12
@Concrete_Film
HALLOWEEN: THE NIGHT THE CASH COW CAME HOME
Rebecca Markwick Halloween; the time of year to wear scary costumes (including the one bloke who thinks a skeleton t-shirt counts as a costume), go to horror themed parties and binge on sugar; the time of year when the supernatural world is at its closest, and souls revisit their homes. As such, Halloween has become a veritable breeding ground for horror movies. With an almost guaranteed audience of horror fans craving their yearly fix, the film industry complies most readily. However, compared to the excellent horror films of the past, the movies released around Halloween of recent times tend to play on film goers desire for cheap, late night scares, by trading on names that people will pay for; with reboots and dire sequels that never should have been made (Halloween: H20 I’m looking at you) filling the Autumn listings every year. Such sequels tend to care little about the despair of ardent fans, with iconic characters and mythologies tainted by poor execution. For the cynics amongst us, the conveyor belt films of Halloween are only after our money, rather than our fear. This year there’s yet another Paranormal Activity being released, the fourth in the franchise, which will undoubtedly fail to have the charm and chills of the original: Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3D - a sequel to one of the most famous films of all time, is also on the horizon, with what looks to be a very sketchy plot (isn’t Leatherface a little past it now?). But where there’s a trick there’s always a treat, and with it there is hope; this year we have the promising stop motion Frankenweenie – an original Burton take on horror. Terrible horror movies have become somewhat of a Halloween staple. It is depressing to see so much unoriginality and fake blood around, though the odd gem can more than make up for it. Ignoring the pessimism, perhaps All Hallows’ Eve is special, the one night when a plotless gore fest can be received gratefully. Adopt the mindset of a hyper, young child, light the pumpkins and go and get spooked.
www.concrete-online.co.uk
NEWS
FILM
concrete.film@uea.ac.uk 23.10.2012
Festivals open and close across the globe; tributes paid to Harris Savides
Chris Gaisie Festivals abound aplenty in this week’s news, with film enthusiasts and industry practitioners coming together to celebrate all things film. The 56th BFI London Film Festival kicked off with Tim Burton’s latest animated film Frankenweenie, receiving a warm reception. The festival is said to be making more of an effort to up play its awards section in a bid to compete with other top film festivals around the world. This year boasts over 200 films from a variety of 50 countries, screened over the 12-day festival. Norwich had its own share of festival excitement with the third annual Norwich
Sound and Vision Festival that took place between 11-13 October. While the event has a large emphasis on music as well as film, there was plenty going on to please both crowds. Special screenings and talks from industry experts took place during the festival. Overseas, New York’s Comic Con is becoming increasingly noticed by Hollywood as a place to dazzle punters with upcoming releases. Little brother to San Diego’s Comic Con (taking place in the summer), recently the New York edition boasted its biggest year yet. The greater interest from Hollywood isn’t really surprising considering the continued influx of comic book movie
adaptations that seem to dominate the box-office. Speaking of which, Charles Schulz’s Peanuts comic strip is being brought to the big screen by Fox. Will this be a sincere, heartfelt adaptation or will Snoopy become a talking dog, bursting out of the screen in “full 3D!?” In much sadder news, cinematographer Harris Savides passed away on 9 October at the age of 55. Harris was an expert of his craft, as evidenced in his work on David Fincher’s Zodiac, Gus Van Sant’s Elephant, and Ridley Scott’s American Gangster, to name just a few of his many achievements. Many paid tribute to him in the days following his death; he will be sorely missed.
ALFRED HITCHCOCK: THE LEGACY OF A GENIUS As the BFI’s Hitchcock season ends, Venue casts its eyes on the master of suspense Kerr Cameron In the late 1930s The New York Times proclaimed that there were “three valuable institutions” that America did not have: The Magna Carta, Tower Bridge and Alfred Hitchcock. This was 20 years before Rear Window, Psycho or North by Northwest. It would be an impressive feat to overstate the extent of Alfred Hitchcock’s influence on cinema and popular culture over the last 90 years. Shrieking violins as a woman takes a shower, a man in a suit being pursued through a field by a plane. Whether or not you have seen Psycho or North by Northwest, his imagery has had an indelible effect upon the cultural landscape, an accomplishment only a select few directors have emulated. Hitchcock himself has become an icon too. How many other directors can you recognise from their silhouette alone? Clues to how he adopted his inimitable style can be gleaned from his childhood. He was lonely and reserved at school on account of his obesity; it can not be coincidence that the conflicted loner is such a familiar Hitchcockian trait. Look no further than Anthony Perkins’ detached and solitary motel owner in Psycho, or James Stewart’s voyeuristic photographer in Rear Window. The idea of being on the outside looking in is one that permeates Hitchcock’s work. His father was strict, once asking the police to lock his son up for 10 minutes as punishment. Unsurprisingly, mistreatment and strange behaviour are themes that occur frequently in his work. Hitchcock’s creative career began modestly. While working at an engineering firm, he submitted short stories to the company publication. These introduced the Hitchcock we’ve come to imagine – all
dark shadows, fear and danger. His first told the story of a woman being assaulted in Paris by drunks, only for her to wake up in a dentist’s chair after anaesthetic. His thirst for the creative lead him to a production studio in London, rising from title card maker to director in five years. He made his mark quickly, his first thriller The Lodger raising heads. Alfred Hitchcock has the unique distinction of directing the first ever British produced ‘talkie’ (Blackmail) after which his reputation as an innovator only grew. He experimented with 3-D in Dial M for Murder. Rope was filmed as if in real time, shots lasting up to 10 minutes, a radical idea then and now. He invented
the idea of a MacGuffin, generally an object or goal in a story which serves as a plot motivation, but has little to do with the message of the film. The MacGuffin is a device still used in film today, but it is a footnote in the legacy we have been left by Alfred Hitchcock. His films are more respected, and he more revered, than ever. The BFI’s “Genius of Hitchcock” season is culminating this month, and two films (Hitchcock and The Girl) about his personality and work are out soon. Put simply, Alfred Hitchcock is owed a debt of gratitude by all those involved in the making and appreciating of film as art, because he is one of its masters.