Queer.Horror.Movies

The curated portfolio of film journalist Joe Lipsett

[Review] ‘A Moment In The Reeds’ Is A Lush, Evocative Romance

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Janne Puustinen, Boodi Kabbani

It appears that at least once a year, LGBTQ-hungry audiences are being gifted with a quiet, introspective gay love story that delivers both the romance, the passion and the geography porn. It truly is a marvelous time to be alive.

Following in the footsteps of Brokeback Mountain, Call Me By Your Name and – most closely – God’s Own Country, writer / director Mikko Makela’s debut feature film is the latest entry in a recent trend of gay art cinema films that chronicles a forbidden romantic relationship between two men from different backgrounds.

In this case, it’s Finnish graduate student Leevi (Janne Puustinen) – back home for a long weekend from his studies in Paris, France to help his father, Jouko (Mika Melender), fix up the family’s lakeside cottage for sale – and Syrian refugee, Tareq (Boodi Kabbani) who is brought on as a handy man. Almost immediately the men are forced together because Tareq does not speak Finnish and Jouko’s command of English doesn’t extend beyond polite chit-chat, meaning that Leevi must act as translator. He’s also required to be the mediator, explaining Tareq’s frustration to his father because the refugee is unable to procure better work despite his expertise as an Architect; Leevi is also negotiating his father’s volatile xenophobia, which adds an additional layer of complication to their already strained familial relationship.

The tension eases up when Jouko is called away overnight on business and the pair of younger men are left getting to know each other. Makela wisely takes his time developing their relationship: for the better part of their dockside chat, their discussion in the sauna, their romp in the lake and finally their nighttime drinking on the porch, the topics are shallow and general. In fact there’s barely any sense of a romantic connection; these are guarded men circling the wagons. Still, a few lingering glances from one when the other isn’t looking serves to build anticipation and by the time the pair finally lock eyes in a knowing fashion at night’s end, both the characters and the audience are ready to put an end to the slow burn and get down to action.

Makela expertly employs a handheld style, as well as tight framing and slightly disjointed editing to convey the impassioned intimacy of their first sexual encounter. Leevi and Tareq’s coupling has a hungry, desperate vibe; the scene teeters somewhere between graphic and carnal and Makela’s script allows it to play out longer than usual before cutting to the next morning. From this point on the connection between the men shifts and their interactions, both verbal and physical, are more charged, sexualized and meaningful. Conversation about the weather is replaced by startlingly frank revelations about Tareq’s double life in Syria and his flight to Finland, as well as Leevi’s memories of his deceased painter mother and his uncertainty about love following a prior relationship back in Paris.

Janne Puustinen, Boodi Kabbani

A Moment In The Reeds spells out its central conflict in its title: this is a film that traffics in a fleeting fantasy. The reintroduction of Jouko and the realities of the external world quickly threaten to upend the romantic connection between the new lovers. In this way, comparisons to God’s Own Country are certainly apt and unavoidable, particularly the gorgeous, empty countryside playing host to forbidden desire and brooding spectacle.

The natural beauty is amplified by Makela’s exquisite direction and the naturalistic performances by the two leads. Puustinen and Kabbani wisely underplay their attraction until the men act on their desires, at which point their sexual chemistry and affection comes on strong. Although I’m not in favour of a requirement to hire LGBTQ actors to play queer characters, the ease with which the two men interact, particularly in the sex scenes, belies a comfort by the real life gay actors that is absent in other projects.

The film is not without criticism. Despite all of the groundwork laid in advance, the ending of the film feels sudden and abrupt, which won’t satisfy fans of the film’s otherwise languid pace. Narrative-focused audiences, meanwhile, may find that their attention drifts: this is a simple, straightforward story about a brief, fleeting encounter between two men. At one point Tarek mentions “a fantasy experience” and that’s what the film is for the majority of its runtime, for better or for worse.

Still, the political and social framework of the two men’s backstories is relatable and/or extremely topical. Leevi’s story is familial: he’s working through a communication rift between him and his estranged father and other unresolved issues in the wake of his mother’s passing. Tarek’s story is more global: he’s an immigrant recovering from the experience of being closeted in a country that’s hostile to the LGBTQ community at the same time as he struggles to establish a new life in a place where he doesn’t speak the language and can’t practice his own profession.

Both Leevi and Tareq are hungry – nay starving – for intimacy and someone who will listen to them (sexually, romantically, and emotionally). Considering how memorable and impassioned Mikko Makela’s film is, audiences may find themselves devouring A Moment In The Reeds with similar enthusiasm. It’s a strong contender for queer film of the year.

4/5

[Rant] Where Are All Of The Queer Female-Identifying Horror Directors?

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Kimberly Peirce and Stewart Thorndike

At a recent panel on queer horror last month, I was struck by a comment from co-panelists Katie Connell and Joshua Dare about the current state of queer female-identifying horror directors. The discussion began with a definition and brief historical overview of queer horror, then shifted into a survey of the current state of representation. Concerns about the tendency to spotlight films featuring gay men at the expense of their lesbian counterparts gave way to a cautiously optimistic listing of recent films featuring out and proud women. As we rattled off a number of films, however, we discovered a strange pattern: nearly all of these films were directed by straight white men.

Let’s backtrack a little to consider the current state of queer horror, which has notably made a number of gains and increased prominence in the last twenty years. A recent guide created by Vulture entitled “55 Essential Queer Horror Films” identified key shifts in the 21st century that reduced the stigma around queer characters, thereby enabling them to move from marginal to central, sometimes even lead, roles. In the 2000s, films such as Hellbent, High Tension and Seed of Chucky offered visible, albeit problematic, depictions of gay men, lesbians and trans characters.

With the advent of gay marriage in the 2010s, queer figures in horror have become even more normalized, nuanced and fleshed out. The result has been some of the most intriguing texts to date, the vast majority of which are about queer females. Films such as Jennifer’s Body (Kusama, 2009), All Cheerleaders Die (McKee, 2013), The Neon Demon (Winding Refn, 2016), Thelma (Trier, 2017), What Keeps You Alive (Minihan, 2018) and Blue My Mind (Bruehlmann, 2018) all feature complicated and fascinating lesbian characters.

Bruehlmann’s Blue My Mind

A cursory glance, however, reveals that all but two of those films were directed by straight white men – a number that is worth pausing over. While there is obviously nothing that restricts one group from telling the stories of another, the lack of female directors is note-worthy, particularly given the problematic historical depiction of lesbians as a source of titillation for the male gaze.

This disjunction is not severe when compared to publicly “out” gay male directors, who have become increasingly prominent in recent years. Renowned master of horror Don Mancini has kept Chucky and the Child’s Play franchise alive and sexually subversive for 30 years. Up and coming directors Chris Peckover (Better Watch Out) and David Freyne (The Cured) have both delivered horror films that play with notions of masculinity and lends themselves to queer takes. And recent Oscar winner Luca Guadagino’s Suspiria, featuring a nearly all-female cast, is filled with sexual connotations and feminist readings.

Stewart Thorndike’s Lyle

The simple fact is that representation and visibility matters. Even in horror fandom, there remains a frustrating need to explain why female characters and creators matters, although the recent uptick in feminist horror criticism that began with AxWound and Women in Horror Month and continues now with publications and sites such as Grim Magazine, Anatomy of a Scream, Suspiria Magazine, Graveyard Shift Sisters and Diabolique Magazine bodes well for the future.

Let’s return to the question at the heart of this debate: where are all of the queer female-identifying directors? Despite the disheartening statistics about the ratio of female to male directors (and in spite of Jason Blum’s hastily corrected statement about the lack of women interested in directing horror), the horror genre is flush with talented women. “Out” female queers, however? Not so much.

A deep dive online (and help from HorrorTwitter) revealed only two feature filmmakers: Kimberly Peirce, who directed the 2013 remake of Carrie, and Stewart Thorndike, who directed indie micro-budget “lesbian Rosemary’s Baby” film Lyle (2014). Singer St Vincent (nee Anne Erin Clark) directed one of the segments of the all-female horror anthology, XX (2017), though she seems unlikely to return to the director’s chair in the near future. There are undoubtedly a number of other up and coming talents working in horror shorts, including Monika Estrella Negra, who is currently crowdsourcing the funding for her first feature, Two Sisters.

Despite advances in queer visibility both on and offscreen, there remains a gap in the horror genre. It is possible that filmmakers prefer to leave their mark on the screen rather than publicly disclose details about their personal lives, but the fact that there are so many heterosexual white men telling stories about lesbian characters in horror films is a potentially problematic trend. On the cusp of what Vice is calling “the rebirth of lesbian horror movies”, let’s hope that a number of proud, “out” queer female-identifying directors emerge from the shadows to ensure their onscreen proxies bear an authentic touch.

[BitS Review] MONTRÉAL DEAD END Is An Uneven Horror Comedy Anthology

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Montréal Dead End is an adventurous anthology feature that is steeped in the geography of one of Canada’s most gorgeous cities. The self-proclaimed “no budget” horror film created by 18 different directors takes several different approaches that helps to set it apart from its anthology counterparts and while, like its peers, it’s not always successful, it’s worth checking out just to see how all of the pieces play together.

It’s traditional for anthologies to use a bracket storyline to link the various entries together or provide some kind of thematic through-line. Montréal Dead End opts more for the latter approach, but intriguingly chooses to intersperse the ongoing storyline throughout the film. The film’s opening introduces a noxious green gas escaping from a sinkhole in the middle of the city and the remainder of the film explores the endless stream of terrors and monsters that arise in the mist’s wake (zombies and cannibals, mostly) in different parts of the city.

As the film progresses, it is revealed that the gas is tied to a forthcoming apocalypse that can only be prevented if the Guardian and the Archivist (Jérémie Earp-Lavergne) read from a powerful spell book within 24 hours of the gate opening. These segments tend to feature encounters between the Guardian and an agent of darkness with their own agenda (the Baron of Montréal North or the Priestess of Outremont, for example), but they’re rather repetitive and, most disappointingly, the resolution of the bracket storyline (ie: the climax of the film) occurs far too quickly and is resolved in an underwhelming fashion.

The other issue with Montréal Dead End is that the quality of the shorts vary dramatically. Because there are so many filmmakers involved, many of the 15 segments are quite short; at times this proves to be a minor blessing, but more often than not the need to cram in more ends up cutting off a promising story. Not unlike The ABCs of Death, the sheer number of shorts overwhelms the proceedings, so much so that they bleed together and become difficult to distinguish from one another. It also makes the 87 minute long film feel much longer than it actually is.

Thankfully there are several hidden gems. Many of the shorts that lean into comedy fare best (possibly because it’s easier to deliver a punchline than develop a mood, build tension and pay off a scare in the same amount of time). Among the strongest shorts are:

  • The Marché Atwater: Tom prepares for a date by cooking dinner, but when his produce from the market begins attacking him, the kitchen becomes a battlefield.
  • Villeroy: A lonely girl discovers a mutated man in a back alley, and befriends with candy. An unlikely friendship quickly arises in this cute, but too brief segment.
  • Mile-End: An interracial lesbian zombie couple barters body parts with a local grocer in anticipation of a romantic/icky dinner date.
  • Parc Lafontaine: I’m 50/50 on this short, which literally mines the exchange of bodily fluids for comedy. What starts off humourously with a couple who swap bodies after they kiss becomes both vulgar and stupid when a semen joke results in penises on a face. Proof that a good concept can go very badly, very quickly.
  • Beaubien: My favourite of all of the segments, this English & French comedy short focuses on a cutesy couple who ignorantly miss all of the signs that everyone around them has disappeared or died (and reanimated). An obvious, but still very funny bit finds them peering into a cafe window, repeatedly avoiding a malicious attempt to murder them with a pair of flower pots from above. Throw in a Celine Dion joke and this segment is a winner.

Several of the more horrific shorts are also enjoyable, but too many lean on familiar trappings: cannibals and/or zombies. One nearly silent short set in the The Village starts out promisingly: a pair of girlfriends fight about one’s wandering eye in a gorgeous purple neon-lit dance club. A strange man follows them home and lurks outside of the window as the envious philanderer first resists, then initiates sex, culminating in a physical attack. The association of carnal longing and food is subtle and effective, but the short has barely begun before it’s over. Contrast this with a meandering silent short about an old woman who is recruited for a bath by a group of feral children in the woods that is interminable.

Clearly not all of shorts are made equal.

Montréal Dead End plays the Blood in the Snow Film Festival Sat, Nov 24 at 9:30pm EST.

[BitS Review] SUPERGRID Is An Ambitious, Albeit Familiar, Dystopian Action Flick

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Marshall Williams, Leo Fafard

Opening this year’s Blood in the Snow film festival is director Lowell Dean’s Supergrid, a loving homage to dystopian road movies like George Miller’s Mad Max series:

SuperGrid is set in a near future where mining conglomerates have turned Canada into a wasteland. Two brothers must travel the same road that claimed their sister’s life in their quest to deliver mysterious cargo. En route they must contend with road pirates, rebel gangs, and each other.

Quick Review:

You know what you’re signing up for when you buy a ticket to SuperGrid. This is a film that dutifully checks all of the action movie checkboxes:

  • Heroes whose gruff exteriors mask soft emotional interiors
  • A fraught family dynamic based in tragedy
  • A bitter ex who secretly (or not so secretly) still loves the hero
  • A cruel totalitarian dictator who is only interested in his own power base
  • A henchman (or in this case hench woman) who does all of the heavy lifting in the action sequences
  • A variety of explosive/violent set pieces, varying from heists to shoot-outs while driving
  • A communal uprising of the people to combat the despot

The fact that T.R. McCauley and Justin Ludwig’s script hews so closely to conventional tropes of the genre could be seen as disappointing, but Canadian action films remain a rarity so this Saskatchewan-shot production feels both ambitious and unique. Considering the minuscule $1.2M budget, Dean delivers some impressive visuals, particularly in regard to the futuristic dystopian world-building.

The actors are well-cast, particularly leads Leo Fafard (as older brother Jesse) and Marshall Williams (as impetuous younger brother Deke). Tough girl North (Natalie Krill) and Owl (Daniel Maslany, brother of Orphan Black star Tatiana) steal the show as Overwatch agents, while Fei Ren is enjoyably over the top (albeit a little broad) as hissable leather-clad hench woman, Guan Yin.

The Bottom Line: SuperGrid fails to offer anything new to the dystopian road movie subgenre, but it handles the expected tropes in a confident and enjoyable fashion.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5XHdmQuSkk

SuperGrid screens Thursday, Nov 22 at 9:30pm at The Royal. The film opens in theatres Dec 14.

 

[Review] RALPH BREAKS THE INTERNET Is Solid Family Fun

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In both the real world and the filmic world, six years have passed between adventures for Wreck It Ralph‘s titular character (John C. Reilly) and his pint-sized bestie, Vanellope (Sarah Silverman). It hardly matters whether viewers retain any specifics about the duo’s first outing; although Ralph offers a brief recap, audiences need only recall that friendship is the defining aspect of their relationship, so much so that Vanellope had the words “You’re My Hero” emblazoned on a commemorative medal that Ralph wears around his neck. [Read more…]

VOD Review: The Forest Of Lost Souls Is A Simple, But Effective Thriller

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The most notable element of writer/director José Pedro Lopes’ The Forest of Lost Souls (A Floresta das Almas Perdidas) is that it is filmed in gorgeous black and white. It proves to be little more than an attractive stylistic choice than anything; this first feature is relatively straightforward. What the film lacks in substance, however, it more than makes up for in ruthless efficiency. It is a surprisingly cruel film, which is an inherent part of its charm.

The pre-credits sequence is silent save for a voice-over passage about grief. The images of a distraught looking woman wandering about a woods before finally succumbing in a frigid-looking lake are haunting. Following the title card, Pedro Lopes introduces two strangers, Ricardo Alves (Jorge Mota) and Carolina (Daniela Love), who happen upon each other in a notorious suicide forest located somewhere between Portugal and Spain. Ricardo is grief-stricken following the suicide of his daughter, Irene (Lilia Lopes) from the opener, though he doesn’t appear entirely sure about his decision to end his life. By comparison, teenager Carolina seems much more committed; she’s so organized that she has already prepared her video suicide note and concocted an alibi involving a music concert with spotty cell coverage to ensure that she’s not discovered.

As Ricardo and Carolina wander around the forest, gazing at the possessions that other suicides have left behind, they learn more about each other’s lives. Carolina’s demeanour reminds Ricardo of his remaining daughter Filipa (Mafalda Banquart), whom he claims to have failed, along with his wife Joana (Ligia Roque). His regret prompts him to try and change her mind, pleading with Carolina to give her absent father another chance.

There’s something affectionate and familial about their dialogue, but also something sinister. At times their interactions play off their age difference and difference in temperament, but there is always an underlying tension. When they finally reach the lake when Irene drowned herself, the hint of malice is confirmed in a sudden outburst of violence and one of the pair is revealed to be a killer who preys on the vulnerable and despondent.

There is more to The Forest of Lost Souls, but to say more would be to spoil the reminder of the film. It’s not a particularly complicated film and, at a brisk 71 minutes, it doesn’t overstay its welcome. The abbreviated run time and short ~one day duration of the narrative means that characters, particularly those introduced in the second half of the film, are not very fleshed out, but what The Forest of Lost Souls loses in deep characterization it makes up for in brutal efficiency. The kills are swift and painful (albeit not particularly gory or scary).

The lack of frights is a bit of a deficiency, particularly since the film doesn’t have characters for audience to invest in. Still, the solid production values (particularly the picturesque forest scenes), brief run time and solid thrills make The Forest of Lost Souls a quick and enjoyable watch.

3/5

Friday The 13th The Series Rewatch: S01E22 – “It’s So Cold. Cold And Dead”

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Welcome to the Friday The 13th The Series rewatch. Each day throughout October, we’ll watch one episode of the seminal 1987 television series and tackle the highs, the lows and Micki’s hair (of course). Now step into Curious Goods and peruse our cursed antiques, won’t you?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=It8kLiAC2Ic

S01E022: “The Pirate’s Promise”

Wikipedia Plot Summary: Ryan (John D. LeMay) and Micki (Louise Robey) visit a small seaside town which is haunted by the ghost of a murderous, long-dead pirate

  • Director: Bill Corcoran wound up directing a number of episodes of 21 Jump Street and Wiseguy
  • Writer: Carl Binder writes the first of many Friday episodes
  • Famous Guest Star: Like several others, Cedric Smith is well known for his role on Avonlea

The foghorn of doom

Cursed Antique of the Week: A foghorn that summons the murderous spirit of a pirate that trades his treasure for the lives of the descendants of his mutinous crew

Setting: Whaler’s Point, a town founded by pirates who became whalers

Best Death: None of them are particularly exciting, so I guess we’ll go with Fenton (Smith)’s hook to the chest

Quirkiest Add-On: Fenton and Dewey (Thomas Hauff) are revealed to be secret brothers, which is some straight up soap opera shit

Character Bits: This is the first Jack (Chris Wiggins)-free episode since “Scarecrow”

Corny Finish Line: There is no spoken dialogue; just the sound of the foghorn laid out over the image of a full pirate ship on a sea of fog, which is pretty on-the-nose

80s Fashion Closet: Ryan wears a thematically appropriate anchor sweater that is actually kind of fashionable. Less fashionable: Micki’s giant hoop earrings and corset at the end of the episode

Kissing Cousins Incest Watch: Do you think that when the cousins make their way upstairs at episode’s end, they’re going to…Oh never mind

Angus McBride looks ok

What Works…

Ugh – nothing. This episode is a total snore. I mean, at least neither Micki or Ryan winds up being the missing ancestor so we don’t have to deal with them being in any real danger.

Ok, and Angus McBride’s make-up/mask is kinda fun, albeit in a very “dollar store Halloween” kinda way.

Maximum fodder, limited interest

What Doesn’t Work…

If the last episode used all of the collective tropes to deliver one of the series’ best instalments, then this one exemplifies all of its weaknesses. There’s simply nothing interesting happening here. The villain is identified at the very start, a bunch of randoms we have no interest or investment in are murdered and the explanation for what is happening is evident from very early on (and then frequently repeated ad nauseum). This means that the majority of the episode is spent simply watching Ryan and Micki (and to a lesser extent Dewey) stumble their way through a dull, predictable investigation. We’re talking lots of books. Like lots and lots and LOTS of books.

It doesn’t help that there is no way not to compare this episode to the film that so clearly inspired it: John Carpenter’s The Fog. And while that film has its own share of narrative issues, it at least has a great score, great special effects and a host of engaging actors to prop it up (Adrienne Barbeau’s radio DJ is too sultry for words). In comparison, this episode has a bunch of white dudes and a really fake looking cave for Ryan to stumble into.

Oopsie!

Stream of Consciousness Musings

  • The number of people who are casually murdered on a date in this show should inspire any single person to remain celibate for the rest of their lives
  • Dewey says Whaler’s Point is “…just a little town up the coast” to which Micki replies: “Well that doesn’t sound too far.” Huh? It could be ANYWHERE with that description!
  • When Micki fails to distract Fenton while Ryan investigates the lighthouse for the foghorn, Ryan naturally winds up hanging off the ledge as Fenton wanders around above him. This makes no sense because Fenton would FOR SURE see Ryan’s fingertips
  • The middle section of the episode really drags, save from Barney (Bernard Behrens) getting an axe to the back of the head, which is expected but still kind of cool
  • Micki kicking the door to the lighthouse in frustration is surprisingly enjoyable
  • Of all of the items that Fenton could attack someone with, he chooses a sword?
  • As expected, Dewey gets the sharp end of the pointy sword…although it sticks out of his back at a much lower angle than I would have expected. Did Fenton stab him in the groin?
  • Why does the ghost of McBride attack Ryan in the caves? This is never really explained
  • Micki delivers yet more exposition to Ryan about Fenton’s use of the foghorn to summon McBride. No shit, WE ALREADY KNOW THIS
  • “I already killed 12 people!” Lol. This line by Fenton shouldn’t have made me laugh, but it’s delivered so indignantly. Like, how many more people must he murder before he gets his bounty!
  • Oh shocker, Fenton is the final descendant. Snooooooze
  • The bit where McBride summons Fenton to him and impales him with a hook is satisfying, but bloodless. Why are some episodes so light on FX when others are a goldmine?
  • Why is Micki so distraught by Dewey’s death? I don’t get it. Just because he cared about Barney and saved her life? This is true of half of the episodes for crying out loud
  • Oh my god, even in the coda we’re still delivering exposition about why Fenton was killed. Ugh this episode draaaags

See you back here tomorrow for Friday The 13th The Series episode 23: “Badge of Honor”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1Nu9rbDTZQ

Friday The 13th The Series Rewatch: S01E21 – “Anyone Who Comes Near Us Dies”

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Welcome to the Friday The 13th The Series rewatch. Each day throughout October, we’ll watch one episode of the seminal 1987 television series and tackle the highs, the lows and Micki’s hair (of course). Now step into Curious Goods and peruse our cursed antiques, won’t you?

https://youtu.be/dOKvn8MLdQk

S01E021: “Double Exposure”

Wikipedia Plot Summary: Ryan (John D. LeMay) sees famous television newscaster Winston Knight (Gary Frank) hack someone to death with a machete at the same time he was on the air live.

  • Director: Newcomer Neill Fearnley directs the first of two Friday episodes
  • Writer: Oh dear, “The Poison Pen” and “The Great Montarro” writer Durnford King returns for his final episode
  • Famous Guest Star: By this time, Frank has appeared on several episodes of Remington Steele while Catherine Disher would go on to a starring role in Canadian genre TV classic Forever Knight

Old timey camera

Cursed Antique of the Week: A camera that produces a murderous double of the person whose picture was taken. The original will die if the negative isn’t destroyed in five hours

Setting: Winston Knight’s apartment / Curious Goods

Best Death: Despite appearing offscreen, Cathy (Disher)’s “the killer is in the house” murder is easily one of the most terrifying deaths on the series so far

Quirkiest Add-On: In his desperation to recover the negative, Knight creates a duplicate Jack (Chris Wiggins) to do his bidding

Character Bits: Judging from Ryan’s repeated insistence about getting into Cathy’s apartment, he’s definitely still a virgin

Corny Finish Line: Not unlike “Brain Drain“, the episode ends on a downer note as Ryan hears one of his last conversations with Cathy play out while staring at her picture

80s Fashion Closet: Micki (Louise Robey) wears a black turtleneck mini, a three-quarter button up jacket and a matching motherfucking bodice. It looks SO RIDICULOUS

Kissing Cousins Incest Watch: Since Ryan is too busy crushing on someone else and Micki isn’t acting completely irrational (like she did in “The Quilt Of Hathor 1 & 2“), there are very few incest vibes in this episode

Machete fight!

What Works…

Friday the 13th is giving me whiplash. One episode is lacklustre, and the next is excellent. The show’s quality is all over the map, but I am happy to report that “Double Exposure” is definitely one of the best.

Part of my appreciation of this is undoubtedly personal: I like mad scientists, doubles and slashers, so this episode is checking all of my boxes. What’s fascinating is that most of the best material in the episode isn’t new territory for the series, but when it is smartly packaged, well-written and tied into the development of our core cast, it works like a charm.

Among the best features of “Double Exposure” is the examination of the camera/photograph as a reproduction that is inferior to the original. There are cameras (and images) scattered throughout the episode, including the picture that Ryan and Cathy take on their last date, the cameras that confirm Knight’s alibi in the television studio and, of course, the cursed camera that literally reproduces a subpar copy of the original. “Double Exposure” reinforces that all of these doubles are inferior copies over its 45 minute runtime. The live feed of Knight doesn’t actually prove he isn’t a killer, his double Knight 2.0 is a mindless somnabulist that can’t have its own life and, sadly, Ryan and Cathy’s picture only confirms her absence after she is killed. This is surprisingly deep material for the series.

Of course none of this would work if all of the other technical cylinders weren’t firing. The gooey vat that the doubles come out of harkens back to classic monster movies (with a touch of Re-Animator) and creating a Jack double for a machete fight in the climax is inspired. Throw in two standout supporting turns from Frank (solid) and Disher (charming and memorable) and “Double Exposure” is an episode I definitely won’t forget after five hours.

The ultimate hot flash

What Doesn’t Work…

It’s mostly a minor quibble, but I’ll confess that Jack and Micki’s initial disbelief of Ryan frustrated me. At this point in the series, it’s unbelievable that they wouldn’t trust each other about anything remotely supernatural considering it is literally their raison d’être.

Cathy’s murder is among the best the series has ever done

Stream of Consciousness Musings

  • I’ll admit that I thought the villain was going to be an amphibian based on the hand that first came out of the goo
  • Still don’t care for the way the show randomly introduces new characters like they’ve always been there (see “Brain Drain” and “A Cup Of Time“). At least we’re provided context for how Ryan and Cathy met
  • Not only does Ryan try to invite himself in to Cathy’s place, he brings up the fact that she wouldn’t let him later when he’s being questioned by Detective Duncan (Tony De Santis)! Newsflash Ryan: Cathy doesn’t owe you sex because you went on a date, you dumb horny virgin!
  • The slow-motion machete attack in the alley is the first indicator that this episode is going to be solid
  • The special effects for the doppelgänger death are a little odd: initially it looks like Knight 2.0 is bleeding to death, then he turns to charr like the negative
  • Direct from my notes: “Detective Duncan provides Ryan’s name to Knight, confirming that Duncan is, in fact, the stupidest cop on the force”
  • Ryan apologizes to Cathy for “dragging her into all of this” so she’s pretty much guaranteed to die at that point
  • In case you wondered: Ryan is a boxers man
  • The nightmare sequence when Ryan is attacked through the TV in slow motion is really good. It gave me a touch of A Nightmare On Elm Street 3 and a dash of Videodrome
  • Knight puts on a good show when Ryan and Cathy visit his apartment. Maybe he should have been an actor instead of a news anchor?
  • It’s hard not to blame Cathy for her own death. If she is dumb enough to go home in spite of the knowledge that she left her purse at Knight’s house and then she calls Ryan instead of the police, well she kinda deserves to die
  • The sequence when Knight 2.0 turns on the TV while Cathy is recording her message to Ryan is shiver-inducing. It’s a quintessential slasher moment. As soon as we know that the killer is already in the house, you know she’s a goner.
  • Also: didn’t she see Halloween? Don’t hide in a flimsy closet!
  • I’m pretty sure that random strangers like Jack and Ryan aren’t allowed to just burst into a crime scene
  • Detective Vincent wants a statement from Ryan, who is crying profusely, and Jack shuts it down. Good job Jack
  • Probably should have anticipated that someone would be duplicated, but I didn’t. So it’s a fun surprise when Jack 2.0 shows up
  • Knight thinks that he’s going to win a Pulitzer Prize for catching the Machete Killer? Lol. Dude, get real
  • Argument for a standalone episode where we follow Knight’s producer Phil (Dennis O’Connor) as he is charged for agreeing to wait to call the cops outside of Curious Goods
  • Ryan realizing that Jack is a duplicate because he doesn’t know the cursed antique can’t be destroyed is good continuity
  • My absolute favourite moment of the episode is the freaking MACHETE FIGHT! Bonus points for the moment when Knight 2.0 cuts Jack 2.0 and the watery goo pours out of his wounds
  • Sidebar: Jack 2.0 has a machete, and Knight 2.0 has a machete. Is Knight (original flavour) getting them wholesale or something?
  • Does the fact that Knight meets his duplicate, then disappears in plain sight, then Knight 2.0 dies on camera mean that everyone now knows that the supernatural is real? (Yes, that’s rhetorical because I don’t expect it to happen)
  • I disagree with Jack’s claim that if Knight 2.0 had lived, he would have used the camera to continue making duplicates. There’s absolutely no evidence to support this claim
  • Sad Ryan realizes that the three of them are the cursed ones (which, duh!). The real question is whether he is legitimately upset or if he just wistfully realizes that he’s no closer to getting laid?

See you back here tomorrow for Friday The 13th The Series episode 22: “The Pirate’s Promise”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=It8kLiAC2Ic

Friday The 13th The Series Rewatch: S01E20 – “This Is God’s Court!”

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Welcome to the Friday The 13th The Series rewatch. Each day throughout October, we’ll watch one episode of the seminal 1987 television series and tackle the highs, the lows and Micki’s hair (of course). Now step into Curious Goods and peruse our cursed antiques, won’t you?

https://youtu.be/CEb6Sjr4K8Y

S01E020: “The Quilt of Hathor: The Awakening”

Wikipedia Plot Summary: Ryan (John D. LeMay) is framed by the town leader, Reverend Josiah Grange (Scott Paulin), as the mastermind of all the killings sect.

  • Director: Last episode‘s director Timothy Bond returns to helm part two
  • Writer: Janet Maclean also wraps up her own arc
  • Famous Guest Star: Bernard Behrens plays Inquisitor Holmes. He would go on to play Van Helsing in Dracula: The Series, which is a thing that existed for a season

Dream a little dream of murder

Cursed Antique of the Week: The Quilt of Hathor continues to let its owner kill others in their dreams

Setting: The Penitite Colony

Best Death: Tie!

  1. Elder Florence (Araby Lockhart)’s eye plucking wouldn’t work because of her glasses and likely wouldn’t have killed her, but the gory aftermath is still enjoyable
  2. Reverend Grange’s slow motion second story fall is a solid end to a despicable character. Friday the 13th sure does love tossing characters out of windows

Quirkiest Add-On: The colony just has a giant stake built and ready to go?

Character Bits: Nada. It’s too tight a timeline for further character development

Corny Finish Line: Nothing verbal, but Ryan awakens with a gasp to the crack of lightning, which is the sound effect used to communicate that the Quilt of Hathor is being used for nefarious purposes

80s Fashion Closet: Sadly this is even worse than last episode, though Ryan does adopt an old-timey hat that makes him look like a day player at a historical reenactment place

Kissing Cousins Incest Watch: Yet more overacting from Micki (Louise Robey) when Ryan is put to the stake. Also, her look of affection when she lays the quilt on him in the coda once he’s back at Curious Goods is very telling

Ever feel like you’re having deja vu?

What Works…

Overall this is a fine, albeit unspectacular, wrap up to a two part episode. If you liked the first instalment, you’re apt to enjoy this. We’re provided a little more of the Ryan/Laura (Carolyn Dunn) romance, as well as more action to satisfy audience members who may have fallen asleep themselves in the more slow-paced first half.

The swapping out of villains – Josiah replaces Effie (Kate Trotter) – is disappointing to me (see below), but narratively it probably makes the most sense since there isn’t much further to take Effie, particularly once she and Josiah are married. Plus it’s evident from the start that Josiah isn’t fit to lead, so it’s no big surprise when he seizes the opportunity to take advantage of a cursed evil object for his own personal gain.

Still, it’s all a bit ho-hum.

SO. MUCH. JOSIAH

What Doesn’t Work…

If I’m being honest, I don’t know that this was a story that justified a two-part episode. I found Scott Paulin’s acting to be quite…broad (if we’re being polite) so all of the “God’s will” and other shouty line readings didn’t really do it for me. Since Reverend Grange really takes front and centre stage here, it’s hard to get away from him, which makes the episode that much more difficult to enjoy.

It’s also frustrating that we have another episode that eschews women for a male villain-centered plot. Perhaps the gendered nature of the murders between the two episodes is telling (In part one, Effie murders for love; Grange murders for power in part two) but, again, it winds up coming off as pretty reductive. A part of me is also disappointed that Trotter isn’t given more to do – she basically exists to introduce the quilt, get the ball rolling and then get murdered so that a man can take over.

As for the inclusion of a fiery set piece in each episode — cleansing ritual vs stake, with Micki freaking out in both — this winds up being far too repetitive. It’s almost as though there isn’t quite enough content to fill two whole episodes! Memo to future Friday the 13th writers: it’s not a callback when it just feels like padding.

Finally, I  love how Matthew (Diego Matamoros) is completely sidelined once Ryan decides to stay. Isn’t he still engaged to Laura? Why has that changed?!

Caught red handed (literally)

Stream of Consciousness Musings

  • Ohhh Jack’s “previously on…” monologue is so dramatic. Ryan is: “Alone. Alone with a KILLER”
  • How does Effie have such a sixth sense about when people are digging through her stuff? She catches Elder Florence in the act and immediately knocks her off because of her Spidey senses
  • Good gore effect on the blinded eyes, even if Florence’s glasses would have prevented such a poke
  • Things escalate quickly as the colonists accuse Ryan of witchcraft and Laura of being seduced (both are fair claims, if you wanna be honest)
  • Reverend Grange hears Ryan’s explanation…then actively chooses to believe (AND MARRY) Effie because he’s known her for longer. This isn’t suspicious at all
  • Have characters been breaking the fourth wall during the dream sequences the whole time? Josiah looks out at the audience before breaking Effie’s back and killing her
  • Interestingly the Victorian, fancy dress stuff is apparently how Effie visualizes the quilt, while Josiah has no time for such frivolous things. This is perhaps the most fully realized gender disparity Maclean introduces in the two episodes and it’s quite clever
  • Micki and Jack make a cameo appearance to announce the hearst has broken down. Thanks for phoning in, guys!
  • I quite like it when Inquisitor Holmes (Behrens) schools Matthew on being more accepting of Ryan, mostly because Matthew is such a dick
  • Brother Inquisitor calls Grange’s excuse for the mislaid quilt “convenient” so he’s immediately my new favourite character
  • In addition to killing Effie, Grange makes a series of power plays: he convinces Ryan he’s listening to him, he weaves a tale to appease the Inquisitor, then he kicks Ryan out under false pretences. Dude is working this colony like nobody’s business
  • “I never dreamed someone like you could exist.” Baaaaaaarf Ryan
  • Ryan is caught — literally red handed — over Inquisitor Holmes’ body with a knife <sigh>
  • Micki and Jack hilariously arrive just in time for Josiah to boot them out of the hearing. Again, thanks for coming folks!
  • Can we talk about how the colony just has a stake kicking around the grounds. Like, are they just always ready to burn people up?
  • Also: why is there singing? Why is there so much damn singing in these episodes?
  • Micki gets to deliver another ridiculous wailing performance while Ryan nearly burns up
  • Ohhhh a horseback vs horse carriage chase scene? Love it!
  • When did Josiah have time to hide the quilt after killing the Inquisitor? This timeline is confused
  • Seeing people fight over quilts never gets old (Narrator: it was old the first time)
  • Naturally now that they can be together, neither Ryan or Laura are willing to stick around. What a zzzzz conclusion
  • “I wish I’d never come here, never seen you, then I’d never have to leave you.” I mean, I guess that’s a compliment? I do feel like Ryan still has some work to do on his romance skills
  • So….Matthew wins? ‘Cause you know he’s totally gonna marry Laura now
  • Back at Curious Goods, Micki covers Ryan in a quilt. Shouldn’t everyone be a little afraid of quilts by now?
  • Update: oh, we’re doing the Carrie ending thing? Ok…

See you back here tomorrow for Friday The 13th The Series episode 21: “Double Exposure”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOKvn8MLdQk

Friday The 13th The Series Rewatch: S01E19 – “I Knew The Quilt Was Evil”

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Welcome to the Friday The 13th The Series rewatch. Each day throughout October, we’ll watch one episode of the seminal 1987 television series and tackle the highs, the lows and Micki’s hair (of course). Now step into Curious Goods and peruse our cursed antiques, won’t you?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nT4dWsB0T7w&t=1s

S01E019: “The Quilt of Hathor”

Wikipedia Plot Summary: While searching for a cursed quilt in a reclusive, anti-modern religious community, Ryan (John D. LeMay) falls in love with Laura (Carolyn Dunn) and joins a religious sect.

  • Director: Frequent Friday director Timothy Bond returns (past credits include The Poison Pen, Hellowe’en, and Shadow Boxer)
  • Writer: Janet Maclean kicks off the first of her two-part stint, but would go on to greater things writing for Danger Bay and Avonlea
  • Famous Guest Star: Kate Trotter, who plays villainous Effie Stokes, would eventually go on to play Lost Girl‘s The Norn

The quilt of dreams

Cursed Antique of the Week: The Quilt of Hathor let’s the owner kill others in their dreams

Setting: The Penotite Colony

Best Death: Jane Spring (Patricia Strelioff)’s dream death — she plummets two stories over the bannister and through a table to her death — is both beautiful and just the right amount of gory

Quirkiest Add-On: The fiery — and ridiculous — cleansing ritual

Character Bits: We meet Aunt Sarah Good (Helen Carscallen), a relative of Micki (Louise Robey) and Ryan’s, though she is set on fire before episode’s end

Corny Finish Line: “The quilt is a fake” Micki breathes in shock to wrap up the first part of the cliffhanger

80s Fashion Closet: Penotite culture dictates that its members dress conservatively, which limits the fun fashion choices significantly. However, the gaudy faux-Victorian clothing in the dream/murder sequences is quite enjoyable (albeit not period appropriate)

Kissing Cousins Incest Watch: The more than Ryan falls in love with Laura, the more hyperbolic Micki becomes. Her orgiastic reactions during the “cleansing” fight are over the top hilarious and provide the clearest evidence yet that Micki is just as enamoured with Ryan as he is with her. Her resigned “Me, too” when Jack (Chris Wiggins) says he’ll miss Ryan is quite pathetic

A fiery (ridiculous) cleanse

What Works…

Perhaps because this is a two parter, the pacing of “The Quilt of Hathor” feels much more relaxed. It’s clear that writer writer Maclean and director Bond are taking the time to ensure that the unusual cultural practices of the Penotites has been firmly established. The actual cursed object comes off as an after-thought as a result; Ryan’s relationship with Laura takes precedent.

While I don’t feel as strongly about this particular storyline as I have about Micki‘s or Jack’s from previous episodes, it is nice to see John D. LeMay given more to do on the series. He rises to the occasion when given an opportunity to dig into more emotional material and while the speed of the storyline doesn’t work for me (more on that below), he and Carolyn Dunn have good chemistry that helps to sell their romantic connection.

Less believable, but far more entertaining, is the completely ridiculous cleansing ceremony involving an elevated fight to the death over a pit of flames. While several of the allusions to the Menonites is incorrect (and even inflammatory), this particular practice is so insane that it surpasses any kind of outrage to stand as one of the most bizarre sequences the series has ever done.

Finally, I must applaud Trotter, who essentially takes a one dimensional villain and elevates her into something interesting. Effie Stokes is a lovesick woman who lashes out at her romantic rivals; it’s the broadest archetype of a woman possible and yet Trotter imbues her old English line readings with subtle malice that makes Effie relatable and fresh. It’s good work in a thankless role.

Menonite Footloose

What Doesn’t Work…

As I mentioned above, I don’t love the Ryan/Laura storyline, if only because their love feels artificially inflated. Not unlike Jack’s rush job in the last episode, things go from a crush to a full-on love affair in the span of just a few hours. Whereas Jack’s relationship had a history that made it slightly more believable, here Ryan simply falls in love impossibly fast.

Micki’s reaction is similarly compacted, which makes her histrionic reaction to Ryan’s emotional distance from her and the case of the week feel over the top. Robey does herself no favours during the cleansing scene; once again it’s as though the actress has been told to play her reactions as big as possible and it comes off looking very amateurish. Not her finest hour, though at least it’s not playing enthralled to a vampire.

The terror of feeding horses is real

Stream of Consciousness Musings

  • Reverend Josiah Grange (Scott Paulin) is wearing THE worst fake beard I have ever seen on TV. You can literally see the glue lines
  • The fantasy sequences are among the most interesting visual technique the series has ever attempted. I don’t get the period piece/Victorian dress-up aspect of it, but the cinematography and costuming looks lush and beautiful
  • Please note that Ryan begins this episode dancing with a headless female mannequin and ends it practically engaged
  • Sarah Good runs down the ways that Penotites don’t like modern ways. This includes no music, no mirrors, no technology, the requirement to dress conservatively and participate in arranged marriages that are organized when the women are still children. If this is, in fact, taken off real Menonites, only the technology and conservative dress are real rules. The rest is offensive poppycock
  • Ryan notes that “we live the same way” when Sarah mentions there are punishments for sexual transgressions which…makes no sense
  • Laura looks distractingly like a young Kate MacKinnon
  • My main issue with Matthew (Diego Matamoros) is that he’s meant to be so much older than Laura, but he also looks very young and childish
  • Actual excerpt from my notes: “Oh Jesus, Ryan – no! Don’t sing!” LeMay does not have a good voice, even for something like a lullaby
  • Reverend Grange reminds me of John Lithgow when he insists that they must shun dance. We’re firmly in Menonite Footloose territory
  • One of the more interesting things “The Quilt of Hathor” does is find horror not in the cursed object storyline (no one seems particularly upset that people keep dying), but in the relationship storyline. For example: Ryan is stabbed in the arm by Matthew with a pitchfork when he hides in the hay in the barn and the music and direction treats it like it’s the scariest scene in the episode
  • I like that Ryan is warned that there will be consequences if he doesn’t stay away from Laura and in the very next scene they’re macking IN PUBLIC IN FRONT OF EVERYONE
  • Micki’s reactions during the cleansing fight are so fucking extra. I LOVE IT
  • The oddest moment occurs when Sarah Good accuses Effie of being evil and Effie counters that she (Effie) is…plain? Oh. Good comeback, Priscilla
  • The line “Who do you wanna call as a witness, the Sandman?” is so, so bad. What a groaner
  • While Micki’s plea with Ryan to accompany her home really helps cement the core of their relationship, I do love that part of her argument is that he’s too childish to be in love: “You love hot dogs and Saturday morning cartoons”
  • The fake quilt reveal isn’t the strongest cliffhanger to end the first part on. Prediction: Jack and Micki will have to stop Effie before she kills Laura for attempting to prevent her marriage to Reverend Grange

See you back here later today for Friday The 13th The Series episode twenty: the stunning conclusion of the two-parter, “The Quilt of Hathor: The Awakening”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEb6Sjr4K8Y