Author Archives: spencerwickert

Saw Carnival of Souls

On Monday, we screened “Carnival of Souls” from 1962 which was our first taste of a cult horror. Our readings talked about the idea behind a cult horror and how they are not a typical horror like we expect. The book speaks about how these films can attempt so hard to be frightening that it comes off as comical. I felt as if “Carnival of Souls” doesn’t relate to that idea. I found it to be more like a Goosebumps or a Twilight Zone type film. It was not scary, but more fascinating. With the transitions from being in the real world to then being in limbo. I can see how this relates to many films or television shows today. Whenever the screen got a wave or water effect, it made me feel like she was heading into the “Upside Down” (Stranger Things reference). Everything seem to be the same, except no one could hear or see her.

Before viewing, we were warned that the film could come off as slow and how this was an intentional. I didn’t think that the film was slow but was interesting. There was a feeling that the film was building to a bigger reveal. Then the ending was amazing twist. We never got an explanation to how she got out of the car and it was because she never did. I was left speechless after seeing that. What was it that continued living after the crash? That was a twist I never saw, during the film I figured the people she was seeing was due to a near death experience and not because she was dead. Who were these other figures? Are they restless soul that bring lost souls to their after life? I don’t think we will get and answer, but it is fun to speculate on them.

Makes you wonder how long she would have gone on living, if they never found the Car

Just like last week, I really enjoyed the camera work. With Detour we show how they used lighting to focus in on his eyes and this week we got a screen effect to show how she transfers into this world where she no longer exists. Was this water effect used as an idea of the one soul who is seen under the water? Many different points of this film relate to water like the girls crash in the water and the souls emerge from the water. I just wasn’t sure what the bird had to do with her. Whenever the movie went silent, it was this bird chirping that brought her back. Another was then Mary looks down the stair to see the mystery man sitting in the chair and it zooms in on their eyes. This shows his intentions and the fear you can see in her eyes.

Similar use of lighting to really make her eyes stand out at you.

This week’s presentation into what we need to do for our cult movie set the bar. Starting with The Princess Bride was a film that I have never see fully. I thought that I did not know it until we started to see different picture of the movie. I know that I have seen many of the memes and some of the popular scenes before. I guess now I need to take some time to see it. With all the strange things that people do to celebrate the film like yoga and wine. It shows the cult following it has.

This is what I remember about the film and gives me a good laugh

The other film was Saw, this one I would not have seen as a cult movie due to how successful it had been as a franchise. The movie has had many sequels and so much back story that it was hard to see as a cult movie. After hearing Meg explain why and what it took to get the film to production, I can understand why. I always have seen and though of them as being too well know to be considered a cult, especially in parody culture. My favorite thing from Saw is the use in many of the Scary Movie franchise. Using Dr. Phil and Shaquille O’Neil or the use of Billy.

This is my favorite parody of the Saw franchise

Detour from A to B movies

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Another week and another movie that left me with some questions. First, why was the film so short. I needed another 20 minutes to help smooth out a few questions. The movie seemed to be a little rushed and went over different aspects quickly. Next, why did Vera wrap the phone cord around here neck. I understand that she was drunk and was playing with the cord, but it seemed odd to put it around here neck like that. I though it was going to get stuck on the bed frame and she accidentally kill herself, which he would get blamed for. Also, was a poor choice on his part to pull on that end of the cord. The plug in to the wall was outside the room, so he did not even have to pull the phone. Just disconnect it from the wall and he would be fine, but that would not fit with the movie of everything going wrong. That aspect of the film made it feel like a disaster film like Poseidon Adventure, which we watched last year. With a simple goal of going to see his girl, and every aspect along the way goes wrong.

One aspect of the film I liked was the camera work and use of shade. Anytime there was a flashback the whole room would go dark and focus on his eyes. This is very powerful to see how lost and hopeless his eyes are. It seemed as if he no longer knows where to go or who he can turn to. All Roberts wanted to do was go see his girl, Sue, out in Hollywood and that choice started his bad luck. First with the passing of Charles, which just seemed odd and makes you think about what he was taking from the glove compartment. Then he does the nice thing of picking up Vera, until he realizes where she is and who he is acting to be. When I saw her sleeping before she confronted Roberts, I was positive she was going to be dead again. When she popped up, it was like a cannon going off and caught everyone by surprise. The use of the camera after Vera’s death really helped to show how Roberts must have felt. The in and out of focused shots just showed the disbelief that he must have had and the pure fear and unknown. I just wonder why he didn’t just break the door down first. Each time the camera moved to a new object; it was an idea of what he may be able to do.

Before these classes, I don’t think that I would have ever of watched a film in black and white. Now seeing many of these non-colored films, I think that color would ruin them. As we discussed in the class, color could ruin the aura that these films had. That original glow, that made these films see so great and what made people remember about them. I don’t think you could get the same flashback close ups of Roberts eyes in color and get the same feeling of distress he was feeling. It is a big factor into why I don’t enjoy seeing sequels of movies because they are never as good as the first one.

Round 2 : Cult Movies

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Here we are back making blogs for another semester of cinema, with a focus on Cult Movies. I am excited for the next round of this class. I found it funny that Prof. S mentioned how this class may offend and that is the point of these films. After my first time taking this class, I felt like I had a new appreciation for films I would never have seen. I am not sure what to expect with some of the movies on our watch list. My parents did let me know there are a few good ones to look forward to. So all I can say is that I am excited for another year of films. Our first film of the semester was an interesting choice. Maniac by Dwain Esper was something different to say the least. With questionable acting and parts that didn’t make sense. The movie could be called a cluster F***. So much of this film was not needed for the end plot like the heart, the women, and the maniac. With random cat fights and stolen parts from other movies, it was confusing to watch. They mentioned how it was loosely based off an Edger Allen Poe story and loosely is quite a stretch. I think barely would be better use of his novel. I was a little excited because the last film I watched based off of Poe was a lot better than that. I guess the only film I can use for comparison would be “The Room” due to a lack of story line and acting. The acting in the “Maniac” was just laughable and laugh we did.

With the screening of “American Grindhouse”, I felt as if I got a quick refresher of everything that happened almost a year ago last spring. We went over so many topic and films that we discussed. Seeing American International pop up reminded me of my project working with a Roger Corman film for my project. I wish we had a class that might focus on AIP and Roger Corman. So many of his films had a small budget, but still produced a great project. I remember watching “The Pit and the Pendulum” and even thought it was older, I still loved watching the film. It’s funny how I could relate to a few of these “Exploit Films” and how the changed over the years. The film is a great watch to see the progression of the exploit industry over the years. I am not sure if this is a better as an intro for History of Cinema or as a quick look back.

The film spoke about 42nd street and how this was the hub for all of these movies. I don’t know which era of film would be cooler to see between the first exploit films in the theaters or the teenage rebellion films at a drive in. I might consider some of the AIP films at a drive in. It is funny how much I now enjoy their films and get excited to see Roger Corman on our discussion. Even reading his intro to the start of our book was exciting. I think this year will go well as long as we don’t have any films like “The Fly”, which was pretty gross at times.