As Boas Maneiras
We probably think of the werewolf as exclusively the domain of the myths of Europe. At the very least, when it comes to cinematic werewolf stories, we don't often encounter lupine monsters from outside the North American or European continent. Of course, legends about werewolves or creatures like them are prevalent all across the globe. People in every culture fear that, despite being pure at heart and saying their prayers at night, they may become a wolf when the wolfbane blooms and the autumn moon is bright. Brazil is no different in that regard. The country has its own local variation on the wolfman premise, called the lobisomem. However, this has rarely been put to celluloid. Aside from a 1972 obscurity, the only other Brazilian werewolf movie is relatively recent. That would be “Good Manners” from 2017, which put a fairly unique spin on the familiar legend.
In modern day São Paulo, Clara applies to become a nanny for soon-to-be young mother, Ana. Despite her lack of references, Ana and Clara immediately form a bond. Soon, they become more than merely employer and employee or friends. Clara learns that Ana doesn't know who the father of her child is, that the pregnancy is the result of an unearthly encounter with a strange man. She also sees her sneak out at night in a trance, craving the blood of freshly killed animal. When Ana gives birth – dying in the process – the truth is revealed: Her child is a werewolf. Clara takes the boy in as her own, naming him Joel. She raises him under a strict meat free diet and locks him into a secret vault every night, in hopes that his beastly side will never be unleashed. Unfortunately, Joel is getting older and Clara is struggling to keep her son safe... Or, rather, keep those around him safe.
Going into “Good Manners,” all I knew is that it was a werewolf story of a nanny and her employer falling in love. The feminist werewolf movie is not a necessarily novel idea. There's been a surprising number of films about women casting off the shackles of heteronormative society and masculine expectations in order to embrace a rawer, animalistic version of femininity. Narratives like these are almost surely build up from the commonly embraced premise of monsterdom as a metaphor for queerness. “Good Manners” earns points for creativity simply for not following that trend. I do believe Clara and Ana being women and being in love is meant to further elaborate upon their statuses as social outsiders, Clara being a woman-of-color with no money and Ana being a single mother. The mere fact that queer women exists means stories like these, any type of story, deserve to be told about them. No justification more than that is necessary. However, it is frustrating that these two story threads are so ultimately disconnected.
Writer/directors Marco Dutra and Jullana Rojas has claimed their film was inspired by classic Disney animation. In other words, “Good Manners” is meant to be a fairy tale of sorts. This is evident in the movie's visual palette, which favors bright colors over realism. However, it is most obvious in the various touches of magic realism sprinkled throughout the story. The encounter that resulted in Ana's pregnancy is depicted as a series of painted illustrations. Twice in the film, people burst into song with little prompting. The latter portion of the film seems to be set in the future, as an obvious (though nice) matte painting is used to depict a futuristic seeming mall. Any horror fan watching “Good Manners” is ready and willing to accept the werewolf story. However, that is truthfully only the main fantastical element in a film clearly focused on summoning a more otherworldly feeling.
Among the many faults a movie can have, being ambitious will always be one of the more minor ones in my eyes. “Good Manners” is a film with a lot of ideas, overflowing with thoughts on various social issues and phenomenon, on mythological archetypes and their deeper meanings. However, that it feels so much like a shorter film and its own sequel slammed together can't help but leave the movie with lumpy pacing. The result is a handsomely shot and wonderfully acted motion picture, that certainly puts a unique spin on the werewolf concept, without functioning as a truly smooth and satisfying experience. [7/10]
Movies about camping trips gone wrong and terror among the scenic countryside existed before "Deliverance." However, John Boorman's 1972 classic cast a long shadow. Its story of city slickers being threatened during a scenic hunting trip, with its themes of challenged masculinity and survival among the rough terrain, directly influenced a number of films that followed. Coincidentally or not, the same era saw the rise of adversity-focused outdoor education programs, such as "extreme" backpacking and weekend boot camps. Basically, out-of-work drill sergeants, outdoorsman, and survivalist grifters realized they could make a decent penny dragging pampered city folks, who wanted to prove their "toughness," out into the woods for a few days. In-between the second and third "Phantasm" movies, indie horror auteur Don Coscarelli would get the idea to combine these two concepts. The result was "Survival Quest," which received little attention upon release in 1989 and not much more since then. However, the cult of Coscarelli is such that the film has always intrigued. Time to see if this one is a hidden gem or deserves to be left out in the wilderness.
The titular Survival Quest is an Outward Bound style camping program, opened to people of all ages, genders, and backgrounds. Led by a back-to-nature type named Hank Chambers, the program is designed to teach survival skills in the forests and mountains while fostering personal improvement and group bonding. One such trip is assembled for a weekend in the Sierra Madres. It's a diverse group, made up of youths, an older gentleman, a recent divorcee named Cheryl, and a quiet ex-con known as Grey. At the same time Hank is leading this gang into the mountains, a rival group of weekend warriors, led by Jake Cannon, are camping in the same area. What begins as childish harassment between the two groups soon becomes more dangerous, when both Hank and his competitor are seemingly killed by a trigger-happy protégé of Cannon. Determined to destroy evidence of their crime, the wannabe soldiers decide to hunt and kill everyone in Survival Quest. The campers will have to put aside their differences if they plan to make it back to civilization alive.
It is easy to see why Coscarelli would be compelled to tell a story like this. The "Phantasm" movies regularly feature its heroes cobbling together deadly inventions to defend themselves – as does his "Masters of Horror" episode – suggesting these kinds of improvised survival techniques are an interest of his. The "Phantasm" movies also indecisively rest between a kid-centric attitude and explicit content. That series largely gets away with it but centering in on adolescents on the edge of adulthood (And their overgrown, man-boy equivalents.) That creates a boys club type atmosphere, half manly bonding and half juvenile shenanigans. Though "Survival Quest" features ostensibly strong female characters – in the form of Traci Lind's Jade, who becomes the group's leader – it still feels this way. This is especially true of the subplot about Hank and Cannon being forced to work together. The two men often glare at each other, their faces pushing closer and closer. There are multiple scenes of them being shirtless together, covered in mud and blood. When combined with a standard arc of rivals earning respect for each other, and the script's hyper-macho posturing, the homoeroticism starts to become unavoidable. The men must rely on each other to survive. And who's to say what else two guys will get up to when left alone in the woods, ya know?
That's the story with "Survival Quest." A survivalist thriller directed by Coscarelli and starring Lance sounds like it should be a hoot. Every once in a while, it is, especially when focused on the reliable character actor stars or the grislier set pieces. However, weird tonal issues and a generic ensemble leaves the movie in the middle of the road. It wouldn't be long after this one that Coscarelli would return to the Tall Man and his silver orbs, where his demented creativity was put to better use. (By the way, Reggie Bannister has a brief part here as a helicopter pilot.) "Survival Quest" isn't totally without its moments but you're better off just watching "Southern Comfort" or "Surviving the Game" again. [6/10]
"Shadows" was the "Are You Afraid of the Dark?" of the middle seventies, assuming you lived in Britain anyway. The series aired spooky tales for kids on ITV from 1975 to 1978. I watched an episode two years ago and found it effective enough, so how about another one? "The Waiting Room" sees teenage brother and sister Gerry and Sue arrive at a creepy train station in a downpour. Having missed the last train, they decide to wait until the next car pulls in at 5:30 AM. The drafty, dusty waiting room – lit only by an oil lamp – is off-putting to the youths. Soon, a railway man arrives and claims to be a veteran of the Great War. He references another train arriving at 1:30 AM, which isn't on the schedule Sue consulted. As evidence mounts, the siblings soon realize they are caught in a ghostly re-enactment of tragic events that unfolded fifty years prior.
As seems to be the standard across all the British genre programs I've watched this year, "The Waiting Room" is extremely modest in its production values and subtle with its ideas. Like the previous episode of "Shadows" I reviewed, it's confined largely to one location. Nearly the entire half-hour is devoted to the two teenagers talking amongst themselves or with their guests. The ghostly activity occurs without any banging of doors or loud scares. The railwayman is rather affable, if clearly still traumatized from his memories of the war. The sense of horror comes more from the teens realizing what is going on and the inevitable calamity you can feel approaching. It's easy to guess where these events are headed, especially once an incoming phantom train is referenced. "The Waiting Room" even goes so far as to utilize the cliché of the triggering tragedy occurring exactly fifty years ago to this night.
Another very literally entitled episode begins with, having seemingly picked up the art bug from the last episode, Morticia painting a portrait of Fester. This family activity is interrupted by a crash from outside. A young man wielding a guitar has wrecked his motorcycle on the Addams' doorstep. A counterculture type named Rocky, he's at first horrified by the family's particular ways. However, their kindness and generosity win him over quickly. Turns out Rocky is the son of a millionaire industrialist and running from his dad's envisioned future for him. The guy also has a birthday coming up and, unaware of the acrimony between father and son, the Addams invite his dad to the party.
Before the hippy absorbed their place in the pop culture recollection of the sixties, the Beatnik was the easily mocked youth movement of the time. "The Munsters" also did an episode mocking them, so clearly the Beatnik was an easy target for sitcoms in 1964. However, Rocky doesn't meet most of the stereotypes we associate with beatniks today. He doesn't wear a beret, write meandering stream-of-consciousness poetry, play bongos or appears to be high on drugs. All Tom Lowell, affable enough in the part, really does is throw around some goofy jive speak slang. Otherwise, he seems to be more of a generic biker type, without the grungy toughness we associate with that subculture today. Maybe to the Hollywood screenwriters of 1964, the Beats and the Hell's Angels might as well be the same thing.
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