Published at: Sept. 1, 2000, 6:48 a.m. CST by staff
Hey folks, Harry here.... I felt the need to come in here and write my own special intro for this hear scratchings and scribblings from the backseat of the Joad Jalopy... You should know that while I personally do not like SUSPIRIA... I understand why folks like he, Moriarty, Quentin and Louis Black at the Chronicle rave about it. They deem it a nightmare, thereby voiding all narrative criticism and allowing it to coast on visuals and sounds as a pure work of cinema. Groovy, gotcha... understood. The film is undeniably... A NIGHTMARE... just not my nightmare. My nightmares have more to do with arriving at an EPISODE 2 screening and watching TELETUBBIES THE MOVIE in 3-D... and not being able to tell the difference. Things like that. My nightmares never involve violence... they usually involve incredibly real situations where someone I love is dead... and I couldn't help them.... Heart Attack.... bus hitting Quint... That sort of thing. Actually... that's a dream, but I'm straying here.... Having sad that... SUSPIRIA is a gorgeous barrage of pop-art designs and a furor of sound... If ya love it... congrats... wish I were you (no I don't)
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THE ALL-NIGHT ITALIAN HORROR & JAPANESE MONSTER MOVIE MARATHON
Hello all -Tom Joad checking in with a post from the front lines of QT QUATRO.
The Quentin Tarantino Film Festival is something that one must experience firsthand in order to truly understand. I've been asked dozens of times just what the festival is, what it represents, and what I get out of it. There is no one answer to any of these questions, because the festival represents many things to me. It is film appreciation, an endurance test, it is an opportunity to see films one will never have another chance to see, and more than anything - it is as inspiring a week as I am likely to find anywhere.
Four years ago I was living in Oklahoma, living through Harry vicariously as he experienced the inaugural fest. A year later, Annette Kellerman and I were unable to make it to Austin for the entire festival, so we sat down and picked the one night we were both able to attend: Saturday - all-night grindhouse exploitation.
Neither of us had been to Austin before, we had no idea where the hell we were going. We knew from the site that the festival was taking place at something called the Dobie Theatre, which we had even less knowledge of. Not a good sign, so we left early. The horrifying thought of a possible sell-out didn't cross our minds until hour three of eight on the drive south... fortunately we made it to town with time to kill, snared our tickets and began to familiarize ourselves with our surroundings.
The night was one of those nights that changes a person. For the first time in my life, I stood in a room surrounded by other geeks just like me. I could literally walk up to anyone in the room and start a conversation about anything from William Smith to Lucio Fulci to Sergio Corbucci to Jerry Gross. These were my people. Thirteen hours later, after experiencing BUCKTOWN (the "Merchant/Ivory" flick of the night), as well as THE GATES OF HELL (fantastic with an audience), POLICE WOMAN (wow!), EAGER BEAVERS (aka THE SWINGING BARMAIDS - need I say more?) WONDER WOMEN (I know where to check for hidden chinese stars next time I'm dating a wild one), GHETTO FREAKS (where are you gonna see this?!) and GIRL ON A CHAIN GANG (ouch) - I had found my home. I was hooked. I had been bitten by the bug. I had to have access. Seven months later, I became an Austinite.
Don't get me wrong - I don't mean that the festival is an endurance test in the sense that it takes an effort to make it through all the bad movies, because that isn't the crux - the movies are - for the most part - pretty fucking great. The tough part of the fest is that everyday, you get to see anywhere from two to six movies. Unlike other film festivals, where films sometimes have up to three screenings apiece, you are able to pick and choose and adjust things according to your schedule. Quentin runs the show here, and he gives you one shot at it - the schedule is done, the movies are ready to roll, and the Alamo Drafthouse is full. You better grab your seat because you've only got one chance to catch these flicks.
The fest is an exercise in film appreciation as well. Quentin loves film - and his enthusiasm is infectious when he takes the mic and sets the stage for the audience. Each time the projector bulb is flicked on, the films are being watched under the best possible circumstances. Believe me, if you don't get the vibe of a particular flick - then the vibe ain't in ya. If you're unfamiliar with Jess Franco, then SUCCUBUS may not be your bag. These are Quentin's films, films he's passionate about, films that get him fired up, films he cannot wait to share with us. His introductions are terrific as he fills everyone in beforehand on the particulars: Who pops up where in what scene, various backstories on getting the films made, on-set and behind the scenes shenanigans that provide us with more information than any audience has had or ever will have again. It is as though each one is getting it's very own world premiere right here in Austin. And I consider myself very lucky to be able to attend every minute of the whole shindig.
Now, three years and two festivals later, I am strapped into my chair on night two of QT QUATRO: Japanese Monster Movies & Italian Horror Films. With a full course of fun, hysterics & hijinx on the table before me, I couldn't be more psyched.
First up is THE MYSTERIANS, a 1957 Toho monster movie directed by Inoshiro Honda - the MAN when it comes to Godzilla movies. I'm devoting the bulk of my review to the middle film of the night, SUSPIRIA, so my thoughts on this film will be brief. I know both Harry and Moriarty are covering the events as well, so I'll give you something a little different. In a plot involving alien radio-controlled Godzilla-sized robots that wreak havoc on Japan as the Mysterians from planet Mystroid systematically destroy everything in their way on their path to abducting a chosen group of women for their own. The only glitch here is that the third reel is in FedEx limbo and we'll be treated to the final act once it arrives. Terrific fun, this is a perfect introduction to the evening's events, getting the crowd riled up for the night to come.
Second up is Lucio Fulci's THE PSYCHIC. Growing up in Oklahoma, cool video stores were somewhere between rare and nonexistent. If you want something aside from main vein, you've gotta find alternative routes. After years of plowing through the mainstream and being hungry for more, I became addicted to renting movies through the mail. Six at a time from New Jersey, from Ohio, from California... and my very own one-man film education charged forward. The Maestro was one of my discoveries via Chas. Balun in California. My education began with THE BEYOND and I was hooked. ZOMBIE, WOMAN IN A LIZARD'S SKIN, HOUSE BY THE CEMETARY, THE GATES OF HELL, DON'T TORTURE THE DUCKLING, etc. were soon to follow. I didn't watch THE PSYCHIC, or MURDER TO THE TUNE OF THE SEVEN BLACK NOTES, until about three years ago when I caught wind Quentin was thinking of releasing it via ROLLING THUNDER. Instantly kicking myself for not having rented it years before, I fell in love. From the Fulci I was originally weaned on, where the gore is not only of the in-your-face variety, but will also beat you over the head - this was a nice departure. A character driven piece, not a gore driven one (giallo, if you will) - allowed Lucio to dig deep into his characters metaphorically for a change. When young Virginia Ducci (Jennifer O'Neill) is at her new husband's home, she begins to see visions from the past, flashes of imagery which prompt her to begin digging away at a wall. Before long, she's trying to explain to police how she knew where to dig to find the skeleton. Lucio weaves a good story and as events play out, Virginia begins to experience quite a bit more than deja vu. The last twenty minutes of this film are an insane exercise in tension. You may think you know what's going to happen, but you still cannot help but squirm in your seat.
MOTHRA is the third serving of the night, as we delve back into the Japanese Monster portion of the evening. If you haven't seen this film and you actually NEED an explanation, stop reading now and slap yourself across the face. Good, now slap yourself again. Tonight proved to be my first big screen experience with Mothra, and she was glorious. Absolutely glorious. I do not believe a better screening is likely to happen. Ever.
Dario Argento's SUSPIRIA proves to be the film of the night for me. Again, Argento is a taste I had acquired through my Cali-connections: DEEP RED, BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMMAGE, INFERNO, TENEBRAE, PHENOMENA, OPERA... it was only a matter of time before I had digested them all. In a goreless decade when it seems that everyone has forgotten how to make frightening horror with a bite, how refreshing it is to take a look back at one of the masters. Dario perfected the style of creating an incredibly creepy atmosphere where he's able to incorporate elaborate and inventive death scenes into his stories without making them too much of a distraction - as if the imaginative loss of life were a regular occurrence. Dario doesn't slam on the brakes when his films present violence, he never hits you over the head with it. He simply allows each situation to play itself out on screen.
Argento is not a director who leaves things like atmosphere to chance. He COMMANDS the mood. At times he can be likened to a driver's ed. teacher who has an override steering wheel as well as a brake pedal - you prepare to take a left turn when you're suddenly taking a hard right. I knew I had to write a review for this film as soon as it began. Once I heard the cumulative gasp of over a hundred others following the opening scene, I could tell that this was going to be an all new film with an audience. There are a great number of films I have seen a great number of times - all of which were on video - and each and every one has been a new experience on the big screen. Audience participation - to get all the random cheers, laughs and pregnant silences that a crowd of new viewers brings to the table - without fail will allow you to see, hear and think with different eyes, with different ears, with a different mind.
The audio of this film: the score, the foley, even Argento's white noise is tense and unsettling. The uncomfortable silences you sit through on pins and needles, waiting for the other knife, er, shoe to drop before the music swells and booms. Argento's camerawork, pacing, and set designs control your attention, set the stage, and cast a spell that if one is willing... will be transported. Goblin's incredible score pounds away bass chords, providing the heartbeat for the film. Easily one of the best soundtracks ever. It is a score you will hear echoing inside your head for days afterward.
In his introductions, Quentin has discussed both the real and the surreal. SUSPIRIA flirts with the world of reality at the onset, we meet wide-eyed innocent Suzy (Jessica Harper) in an airport. Before long, Suzy has walked outdoors and into the pitch black of night to hail a cab. Here is where Argento makes the movie his own. There is no rain here - only torrential downpour with biting wind. As the winds gush and the brewing storm begins to swell, we see Suzy begin to lose control of her surroundings. Little by little.
Suzy arrives at the Tanz Academy for ballet in Freiburg in the dead of night. A new world enveloped in shadow - both dark and foreboding, the dance academy has a lot more to it than curriculum. Almost instantly, Suzy sees a girl running away from the school, who gets the best of her and she ends up walking through the halls in the dead of night on a hunch. Soon to follow is a scene where our safety net is jerked out from under us. In the seemingly safe school, as the girl approaches a window at the end of the hall, she suddenly sees two cat-like eyes appear outside in the darkness peering in at her - even though she's on the second floor. The familiarity of the hallway, the safety of it - is instantly shattered as an unknown hand bursts through the window and grabs the back of her head, slamming it against the window. Pulling her face against the glass, we see the girl's face as it contorts in pain just before the pressure becomes too great and the glass splinters. Mutilation abounds, and as Sara has her security stripped, we do too. Never again throughout the remainder of the film, does Argento ever let us feel comfortable enough to let our guard down.
In a genre where characters are typically lost in the melee and carnage, Argento does a superb job of developing his characters here, especially Jessica Harper. At the onset, Suzy is represented as a fragile, scared little bird of a girl who through horrific experience steeped with unimaginable terror, evolves into a woman of action. In Harper's best role to date, she crosses the line from girl running away, to girl with a determined resolve to get out of her current situation. You don't doubt her actions for one moment at any given time. She's the smart horror character the American wave of slashers left out. She's not one to anger you for doing the dumbest, most illogical thing at any given time. I believe SUSPIRIA to be the peak of the giallo - Argento achieved perfection, showing complete and total mastery of technique.
Quentin then took the stage to give the best summation of Godzilla films I've ever heard. Setting the stage for DESTROY ALL MONSTERS, QT spoke of how in Godzilla movies, the world revolves around Japan. Japan was the first to conquer space, any and all United Nations meetings concerning world issues are held in Japan, etc. The people of Japan, they worship Godzilla - literally. In times of need, when they are under attack, you can be guaranteed to get a half dozen shots of various people, mostly children - chanting for Godzilla to come and save them. Someone actually dubbed the line, "Godzilla! Save us! Please!" or some variation thereof for every single Godzilla film. Godzilla is called upon as though he were God. The people pray to him. He destroys them as he protects them. He saves their lives just as he takes them. Godzilla provides the balance of life. Godzilla is God. Absolute brilliance.
DESTROY ALL MONSTERS was fantastic on the big screen. Just know that this film, along with MOTHRA - is required viewing. If you haven't seen Godzilla and Co. circle Ghidorah and kick the absolute shit out of him Rodney King-style, then you OWE it to yourself to familiarize yourself with the Mother of all Japanese Monster Movies. In an effort to take over the world, aliens gain control of the minds of Godzilla, Mothra, Rodan, Minya, Godzuki and crew living on Monster Island, sending them to destroy the major cities of the world. Godzilla to New York (the way it SHOULD have been done), Rodan to Moscow, Mothra to Peking, etc. The fate of the world is in the hands of a stalwart group aboard the super rocketship, the X-2. Mainly composed of Japanese men (with a few token Americans thrown in) who must penetrate the alien moonbase headquarters before the monsters and Ghidorah destroy the world. The showdown is a must-see. Kick-fuckin' ass!
Next up was GODZILLA VS. THE SMOG MONSTER - holy hell is this a different movie with adult eyes!! Being one of the least seen of the older Godzilla pictures (by me) repeatedly over the years, I was surprised at how much of the imagery was burned into my brain. I remember the Smog Monster basically as being comprised of feces, I remember the steaming, acidic poo-balls shot into God's face, I remember Godzilla having trouble getting a grip on the nastiness that was the Smog Monster. Things I don't remember? The N.A.M.B.L.A. contestant from Japan, little eight year old, , wearing shorts SO short, his little second grade ass was hanging out. That's new imagery to me. Unwelcome, but new. The theme song. Good God girl - the theme song. "Save the Earth" is a revelatory tune, when heard now - completely mystifies me as to how I cannot remember this song. How this song wasn't permenantly engraved in my brain. How it probably was there at one point, but over the years has gotten so foggy thay my deja vu didn't even kick in. Fantastically fun message on the state of things - and a terrific ride at six in the A.M. with an audience who has been up all night. Whoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The final picture of the evening, THE VAMPIRE'S COFFIN, was a black and white Mexican vampire movie. Many people were complaining about this one, but you know what? I was reminded alot of the old Universal monster movies as I watched German Robles as Count Lavud in a film which looks, is paced, and mimics those films from the 30's and 40's very well. An apparent sequel, THE VAMPIRE'S COFFIN begin with the Count being exhumed and smuggled from the graveyard. Upon opening the coffin, we see the Count has been staked through the heart - so recently in fact, that he had not begun to decay, erode, or dissolve yet. One unfortunate mishap later and the Count is back in the land of the living undead - pursuing the gorgeous Adriadna Welter. YUM!!! I swear, if it is one thing that has become fully obvious throughout this year's festival is the astonishing bevy of gorgeous (mostly Italian) women - the kind that just make you wish plastic surgery was never invented. The kind who can move a man's parts even though they're wearing nine-layer dresses. The stuff that dreams are made of.
So there you have it. The Italian horror and Japanese monster all-night extravaganza in a nutshell (albeit a large one) - whether or not I have piqued anyone's interest or curiosity, I really don't care - that isn't the point. If you WANTED to be here, you would be. And if circumstances beyond your control prohibit your attendance this week? I hope to see you next year.
