Trifecta Of Terror: The British Ghosts Gone Wild Stakes

In today's installment of Trifecta Of Terror!, we reach into the world of spirits.  Ghosts are a pretty popular subject when it comes to horror, and there is a plethora of films to choose from. I've incorporated a more specific theme here, in that the characters in these films are quite literally attempting to create (or at least entice) an entity to appear. In all three, someone is actually trying to disprove the existence of ghosts. Additionally, these are all "period" films made-in-the-UK, lending an international flavor to this "competition".

To recap, in each Trifecta of Terror!, I choose three films with a similar topic or like-minded theme that would compliment each other and put them in the order that represents a win (the best film of the three), a place (second place finisher) and a show (the third place finisher). And with a Triple Crown of horse racing on the line tomorrow in the Belmont Stakes, I couldn't miss the opportunity to get this post in before post-time! (See what I did there?)

First up is our "show" film.  This third-place finisher is 1995's HAUNTED, starring Aidan Quinn and the (sometimes naked) Kate Beckinsale.  Quinn stars as Professor David Ash, an expert in the field of parapsychology.  He's literally written the book on how to debunk ghosts and when the film opens he has been summoned by the Mariel family to come and investigate a supposed haunting at their estate, Edbrook.
David struggles with his desire to disprove the existence of ghosts because of the untimely death of his twin sister when they were young.  He blames himself and in turn seems unwilling to believe that she at times appears to him.  At Edbrook, he meets the charismatic and flirtatious Christina (Beckinsale), who with her brothers and their fragile-minded Nanny Tess (Anna Massey) make up a very strange and exceptionally "close" family.  Brothers Simon (Alex Lowe) and Robert (Anthony Andrews) are less than enthused when Christina seems to take a particular interest in David and try to discourage him from staying on at the house.  Adding to this, during David's investigation he begins to have what he believes are hallucinations- including seeing his dead sister who repeatedly warns him to leave Edbrook. 

While there are no ghastly scares to be found - and certainly none of the red stuff - Haunted does present a cohesive plot and certainly puts the fun in dysfunctional family.  As Christina makes her mind up to seduce David, her brother Robert seems a little too pissed at the idea, and further evidence of the strange family ties is indisputable when David witnesses Robert painting a portrait of Christina.  A nude portrait. 
Regardless, Haunted does have appeal for the ghost-story loving crowd and is certainly worth a look.

Coming in as our "place" film, we have the recently released  THE QUIET ONES, in which we travel back to the 70's to Oxford where Professor Joseph Coupland (Jared Harris) is entertaining the idea that anything that is deemed unexplained or supernatural is indeed mental illness.  He's gathered a few students together to set up an experiment at a house in the country in which he will "prove" that a young woman's supposed ability to cause paranormal activity is a psychological disease and not an unearthly skill of unexplained reasoning. The subject, Jane Harper (Olivia Cooke, Bates Motel), has been living in foster homes most of her life and has been continually subjected to loud rock music while locked in a tiny room in order to try and produce the desired effect (in other words, paranormal activity).  As the Professor continues with his increasingly unethical experiments, one of the students, Brian (Sam Claflin) takes a particular interest in Jane and delves into her disturbing history which leads him to - of all things - possible devil worship as well as the predictable demonic possession.

This film had mixed reviews when it came out, and in fact performed poorly at the box office - but I saw it at the theater and enjoyed it.  While I wouldn't say it blew me away, I did like the concept and thought the acting made it worthwhile, in particular Cooke, whom I had only seen in Bates Motel (where I like her character very much and think she is an above-average actress).  There were the obligatory jump scares, which dumbed-down the plot a bit, but for the most part the film reeked of foreboding atmosphere, particularly in those shadowy corners of a dark house. You could do a lot worse than this recent Hammer production on a rainy Saturday afternoon. 

And for our winner: 2011's THE AWAKENING.
We've already reviewed this film (in fact it was Marie's first review here over two years ago!) but it is a great, atmospheric haunted house film that deserves to be mentioned once again. Rebecca Hall stars as Florence Cathcart, a woman with a lost love in her past and a chip on her shoulder.  She's taken to debunking supposed ghosts and like our hero from Haunted, she is also a published author on the subject. When she is called upon by Robert Mallory (Dominic West), a teacher at a boarding school to investigate a "real" ghost on premises, she at first declines, but has a change of heart and makes the trip.
In the process of investigating by setting up "traps" for a spirit to trigger, she discovers that the "ghost" may be that of a boy that had a fatal asthma attack after being reprimanded by a harsh teacher.  As school lets out at the end of a semester, only a few adults (including herself, Mallory, housekeeper Maud (Imelda Staunton), and one student -Tom (Isaac Hempstead-Wright)- remain behind.  When Florence is about to leave for good (feeling her work is done by assuming that the boys at the school have been pulling pranks since the other boy's death), she nearly drowns after falling into the pond.  Thinking that a hand had pulled her in, Florence deepens her scrutiny into the ghost theory and finds much more than she bargained for. 

At once atmospheric and ominous, The Awakening has a lot to offer fans of ghost and hauntings.  The acting is superb and there are heaps of fun scares that aren't in the least bit cheap or predictable.  Hall carries the bulk of the film with ease and it's a pleasure to watch her get caught up in all the supernatural mystery of the plot. The best parts are when she is bound and determined to unravel a hoax and she instead falls further into the abyss.  As such, I wouldn't put this in the same category as say, The Haunting (1963) or The Innocents (1961), but it's an above-average tale of ghostly antics that is a breath of fresh air in amongst all the blood and gore we call horror, and by far one of the most beautifully shot films I've seen in quite some time.

Trifecta Of Terror! The Arctic Blues Derby

It's been a while since I've brought you a TRIFECTA OF TERROR!, and I figured it's high time to do so!  With The Preakness Stakes tomorrow, we're smack dab in the middle of the Triple Crown series in horse racing, so no time like the present to wager on which of the following flicks would be a winner.

How does this work?  Well, I choose three films with a similar topic or like-minded theme that would compliment each other and put them in the order that represents a winner (the best film of the three), a place (second place finisher) and a show (the third place finisher).  Meaning,  if you are so inclined, you could have an afternoon or evening of like-minded films and work your way from the mediocre to the stellar of the bunch (or vice-versa if you're likely to fall asleep and don't want to save the best for last).

In previous editions I listed them as win-place-show.  But I think I'm changing that up and listing them from "worst" to "best".  In this virtual race, we spotlight three films that have you shivering and

Your "show" film:  THE THAW (2009) - When a film stars Val Kilmer you have to wonder if you're going to get decent-quality Val (as in Tombstone or Heat) or low-quality Val (practically everything else).  I honestly don't think he does a bad job in this eco-thriller that takes place in the Canadian Arctic (though truth be told he's not in the film the entire running time).  Kilmer plays a research scientist who, after discovering the remains of a wooly mammoth, finds out it has carried a parasitic worm all the way from the days of the dinosaurs.  He tries to quarantine the group of ecologists he has with him, and to prevent another group (including his estranged daughter) from joining them.  Of course he does not stop them from arriving and chaos ensues.  I actually found this a pretty good film, with a good supporting cast (Martha MacIsaac being the stand-out), a fairly original script, and a fun gore and gross out factor.  If you don't like swarming bugs, beware this film.  As per usual, there are some dumb-ass moves (as in most horror) that lend no help to the scientific validity of the content.  And though it's supposed to be environmentally pro-active or at least sending a message about global warming, there's not much hope for mankind if the people solving the problems are anything like the scientists (and the graduate students at the heart of the film) are here. But for a fun flick likely to make you squirm and perhaps even induce a few buggy nightmares, you could do a lot worse.

Coming in second, we have our "place" film, which is actually a television episode of one of my favorite shows of all time, THE X-FILES.   I bring you:  ICE (1993).

Ice is one of those stand-alone episodes from the beginning of the series that laid the groundwork for the show's success.  Mulder (David Duchovny) and Scully (Gillian Anderson) are on assignment in Alaska to determine why a group of scientists have turned up dead. The sense of dread that envelopes this tense hour of television is one of the main reasons I (and millions of others) developed such an affinity for the landmark series.  After a look at the bodies of the dead scientists, they find a dog - alive - that has black nodules on his skin and deduce it must be bubonic plague.  But things get even more perplexing (and unsettling) when they see something move under the dog's skin.  When the helicopter pilot subsequently becomes ill and dies, they discover a parasitic worm moving under his skin and remove it, believing it to be the contagion.   Naturally, Mulder believes the worm to be extraterrestrial, an idea Scully is not quite ready to entertain.  In any event, the duo is determined to prevent the contagion from spreading to the rest of the world.  Such a great episode, very reminiscent of John Carpenter's THE THING - and with good reason, as the concept for both came from John W. Campbell's  Who Goes There?, a novel that also inspired 1951's THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD.

Although there are dozens of similar-type films about trouble in the Arctic, I had to choose one of my favorite films - and one of the best remakes in cinematic history.  You all know what I'm talking about - our "win" film:  THE THING (1982).

A group of researchers in the Antarctic head to a nearby Norwegian station to find out why their dog was fired upon by one of their helicopters (which in turn, crashed).  They find a burnt-out station and a bizarre corpse that looks more inhuman than human and end up bringing it back to their station to do an autopsy on it. Without warning,  the pursued canine horrifically mutates into an unrecognizable creature and tries to attack the men.  One flamethrower later and the men are dissecting the monstrosity, only to discover it was in the process of imitating the men - or whatever else it is able to ingest. The men learn the Norwegians had found what appeared to be a spaceship in a block of ice estimated to be thousands of years old, and begin to wonder what may have escaped from it.  One by one the men seem to turn on each other, unwilling to believe that they themselves have been "infected". 
THE THING is a study in patience, dread, and true horror.  A stellar cast led by Kurt Russell, combined with superb practical special effects and an impending sense of doom makes THE THING a winner in any category of film. You just can't go wrong.  If this was an actual horse race, the odds would be even and the horse's name would be Secretariat.

Trifecta Of Terror! : "The Books Of Doom Derby"

We're back again with more terror in threes! I couldn't resist doing a Trifecta of Terror today on Kentucky Derby Day!

If you're not familiar with the Trifecta series, you can learn the ropes HERE.  Basically, I choose three films with a similar topic or like-minded idea that would compliment each other for a quiet afternoon of horror, or an evening with nachos and friends.
I then have a virtual "race" with the three films coming in first (the "win" film), second (the "place" film) and third (the "show" film).

Today we are highlighting nasty books. Well, films about nasty books. So I'm naming this one the Books of Doom Derby!

First up, your winner, a film everyone should be familiar with: THE EVIL DEAD (1981).

Billed as "the most ferociously original horror film of the year" back in 1981, The Evil Dead is the brain child of now-famed director Sam Raimi.  A bare bones story about a group of friends who discover an ancient evil in the woods surrounding an isolated cabin uses a fast-paced shaky cam, gruesome effects, and at times, wildly humorous acting to make this film near and dear to so many genre fans' hearts.
Ash (Bruce Campbell) and four friends arrive at the typical cabin in the woods for a little weekend getaway. Straight off one can certainly see this is not going to be your average spring break.  The cabin reeks creepy, and the film wastes no time getting to the action. The group, after exploring the (vast) basement, finds a book bound in human flesh and written in blood, as well as a recording that summons ancient Sumarian demons from the woods outside. The book, called the Necronomicon "Naturon Demonto" - is loosely translated as The Book of the Dead. Which is something you should never (EVER) even remotely try to read and/or translate. Yikes. Needless to say, they do.  Which causes the demons in the woods to come alive and wreak havoc - turning Ash's friends into possessed zombie-like demons who spew liquids of every color and consistency. Ash is one of the great heroes of horror and this little low-budget gem is the film that started it all!

Our 'place' film is THE BEYOND (1981)

Another film from the great year of 1981, Lucio Fulci's masterpiece a.k.a The Seven Doors of Death tells the story of Liza, a young woman who inherits the Seven Doors Hotel in the bayou of Louisiana.  Little does she know the hotel is built over one of the seven gateways to hell. Nice. Fulci gives us a ton of gore (including his trademark eyeball gouging) and goo, as well as a rather incoherent plot at some points. But it matters not, as this feature is widely considered to be Fulci's best.  The book in question within this movie is The Book of Eibon - a tome used frequently in Lovecraftian tales - which implores "Woe beyond to him who opens one of the seven gateways to hell… because through that gateway, evil will invade the world!” If that isn't an anti-Hallmark greeting I don't know what is. Probably the best part of The Beyond is that it is fairly unpredictable. Which is no doubt because much of it doesn't make sense. Not that that is a bad thing. Even with the plot being all over the place, you have a perfect combination of gore and confusion that is so popular in Italian horror. There are face-eating tarantulas, face-melting lye, impalings, nasty eye removals, blown-off heads, ripped out throats...should I go on?

And our third place "show" film is THE NINTH GATE (1999)

Roman Polanski is certainly better known for his other films (Rosemary's Baby, The Tenant, Repulsion, among others), but for me, one of my greatest guilty pleasures is this Johnny Depp vehicle about rare book dealer Dean Corso (Depp) whose client recently acquired a book known as 'The Nine Gates of the Kingdom of Shadows', supposed to be one of three known copies. His client (the always charismatic Frank Langella) believes two of the three copies to be fakes, so he sends Corso on a quest to discover the truth.  The catch is, the book is supposedly written by the devil himself, and reading from it can summon Lucifer.  (Why do people feel the need to be this stupid? Seems to happen a lot...)  The film takes viewers to various locations around the globe trying to authenticate the devilish tome, and along the way Corso meets many a foe intent on stopping his investigation - not the least of which may be the enigmatic client.  Certainly one of the better "books of doom" films out there, it is an atmospheric jaunt with a great cast and a fun plot. If you haven't seen it, check it out.

Trifecta Of Terror! : "The Eyes Have It" Handicap

For my second foray into the Trifecta of Terror, I've chosen three films that all have the eyes as a pivotal plot point. If you forget how this works, see the original post right here, it explains what we have going on.

In short, I'm picking three movies and putting them in the order of, let's say superiority.  Sometimes this is harder than others. But in this case, I think I've got it down right. 

First up, the winner of said handicap:

THE EYE (2002)

This is not the wretched remake starring Jessica Alba, it is the original film directed by the Pang Brothers. It packs a punch and should be on any discerning horror fan's life list.
Mun (Angelica Lee) is a classical violinist who undergoes cornea transplants to correct her blindness. She is overwhelmed at first, and getting used to being able to see puts considerable strain on her.  While still in the hospital, she sees shadowy figures standing in corners, and in one case it seems the strange shape is escorting a nearby patient out of the room.  To her horror, the patient turns up deceased the next morning.

 She is assigned an attractive psychologist (Lawrence Chou) that takes a special interest in helping her adjust to life with sight.  Everything seems to be going along swimmingly until she realizes she is still seeing what just may be ghosts, and that they give the impression that they are predicting death.  Everywhere she turns, these phantoms foreshadow death. (There is one particular unsettling scene in an elevator that had me clutching the edge of the couch.) Naturally, Mun begins to realize that perhaps she is seeing these "visions" due to the cornea transplant, so she and her shrink set off to find the donor's family and determine if their assumptions are correct.  What they find is that her donor, a lonely girl with psychic abilities, could predict deaths from her visions. And the unwanted talent has somehow been transferred to Mun.
THE EYE  is a real favorite of mine, as it evokes a seriously creepy atmosphere and tension runs high throughout. It may not be for everyone, as there is no real gore to speak of and it does travel at a slow pace, but for me, it's plain to see (sorry) that this is one of the better films to come out of Asia.

Next, the second "place" film:

JULIA'S EYES (Los ojos de Julia)  2010

As you may have guessed, I'm a big fan of foreign horror.  This Spanish film is no exception to that.
Julia (Belén Rueda, The Orphanage) returns to her sister Sara's home after a feeling that something is wrong. She'd be right. Sara has hung herself in the basement, apparently depressed because a sight-restoring operation did not work. Julia, also afflicted with the same eye ailment, is certain there is more to the story than meets the eye (sorry). She feels an inexplicable presence close-by - and is sure this person (?) is responsible for Sara's death somehow. The film opens up into a full-fledged mystery, but is never far from the unnerving horror at its root.  Julia starts to struggle more and more with her own vision as she tries piecing the puzzle of her sister's death together. As shadows emerge and disappear, her husband Issac (Lluís Homar) fears for not just her sight but her sanity, with every twist in the story seemingly causing Julia's eyesight to deteriorate just a little more, until she has absolute fits of blindness when pressured to solve the apparent murder.
The search for an "invisible man" that supposedly had a hand in Sara's murder eventually forces Julia to rethink what may have happened, especially after her husband is found hanged in the same basement. 
In her time of anguish, a donor is found for her own eye operation. But afterwards, it is only when Julia is truly blind (because the bandages from surgery cover her eyes) is she able to unravel the secret regarding Sara's death.  Using her other senses she sorts through the clues until a final showdown with the dubious killer has her fighting not just for her sight, but her life. Great stuff!

And our "show" (3rd place finisher) film is: 

THE EYES OF LAURA MARS (1978)

A true product of the late seventies, THE EYES OF LAURA MARS  has Faye Dunaway portraying the title character, a sophisticated and famous fashion photographer. Her photo shoots are different from the standard variety in that she has elaborate sets depicting violence, causing a ruckus within the profession.
Unfortunately, Laura begins to see the deaths of friends and business colleagues through her lens.
Enter a young Tommy Lee Jones as Lt. John Neville, a detective on the case who isn't the only one who finds it unusual that Mars' fashion shoots mimic the recent murder scenes. 
As more and more of Laura's friends fall victim to the killer's black gloves (a giallo shout-out if I've ever seen one!), she and John Neville randomly fall in love. She tells him of the vision she has of the killer coming after her and he (like all good movie boyfriends) gives her a gun and a peck on the cheek, wishing her well.
What makes TEOLM so intriguing (besides the garish 70's clothing and music) is Dunaway's over-the-top performance (as per her usual) and some of the almost laughable dialogue. It's a camp classic if there ever was one. And even though it's relatively effortless to figure out the killer, it's always fun to watch Dunaway scream while running.  She does it so well.

Trifecta Of Terror! : Winter Horror On The Edge.

Welcome to the newest feature on Fascination with Fear.  As an obsessive horse racing fan (yes, I am obsessed about something else besides horror), I decided to use a bit of horse racing terminology here at the blog.

A trifecta is a bet in which you must predict which horses in the race will finish first, second and third - in the exact order of finish.  It's extremely difficult, to say the least - but the payoff is usually rather sweet, especially in the event that you have a long shot finishing in your top trio. 

How the term will be used here is that I will give you three movies to consider watching together- all in the same night, or perhaps the same weekend.  They will be in the same sub-genre, as in:  1) Rogue 2) Lake Placid 3) Alligator; all movies about killer crocodiles (or alligators as the case may be).  Generally I will try to put them in the order of preference, meaning I feel Rogue is the best of the three (the "win" film), Lake Placid comes in second (the "place" film) and Alligator (the 1980 classic about a murderous gator in the sewers of Chi-town) would be the "show" film.  Every once in a while I will throw in a "long shot", a film that got in the top three somehow, but may not be remotely near the quality of the other two. And on rare occasions there will be a "dead heat", in which two of the films finish together- as in, they are both so good (or bad) that I can't decide which is first (or last). Got it?

Unfortunately, there is no prize money, no tickets to cash in.  But hopefully you do get at least one winner! So with that in mind, I start you out with a winter horror trifecta.

I've highlighted a fair amount of terrifying films since Frozen Fortnight started, but we never really talked about films that are just on the cusp of horror.  Movies that have certain elements that are horrific, but aren't all slice & dice or cabin-fever frights. So I decided to pick three snowy, weather-oriented films that are right on the edge of horror and star winter as one of the characters. These films all have their moments, and I know you'll agree.

If I were going to name this "race", it would be "The Nature Fights Back Handicap". 
Coming in first, we have:


THE GREY (2012)

Any film starring Liam Neeson is okay with me, but when you put him in circumstances that are out of control and watch him strike out in defense and proceed to be a kick-ass leader, that's where he really shines.  In The Grey, he stars as John Ottway - wolf killer extraordinaire. And while that sounds simply awful, it's a job that has to be done because the wolves are quite hungry and threaten the workers at an oil drilling site in remote Alaska.  It's his last day on the job and he's busy writing a note to his wife explaining that he fully intends to take his own life. He doesn't get the chance when a wolf comes 'a calling.  After tending to his duties, he and his team board a plane home, which promptly crashes during a raging snowstorm. After the loss of one of the team during the crash, the others build a fire and try to determine the best course of action. They don't get too much time to think about it before the first wolf attacks.

The Grey is one of those awesome adventure films that you get completely immersed in from start to finish. The men and their fierce drive to survive against the worst possible weather imaginable and a pack of hungry wolves is both terrifying and admirable.  When the men kill one of the wolves and the brazen jackass of the group throws the head back towards the pack, one of the other men comments that in nature, wolves are the only other creature besides man to seek revenge. And they may do just that.

In second place we've got:


ALIVE (1993)

Alive is the harrowing true story of a team of Uruguayan rugby players that crashed in the Andes Mountains in 1973. By now I'm sure everyone knows they had to resort to cannibalism to stay alive, but I think people forget the incredible bravery of the men who eventually hiked out of the mountains to try and find help.

Family and friends joined the rugby players on their flight to Chile for a match back in 1972 when high over the mountains, the plane apparently misjudged its height and slammed into a mountain peak, breaking the plane into pieces and sending it crashing to the snow-covered hills below. Several are killed on impact, a handful are critically injured. They rip apart the seats to use for cover and blankets and build a fire, intending to assess the situation at hand the next morning. But as dawn breaks, it's overwhelmingly obvious that they are not only high in the Andes, but it's doubtful anyone is looking in the right place for them because they got so off course. As days pass, food becomes scarce, and those who were mortally wounded succumb to their injures. And after hearing on a battery-operated radio that the search for them has been called off, the men start to think of other options. They eventually vote on whether or not to eat the flesh of their deceased flight-mates.  I think everyone knows where it went from there. Three of the men eventually decide to hike out on foot and hope to find rescue. Snowy weather, ice, frigid temps, and even a terrifying avalanche play an undeniable role in this nerve-wracking movie, in which a snowstorm can be the difference between life and death.

And last but certainly not least:

THE EDGE (1997)

And yet another plane crash strands some hapless folks in the wilds of Alaska.  Charles (Anthony Hopkins) goes along for the ride because his wife is involved in a photo shoot (of course she's a model, and of course she's Elle Macpherson) and he tags along. Charles is a billionaire, after all. He may or may not know that his lovely wife Mickey is having an affair with her photographer, Bob (Alec Baldwin). But he's not letting on as before the actual crash, our group settles in at a beautiful lodge and has an impromptu birthday party for Charles - all the while warning him that all the doors and windows have to be locked and food stored away due to a little bear problem they have.  Little problem is not the word - these are Kodiak brown bears, people!  Mickey and Bob invite Charles along with them and their assistant Stephen, up into the wilds about fifty miles north. They don't get a chance to check out an old Indian's hunting camp because the single engine plane runs into a a flock of birds and hits the side of a mountain, spiraling down into a frosty river below. The pilot dies instantly and quickly they discover there is no search party coming. They set off into the woods to try to walk themselves out but very soon the find they are running in circles, and the close-by snorting of a large predator (one Bart the Bear)  has them running for their lives. Full of fear amidst weather conditions akin to what the Donner Party no doubt dealt with, The Edge is a fantastic adventure film not to be missed. And if you like your horror truly horrifying, nothing screams terror quicker than getting eaten alive by a Kodiak bear.

So there you have it, the first TRIFECTA OF TERROR! Stay tuned for more pairings suitable for long, lazy afternoons sipping bourbon - or just a Friday night with a pizza and some beer!