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Good evening. Today marks the first day of October, a month we here at the Tuesday Night Movie Club have chosen to fill with all the creatures that roam the dark bowers of man's domain. Welcome one and all to TNMC and Look Closer... 's presentation of 31 Days Of Horror.
Hollyfeld, here. I will be your guide throughout this hallowed season, during which we will explore 31 horror films that succeed in shocking, scaring, or simply titillating their audiences. Some of these films you will have seen, some you may have never even heard of, and some you may have heard of, but heard they sucked. No matter - these are the movies that make us here at TNMC, but myself especially, love film.
Why horror? Horror films allow us to revel in our fascination with the night and our unending curiosity for all that cannot be explained (regardless of whether it ever existed at all). We fear what we don't understand, and because of this we create stories out of the inexplicable - making Gods seem human, and horrors almost divine.
Or, as two characters in tonight's movie put it:
"To be able to fly; to be smoke; to know the night and live in it forever... that's not so bad. You call us monsters, but when you dream, you dream of flying and changing and living without death. You envy us. And what you envy... "
"... we destroy."
In todays world, however, it is hard to find monsters we can feel comfortable enough to destroy - certain assholes who assaulted the World Trade Center and Pentagon notwithstanding. So we give birth to them in our art, then do with them what we wish. Usually, this results in their murder at the hands of good, decent folk who can see them for the evils they are. But sometimes, just sometimes, the artists who create these monsters love them too much to let humanity have their way with them, and like good parents teach their children to fight back.
Clive Barker did this very thing. He called his spawn the Nightbreed. And the film he made of these creatures, whom are at once omnipotent and defenseless, demonic and without sin, is the very fitting first subject for our 31 Days Of Horror.
Craig Sheffer (A River Runs Through It, Fire In The Sky) stars as Boone, a man tortured by dreams of a land of ghouls and goblins known only as Midian. He feels strangely drawn to this place (which may or may not exist), but knows he is unwelcome there, being only a man. It is only when Boone's psychiatrist, Dr. Ecker (David Cronenberg, the director of such films as The Fly, Videodrome, and a very special film to be reviewed later this month) convinces him that he is responsible for a series of brutal family slayings in the area that he knows for sure that he belongs in Midian: he, too, is a monster. Or is he? And why is Dr. Ecker so eager to "help" him?
Of course, this is a Clive Barker movie, and Midian does in fact exist. It is an underground paradise of decadence and horrible lovelies. Here there be monsters of every size and shape, from the greasily rebellious Peloquin (Oliver Parker, who would go on to direct such films as Othello and An Ideal Husband) to the noble Lylesberg (Doug Bradley, of Pinhead fame) to the gorgeous and enticing Shuna Sassi (Christine McCorsindale). But while they come to begrudgingly accept Boone as one of their own, they find that his arrival has heralded the coming of other, more malevolent spirits: Man. Man has grown afraid of such creatures living in their midst, and has decided to rid the world once and for all of their heretofore harmless menace.
The story is a broad one with many different interpretations. The obvious choice, of course, would be to draw upon parallels to the Holocaust. The Nightbreed were all but exterminated by a world that hated and feared them because of religious propaganda, now they remain driven from their native homes, isolated for fear of persecution. To an extent, this interpretation of Barker's film seems largely applicable, except that the Nightbreed, unlike the victims of the Holocaust, are more than capable of effectively fighting back. The Breed seem almost afraid to give in to their more instinctive natures, adopting an almost Holy attitude towards their human relations - by fighting back they could only condemn themselves further in man's eyes, or what is even worse, become more like humanity itself.
But the heroic monsters do fight back, and in doing so prove Nightbreed to be more than a simple Holocaust-allegory (if such films can ever be simple). Like it or not, this is more a film about genuine monsters - true outcasts who through their deformities and evolutions are greater than man, while all at once victimized and worshipped by them. Perhaps monsters are the only characters worth portraying, for through their exaggerations they are capable of such feats of good and evil that normal folk can only be humbled by them, or eternally fearful.
Nightbreed exemplifies everything about the horror genre that I love. It acknowledges the beauty of the outcasts, the evils of the mainstream, but still never forgets that no one, be they monster or man, is perfect. Peloquin abides by the decent rules of the Nightbreed, but nevertheless lives in temptation - he fights his nature, but knows he will always desire the salty taste of human flesh. There are men that have lived their entire lives only desiring to be Nightbreed, but whose nocturnal desires are outweighed only by their inherent goodness. Perhaps we cannot change our nature, but Nightbreed asks a very pertinent question in any age: Can anything, anyone's nature be truly wrong?
Perhaps, just perhaps, the answer is yes. But one's appearance is far, far from being an indicator. Clive Barker's Nightbreed are not just the heroes of their film, they are my heroes as well. They are eerily perfect in a world filled with people who wear their deformities behind a mask of normality. They wear their evils on the outside, so only goodness has relevance underneath. They are what they are, and although they never apologize for it, they know that such honesty is not welcome in the world. I too may not be welcome in this world, but like the Nightbreed I may take my lumps for it, but will never apologize.
Tomorrow Night's Movie: I may not be a fan of the Slasher genre (I think they're barely horror films), but tomorrow night I will rave about one of my favorites. Think you can guess it? You're wrong...
As always, Hollyfeld can be reached at hollyfeld_@hotmail.com
You there! You think you could do this job better than I can? Well, you might be right! Look Closer… is always looking for guest columnists, and you might as well be one of them. Just write a review of reasonable length for a movie that you think is under-rated, over-rated, no one knows, etc., and if it makes the grade we will print it in an edition of this column! Those whose reviews are published will also receive a free piece of (slightly cheesy and really inexpensive) promotional merchandise from a movie, to be sent when their review is published, courtesy of me. Just send any and all reviews to the above address. Thank you for reading and participating in the site!
Lazlo Hollyfeld is the pseudonym of an aspiring writer/actor/director located in Southern California. With one screenplay under his (collaborative) belt and more to come, he is sure to work his way up in the world with the help of his talented and close-knit group of friends, co-workers, and penguins. Yes, you heard me, penguins. A film student since before he can remember, he has devoted much of his life to the study of the silver screen and its related art forms.
