Halloween 2025: September 23rd

 

Night of Dark Shadows (1971)

“House of Dark Shadows” did alright at the box office, well enough for MGM to green-light a sequel. The soap opera it had spun off from, meanwhile, experienced a steep decline in popularity shortly after the film's release. Some attribute this to an unpopular story line, that saw Barnabas Collins falling under the sway of off-screen elder gods called the Leviathans. Others blame the movie's success for the show falling off. The idea being that parents took their kids to see the “Dark Shadows” movie, were scandalized by the bloody content, and then forbid their children from watching the show. Whatever the reason, “Dark Shadows” would air its final episode on April 2nd of 1971, the series abruptly wrapping up all its lingering story lines with a hastily recorded voice-over narration. This did not stop production on a follow-up to “House of Dark Shadows.” Dan Curtis originally wanted to do a direct sequel but Jonathan Frid, fearful of typecasting, decided he wasn't going to play Barnabas any more. The decision was made to center the sequel, then entitled “Curse of Dark Shadows,” around the show's other male lead, the young and handsome Quentin Collins. The result was a film that did mediocre business and seemed to disappoint fans, who got a largely stand-alone story with loose connections to the series. But, hey, I watched the first one so might as well give “Night of Dark Shadows” a shot too.

Modernist painter Quentin Collins and his wife, Tracy, arrive at his stately family manor, Collinswood. The sprawling mansion, which Quentin has recently inherited, is oddly empty. Save for eerie housekeeper Carlotta and stuttering groundskeeper Gerald. Quentin and Tracy's friends, Alex and Claire, move onto the grounds and inform them of the residence's long history of haunting. In the tower room, Quentin discovers a portrait of a blonde woman from a hundred years prior. It was painted by his ancestor, Charles Collins, and is of his mistress, Angelique. (His brother's wife.) After the infidelity was discovered, Angelique was convicted of witchcraft and hanged from a tree before the mansion, her body left to rot. Charles, meanwhile, was entombed alive. It's not long afterwards that Quentin begins to act strangely, isolating himself in the tower and becoming aggressive towards Tracy. The couple soon realize they are the victims of ghosts, witchcraft, and a century old conspiracy of reincarnation. 

How much “Night of the Dark Shadows” connects to the series is a question I can't truly answer. However, the film does have more than a few things in common with “Burnt Offerings,” the haunted house movie Dan Curtis would direct four years later. In both, an unassuming married couple move into an aged, isolated mansion. In both, the spirit of a prior inhabitant begins to possess and effect the behavior of the current residents. Both movies also feature scenes where the male lead attempts to drown someone he loves in a swimming pool. “Night of Dark Shadows” doesn't have an old woman hiding in an upstairs bedroom but an elevated location, the tower studio in this case, is also the source of the haunting here. The parallels are probably coincidental, as “Burnt Offerings” was based on a novel that wasn't published until 1973. However, it is intriguing that Curtis would be attracted to these themes again. The connection between the two films can probably best be explained by Curtis obviously being a fan of New England set ghost stories and creepy, sprawling manors. 

 

A primary idea in both “Night of Dark Shadows” and “Burnt Offerings” is the question of how well we know – or are capable of knowing – the people we love. David Selby and Kate Jackson, as Quentin and Tracy, have an easy-going chemistry that seems genuine. Their romance is establish with scenes of gentle flirting and happy co-existing. When Quentin suddenly turns violent, it's a shock to his wife. In an earlier scene, the husband is happy to cuddle in bed. After his personality shift, he demands sex from her and nearly assaults her. She makes excuse for his suddenly violent behavior at first but eventually she has to flee to a friend's house. It reads a lot like a woman realizing the man she thought she could trust is actually an abusive piece of shit. It's a powerful idea to root a horror story in. Though a supernatural cause is behind this abrupt change in the movie, in real life, people lie and manipulate and slowly reveal their true colors only after some time has passed.

Like all ghost stories, “Night of Dark Shadows” is also a tale about how the past is much more alive than it seems. Quentin's ancestor was a cad, an adulterer with no honor for his family who dabbled in witchcraft. His descendant is a laid-back, modern man. However, the sexism of the past is not that far gone. (Though the main antagonistic ghost being a sexually vivacious woman certainly muddles any attempts at a gender theory-informed reading.) In “Night of Dark Shadows,” the history of the location is heavily whispered about. Carlotta, the housekeeper, is always talking about the backstory of the family. Literal ghosts linger around,  reminding the living of the tragic events that happened here. The ghosts taking possession of Quentin and others is the most literal form of the mistakes of the recent past echoing into our present lives. A logical story to tell when your location is an old house, Lyndhurst Mansion in the Hudson River Valley providing both the exteriors and interiors of Collinswood this time. 

Whether “Night of Dark Shadows” can assemble these potent ideas and bitchin' location into a satisfying motion picture is a matter of opinion. The film has a sleepy, relaxed pace that is further emphasized by a melodic but sparse piano score. Lots of the story is composed of folks simply talking to each other and hanging out in the house. The backstory of Angelique's death is explained via an extended expository monologue and some not exactly natural seeming voice-over. The predictable but otherwise effective ending crashes into on-screen text, which is an awkward device. The role the housekeeper and groundskeeper play in what happens feels a little like a narrative ass-pull. There's also some pretty cheesy special effects, during an attempt nocturnal visitation from Angelique's ghost. However, for all its flaws, “Night of Dark Shadows” does have some brooding gothic atmosphere that attracts me immediately, its slowly evolving story pulling me in. 

The weird short-cuts in the plotting and narrative gaps are easily explained. Curtis' original cut of the movie was over two hours long. The studio asked him to cut the runtime down to a little over ninety minutes, supposedly giving Curits all of 24 hours to complete the task. The missing footage has been located but a restoration of the director's intended vision has yet to emerge. Maybe that version would've been better received in 1971. With the show canceled and the second movie considered a disappointment, the “Dark Shadows” franchise was more-or-less over. A rebooted version of the show, with an entirely new cast, started in 1991. Fans liked it but it was often pre-empted because of news coverage of the Gulf War, ultimately being canceled after only twelve episodes. A pilot for another remake was produced in 2004 but never went to series. Of course, there was the Tim Burton movie in 2012, which was not well liked by anyone. The hardcore “Dark Shadows” devotees – a shrinking but still very much alive community – has had to rely on audio dramas, dramatic readings, novels, and comics to see the original story continued. Which I guess is more than a lot of other cult classics get. While those hoping for more vampire action are sure to be disappointed, and it's nowhere near as scary as “Burnt Offerings,” “Night of Dark Shadows” is a decent haunted house story if you can get on its groove. [7/10]

 

The Girl in the Yellow Jumper (2020)

Here in America, we take a lot of shit for granted. When “Reservoir Dogs” and “Pulp Fiction” came out in the nineties, it didn't only launch Quentin Tarantino into Hollywood's stratosphere. It also made his particular approach – stylized dialogue, non-linear narratives, neo-noir gangland plotting, extensive references and influence from seventies exploitation films – an immediately imitative style. Tarantino wannabes were still popping up in the new millennium, though the wave had mostly burnt itself out by then. However, clearly, the “Kill Bill” scribe's influence is still being felt. Not only in Hollywood either. In 2018, Ugandan filmmaker Loukman Ali would shoot a low-budget project that fused the crime thriller, gory horror, dialogue-driven mystery, and some extremely evident influence from Tarantino. While most Uganda films don't receive much attention abroad, “The Girl in the Yellow Jumper” wound up on Netflix and has won some international notice.

An off-duty officer named Patrick is driving an old man, hand-cuffed in his back seat, to the nearest police station many miles away. Patrick is investigating the Cigarette Butt Killer, a serial murderer who has been slaughtering whole families, putting a cigarette out on their bodies, and always leaving one witness alive. Patrick believes the old man to be such a witness. While driving down an isolated road, he spots a man hitchhiking. He wears a yellow hoodie, has a bandaged right hand, and seems disheveled. He introduces himself as Jim. After some conversation, Patrick goads Jim into telling him his story. He says he's a newspaper cartoonist who was kidnapped by two women in yellow hoodies, extremist Christians who took offense to a cartoon he published. They tortured him, cut off several of his fingers, and attempted to bury him alive. Jim managed to escape, killing one assailant and damaging the others' car. This is what the man tells the cop anyway. The bloody truth will be revealed soon enough. 

More than once, I've heard aspiring filmmakers say the ideal premise for a first feature is two guys, sitting in a room, talking. Movies are hard to make, taking a lot of money, people, and time. A set-up that limits the numbers of warm bodies and locations necessary makes a project more achievable, in theory anyway. “The Girl in the Yellow Jumper” obeys this rule, for a while. Most of its runtime is devoted to two guys, sitting in a car, talking. The hard part is making such a microscopic premise interesting. Loukman Ali and his team succeed by following another rule, inherent in the noir genre: Nobody can be trusted. From the minute “Jim” appears, you wonder what his story is. His injured hand and visibly shaken state implies something happened to him. The story he tells is elaborate and hard to believe. At the same time, the man who picked him up seems kind of shifty too. For a supposed police officer, he has a busted up phone and a shitty car. He seems weirdly unaware of current pop culture, not knowing who Jim Carry or Bobi Wine are but throwing out references to “Diff'rent Strokes” and Brenda Fassie. That's odd, right? And what is up with the old guy in the back seat, who never speaks, never has his story explained, and is prone to coughing fits? How does this connect with the serial killer mentioned in the first scene? Does it? In other words, “The Girl in the Yellow Jumper” makes up for a lack of resources by being intriguing. The viewer has questions immediately and is willing to stick around to see if they are answered. 

Another element that keeps you hooked is that the conversations these two guys have are interesting. Both men are prone to going on digressions. Patrick tells an anecdote about an old woman, a band of robberies, and a thunderstorm. This presents the idea that someone innocent looking can be dangerous. That increases the tension in the car, as you wonder who is the scorpion and who is the frog here. I bring that fable up because a television broadcast, early in the film, mentions it to during his own meandering conversation. The most obvious ode to Tarantino comes during “Girl in the Yellow Jumper's” most colorful moments. That would be when a passing mention of the Ugandan version of the playground game people my age unfortunately called Chinese jump rope segues into an animated presentation on the rules. Later, another animated interlude explains why being shot in the kneecaps is especially painful. These moments are presented by an man in a lab coat with a deep voice, making them feel like official proclamations. Oh, did I mention that “The Girl in the Yellow Jumper” claims to be based on a true story? Which it reminds us of during an outrageous moment? It all captures the feeling of a talk between two friends, full of asides and digressions. The film has that same peppy energy and rhythmic flow to it. 

Which is to say that “The Girl in the Yellow Jumper” is easy and fun to watch, drawing the viewer in quickly and making us wonder where all of this is going. Sometimes, films like this can grab your attention before fumbling the reveals. Luckily, Ali has some tricks up his sleeve to make this game of misdirection worth it. The last third kicks off with a hell of twist, cleverly revealed, that flips what we thought was true before on its head. This precedes more narrative swerves before the end. Now, some of these surprises work better than others. The bloody climax is probably the most easily predictable event in the film, the film unable to ultimately catch all the balls it throws up in the air. However, Ali's script does a good job on paying off on many of the small, specific details set-up earlier. The position of a bag, a phone access code mentioned, a door that doesn't open right away: All of these are seemingly trivial details that end up being important lately. I enjoy a film that rewards you for paying attention like that. 

What holds the film together is a strong cast and a confident visual style. Michael Wawuyo Jr. as Jim and Maurice Kirya as Patrick are watchable leads, who deliver their dialogue with specificity and realistic vigor. The cinematography, from Naizi Nasser, makes great use of the warm, earthy colors of the Ugandan countryside. Orange sunlight and grimy, industrial settings creates a particular feeling. The opening, in which Jim is abducted by the title character, is stylishly shot and cut, building to a proper climax. When Jim describes the torture he endured, the resulting sequence feels like one of the better “Saw” rip-offs I've seen. It's tense, draws attention to the physical pain the character is in, but also doesn't annoy or repel the viewer. The editing, also from Ali, is tight and fast-paced. This comes in handy when the film bends towards being an action movie at times. Peppered in there are memorable moments of stillness, such as an owl roosting on a branch or a comical billboard. Truthfully, only some crappy looking digital squibs and muzzle flashes point to the limited money the filmmakers had. “The Girl in the Yellow Jumper” looks pretty damn good.

The film is good enough that I can overlook its biggest mistake: A jumper refers to a style of garment, usually cut in a dress shape, that is without sleeves or a collar and is held up over the shoulders by two straps. In England and other parts of the world, the word refers to what we Yanks call a sweater. The young lady central to this motion picture's plot wears neither a jumper nor a sweater. Instead, she has a hoodie on, a noticeably sleeved and collared top with an adjustable hood and large pockets. It is yellow though, I can't complain about that. Seriously though, “The Girl in the Yellow Jumper” is a fun, thrilling, tight flick that captures your attention and keeps it throughout. The script keeps you guessing and is smart enough not to reveal everything either. The cast is strong. The visuals are great. Loukman Ali has continued to work with Netflix, on an anthology series retelling African folktales. I'll have to check that out. He's clearly got the stuff, his influences evident but not beholden to them and delivered with a proper jolt of adrenaline. [7/10]

 

The Hitchhiker: Face to Face

HBO had been around since 1972 and had been broadcasting original programming since 1974. However, 1983 is when the premium network would truly start to invest in scripted programs. That year, they debuted "Philip Marlow, Private Eye," "Not Necessarily the News," "Fraggle Rock," and "The Hitchhiker." The latter most series is the one that really focused on how this wasn't TV, it was HBO. A typical example is "Face to Face," from the second season. It concerns Dr. Christopher Hamilton, an L.A. plastic surgeon so renowned that he's had multiple write-ups in People Magazine. He is well aware of his status, using it to sleep with any woman he desires. His skills attract the attention of Nina, a trans-woman eager to undergo plastic surgery to soften her harsh facial features. Dr. Hamilton spends the night before the surgery having cocaine-fueled sex with a movie star, being thoroughly hungover the next day. This leads to him horribly botching Nina's surgery, leaving her deformed. Presumably to avoid any malpractice demands, the doctor decides to flee to Paris shortly afterwards.... When a comely flight stewardess catches his eye. 

"Face to Face" is mostly a standard morality tale, of an asshole getting his just desserts for his hubris and selfish behavior.  Dr. Hamilton melodramatically introduces himself as a "sculptor of the flesh," comparing himself to both an artist and God in short order. He looks at every face and sees something to improve, deeming himself the arbiter of all beauty. Naturally, pride cometh before the fall and the story bends towards a properly ironic punishment for his ego and womanizing. Like many stories of this type, "Face to Face" criticizes these hedonistic habits while happily showcasing the villain protagonist's bad behavior. He sleeps with a pretty blonde assistant surgeon and later snorts some lines off Sybil Danning's boobs. With a soundtrack mostly composed of sultry saxophones, "Face to Face" is happy to play up the lurid details. The slow-motion close-ups of Danning in red lingerie thoroughly moves this into the "erotic thriller" subgenre. It is a bit of a surprise that Dr. Hamilton is played by an aging Robert Vaughn. Not exactly a sex symbol by 1984, which is probably part of the point but the script doesn't truly comment on it. It is surprising to see an actor of Vaughn's relative standing engage in such sleazy antics. Perhaps a chance to nuzzle the lauded bosoms of the August 1983 Playboy cover girl was too much to resist even for the Man from U.N.C.L.E. 

Inside this otherwise standard tale of flesh and blood is a shockingly sympathetic portrayal of a trans-woman. Now, "Face to Face" is not that ahead of its time. Nina is played by a cis actress, "Videodrome's" Sonja Smits. The camera lingers on her feminine features before depicting people being visibly repulsed by her rugged face. This societal monsterdom is taken further after the disfiguring surgery. While Nina is the avenging angel in the last act, the script still plays into the destructive stereotype of trans-women as deceptive figures out to “trick” hetero men. Despite hardly being inclusive, the script does give Nina a moving monologue halfway through. In it, she describes having lived her life knowing that her body didn't match her soul. How her parents and friends rejected her after she came out, how fetishists pursue her, how society at large rejects her, how eager she is to finally look in the mirror and see herself. Terms like gender dysphoria or gender-affirming care were as far away from the mainstream as possible in 1984 but this episode still reflects them fairly accurately. If nothing else, Nina is ultimately depicted as the story's hero, a queer figure striking back at the sexist, ragingly masculine authority figures that tell people like her how to live her life. That makes “Face to Face” both a pretty sleazy, silly, and disposable half-hour and also way more thoughtful than you'd expect. A strange dynamic but a welcomed one. [7/10]

 

The Addams Family: Morticia the Decorator

 

The matriarch of the Addams Family adds to her growing list of professions with “Morticia, the Decorator.” The sight of Fester polishing his head prompts her interest in the National Beautification Program. She decides to take up interior design as a passion. Gomez asks their next door neighbor, insurance agent Joe Digby, to insure their art collection. The outrageous offer of a million dollars gets Joe's attention. His wife, however, is terrified of the Addams. Through a series of misunderstandings, involving the trading back and forth of a stuffed vulture and a Sheraton sideboard, the Digbys end up getting volunteered to be the showcase home for Morticia's new passion. Of course, the vanilla Digbys find this whole situation quite traumatic. More shenanigans ensue as they attempt to wiggle out of the agreement without offending the Addams' sensibilities. 

As far as my recollection goes, the Digbys are at least the third next door neighbors the Addams have gone through over the course of the series. “Morticia, the Decorator” does provide an explanation that is, in retrospect, rather obvious: Gomez and the gang have a bad habit of literally scaring them off. The Digbys have only been around for three weeks, according to their conversation here. This presents a rather amusing visual, of the Addams' desolate yard and gothic mansion being smack-dab in the middle of an otherwise typical suburb. That contrast does lead to some amusing gags here. Such as Morticia transforming the Digby's garden into a literal desert, which is revealed through a good ol' fashion Gilligan Flip. 

However, the show returning once again to the worn-out set-up of the normies getting freaked out by the Addams means this is mostly a fairly standard episode. Eddie Quillan, making his fourth appearance on “The Addams Family” as his fourth character, gets a funny reaction when Gomez drops that million dollar offer. The oddly named Jeff Donnell – who you probably don't remember as Aunt May from the misbegotten seventies live-action “Spider-Man” series – has much more expected reactions as his wife. Having said that, there are a few decent gags here. Morticia busting out a vulture imitation without warning got me to chuckle, as did her reaction to what she finds in the vulture cage. Gomez' art collection and his wife's suggestions for the color scheme of the Digbys' home got me to chuckle too. Otherwise, about as middle of the road of an episode of “The Addams Family” as you could find. [5/10]