Halloween 2024: October 13th

Poison for the Fairies (1984)

Veneno para las hadas

In Latin American countries, witches do not exist solely as folkloric boogey-women and New Age practitioners. A mixture of folk medicine, folk magik, and spiritualism – with roots in indigenous, African, and Catholic beliefs – known as Brujería has survived in these areas for centuries, despite attempts by Christianization to stomp them out. This has led to the witch being an archetype with a deep resonance, leading to both sympathetic and villainous portrayals in Mexican and Central American pop culture over the years. Among the most acclaimed Mexican witch movies is Carlos Enrique Taboada's "Poison for the Fairies," which won the 1985 Ariel Award for Best Picture and Best Director. I was very impressed with Taboada's ghost story "Even the Wind is Afraid" last year, so it seemed natural to give this one a look during this season's attempt to broaden my knowledge of Mexican horror films. 

Flavia, the young daughter of rich parents, begins attending a new school in Mexico City. There she meets Verónica, a poorer girl who has been raised by her grandmother and nanny. Verónica is fascinated with witches and claims to be one, merely disguising herself as a little girl. The two form a tentative friendship, Flavia skeptical of Verónica's supernatural claims at first. After Verónica overhears a teacher is leaving, and passes it off as a magical prediction, Flavia is slowly convinced. The two girls perform a ritual to banish Flavia's strict piano teacher. After the woman dies of a stroke, Flavia becomes increasingly fearful of her new friend's "powers." Verónica uses this sway to manipulate and bully Flavia more, talking her into being allowed to come along on a family vacation to the countryside. There, the two girls go about gathering the ingredients for a poison potion – to use against fairies, the mythical nemeses of witches – but Verónica's cruelty towards Flavia soon reaches a boiling point.

The first scene in "Poison for the Fairies" depicts a bloody passage from a fairy tale, which sets up the film's carefully balanced tone. The flowery musical score, from Carlos Jiménez Mabarak, recalls a family film from the fifties or sixties. The vague time period the story is set in, with its vintage cars and antiquated fashion, makes the movie seem much older than 1984. This is paired with gorgeous, soft cinematography from Lupe Garcia. The girls are often depicted as figures in larger tableaus, such as when Flavia climbs to the top of a castle's ruins or when Veronica swings back and forth in a fantastically green forest clearing. Despite how much "Poison for the Fairies" resembles a nostalgic, rose-tinted view of childhood, this is certainly not a kids' movie. The parental figures in the girls' lives are generally warm and loving. The children, on the other hand, are depicted as the duplicitous and cold ones. 

In order to align the viewer totally with its youthful protagonists, "Poison for the Fairies" rarely shows an adult fully on-screen. We usually only see them from behind or above, glimpses of their hands or legs. This is not a story of the adult world. Instead, it is told through the eyes of children. That doesn't mean this world is free of fear. Notably, when a mature face does appear on-screen, it also occurs as a shock: The one-eyed glare of an old woman, the lifeless stare of a dead body, the weathered lines of an elderly groundskeeper. The film takes us directly into Flavia's dreams and nightmares, drawing parallels between a face in a casket or a doll sitting in its box. A fantastic dream sequence begins with a tree branch outside a window slowly shifting into a hand and ends with a mother's loving touch replaced with the talons of a cackling hag. Despite feeling a little bit like a vintage Disney movie, "Poison for the Fairies" never shies away from showing childhood as a terrifying time nor guards children against fear or danger.

One of the most chilling things about "Poison for the Fairies" is that Verónica is probably a little sociopath. The earliest sign we get of this is when the girl's nanny asks her if she misses her mother. Ana Patricia Rojo – with her golden blonde hair, expressive smile, the face of innocence – turns her head slightly, thinks for a minute, before bluntly saying "No." Watching as an adult, you can see when the little girl is spinning a yarn, as she lies and backtracks on her wild claims around her friend. Flavia sees it too but Verónica is also exceptionally good at manipulating her friend. When she keeps a key piece of information to herself or concocts a scheme to convince her that she's a witch, the effect is chilling. Not only because Rojo gives a great performance but because... Everybody knew a kid like Verónica growing up. After sneaking a snake into class, Verónica manages to convince the teacher that Flavia is at fault. The girl is hurt that her friend would take advantage of her like that but Verónica coolly explains that, well, she had to blame her. As the story progresses and Verónica gets her hooks into the other girl more, her manipulations grow crueler. She uses fear to "punish" her supposed friend for the pettiest reasons. Being treated so cruelly by someone claiming to care about you is a cross everyone has to bare and Lord knows it usually first happens in childhood. "Poison for the Fairies" centers itself in that all too familiar pain, in a depiction of someone trusting and naïve getting close to someone who has already learned how to trick, fool, and control for their own selfish needs.

Despite dealing extensively with the subject of witches, “Poison for the Fairies” is a grounded film. There's never any suggestion that Veronica actually has magical powers. All of her acts of witchery are either the result of trickery or coincidence. However, she certainly convinces Flavia her spells are real. During a ritual, she asks about why the candles are black and Veronica replies, simply, that's “how the devil likes them.” Flavia comes from a rationalist, atheist family. They don't prayer before bed and don't put up a nativity at Christmas. This contrast heavily with how easily Flavia is convinced in Veronica's conjuring though. That's the power of belief and ritual, all the talk of witches invading Flavia's dreams and subconscious. While in the countryside, the girls devote themselves to tracking down the ingredients for the potion. Common elements, snake skins and frog legs, are imbued with power simply because Verónica and Flavia believe that to be the case. The only time “Poison for the Fairies” seems to show a genuine supernatural event is at the very end, by which point Verónica's mean-spirited actions have more than made her a symbolic witch, if not a literal one. 

“Poison for the Fairies” has a hell of a finale too, generating a real sense of tension by constantly making the viewer wonder how far this situation will go. It's a good example of how strong the film's child actors are, Rojo and Elsa Maria both showing such a sense of depth despite their young ages. In much the same way Veronica can be seen as either a scheming villain and an ordinary little girl, the film somehow exists in the world of both daytime frivolity and nightly horrors. It's a rare work that captures the carefree joys of childhood and the vulnerability that comes with it, something the film does in the same scenes occasionally. That makes the film much truer to the fairy tales and folklore that obviously inspired it than many straight adaptations of these stories. (It also makes it an obvious influence on Guillermo del Toro. A scene where the girls are chastised for getting their dresses muddy likely inspired a similar moment in “Pan's Labyrinth.”) In other words, it's an accomplished and effective film, its status as a classic of Mexican cinema well secured. [9/10]

Isolation (2005)

They don't make monster movies the way they used to. I mean this almost literally. The rise of digital effects has truly robbed us of one of life's humblest joys: Watching underpaid actors scream and flee from rubber or latex abominations, dripping with slime and gore, played by either an elaborate puppet or a suffering stuntman in a sweltering suit. Creature feature used to be tactile, ya get what I'm sayin'? The big studios make everything in a computer and the little guys usually can't afford lots of practical effects. When something more in the vein of "Pumpkinhead" or "The Deadly Spawn" does make it into the wild, it's usually under most people's radars. "Isolation" was one of countless low budget horror flicks that Lionsgates shoveled onto DVD in the 2000s, with little promotion or press. The film hasn't been discussed much in the nineteen years since its release. At least outside the demographic of aging genre nerds with photographic memories who never forget a random title they read about in Fangoria nearly two decades ago. However, it's exactly the kind of old school rubber monster flick I happened to be looking for today. And, hey, it's Irish, meaning I can mark off another country on my cinematic trip around the world. 

In hopes of salvaging his faltering cattle farm, Dan Reilly has taken a deal with a shady biotech firm. They are performing strange test on the cows, to produce bovines that will grow faster and bigger. Jamie and Mary, an interracial couple on the run from her family, parked their van on the farmland, which Dan tolerates. That night, the experimented-upon cow begins to give birth. Dan recruits Jamie to help but the situation quickly goes awry. The calf dies shortly after being born... Strangely, however, the animal was born already pregnant. The fetuses inside it are twisted, bony monsters. And they are very alive. The strange offspring, which carry infectious properties, begins to squirm around the farm. Soon, Dan, Jamie, and Mary are fighting for their lives against these creatures. 

Much like Larry Fessenden's "No Telling" – a film it has a lot in common with – "Isolation" operates essentially as a grounded update of the mad scientist premise. Instead of using radiation or lightning to make its monsters, the creatures here are the result of biological engineering. Writer/director Billy O'Brien leans into this in a big way. The creature resembles, at first, a spinal cord that has sprung to life. These biopunk Tinglers get bigger and grislier as the film goes on, resembling a disturbing mesh of bones, sinews, blood, and oozing organs. Like Xenomorphs, they also burst out of the normal animals they grow inside of, burrowing into people eventually too. In other words, the film takes some familiar sci-fi/horror tropes and put a surprisingly fresh and grisly remix of them. Cinematographer Robbie Ryan keeps the monster largely in the shadow, so you're never entirely sure of what you are looking at. This further adds to the disorientating sense of "What the hell am I looking at?" you feel whenever the beast is on-screen. The special effects are entirely practical, making sure this aberration of science looks like a physical thing that's actually there. It's a lot scarier in execution than the logline of "mutated cow monster" sounds on paper. 

Aside from an effectively messed-up monster design and some clever special effects, "Isolation" is a well orchestrated little horror film in general. As you'd expect from the title, the movie plays up the emptiness of its setting. The Irish countryside comes across as especially desolate and dreary, always overcast. Seemingly every corner of the farm is dingy and dirty, the film building notable sequence around a slurry pit or a shallow bodies of water. The characters feel very alone, out there in the countryside. Once the monster is loose, the setting gets more cramped and claustrophobic, the characters chased under floorboards and into ventilation areas, sharp machinery near-by. The musical score is discordant and threatening but smartly deployed. There are many silent stretches which smartly build towards disturbing, sudden acts of violence. These are jump scares used smartly, paired with some effectively squirm-inducing gore effects. The bony creature slithering under a bedsheet or lunging at someone with a scream produce exactly the right reaction in the viewer. 

In other words, "Isolation" does everything right as a technical exercise, with a slow-burn first act that keeps escalating in intensity and craziness on the way to the bloody finale. The characters are kept simple, without any tedious back story, and the narrative rarely leaves the farm. As simple as the script can be, the movie clearly has some bigger ideas on its mind. Jamie is a Traveler, a racial underclass in Ireland, and Jamie being a black woman surely isn't a mistake either. Meanwhile, cows are treated in the film as disposable assets, instead of living things. A pneumatic hammer gun is used repeatedly on the animals and, when it's inevitably turned on a person, it's by a character that doesn't seem to value human life either. There's no concrete point here about the abuse of animals, industrialized farming, the cattle industry, or biotech capitalism. The quarantine subplot about the film is the most underdeveloped idea here. However, "Isolation" suggests a lot within its simple monster movie set-up. There's an undercurrent of technology pushing the natural world past it's breaking point and people, desperate simply to survive, caught in the crossfire. 

"Isolation" doesn't let its cast and characters get in the story's way. Ruth Negga and Essie Davis, a long time before "Loving" and "The Babadook," make for relatable and reasonable heroines. John Lynch, as Dan, has a nicely desperate quality to him. The result is a lean, mean creature thriller full of grimy, dismal atmosphere and a hell of an original monster. Sometimes, that's all a horror flick needs to be a hidden gem. O'Brien has done some notable work since, such as "I Am Not a Serial Killer," but the film did not launch him to the forefront of the industry. Which is a bit of a bummer, as "Isolation" is the kind of straight-to-the-point, grisly, and clever genre entertainment that so many people are in search of. And it's so extremely Irish top, with enough lilting accents and brogues to satisfy anyone who simply finds residents of the Emerald Isles fun to listen too. If you haven't seen this one, and you're on the lookout for a creatively nasty little monster-fest, definitely dig up "Isolation." [8/10]

Shockers: The Visitor

Two years back, I watched "Parents' Night," an episode of short-lived Channel 4 anthology, "Shockers." It was an unsettling hour of television and I've been wanting to get back to the series since. Probably the second best known episode of this largely overlooked series is "The Visitor," owing to it starring a young Daniel Craig. Craig plays a mysterious drifter who wanders into a swanky home. At first planning to rob the place, he quickly realizes the three residents there – Louise, Matt, and Terri – are expecting a new roommate that no one has previously met. Posing as "Richard," the man integrates himself into their lives. He seduces both Louise and Terri, though Louise is dating Matt. He also empties out Matt's bank account. When Louise pushes back against "Richard's" creepy behavior, he grows more possessive and unhinged. When the real Richard shows up, the imposter shows that murder isn't beyond him either. 

For fans of Craig, "The Visitor" is an especially fascinating watch. It can't help but play as an alternate universe version of Craig's James Bond, one who never had his violent instincts focused by the British government. "Richard" always thinks on his feet, grabbing any opportunity he can to benefit himself. We see this keenly when he kisses Terri, to distract her as he cleans up the last spot of evidence of the bloody crime he committed. His soulful blue eyes and charming demeanor makes it easy for him to seduce women. Ultimately, he's a sociopath, who manipulates people as easily as he breathes and truly only cares for himself. He also thinks nothing of springing towards violence, cold-bloodedly knocking off anyone who pisses him off or has something he wants. It's a chilling performance from Craig, who is one half emotionally unstable stalker and one half icy hitman. 

As with "Parents' Night," "The Visitor" shows that "Shockers" was determined to live up to its name. A slow burning tension characterizes the hour, as the audience inevitably waits for "Richard" to show his true nature. When that does happen, it's startlingly brutal. "The Visitor" is not especially bloody, most of the actual violence taking place off-screen. However, the way Craig beats a victim to death with a cast-iron skillet or smashes an arm in a door are presented in ways both furious and unflinchingly harsh. The visual style of the episode is sometimes a little irritating. The editing during a sex scene gets a bit frantic and the decision to repeat several key lines of vulgar dialogue is odd. "The Visitor" still approaches its violent content in a chilling manner, being totally grounded in its approach while also ratcheting up the suspense the way you'd expect from a good slasher pic or domestic thriller. (Two genres this episode resembles.) 

The gimmick of "Shockers" is that each episode was written by up-and-coming names. "The Visitor" comes from novelist and screenwriter Guy Burt, best known for "The Hole." While the story here is clearly influenced by films like "Shallow Grave" or "Single White Female," some deeper themes are established. Terri comes from a well-to-do family, the house essentially being something she inherited. Matt is a successful hedge fund manager, frequently bragging about his success, while Louise has the very bougie job of designing lay-outs for cook books.  We don't learn anything about "Richard's" backstory but his transient lifestyle suggests he's probably lived in poverty his whole life. When the real Richard shows up at the house, the imposter berates him that he doesn't know what it's like to have to work for anything he has. This gives this story of a smooth psycho blowing up some twenty-somethings' lives a class struggle subtext. While I wouldn't suggest Terri and Louise deserve anything that happens to them, it does bring an extra layer to this story of a lunatic sneaking in and taking over your life. While it doesn't have quite the level of disquieting impact that "Parents' Night" did, "The Visitor" is still surprisingly potent stuff. [8/10]

The Addams Family: The Winning of Morticia Addams

One of the most charming contributions to pop culture "The Addams Family" has made is Gomez and Morticia becoming accepted as the perfectly attuned couple everyone should aspire to be. This is challenged in "The Winning of Morticia Addams," when Fester reads an article that suggests the opposite may be true. A recent study suggests couples who fight more often are actually happier. Worried for their marriage, Fester and Granmama plot to engineer some discord in Morticia and Gomez's relationship. When these schemes fail, Fester reaches out to the article's author, Dr. Chalon, and invites him to the home. The doctor is immediately smitten with Morticia and attempts to seduce her. (Which she rebuffs, of course.) Upon hearing of this, Gomez challenges Chalon to a duel. The only problem is that Chalon is a celebrated fencer who has killed three previous men in duels. 

What makes Gomez and Mortica such an ideal couple is the innate understanding and infinite passion they have with each other. When Fester tells Gomez's Zen yogi guru that Morticia has demanded her husband quit the club, Drashi Dumo makes an angry house call. Gomez's reaction is, simply, if that's what his wife thinks, then it must be true. The two see Gomez's freed-up schedule as a chance to spend more time together. Always approaching your partner with an open mind and understanding, never doubting their commitment to you and vice versa, might be the secret to a happy marriage. Remaining utterly dedicated and enamored of them certainly doesn't hurt either. 

Challenging that bond without cooking up some bullshit drama between Gomez and Morticia, and violating the foundation of their love, must've been a tricky scenario to write. Bringing in a headstrong third party that tries to seduce Morticia is a good solution. It helps that Lee Bergere as Dr. Chalon makes a good foil for Gomez. He's a swarthy Frenchman who probably could charm a wife with a less rock solid devotion to her husband. Making sure Morticia roundly rejects his come-on makes sure that the dilemma that follows isn't either husband or wife's fault. All Morticia wants to do is prevent her beloved from getting killed, while Gomez's utter respect for his wife makes him outraged at Chalon's behavior and determined to correct it. 

In other words, it's a really good set-up for some jokes. Putting Fester in the situation where he has to roll back his plans, Gomez remaining oblivious to this, leads to some amusing interactions. (Though Fester's hope that his nephew will beat his wife is, uh, uncomfortable to say the least.) That Gomez strictly refuses to back down, despite Chalon's obvious superior fencing abilities, leads to some wonderfully goofy moments. In general, there's a lot of good gags here. Lurch standing in for the net during a basketball game or Chalon's response to Wednesday's Marie Antoine doll all got chuckles out of me. While "Progress and the Addams Family" probably would've made a better season finale, for how it escalates the central conflict of the series and brings back an old antagonist, this is an equally good note to take season one out on. [7/10]

As I've watched my way through season one of "The Addams Family," I've compared it a lot to "The Munsters." The two rival series touching on a lot of the same subjects made such comparisons difficult to avoid. It's still hard to say either sitcom is better than the other though. Herman and Grandpa's interactions were certainly funnier than anything Gomez and Fester did together. Mortica and Gomez are obviously the better, sweeter couple than the childish Herman and the sometimes shrewish Lily. It's tempting to say "The Munsters'" jokes were hokier than the "Addams'" but the truth is both shows are equally cheesy in their approach. The Addams may have a sharper social criticism built into their premise, not to mention sometimes edgier sight jokes. The Munsters' running gags, however, are simply a lot funnier to me than the Addams'. Both shows have the benefit of having great casts, pitch-perfect actors embodying archetypal characters that you immediately understand and deem likable. I think I do find 1313 Mockingbird Lane slightly more charming a home than 0001 Cemetery Drive, probably becomes the former emphasizes classic monster movie dustiness over the latter's opulent eccentricities. Thus far, Eddie has gotten a lot more to do than either Wednesday or Pugsley. (Though all the kids are adorable.) "The Munsters" only having four central members of the family, as opposed to the Addams' seven, might make it a little easier for the other show to write consistent premises. Nevertheless, I'd say both are equally silly, spooky fun. I've enjoyed watching season one of "The Addams Family" and look forward to hopefully picking up the show again next year.