Halloween 2020: October 5th

Antebellum (2020)

Hype can go both ways some times. When the trailer for “Antebellum” first premiered late last year, it was well received. This new wave of horror films that actively engage with social woes, kicked off by “Get Out,” has largely birthed good movies. “Antebellum” was clearly presented as the next entry in this growing subgenre. The rabid fan base of multi-hyphenated talent Janelle Monae certainly drove a large percentage of the hype. When the film’s release finally drew closer last month, following multiple 2020-related delays, that hype started to sour. The reviews were mixed, to say the least, with some going so far as to declare “Antebellum” the worst movie of the year. Now, a few weeks after the movie slipped onto VOD, it has largely fallen out of the Film-Verse Discourse. “Antebellum” went from maybe the most anticipated horror movies of the year to a footnote.

“Antebellum” concerns Eden, a black woman on a Southern slave plantation. She suffers the cruelty of the time and watches people of her race being tortured and killed. Eden is also Veronica Henley, a highly respected sociologist living in the modern day, known for her televised debates against right-wing politics. After a night out with her friends, Veronica is abducted and awakens on the plantation, seemingly thrown backwards in time. She endeavors to escape and figure out what exactly is going on.

“Antebellum’s” first third is largely devoted to depicting the cruelties of the slave era. The opening sequence is a failed escape attempt that ends in a woman’s murder. A pregnant abductee commits suicide rather than give birth to a child in this horrible place. The black women on the plantation suffer multiple sexual assaults from the white men. Black bodies and souls are treated like objects. The most bracing sequence is devoted to Eden being repeatedly whipped and then branded by a Confederate general, an exercise meant to make her accept her slave name. Monae is slapped down to the floor over and over again. It’s brutal, exactly as unpleasant and uncomfortable to watch as it should be. 

The film’s violence is punishing, as depictions of slavery should be, but they leave the viewer with a question. To what end? These very real horrors stand in contrast to the second act, showing the events before Veronica’s abduction. During these scenes, the film throws in a spooky ghost girl, jump scares, and lots of ominous foreboding. Presenting these stock horror movie scares, against real historical terrors, is obviously in questionable taste. Moreover, “Antebellum” seems to lack a definitive point. The film leaves you with the statement that the evils of the slave era still inform our modern society, that some people clearly wish it had never ended. We don’t need a movie to tell us that, certainly not in 2020. There’s no bravery in stating an obvious fact and “Antebellum’s” lack of courage is evident in another way: This is a movie about a slave plantation that doesn’t feature a single racial slur. Which is fucking weird, right? I don’t like to hear the word either but if you’re going to show the horrors of slavery, you kind of have to commit.

For what it’s worth, “Antebellum” is a well constructed movie. Directors Gerard Bush and Christopher Menz — Bush is black, Menz is white — certainly created a good looking movie. (Unsurprisingly, they got their start in advertising.) The cramped interiors of the cabins are claustrophobic, the shadowy visuals further the mood of intensity and discomfort. Constructing the story, so that the flashback occurs in the middle, is probably a better way of showing how the horrors of slavery are not far behind us than anything else the movie does. The characters are compelling, as I even enjoyed the long middle section about Veronica and her friends hanging out. The performances are uniformly strong. Janelle Monae is clearly a movie star in-the-making, utterly compelling and a physical force to be reckoned with. As questionable as a lot of “Antebellum’s” choices are, it’s certainly a showcase for Monae’s skills.

You can’t really talk about why “Antebellum” has pissed people off without mentioning its twist ending. I’ll try not to spoil but I’ll say this: The “twist” is telegraphed so far in advance that the eventual reveal is no surprise at all. Anytime you create narrative swerves like this, intentionally misleading audience just in a cheap attempt to blow their minds, you’re going to annoy people. (Not to mention that the assumed set-up is way more interesting than the actual one.) Making a movie about the trafficking, mass dehumanizing, rape, torture, and murder of an entire race of people in service of typical horror movie scares and a narrative trick was a bad move. Strong filmmaking and acting can only go so far to make up for “Antebellum’s” misguided intentions. [6/10]

The Strange Hostel of Naked Pleasures (1976)

I'm hardly an expert in Brazilian cinema but it seems the horror genre was going through something of a peak in the mid-seventies. A number of macabre pictures – like “Nosferatu in Brazil,” “House of Shadows,” and a couple werewolf movies – would be produced in the country during that time. Through these years, Jose Mojica Marins would alternate between his usual horror/exploitation flicks and the pornochanchada – sex comedies – that were popular in Brazil at the time. Maybe this is why Marins would hand off 1976's quasi-Coffin Joe flick to another filmmaker. Marcelo Motto – a martial artist and occultist who also made a few films – is officially credited with directing “The Strange Hostel of Naked Pleasures.” However, Marins is frequently listed as an uncredited director on the movie. I don't know the story behind this, as there's no behind-the-scenes info on this obscure film, but it might explain some things about the movie's quality.

A hotel appears in a small village one day with little explanation. The strange proprietor offers jobs to people who show up but turn away many of them, saying it's “not their time.” A number of guests soon arrive, ranging from on-the-run lovers, to gambling bankers, to a group of partying hippies. Time seems to stand still at the hotel. The owner approaches each guest, causing them to recall crimes they have committed in the past. Soon, it becomes apparent that something very unusual is going on at this hostel.

While there was a certain degree of artistry to many of Marins' previous horror flicks, “The Strange Hostel of Naked Pleasures” rests totally within the realm of trash-cinema. This is evident in the long introduction, which is largely devoted to bored looking women dancing languidly in see-through lingerie. This cuts away to shots of guys playing drums and people in old women masks, with plastic breasts, making animal shrieking sounds. All of this is set-up to Coffin Joe emerging from his casket to introduce the film. This comprises eight minutes of the 79 minute run time. “The Strange Hostel of Naked Pleasures” is, in fact, a hugely repetitive motion picture. The film cuts away constantly to the hippies dancing, drinking, stripping, and chanting “Great! Everybody naked!” That's all these characters do. We also cut away to the couple making out on their bed or the bankers playing cards. Director Motto frequently lingers on images, such as the otherwise effective final shot, for far too long.

The different characters simply repeating their various actions over and over again speaks to “The Strange Hostel's” lack of plot. This film has almost no story at all. We learn almost nothing about any of the characters. I'm honestly not sure if any of them even have names. Each one is designated a single characteristics. Very quickly, the audience deduces that Marins' character – he's never identified as Coffin Joe, though he looks and talks a lot like him – is some sort of Death-like figure. That every guests at the hostel is actually dead, stuck in a purgatory story, and slowly being judged for their actions in life. The film has almost no plot in-between the general set-up of a weirdo hotel and that inevitable revelation. Which might explain why all the long, iterative scenes feel more like filler than anything else. 

Ultimately, the joys to be had in this “Strange Hostel of Naked Pleasures” are limited. Occasionally, the movie touches on an oddball image, comparable to what we saw in Marins' earlier films. His character walks down a hallway and glances at pests along the way, striking the rats, roaches, and worms dead with just a look. When a man attempts suicide, sparks spew from the gun barrel and blood runs down the screen. Most of the death-filled flashbacks are scored to an instrumental version of “Danny Boy,” for some reason. (The majority of the score is composed of goopy synth farts.) The dime store Halloween horrors of Marins' better movies are present here in random appearance from spiders or bleeding skulls. There's some cool neon lighting, which is mildly atmospheric. 

It's not a lot but these brief moments of campy joys are about all “The Strange Hostel of Naked Pleasures” has to offer. I don't know if we should blame the film's half-formed status on Motto or if Marins was phoning it in. Maybe the latter is more likely, as even his Coffin Joe-style monologues about existence and morality seem far less impassioned than usual. Back when the Independent Film Channel still had their Friday night “Grindhouse” programming block, this was part of the block of Jose Mojica Marins films they would often show. Which means this might be one of the more widely seen of the director's films, which is a bit of a shame. It does not represent the underground filmmaker at his best. Despite the salacious title, “The Strange Hostel of Naked Pleasures” is mostly a half-assed snooze. [5/10]

The Hitchhiker: Last Scene

At the start of the eighties, Hollywood was really determined to resurrect the thriller anthology show. In 1983, HBO decided such a program would be a great way to show off how permissive its premium cable format could be. “The Hitchhiker,” in which an omniscient drifter would present tales of sex and murder, began airing on the network in 1983. The series attracted little attention in its first two seasons, with most critics considering it underachieving spank bait for teenage boys. Starting with its third season, HBO hired some name talent to elevate the status of the show. Well-known filmmaker like Philip Noyce, Roger Vadim, and Mike Hodges would direct episodes in season three. None other than Paul Verhoeven, who certainly knew his way around some sex and murder, would handle “Last Scene,” the eleventh episode of that season.

Alex Nolan is directing a low-budget slasher movie for a penny-pinching producer. His attempt to insert some art into the proceedings is hampered by main actress Leda, who is frequently wooden.  As Alex works closer with Leda, the two develop a romance. At the same time, someone who acts like the film's killer, a white mask wearing voyeur named Charlie, begins to stalk Leda. Her attempts to prove the harassment to the police result in no evident. As the last scene of the shoot draws closer and closer, Leda's ability to tell real life from fiction becomes more blurred. 

It's easy to see why Paul Verhoeven was attracted to “Last Scene.” The episode, which he made in-between “Flesh+Blood” and “RoboCop,” fits in with the themes of his early films. The protagonist's uncertain perception of reality is right out of “The 4th Man.” A scene which directly transitions from Leda's real apartment to an attack scene on set, Verhoeven not immediately revealing the shift, hits a similar note. Meanwhile, Leda stands right next to Katie Tippel, Nomi, and Elle as a woman who has to be as ruthless as the men around her to survive. LaGena Hart does a good job of playing a bad actress. Peter Coyote is nicely sleazy as Alex. The final scene is set at a Halloween party, where costume revelers in a neon nightclub dance to a song that almost sounds like “Blue Monday.” As for the steamy sex and slashing scenes, those are fun too. Whether “Last Scene” is good because Verhoeven directed or because “The Hitchhiker” is good, I guess I'll discover as I watch more of this show in the future. [7/10] 

Forever Knight: The Human Factor

While “Forever Knight” abruptly killed Schanke off at the start of season three, Janette's absence from the show was never explained. Actress Deborah Duchene would at least return for one more episode, to wrap up that plot point. A real estate inspector recently wrapped up in an arson scandal is shot dead in his hotel room. The number one suspect is a dead ringer for Janette, Nick's old vampire girlfriend/sister. Soon enough, she comes to him and reveals that, yes, she did shoot the guy. That she fled the city, gave LeCroix her night club, and ended up falling in love with a mortal firefighter. After the bad guys, the men behind the arson scam, shoot Janette, Nick learns that this love accomplished the goal he's been seeking for hundreds of years: It turned her mortal. 

After two and a half seasons, learning that the secret to a vampire becoming human is to slowly wean themselves off blood and twue love is pretty disappointing. It feels like Nick should have figured that out a while ago. Of course, there's some bullshit scene about how Nick can't do that with Natalie because he's afraid of hurting her. (Though it does lead to at least one amusing fake-out scene.) Since Janette is a character we're already invested in, that adds a little more tension to the standard crime show plot. Even if the episode expends zero effort in getting us to care about her adopted son and dead boyfriend. This does lead to what is one of the show's bleakest endings though. It's so downbeat that it makes you feel like the writers were trying to intentionally piss off fans, were angry themselves, or had grown totally nihilistic towards their own characters. Perhaps foreshadowing of what is to come... [5/10]