M.V. Clark's Blog, page 5

Title Fright 4 Result: The Hunger v Let the Right One In

Why Title Fright?

I think this is what is known as a 'personal statement'.

Title Fright 4: The Hunger v Let the Right One in

The ecstasy of selfishness versus the agony of hope. Which film wins this week's Title Fright? Tell us your vote and why in the comments section.

Guts Reaction: Bucking Hell

Bucking Hell is a short film by James Kermack. It’s about three men stuck on a sinking ship, with only one life-jacket. They sit below decks playing an improvised version of Buckaroo to decide who gets the life jacket – hence the title.

The Buckaroo is worth describing in more detail. It’s like a mix between a Blair Witch Project twig sculpture and a four-year-old child’s junk modelling. It’s really quite special.

The film is a fine study of men on the edge and it’s darkly hilarious. Dick-waving about who’s got the biggest scar – that’s scar not car - takes up a significant proportion of the character’s dwindling time.

Gradually, the terrified and ridiculous bickering breaks down into Beckettian existential reflection. At this point real characters begin to emerge. One shows himself to be a cynic to the end, while another reveals an unexpected, if horribly violated, sensitivity.

Bucking Hell is a very accomplished short film. The performances – from David Schaap of the Inbetweeners, Nicky Evans of Shameless and Geoffrey Breton…  who is less well known but should be…. are impeccable.

Like many a short film, I wanted it to be longer.

James Kermack’s first feature film - Hi-Lo Joe, about a love affair haunted by trauma - received mixed reviews.  But Kermack’s clearly got an eye for compelling set-up and characters, and tightly controlled narrative. He’s currently putting together a dark action thriller, Knuckledust, and I’ll certainly be looking out for it.

Dead Corpse by Nuzo Onoh

Nuzo Onoh caught my eye when I saw a blog about Dead Corpse, her latest novel. When I read that she calls herself the Queen of African Horror I was intrigued. I went to Amazon, looked inside the book, and found myself on a smooth, irresistible narrative conveyor belt with no going back.

Onoh is a British writer of Igbo heritage. She grew up in what was formerly the Republic of Biafra and is now part of Nigeria. Her books are all famously steeped in African folklore and traditions.  

Dead Corpse is one hell of a story, about three generations of medicine-women who battle with the evil in gods, men and in themselves to find happiness. It’s also about revenge, and the struggle to define the right way to live in the complex and divided world of modern Africa.

The story begins with Xikora, a powerful and somewhat malevolent albino medicine woman, dying in childbirth along with her infant son. Her daughter Owa - also albino and destined to inherit Xikora’s powers - is left motherless and vulnerable in a community that disdains light-skinned people.

We return to Owa some years later, when she’s established as the medicine-woman in the village. Although she’s just as powerful as her late mother, she’s much more timid and merciful. She has a daughter called Aku, also albino. But Aku’s academic talent has led her to attend a Catholic school and convert to Christianity.

I was already fascinated to see how this fight between old and new gods would play out. But then enter “the fat man”, one of the most upsetting villains I’ve ever come across. His plans for Aku are grotesque but the detail of his petty ambition makes him believable:

“…As I told you, I’m the deputy local government chairman and very soon, I shall become the chairman,” he paused, looking her over as if she were a bowl of assorted meats.

Occasionally Onoh uses too many adjectives for my taste - it might be more powerful to talk about some of the crimes that have been committed without mentioning that they are “heinous” for example.

But her language is mostly vivid and compelling. Take this passage where Owa and Aku communes with a goddess:

The earth cracked and the flies spewed out in their ferocious, deafening flight; the celestial flies, the forbearers of the great Earth Goddess. The swarm coalesced by the entrance of the shrine, whirling like a black tornado, sculpturing themselves in the smoky gloom till a dark figure emerged, a body formed from flies, a figure shaped like a woman, a towering, terrifying, night-black woman. The figure was so colossal it filled the shrine, seeming to extend beyond the dry, thatched roof. The fly-body swelled and rolled, whirled and surged as it undulated its terrible walk towards the black blood-coated statue. Aku’s head expanded and contracted. Millions of hard glittering fly-eyes blinded her sight as the great goddess drew closer.

Onoh's writing also has a consistent pace and clarity that draws you in and makes you forget time – the ‘narrative conveyor belt’ I mentioned in the introduction.

The plot of Dead Corpse is harrowing but that’s how horror works – tapping into deep anxieties and worst-case scenarios to sort out fairly ordinary dilemmas we’d all recognize. For example, is it better to think like ruthless Xikora or merciful Owa?

Xikora tells Owa:

“I make my own destiny. Haven’t you heard a word I said? Those who wait instead of taking action achieve nothing in life, like yourself, who’ve let your powers go to the dogs.”

By the end of the book you feel like you – along with Owa and the rest of her village - are walking a very thin tightrope of goodness between the values of Xikora and those of the fat man. But you’ve made it.

An exciting, satisfying read that will make you shudder and think - highly recommended!

Twit Follows - @RiversofGrue

I don’t follow @riversofgrue for his tweets exactly. I mean, they’re good, they’re full of great images and intriguing updates on his projects and collaborations. But what I actually follow him for is what his tweets click through to. And that’s words.

I still don’t totally understand @riversofgrue – where he comes from, who his associates are and so on. His website is superb but some of his links take me through to sites that are a barrage of confusing words and pictures.

So I’m going to focus on his writing. This ranges from horror fiction to film criticism and introspective pieces, and it's clear as crystal.

The first tweet I clicked on was this:

Enjoy my review of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.https://t.co/NypxcaaEjM#CreatorsUnite#TexasChainsawMassacre#TobeHooper#Chainsaw#Leatherface

— Keeper of the Crimson Quill (@RiversofGrue) December 1, 2017

New to his feed, I thought it would be just another rambling blog. But then I was whacked over the head – in a good way, an excellent way - by the first paragraph:

I wish to start by making one thing unmistakably clear. Tobe Hooper’s The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is the most despicable, mean-spirited, rotten hunk of celluloid that I have ever had the outrageous good fortune of being subjected to. That’s a compliment in case you’re wondering.

What followed was a rollercoaster of kinetic, lyrical, exhilarating prose that articulated the insight that’s always been on the tip of my tongue about TCM – it’s actually beautiful. For example:

I would implore you to experience the restored version if you can take the relentless mental anguish a second time. Daniel Pearl’s cinematography really comes into its own here and every solitary strand of jade green Texas grass stands out defiantly against the brilliant azure skyline.

And he’s a bottomless pit of this stuff.

Now us horror fans are a diverse bunch. We all come at the genre with a slightly different take. And I’m not in exactly the same tribe as @riversofgrue. He writes erotic fiction and that’s not my bag (although I did read one story and I can see it’s a quality example of the genre).

He also published an article recently about @kreepazoidkelly, a special effects artist, model and icon of the horror community who is suffering a serious illness. Reading it I felt like I’d blundered into a private space.

But it was powerfully written, as if he was crying as he got the words out. And isn’t everybody always saying we have too many taboos around discussing illness and mortality? When was only hanging out with people in the same tribe the best fun?

@riversofgrue is anti-censorship, anti-niminy-piminy-hangups, and pro-tolerance. I think he's absolutely terrific.

So I am a #gruehead (yes, his fans have their own groovy moniker). To see just how much #grueheads love @riversofgrue, check out these tweets:

Kicking it Spartan style Richard @RiversofGrue ! You never cease to be a wordsmith delight my friend! If this is the final foray in 2017 many more in the coming 2018! #HappyNewYear https://t.co/GVImSRTpyc

— Jake Moore (@RiverCityOtter) December 30, 2017

Thank you again @RiversofGrue. Your words, as always, were inspiring. They shone a beacon of light on my path and helped me find my way out of the haunted forest. I came across my muse again too ;) https://t.co/X7lGBleGrP

— Cathy Hennebury (@CathyHennebury) December 10, 2017

Then, after the Holidays , when winter really settles in, why not #follow .@RiversofGrue for some #prime toothsome #terror you can really get lost in... #enjoy ... #ss #mm #tt #ww #ff

— billy kravitz (@wilkravitz) December 31, 2017

And there are literally hundreds like this.

Personally I’d like to see @riversofgrue publish some longer fiction in which he explores his twisted characters in much greater depth. But I get the feeling he’s already got a plan. I’ll certainly be watching it unfold.

Title Fright 3 - Silence of the Lambs vs American Psycho

Welcome to Title Fright 3 where two MASSIVE serial killer films do battle. This one is really exciting - it's like seeing Hannibal Lecter and Patrick Bateman go mano a mano on each other! But it's a tight battle - please vote and comment and help us pick a winner!

Guts Reaction: League of Gentlemen Christmas Special

Here are my off the cuff thoughts on The League of Gentlemen Christmas Special.

On the down side, the structure of the series - a hybrid between a sketch show and a sitcom - wasn’t quite as dreamlike as in the original show. It felt bitty, rather than unsettling.

This was the only downside, however.

Royston Vasey, as others have observed, is more relevant than ever. What is Brexit if not a resolution of Britain’s identity as a local country for local people?

I’m coming at League of Gentlemen as a horror fan. On a more personal note, I feel that for horror fans , the energy of characters like Edward and Tubbs and Papa Lazarou is always there under the surface of everyday life. To me, you can’t make sense of life without that crazy dimension. You can’t live your life without it. A show like the League of Gentlemen provides an exhilarating validation for this feeling, and it was good to be back.

Reece Shearsmith and Steve Pemberton were so ferociously good in all their roles they made me tingle. I got the feeling they were having the time of their lives and they absolutely took me with them.

Shearsmith excels himself when, as Benjamin Denton, he’s possessed by Harvey Denton. I never knew a top lip could be so funny.

Mark Gatiss, as usual, was smooth and brilliant.

All in all, watch it if you haven’t already!

 

 

 

 

 

Title Fright #2 Alien v Predator - the results show

Predator fights back!

Title Fright #2: Alien (1979) v Predator (1987)

Happy Festive season! Horror author MV Clark delivers some nostalgia on Christmas Day with a battle for supremacy between two mega-classics: