FRIGHTENING FLIX: Revisiting Poe Video Review

Kristin Battestella aka Kbatz (and a special feline guest) discusses new appreciations in revisiting the short fiction of Edgar Allan Poe including The Fall of the House of Usher and The Tell Tale Heart in addition to comparing and contrasting the Vincent Price and Roger Corman Poe Film Adaptations.

 

 

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Kbatz: Silent Film Scares!

 

Silent Film Scares!

By Kristin Battestella

 

Here are but a few early film frights to catch your tongue!

 

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari – Sleepwalking, hypnosis, and a demented carnival atmosphere are just the beginning for this influential 1920 paragon. From the German intertitles complete with a madcap, unreliable narrator font to the eerie, off key merry go round score, the distorted perceptions and exaggerated visuals force the viewer to pay attention. Green patinas, teal evening scenes, golden up close shots, and opening and closing irises layer on the dream like retelling alongside askew, Expressionist angles and a stage like design – a play within a play to which we the audience are willingly privy. Contrasting triangles, shadows, lighting, and more surreal architecture parallel the lacking reality, for there is no external frame of reference and forced perspectives belie a fun house whimsy. The actors, makeup, and abstract period styles are fittingly macabre, and the stilted contortionist movements evoke a poetic but unsettling ballet where a misused seemingly innocent, forgotten pawn needlessly dies once his job no longer computes. Though very indicative of its early interwar time, this remains immediately progressive – man is misled, controlled, even compliant in his misdeeds but not willing to be responsible for his actions when it is easier to be led astray and defer your killing hand to the orchestrating puppeteer. Do we not let popcorn entertainment and social media dictate our needs because someone somewhere told us so? Are we living in a fantasy if we think otherwise? Maybe so. The mass sheep consequences are indeed frightening, and some may find it tough to view this picture objectively knowing the catastrophic calamities to come. The appropriately named Cesare, deadly predictions, a perceived loved triangle, escalating murders, and crazy case connections twist and turn while satirical police sit on high up stools like toy soldiers waiting to be told what to do – like us in our 9 to 5 cubicles. Ignorance is bliss, and that is mighty scary. This is must see genre at its finest thanks to heaps of real world fears and social commentary for horror fans and classroom studies.

 

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde – This 1920 John Barrymore silent classic still looks good, with fine style and design and eerie organ music to match. There’s a lovely level of atmosphere for a spooky event- project this baby on some creepy cloth and you’re set! Granted, it’s a little slow to start and long for a silent film at 80 minutes. The presentation itself is almost Victorian in establishing the parlor goodness before its hint of pre-code sauce- the dance and proposition of Nita Naldi (The Ten Commandments). The posturing and makeup for Hyde may seem hokey, there isn’t that much of a visual difference compared to today’s high tech effects transformations. Nonetheless, Barrymore (Don Juan) sells the depravity without over exaggerating as the era often dictates, and the result is quite timeless.  There aren’t many title cards, either.  As the film progresses, the good and evil torment steadily increases thanks to the freaky pictures and creepy performance. A must see. 

 

Fall of the House of Usher – This very early 1928 silent adaptation of Poe’s macabre tale is only 13 minutes. There are no inter cards to read, nor what we would call dialogue. The fashions are decidedly Roaring instead of Victorian, too.  The visuals are so out there-even nonsensical-that it’s almost tough to see Edgar in any of it.  Nonetheless, this moody piece is perfectly disturbed with great, haunting organ music and eerie, distorted photography.  It’s trippy, unexpected, and a little scary. This is another one of those old films that makes for a great demented projection during a spooky party or ghoulish gallery presentation. Though not for everyone, anyone who is a fan of early film experimentation or audiences who just like weird shows should definitely check this out.

 

 

Faust – This 1926 F. W. Murnau biggie waxes on all the good and evil one can muster thanks to its Old World appeal, supernatural surreal, and timeless story. Familiar strings and sweeping orchestration ground the Expressionist horror framework with frenetic ills or melodic tender as needed while stunning images of angels both light and dark are fittingly disproportionate with oversized wings. So maybe the mounted skeletons may seem hokey, but the smoke and mirrors, creepy eyes, and evil horns make for superb overlays and superimposed shadows. Why do we toy with spectacular effects when each frame here is like a seamless painting – unlike contemporary, noticeably shoddy CGI. Ghoulish makeup, severe looks done with very little, dark hoods, rays of light, and religious iconography loom large, telling the tale with symbolic light and dark objects dueling for our attention – just like the delicate titular ballet. The battle for one man’s soul is set amid our earthly plague fears, and despite the torment and somewhat odd, dragging domestic humor, the acting is not over the top but subdued for the weighty subject. This macabre is closer to the past than the present, setting off the repentance questions and plague as divine retribution debate. His Old Testament gives no answer, and evil enters in on Faust’s doubts, trading decadence with quills to sign in blood, hourglass measures, alchemy, superimposed flames, and mystical books to match the thee and thou spells. Our deceiving little old man becomes more traditionally devilish looking with each lavish temptation, duplicitous with his immediate tricks of pleasure and unfulfilling youthful elixirs that cannot be sustained. Could you do good with such power? Flight and winds show not how high one goes but how far we will fall, and despite a somewhat overlong hour and forty minute full length edition, the grim sense of dread here snowballs as the looming evil drapes the bedchamber within his robes. Will innocence and love triumph and restore the divine? This stunning attention to detail not only makes me want to tackle Goethe again, but shows what can be done when time is taken to ensure a picture lasts 90 years rather than be a consumed and quickly forgotten 90 minutes. The multiple versions and assorted video reissues will bother completists, but we’re lucky to have these copies at all and horror fans and film students must see this still influential morality play.

 

The Hands of Orlac – Art and music meet the grotesque for this 1924 tale of pleas, surgeries, and will power. Precious few newspaper clippings and streamlined, made to look old intertitles accent the ominous locomotives, vintage vehicles, smoke stacks, and well done but no less hectic disaster filmmaking before the macabre executions and madcap medicine. Doctors in white coats with terrible news, a saintly woman in white, bleak black trees against the clouded white sky – rather than our beloved silver screen, the picture here is truly a black and white negative with bright, symbolic domestic scenes and nighttime outdoor filming. Overwhelming buildings loom tall, and the sharp, gothic arches of a sinister father’s house reflect his uncaring. Eerie superimposed faces, phantom feelings, and impatience to remove the bandages build toward the eponymous hysterics, but the simple agony of handwriting changes and crooked hands so skilled with a killer blade but unable to master the piano wonderfully increase the torment and self doubt. Is it the mind doing these fatal repeats or the appendages themselves taking over? The full near two hour restored version feels somewhat overlong, with melodramatic scenes and unnecessary transitions interfering with the anguish. At times, contrived fingerprint exposition and solving the crime clichés pull the rug out from under the horrific hands possibilities, but fortunately, the blackmail, murder investigation, and bittersweet love anchors the monstrous appendage swapping. Where today we would have all kinds of bent, hairy, or special effects to hit the viewer over the head with how evil these hands should be, it’s amazing how these wicked hands psyching out our pianist don’t look evil per se but actually fairly normal. With our contemporary pick and choose genetics and scientific advancements, the concept of these influential limbs out for themselves is perhaps more disturbing. Could you loose your art and livelihood when calamity takes your hands or would you use extreme science to restore your limbs, accepting the inadvertent trade of music for something more barbarous? This is an excellent must see both for the ghastly what ifs and the inner turmoil at work.

 

 

The Unknown – Lon Chaney (The Phantom of the Opera) and Joan Crawford (Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?) star in this short but memorable 1927 silent from writer and director Tod Browning.  Similar to Browning’s Freaks in many ways, the grotesque yet tender and sympathetic love triangle here is fast paced and well edited with intense twists and a great, revitalized score.  Sure, it may be a Leap of Faith in taking Chaney as armless and the carnival set-ups are hokey- but trust me.  There’s no over the top acting, only perfect expressions and emotions all around. Crawford looks dynamite, too, with great eyes and readable lips that don’t need inter titles. It’s not all Chaney’s footwork and bravo to his double Paul Desmuke; their combination is strangely delightful to watch. It’s probably a tough concept for some contemporary, effects-obsessed audiences to comprehend, but hearing or reading words aren’t required for the viewer to receive the trauma here.  Yes, some of the essential plot points are fairly obvious today. However, the performances keep it splendid nonetheless. This hour is by necessity of the silent style yet also very modern in its own way. It’s definitely a must see for classic fans, lovers of the cast, and film makers or would be actors- who should definitely take a lesson on the big reveal here!

 

Wolf Blood – This 1925 silent hour plus is the earliest remaining onscreen lycanthrope picture, complete with Canadian flavor, old fashioned logging, spooky forestry, railroads, and jealous love triangles to match the desperate titular transfusion and its would be consequences. A befitting green hue graces the outdoor scenes while standard black and white reflects the bleak interiors and golden tints accentuate the high society parties. The focus is blurry at times, the print understandably jumps, and the music is surprisingly loud. However, the rounded iris close ups add a dreamlike quality, and the vintage jazz tunes and period fashions are a real treat. If you’re looking for a time capsule logging documentary, this is it! Flirtations, camp injuries, company rivalries, drunken dangers, and medical debates give the first half of the picture a purely dramatic pace, but the wolfy fears, mob mentality, and deadly possibilities build in the latter half. Fantastic medicine, superstitious leaps, dreams of becoming the wolf – this isn’t a werewolf film as we know it but the key pieces are here. How fast people turn on you once you have wolf’s blood! The wolf footage is also quite nice, with what looks like real mixed wolf or husky dogs. No, there is no werewolf transformation and it’s all a bit of a fake out in that regard, but the community fears and early man versus beast melodrama is still fun to see.

Press Release: Wicked Lit announces its Fall Schedule

22 Actors Complete the Diverse
Company Of WICKED LIT 2015

Edgar Allan Poe’s The Fall of the House of Usher
Adapted by Paul Millet, Directed by Jeff G. RackWorld Premiere

The Grove of Rashomon
Adapted by Jonathan Josephson, Directed by Darin Anthony
Adapted from “In A Grove” by Ryūnosuke AkutagawaWorld Premiere
Edith Nesbit’s The Ebony Frame
Adapted by Susannah Myrvold, Directed by Jaime Robledo THIS HALLOWEEN SEASON: October 2 – November 14, 2015

LOS ANGELES – Unbound Productions Executive Director Jonathan Josephson, Artistic Director Paul Millet, and Producing Artistic Director Jeff G. Rack have announced the line-up for WICKED LIT 2015, the company’s 7th annual immersive theatre event that will for the 6th year take place at Mountain View Mausoleum and Cemetery in Altadena, California. The production will run from October 2–November 14, 2015 and feature world premiere adaptations of The Grove of Rashomon adapted by Josephson (2013 Humana Festival, WL14: Las Lloronas) from the short story “In A Grove” by Japanese author Ryūnosuke Akutagawa & directed by Darin Anthony (Artistic Director of Moving Arts, The Book of Liz at The Blank), and The Ebony Frame adapted by regular Unbound Productions performer Susannah Myrvold from the short story by Australian writer Edith Nesbit and directed by Jaime Robledo (Stoneface, Sacred Fools and Pasadena Playhouse, 2015 SciFest).The final play of the evening will be a re-imagining of Millet’s (WL13: The Masque of the Red Death Experience, The Tell-Tale Heart) adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe’s The Fall of the House of Usher, directed by Rack (WL14: Dracula’s Guest, WL13: The Legend of Sleepy Hollow). The is rounded out by the Wicked Lit 2015 Frame called The System, based on Edgar Allan Poe’s The System of Dr. Tarr & Prof. Fether, conceived, written and directed by Debbie McMahon (WL14: The Monk). The Frame will be performed pre-show and during the evening’s two intervals.

The cast will include 22 actors – 19 principals and 3 swings.

Actors who are returning to Unbound Productions include (with their most recent credit): Angie Hobin (Dracula’s Guest, WL14), Kyle Fox (The Monkey’s Paw, Mountain View Mausoleum), Carlos Larkin (The New Catacomb, WL13), Tanya Mironowski (The Doll, Strub Mansion), Michael Prichard (The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, WL13), Tina Van Berckelaer (The Spirits of Walpurgisnacht, WL14) and swings Elyse Ashton (The Spirits of Walpurgisnacht, WL14) and Eric Keitel (Dracula’s Guest, WL14).

New actors to Unbound include: Alan Abelew, Deborah Dominguez, Kevin Dulude, Joe Fria, Sachiyo K., Arthur Keng, West Liang, Hisato Masuyam, Devon Michaels, Mark Ostrander, Robert Paterno, Alpha Takahashi, Kazumi Zatkin, and swing Laura Napoli.

“Last year’s show was the biggest, most ambitious production we ever attempted and it was also by far our most successful,” said Rack, who also oversees the production design and special effects for the event. “We are thrilled to bring back old friends and excited to add great theatre artists such as Darin and Jaime, who are new to WICKED LIT but well-known to LA theatre audiences.”

Said Millet, “Every year, we push ourselves to instill WICKED LIT with more surprises and more creative ways to tell great classic stories. We have become known as a Halloween event but we take great pride in our commitment to playwrights and our theatrical work.”

The Grove of Rashomon and The Ebony Frame are the 25th and 26th plays to receive their world premiere from Unbound.

“We are also very proud of the fact that our shows continue to broaden in terms of theatrical diversity, both in terms of manner-of-storytelling, as well as the international impact of our source material and the makeup of our creative team,” said Josephson. “Last year, one of our plays was inspired by a Mexican folktale, this year, one of our plays is inspired by a Japanese story and will feature an all Asian and Asian-American cast. Another one of our plays was adapted from a lauded female author from Australia by the wonderfully talented Susannah Myrvold. It is important to us that we bring a wide range of unique, creative voices to our productions.”

WICKED LIT 2014 played to 100% capacity over six weeks and drew over 3,000 patrons to Altadena. The immersive event was named “Best Halloween Attraction” for the second year in a row by Hollywood Gothique (ahead of Universal Studios’ Halloween Horror Nights and Dark Harbor at the Queen Mary) and Terry Morgan of Stage Raw said “An autumnal treat! For those who want to celebrate Halloween in an unusually theatrical way, this event won’t disappoint.”

WICKED LIT 2015 will run seven weeks and feature the popular behind-the-scenes “Backstage Experiences” that was introduced last year for an additional fee. This fundraising initiative allows a small number of guests to receive insight from the creators of the show while touring the Mausoleum.

WICKED LIT audiences will experience three short plays as they are led through the grounds of the mausoleum and cemetery by Storyguides. WICKED LIT is a walking show – patrons must be able to comfortably walk a minimum of 2,000 steps and climb stairs in order to experience this production. WICKED LIT 2015 contains mature themes, theatrical violence, and sexual situations – the production is recommended for audiences ages 16+. The running time will be approximately 2 hours and 45 minutes including two intervals.

The first WICKED LIT production was staged in 2009 on the grounds of Greystone Mansion in Beverly Hills. Since that time, nearly 10,000 patrons have enjoyed full productions of adaptations of authors such as Edgar Allan Poe, H.P. Lovecraft, Mark Twain, Charles Dickens, Robert E. Howard, Washington Irving, Robert Louis Stevenson, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and many others at Greystone Mansion, Mountain View Mausoleum and Cemetery and numerous installation events throughout Southern California.

The mission of Unbound Productions, the theatre company that produces WICKED LIT, is to re-imagine timeless stories for new audiences by creating immersive, theatrical adaptations of literature.

Visit wickedlit.org for complete pricing and scheduling details. WICKED LIT is also on Facebook.

THE PLAYS

The Grove of Rashomon
By Jonathan Josephson
Directed by Darin Anthony
Adapted from “In A Grove” by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa

Masago, a maiden, is missing and her samurai, Takehiko, is dead. As her mother investigates the brutal crime, she encounters numerous versions of what happened on that fateful night in a haunting cedar grove. Staged in the cemetery at Mountain View, The Grove of Rashomon is a re-imagining of the iconic short story that inspired the Akira Kurosawa film Rashomon.

Featuring Sachiyo K., Arthur Keng, West Liang, Hisato Masuyam, Robert Paterno, Alpha Takahashi, and Kazumi Zatkin

The Fall of the House of Usher
By Paul Millet
Directed by Jeff G. Rack
Adapted from the short story of the same name by Edgar Allan Poe

An enhanced, updated version of the play that was featured in the very first Wicked Lit at Greystone Mansion in 2009, this macabre tale of desperation and ambition will be staged inside the iconic mausoleum on the Mountain View grounds. Nathaniel has received a desperate and mysterious letter from his friend Roderick Usher. When he arrives, he is drawn into a nightmare world that brings a family’s horrifying past into an even more twisted and perverse present.

Featuring Carlos Larkin, Tanya Mironowski, Devon Michaels and Michael Prichard.

The Ebony Frame
By Susannah Myrvold
Directed by Jaime Robledo
Adapted from the short story of the same name by Edith Nesbit

Henry just inherited a lavish home from a relative he never met, and he is engaged to a woman who adores him beyond words – so things are good. But there is something about that painting that is just captivating – but what is it? Ah – nothing that can’t be sorted out by a Satanic wedding.

Featuring Deborah Dominguez, Kevin Dulude, Joe Fria, Angie Hobin and Tina Van Berckelaer.

The System (The Wicked Lit 2015 Frame)
Conceived, written & directed by Debbie McMahon
Based on the short story The System of Dr. Tarr and Prof. Fether by Edgar Allan Poe

Come one, come all, and enjoy our merry play! Get well, heal fast – just avoid Nurse Racher.

Featuring Alan Abelew, Kevin Dulude, Kyle Fox and Mark Ostrander.

PERFORMANCES AND TICKETS:

October 2 – November 14, 2015, Limited engagement!
Thursday, October 1 (preview)
Friday-Sunday, Oct 2-4;
Thursday-Sunday, Oct 8-11;
Thursday-Sunday, Oct 15-18;
Wednesday-Sunday, Oct 21-25;
Wednesday-Sunday, Oct 28-Nov 1
Thursday-Sunday, Nov 5-8
Thursday-Saturday, Nov 12-14

All performances will begin promptly at 7:30 p.m.

Tickets range from $35-75, see website for details.
Backstage Experience passes will be available for an additional $25.
For more information go to wickedlit.org or call (323) 332-2065.

Mountain View Mausoleum & Cemetery
2300 N. Marengo Ave. Altadena CA 91001
AMPLE FREE PARKING ON THE GROUNDS
Please consult a map before driving to the Mausoleum

WICKED LIT PHOTOGRAPHY AND VIDEO

Photos: http://unboundproductions.org/photos/
Video: http://www.youtube.com/UnboundProductionsLA

PLEASE NOTE:

DO NOT ENTER FROM FAIR OAKS AVE ~ YOU MAY GET LOST – PLEASE PLAN AHEAD

• THIS IS A WALKING PRODUCTION THAT TAKES PLACE AT NIGHT

• PLEASE WEAR COMFORTABLE, SOFT-SOLED SHOES

• SOME SCENES STAGED OUTSIDE ~ PLEASE DRESS ACCORDINGLY

• THIS PRODUCTION IS MEANT FOR MATURE AUDIENCES AND WILL BE SCARY!

• PLEASE INQUIRE ABOUT TRIGGER WARNINGS –

• SEATING IS LIMITED – THESE SHOWS WILL SELL OUT!

ABOUT UNBOUND PRODUCTIONS

Founded in 2008 by Jonathan Josephson, Paul Millet and Jeff G. Rack, Unbound Productions is a nonprofit theatre company whose mission is to reimagine timeless stories for new audiences by creating immersive, theatrical adaptations of literature. Since our first full production of Wicked Lit in 2009, over 15,000 patrons have enjoyed our immersive theatre events at venues ranging from Mountain View Mausoleum and Cemetery, to Pasadena Museum of History, to Barney’s Beanery in West Hollywood. Unbound has also presented staged readings at Long Beach Comic Con, Pasadena Art Walk, the West Hollywood Book Fair, NoHo Lit Crawl, The Chance Theatre, The Echo Theatre Company, and many other venues and events. Unbound has produced 26 world premiere plays throughout its history, some of which have gone on to be produced at venues across the country as well as Scotland, England and Cameroon.

ABOUT WICKED LIT

The scope of Wicked Lit is to create dynamic new adaptations of classic horror literature. Over 10,000 patrons have enjoyed Wicked Lit productions and installations since Wicked Lit 2009 at the haunted Greystone Mansion in Beverly Hills. From 2010-2015, Wicked Lit has been staged at Mountain View Mausoleum and Cemetery in Altadena where audiences walk through the hallways of the mausoleum and among the headstones in the cemetery as our plays are staged all around. Unbound has also produced special installations of Mark Twain’s A Ghost Story (Los Angeles Millennium Biltmore Hotel in conjunction with the 2011 Theatre Communications Group National Conference), Edgar Allan Poe’s The Tell-Tale Heart (LA Mart in conjunction with ScareLA), and The Doll (Strub Mansion at the historic Mayfield Senior School in Pasadena). Since 2008, Unbound has also mounted over 100 free staged readings of Wicked Lit plays at libraries, schools, festivals, and special events all over Southern California including the Huntington Library and Botanical Gardens, NoHo LitWalk, Pasadena ArtWalk, West Hollywood Book Fair, Long Beach Comic Con and theaters such as The Chance Theatre, The Antaeus Company, The Blank Theatre Company, High Street Performing Arts Center, and many others.