previous versions (like Halloween 4) leave big chunks of narrative out, with characters going from being attacked to being outdoors, and talking about how they were "drugged"--huh? by whom? and ow long were you out? and what happened while you were unconscious? He follows character actions through to their logical conclusions. He also manages to fill in narrative information with effective visual shorthand (Michael's obsession with masks is particularly well handled). And if we are no closer to understanding why Michael Myers is an unrepentant killer, we are at least closer to understanding how the suburbs can easily produce monsters.

True Blood: a pre-review

2008-09-07T19:05:00.000-07:00

Saw the premiere of this show tonight. We don't have HBO but thank goodness, there was a free preview weekend going on (just enough to get people hooked maybe?)

I will be writing a longer review of this soon, but suffice it to say for now, I think this is going to be one addictive show. Ya know, like it will get under your skin. Keep you up nights. Okay, enough lame vampirism metaphors.

Though the overall tone of this was very different from Six Feet Under, Alan Ball's previous creation, it had the same level of complexity, if not the same subtlety, and there was definitely a sense of Ball's rich visual design elements. I found the acting occasionally a little underwhelming at times (though when it was good, it was very good), and the dialogue a little bit too expository at times, but then the first episode of SFU had a somewhat forced feel to some of the dialogue and acting, too.

Set in New Orleans, with what looks like a first rate (if mostly unknown) cast (kind of like SFU), this story of vampires in a world where vampirism has come to be accepted (if not embraced) is erotic, smart and shockingly violent. Maybe the occasional artificiality of the dialogue will cease to be a problem as the show finds it groove. Maybe I will get used to Anna Pacquin as a blonde. I am really look forward to seeing more of it; it would certainly be worth paying for HBO to be able to watch it!

Oh, and I can already tell, it's anthology worthy...we'll see if the usual suspects slobber all over it any time soon.

Interview with Raymond Salvatore Harmon

2008-04-29T17:18:00.000-07:00

We are very pleased to present an interview with Raymond Salvatore Harmon. Raymond is an artist and filmmaker whose work uses the occult as a point of inspiration and practice. He has also lectured extensively, most recently at Goldsmiths University, London; New Nothing Cinema, San Francisco; and the University of Lodz Film School, Poland among others. Here he discusses with Hannah his recent performance of 'Rites of Eleusis' and his process as an artist.

Celluloid Bough: Hello Raymond, and thanks for taking the time to conduct this interview with us. I wonder if we could begin by discussing the relationship between your work and occultism as a living practice.

Raymond Salvatore Harmon: I have been fascinated by both film and the occult from a very early age. I devoured my middle school library for books of mythologies and witchcraft. Soon exhausting this I discovered that the local library had an "interloan" system that let me get books from any library in the system. I soon found myself in possession of books like Transcendental Magic by Eliphas Levi and Francis Barrett's the Magus. Good food for the growing mind of a 13 year old boy.

My personal practice has grow out of a wide range of interests in cultural traditions toward mystical ideologies. How we approach this sense of the beyond, what it means to be perceptually aware of this beyond state, and how the form of existence relates to our perception of reality. I have sought the state of being that is beyond self, fully externalized and yet experientially aware, and this quest has lead me to incorporate these questions into all of my work, be it film, sound, painting, writing, or performing.

As a filmmaker one possesses a role that incorporates that of painter, composer and writer. You are scripting the frames of reality that the viewer experiences. Whether these frames depict realistic narrative stories or abstract evolving forms the director of a film decides what goes where. At a certain point in my work these two sets of ideas and practices, the mystical and the cinematic, converged. That point was YHVH.

CB: Your work as an artist and experimental filmmaker is informed by occultism in varying forms. Can you tell us a little about how you came to this synthesis in your artistic work?

RSH: The use of occult and mystical iconography dates back to my earliest paintings. Throughout my life my artistic work has continually delved into the forms associated with the occult traditions. Yet the use of art, particularly cinema, for practical ritual exploration is something that came to me during the creation of my first occult piece YHVH. I realized during this particular piece that the video content was capable of accessing parts of the subconscious mind and that it would make a perfect carrier signal for subliminal content. I started experimenting that very minute with incorporating various levels of subliminal content, each layer that could actually be seen really just a distraction from the intended path of the initiate.

After several attempts to incorporate more complex subliminal content I stumbled onto my current frame of working and have been developing it since. I have been recently looking into further systems to deliver various kinds of subliminal content to the viewer. I think in the future I could see working with complex flash based video since the web seems to be taking over as the content source. But for now the only films that have actual sub content are the dvds.

CB: Would you describe for us something of the artistic process that you go through in approaching the construction of a new piece of work?

RSH: Much of my work in general, and all of the occult films to date, have developed out of an extended process of experimentation with different forms. These forms are constructed from various pieces of video equipment, mostly hand modified and circuit bent, all made to create a signal path in relation to the content. I push the video signal in various ways, attempting to discover new forms within the static and noise. Once I have captured a particular form to tape I then edit this down to various sizes. YHVH, for instance, started out as 6 hours of content but was cut to only 22 minutes of film.

During the editing process I correct the color to be in tune to certain frequencies and to resonate with other color frequencies that are known to affect the conscious mind in specific ways. Boosting certain reds, shifting blues to greens. All of this changes what the individuals experience with the piece is going to be. I notice that the major changes that occur in the creation process between each of my pieces is dependent on what music I am listening to while experimenting with the video signal path. I am an omnivorous music listener, not a fan of super pop but there is not a genre of music I do not listen to if I know about it.

The other side to all of this is when I start with video that documents my environment. About half of the pieces use a prerecorded source set for their original content. Most of this is now something I have shot on my phone camera. Low-res abstract movements. The way a cloud moves in the sky, or water on some surface. The Rites of Eleusis uses source documentation shot in Brighton and London on my phone. Mostly super closeups of tiny events happening around us everyday.

So I take footage of my life and the world around me and push it through various math patterns to see what it comes out like on the other side. Then I edit this down to an abstract film meant to carry a layer of subliminal content. I am subliminally feeding the world I experience to my viewers as abstraction while exposing them to various tracts of numerous mystical traditions.

CB: Your recent work, 'Rites of Eleusis', recontextualises the ritual performance piece designed by Aleister Crowley and Leila Waddell. Could you tell us a little about this particular work and its relationship to Crowley's envisioning of it?

RSH: Crowley originally scripted a set of seven individual rites, each of these rites a ceremonial recreation of a Greek mystery based on one of the seven planets of classic cosmology. His intent as far as is known, was to introduce this kind of theatrical form of occult practice to a wider public. Similar to the public acceptance to the original Eleusisian Mysteries in ancient Greece; making the mysteries known, etc.

In approaching the creation of my piece the Rites of Eleusis I intended from the start to remove the theatrical form of Crowley's original work. By stripping away a stage of people and replacing those variables with a set of evolving abstract shapes I am capable of tuning sensitive viewers into a form that is happening within the film. During this "tuned in" state the viewer becomes much more prone to subliminal suggestion. Within the context of the film I edit the entire text of Crowley's original Rites into the visual field at a subliminal level (roughly 1/30 of a second). Try as you may you can not see this content, but your retina is sensitive to it and your brain does capture the data. By reducing the 7 Rites to 7 seven minute long films the shape of the subliminal content is more intense. Requiring repetitive editing and shifts of scale within the visual field.

Using the score as a cement to meld the two layers of visual content together creates an almost immersive environment for the viewer. The goal is to achieve a perceptual submersion into the abstract form itself. Once "within" the visual field the viewer is then able to explore their own subconscious landscape without the confines of the perception of 3 dimensional existence. Though viewing this kind of work in a static form (say from a dvd) is practical for individual ritual working the best chance at a totally immersive experience is to see it performed live. It has been often pointed out to me that there is something more immediate and physical at the live performances. It probably stems from my reaction to the crowd.

CB: Obviously you are inspired by Crowley's work - but are there other occultists and filmmakers that inform your film making?

RSH: Probably the single biggest occult influence on my filmmaking has been the 17th century English alchemist Thomas Vaughan. His writings are astounding and his understanding of the complex nature of the universe is often overlooked in the history of the occult. His work "Lumen de lumine" is an astounding discourse on the nature of the universal light. Absolutely beautifully written.

Beyond Vaughn the ethno-musicologist and experimental filmmaker Harry Smith is a huge influence on my life. His films are amazing and his archivist tendencies at music preservation are unparalleled. Harry led an amazing life and left a great biography in his wake, some of it fictional but all of it inspiring. I am currently working on a documentary about Lionel Ziprin, whom Harry lived with and whose grandfather (renowned Orthodox rabbi, Rabbi Nuftali Zvi Margolies Abulafia) was recorded by Harry singing and incanting in Hebrew and Yiddish in the early 1950s. It may turn out that I am working on a Harry Smith documentary as well, in time.

My work is influenced by so many things, music, literature, culture, art. I am particularly drawn to minds that think outside of the norm, that approach life and existence from a new prespective. People like Joseph Gikatilla, Jerzy Grotowski, Stan Brakhage, Antonin Artaud, Alfred Jarry, Aleister Crowley, Georges Bataille, Julio Cortázar, John Cage, Moshe ben Shem-Tov, Alvin Lucier, Eddie Prevost - in general people who push at the boundaries of life.

CB: Your work has been described as filmmaking that goes beyond the purely visual, but instead is designed to be incorporated into ritual. Can you detail for us some of the ways you imagine this, of how film can be a ritual tool, if you will?

RSH: The use of light in the shape of ritual in any cultural context is already known. Candles, lamps, fire, all play an important part in detailing the form of the ritual practice of religion and magic in any culture. This controlled lighting is something that goes back to the earliest rituals of humankind. The advent of cinema in the 20th century lead to eventual study on its affects on the human mind and the shape of human conscious while experiencing the illusion of life that is film. From detailed accounts of such research man is now able to utilize color, form, and sound together to achieve certain desired affects on the human mind. (look at marketing research for television as an extreme example).

Once we are capable of knowing how specific colors and sounds affect us we can then approach using these controls as a means for creating specific psychological states. By utilizing transcendental cinema to expand the perception of reality beyond the sense of self we can achieve a state of mental contemplation in tune with a particular working.

From a passive meditation standpoint occult/transcendental film can be used to simply bring us perceptually out of ourselves, giving us the freedom to move around outside the confines of 3 dimensional existence. From an active magick ritual point of view these films can be used to focus the mind on a particular occult working, say a conjuration or invocation. All in tune with the purpose of the individual occult film.

What transcendental cinema offers the occult practitioner is the first new tool in the occult since the birth of audio recording/playback. It is the symbolic fifth tool, the Lamp, that accesses the mind through our most powerful sense - sight. Through it the viewer can begin their journey toward the light.

Obviam Lux Lucis!

CB: Thank you so much, Raymond, for taking the time tp speak with us. We look forward to seeing and experiencing more of your inspiring and provocative work.

Useful links:
The artist's website
Raymond's MYSpace Page
A press release on Rites of Eleusis

Two authors on fantasy, fairy tales and the gothic

2008-04-25T18:22:00.000-07:00

This wonderful post on the Endicott Studio of Mythic Arts blog has some wonderful links and snippets of conversations between Joyce Carol Oates and Margaret Atwood, and a quote from A. S. Byatt. These are three of my favorite authors so it's nice to see them all mentioned together and easily accessed.

Cowboys for Christ. Yee haa!!! (not)

2008-04-08T13:25:00.000-07:00

Looks like the start of shooting of the sequel to The Wicker Man has again been delayed...

The BBC has the story (they usually do).

I will be posting an article on Witchvox in the next few days on this whole brouhaha...

It is to laugh..or perhaps it is to cry...

2008-04-07T18:53:00.001-07:00

But then perhaps you have already heard the news. There is going to be a remake of Rosemary's Baby produced by Michael Bay, starring Jessica Alba and Doris Roberts. Not clear yet who will be writing or directing. How the heck do they decide on a cast before they decide on a writer and director?

This is without question the most horrifying news of a classic horror remake since that misogynistic piece of tripe that dripped from the rotting fangs of Neil LaBute, yes, I am talking about the remake of The Wicker Man.

Easter/Equinox wishes

2008-03-23T07:02:00.001-07:00

Here's to the rebirth of spring, and the appearance of blossoms, flowers and young animals, the return of migrating birds, reminders of life and fertility and renewal all around us...and bunnies!

And here, from Popmatters.com, a wonderful list of movies that look at Easter in unorthodox ways.

Hail, Anthony Minghella!

2008-03-18T20:02:00.000-07:00

I was shocked to learn he died. Only 54 years old, from complications after a simple surgery. Only ten years older than me. A harrowing thought.

This is very sad. He was such an amazing filmmaker. I love Truly, Madly, Deeply (pictured here), and The English Patient, and The Talented Mr. Ripley, and even Breaking and Entering. I have only seen part of Cold Mountain but I did like it a lot and want to watch the whole thing again soon. He was a master of making lush classical-looking cinema that often included unexpected images and tense, uncomfortable moments, as if challenging our definition of what big-budget art cinema should look and feel like...

He accomplished so much in his 54 years. The world of cinema is a richer place with him in it. And now many cinephiles may well wonder what other works of beauty and passion and sadness he might have wrought had he been given more time. Rest well, sir.

Why?

2008-03-04T20:24:00.000-08:00

Why is it so hard to get hold of made-for-TV movies with occult themes from the 1970s on video?

I have been very lucky recently to be able to obtain a few films from this era for my research and teaching, namely:

Satan's School for Girls
The Initiation of Sarah
Summer of Fear (original title: Stranger in Our House)

Still seeking:

Midnight Offerings

And when will someone put out the entire mini-series of The Dark Secret of Harvest Home, and not the lame 2 and a half hour version?

Very cool film website

2008-02-26T15:42:00.000-08:00

This website by the BIFF's Neil Young is erudite, bitchy and brilliant.

A new favorite place to visit!

Hail Belenus Blake Johnston!

2008-01-29T13:08:00.000-08:00

A belated welcome to the world of the magically-named Belenus Blake Johnston, son to Hannah and Dan, brother to Somerled. His nascent presence shall, for a while, explain mum Hannah's absence on this blog!

The ecstatically happy, newly-augmented family are all doing well.

Kenneth Anger: Filmmaker, Demi-God

2008-01-18T05:41:00.000-08:00

I've finally begun watching the films in the recent DVD release of Volume 2 of the films of Kenneth Anger, which includes Scorpio Rising, Invocation of My Demon Brother, Lucifer Rising and others, spanning the years 1964-1981. Volume 1 came out in 2006, with films made from 1947 to 1954.

I do not own it yet, though I want to get one for myself. I ordered it for my class on Cinema and the Occult. It is a very nice "boxed set" with a nice booklet with writings by various filmmakers and students of his, including an introduction by Martin Scorcese (which gratified me because I had always thought his early student work owed a lot to Anger), an excerpt from a longer essay by Guy Maddin from Film Comment, and one very intriguing piece by none other than Bobby Beausoleil, who portrayed Lucifer in Lucifer Rising and eventually completed the film's soundtrack from a California prison (where he has been incarcerated since 1969, having committed murder after being prompted by everyone's favorite Summer of Love occult revivalist, Charles Manson).

Anger's use of music, some popular (like all the girl groups, Elvis and Bobby Vinton songs in 1964's Scorpio Rising) and some original (like Mick Jagger's synthesizer drones in Invocation of My Demon Brother), his purity of vision, his arresting images, his ability to weave moods and ritualistic set pieces and cultural trappings into shocking and memorable dreamscapes is something that has really never been equalled. Nor, I suppose, could it be, since his films were not only ahead of their time, but also products of their exact eras, collaborators and momentary inspirations.

Frazerian Cinema

2008-01-03T07:04:00.000-08:00

Chas Clifton has posted in his blog about the notion of The Scary Countryside and urban anxiety about nature. He also mentions the notion that Frazer's monumental work The Golden Bough is in part responsible for the attitude that the British countryside is a place full of dark secrets, being a repository of ancient beliefs and practices...

The notion of a Frazerian Cinema intrigues me. I am reminded of an essay written by Tanya Krzywinska on landscape imagery in British horror films, in particular its association with paganism (I have an earlier version of the article but it will soon be published in a collection called Cinematic Countrysides forthcoming from University of Manchester Press).

I also wonder if this might be an intriguing subject for a chapter in The Celluloid Bough, in terms of the pagan revival ushering in an era of obsession with "earth mysteries" and stone circles, monoliths and other so-called sacred sites. We have not completely finalized what the final structure of the book will be. Right now we are working with one based on a wide-ranging introduction, and chapters arranged by decade which will contain overviews and sub-chapters on individual films. This is the simplest approach, of course, being easy to organize.

But we've also talked about the idea of theme-based chapters, which I think might be very interesting. This would allow for chapters on our individual areas of interest such as color in cinema, music, popular culture, teen witchcraft, satanic panic, etc. Frazerian Cinema (or rather, the ideas and expressions of what a Frazerian Cinema might encompass) would be a fitting subject for an entire chapter.

And of course our title is a direct homage to Frazer, so...

Blessings of Yuletide!

2007-12-24T12:56:00.000-08:00

Blessed Yule, Merry Christmas and Happy New year to all. Wassail! Mulled cider and roast beast and hearty treats to you all.

May the sun's return fill you with warmth, and inspiration, and may winter's fallow time bring you time and space for refelction and creativity. May you remember those in your community less fortunate than you. May your light shine bright in the world as the world welcomes the return of the light.

new films

2007-12-11T06:51:00.000-08:00

I saw The Golden Compass. I must confess, I am not familiar with Pullman's trilogy, so my review may not be terribly well-informed. But for what it's worth, it's over at Witchvox. I have been finding the whole right-wing brouhaha over this movie to be ridiculous, and I suppose now that reviews are coming in and they're less than ecstatic, maybe the fundie catholics protesting it are feeling smug and satisfied. I'm not sure how one forces an atheist agenda in a movie about kids and polar bears (which is really what this has ended up being), but I think anyone can be convinced of anything if they're gullible.

I also saw the new Tim Burton film, Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. Since that does not open until Christmas I can't do a full review just yet...but I will say it was wonderful. And do NOT bring the kids! (It's rated R so if you bring the kids it will be your fault if they have nightmares). More soon.

Also saw the new documentary about David Lynch, Lynch (one) which I recommend very highly, if you're a David Lynch fan. It's only playing in limited release at arthouse type theatres. In Boston it's playing on a double bill with a newly-restored print of Eraserhead. This film is not credited to any one director and is rumored to perhaps be helmed by Lynch himself. It's surreal and hard to follow and completely mesmerizing, much like Inland Empire, the film whose creation it documents. It's shot in digital video and screened that way, too. Fortunately the Brattle has a great video projection system.

Interview avec moi

2007-12-05T15:42:00.001-08:00

John Morehead has posted his interview with me on his wonderful Theofantastique website. He has also interviewed Hannah and that interview is at John's other blog site.

I am just beneath the review of the new zombie anthology! Which is very exciting. Also Jason has featured this tidbit of news on the Wild Hunt blog. Thanks, Jason.

Teaching

2007-11-30T06:36:00.000-08:00

I am teaching courses in the spring on "The Occult in Cinema" and "Supernatural Television." I'd love to hear from any of you about scholarly (or erudite and useful non-scholarly) articles or essays you might know of that I could add to my reading packets for students...

Some of the films and texts we're covering include:

The Exorcist
Rosemary's Baby
The films of Kenneth Anger
The Wicker Man
Paradise Lost (documentary)
The Devil Rides Out
The Ninth Gate
The Blair Witch Project
Curse of the Demon
Masque of the Red Death
The Ninth Configuration
The Omen

and
Buffy the Vampire Slayer
The X-Files
Millennium
The Twilight Zone
Carnivale
Northern Exposure
Earth2
Hex

So any suggestions on additional texts or reading materials would be most welcome!

Tis the Season

2007-11-03T07:00:00.000-07:00

Some of my favorite spooky movies of all time:

The Wicker Man (strange and wonderful)
Don't Be Afraid of the Dark (a made for TV film from the 1970s starring Kim Darby--so creepy!)
Carnival of Souls
The Exorcist (I love how it builds slowly to terrific horror from a calm, grey beginning)
Rosemary's Baby (A masterpiece, pure and simple)
Stranger in Our House (made for TV in the 1970s, with Linda Blair)
The Blair Witch Project (A brilliant work of contemporary cinema, yes I said cinema, and very scary)
Masque of the Red Death (One of the only works by Roger Corman that is genuinely atmospheric and frightening)
Theatre of Blood (made for TV, I think, starring Vincent Price and Diana Rigg, which is reason enough to see it)
Mad Monster Party (maybe it looks like kid stuff now but it sure inspired Tim Burton with its brilliant animation)
Lost Highway (David Lynch crafts some of the most terrifying moments in film)
Night of the Living Dead (I still find this scary)
Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things (A parody (or is it rip-off?) of the above, campy, hilarious and spooky)

Blessings of Samhain/Happy Hallowe'en

2007-11-01T06:39:00.000-07:00

Blessings of the New Year to all you witches, pagans, druids, heathens, and tree-worshippers out there.

Our book The New Generation Witches has finally arrived "in the flesh" and it looks wonderful! The Blackwell's website has a nice write-up (although they fail to list me as a co-editor).

Yay, us! And what a fitting prezzie for Samhain.

Now we are turning our energies to working hard on our next book projects, the Carnivale anthology and The Celuloid Bough.

May all your endeavors fill you with excitement in this dramatic and colorful season.

Carnivale anthology

2007-10-05T06:16:00.000-07:00

We are currently co-editing an anthology of academic essays on the HBO series Carnivale to be entitled Bloodlust and Dust. We are still finalizing the proposal and hope to be announcing the details of publication soon. Then the work of editing begins! We look forward to some great writing on this phenomenal series which was dicontinued far too soon.

We are still seeking abstracts on certain topics that are as yet underrepresented, including gender, sexuality, magic and the occult. The CFP is still available on the PennEnglish list.

Exciting news

2007-10-03T20:26:00.000-07:00

Our book New Generation Witches: Teenage Witchcraft and Contemporary Culture is now available from Ashgate Press! You can see more information here.

It's been several years of blood, sweat and tears but finally it's out there. Our thanks to all the writers who contributed essays, to our cover photographer Berta Daniels (whose photo appears above), to Ronald Hutton for his insightful foreword, and everyone at Ashgate for being great to work with.

Welcome to our blog!

2007-09-24T18:17:00.001-07:00

Greetings fellow occult travellers.

As we delve into the research and writing of our first collaboratively-written book, The Celluloid Bough: Cinema in the Wake of the Occult Revival, we invite discussion, ideas, suggestions, blessings, spells, fruit baskets, casseroles, gold fountain pens, parchments, rare occult books and assorted talismans from any and all interested readers. Our proposal is coming together nicely and we are very excited to be working on this project.

Stay tuned for news and updates!