Denouement Renouement

Category: Hooptober

  • Hooptober 12: Blood Quantum (2019)

    Film #27 — 3/5 Zombie Films

    By C. Ramsay

    Leading with a very accomplished, atmospheric opening in which community members of the Mi’kmaq reserve of Red Crow begin to realize that a zombie outbreak is spreading, Blood Quantum begins with a lot of promise. The cinematography in the first act is gorgeous, capturing the beauty of the landscape and treating the environment as its own character, or at least recognizing its agency. The camerawork features some forced perspective changes that are sickening in how they move, indicating an as yet unknowable danger flooding in and making the space feel oppressive no matter how open it is. Considering that the Indigenous population is immune to the outbreak plaguing the predominantly white population nearby, and that the environment is historically consistently mishandled when not under Indigenous stewardship, the spread of disease implied through the motion of the camera is a strong foundational component in the type of storytelling that one would hope would extend throughout the rest of the film.

    Regrettably, the effectiveness of the first act does not carry through as the camerawork is much more inventive with the landscapes than it is the people. Once the audience has been introduced to the core group of characters and the emphasis remains with them, the cinematography quickly feels dimmed and unsure of how to continue contributing to a storytelling style based as much on showing as it is telling. As a result, the back two thirds are bogged down by the amount of exposition they contain, leaving aspects such as generational trauma with underexplored nuance that make what should be load-bearing characterization feel surface-level.

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  • Hooptober 12: It Comes at Night (2017)

    Film #26 — 2/2 Post-Apocalyptic Films

    By C. Ramsay

    Opening in medias res, with high stakes and no information other than what is directly visible to the audience, It Comes at Night is a drawling, shambling, slow burn of a character study. Surprisingly relevant to the hyper paranoia that has festered since the arrival of COVID-19, the film seeks to escalate by exploiting the uncertainties of the audience and characters alike. We never get much context around what’s happening or why, we only get a vague idea: a disease has ravaged the world, or at least the microcosm accessible to us, and we are introduced to the aftermath through two families and their experiences.

    Bruegel the Elder’s The Triumph of Death is featured at the beginning of the film, a painting depicting a browning landscape, charred by fire and littered with bodies and their useless earthly possessions. Legions of undead have come to lay waste to people of all classes and backgrounds, whether they accept their fate or vie against it. As with the families we meet, there are options for how they can respond to the threat of death, but there is ultimately no real chance of escape.

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  • Hooptober 12: Das deutsche Kettensägenmassaker (The German Chainsaw Massacre) (1990)

    Film #25 — 1/1 Extra Credit Film

    By C. Ramsay

    Built around a runtime of only 63 minutes, The German Chainsaw Massacre makes every single one of them count. The choice to open with the reunification of Germany helps to define the rest of the film, deepening characterization without needing excessive verbal or visual exposition, and providing a contextual backdrop for the minimalistic plot as it washes over the viewer. Relying entirely on pairing its absurdist comedic style with its social and legislative circumstances, this is a film that seems like it should be evidently taken as satirical of both its subgenre and its political features, though instead appears to be more often than not painfully misunderstood as plotless and aiming solely for misguided shock value.

    A key interest of the film is in the response of the average person to the reunification of a country having experienced prolonged enforced division, and in the increasing polarization that developed from it over the course of decades. The desires of the individual are constantly held against the assumptions and stereotypes developed and trickled from the top down of those occupying the space of the alternate perspective. What becomes tacitly highlighted is the hypocrisy behind generalizing a demographic forced into formation but refusing to accept that those same generalizations are not one-sided and can be equally self-reflective. Where the film is most curious is in its exploration of the societal rifts caused by the separation of East and West Germany, and more specifically in the exploitative and parasitic consumption of certain types of people as a means to foster the growth of others.

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  • Hooptober 12: The Outwaters (2022)

    Film #24 — 2/3 Wildcard Films

    By C. Ramsay

    Following four friends traveling deep into the Mojave Desert to make a music video, Robbie Banfitch’s The Outwaters combines elements from The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and Picnic at Hanging Rock to create a horrifying pastiche of back-country dread. Though a weighty share of its runtime feels painfully amateur—a negative reflection of Banfitch’s combined efforts in writing, directing, producing, starring in, doing the cinematography for, and editing the film—the latter half transitions to being evidence of what can be achieved through the confines of a small budget mixed with unbounded creativity. It never feels like there’s much effort put into the characterization of the group we follow, with nearly the first hour reflecting only their drab, predominantly mopey personalities. While this begins as a fault in the writing, it eventually becomes a testament to the gruesomeness presented and the degree to which it makes the characters as they exist sympathetic to the audience. Where every minute initially seems to drag under mediocrity, each later feels endlessly inescapable, with the characters reduced to sniveling, huffing, bestial renditions of their earlier selves who we can only hope are able to achieve some sort of salvation. The plot is structured fairly well and moves in completely unexpected ways, with the fear coming from a lack of formula and no forewarning to the audience of what might happen. Everything is panic, despair, and pitiful terror.

    Using an experimental approach, many scenes from the first half of the film are effectively unsettling in how they’re framed and edited, and in the types of audio overlaid instead of relying mostly on musical score. The soundscape overall is fantastic, but sometimes goes a touch overboard, aiming for shock value rather than immersion. Relatedly, the greatest feature of the horror presented is its abstractness: only being able to see a fraction of what’s going on and having our brains fill in the rest, or having visual access to what’s happening but not being able to make sense of it. Where things falter slightly is in occasionally showing too much; if certain visuals were toned down and retained a status of being slightly off from making sense instead of turning into jumpscares, then every scene would be just as effective. For so much imagery in the last act being abstract, there’s also some specific, clear imagery that feels a bit too out of place to meld properly with everything else. Altogether though, the gore is designed well and conveys complete depravity, and the angles of certain shots and how they capture the people in them are nauseating.

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  • Hooptober 12: The Endless (2017)

    Film #23 — 2/3 Cult or Conspiracy Films

    By C. Ramsay

    Centered on two brothers struggling to make a living for themselves, considering instead a return to the cult they escaped from a few years prior, The Endless is most interested in the differences between found and blood family, and in the circumstances that amount to the sincerest forms of human connection.

    Being built around Lovecraftian inspiration, once the film finds its footing it really digs itself into its style, though it takes a bit of time to get there. The beginning brings in a touch of mockumentary approach that’s only in play for a couple of scenes and never really comes back, remaining mostly, but not quite, forgettable. The camerawork during the first half hour is also a bit off-putting and feels quite amateur, with lots of shaky cam and quick cuts being completely mismatched with the pace the film is actually moving at. Similarly, Aaron and Justin, the brothers, are not very well acted at first, though once they arrive back at the camp they’d previously fled, the camerawork and acting fit in much better. Surrounded by little absurdities that seem accepted by everyone without question except for the brothers, the initial mismatched pacing retroactively works better to underscore Aaron and Justin as being displaced in the world outside of the cult, as well as their unease within it. Realistically, the biggest and most consistent issue throughout the film is that everything is tinted, slightly desaturated, and tilt shifted the entire time under some misguided attempt to visually force the viewer into feeling what already comes naturally from the rest of the existing components.

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  • Hooptober 12: Black Mountain Side (2014)

    Film #22 — 1/1 Canadian Film; 9/9 Decades

    By C. Ramsay

    Featuring a premise that’s always fun to see new approaches to—an isolated group of people being slowly picked off by something or someone in an extremely remote area—Black Mountain Side is unfortunately unsuccessful in its addition to the catalogue. Sticking relentlessly to its slow pace, which serves more to simply wait out the story beats than it does to contribute to the atmosphere, an attempt is made to keep attention on the characters, but the mediocre acting means the film is constantly shoving a stick into its own spokes.

    The effort is felt right off the bat, and while thought behind the camerawork is appreciated, every single shot feels overly planned and meant to represent some deeper meaning, which becomes distracting very quickly. It seems like there was indecision around whether the camerawork should make the audience feel like a fly on the wall, held hostage to witness the events but helpless to do anything about them, or a member of the crew, equally at risk to what lurks in the shadows. Though it’s to be expected that John Carpenter’s The Thing would be inescapable for inspiration to some extent, certain characters here are stylized so similarly that a couple of the actors even have a physical resemblance through their physical features, facial hair, clothing, and mannerisms, which further works to remove the viewer from the moment rather than linking them to it.

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  • Hooptober 12: I Am Legend (2007)

    Film #21 — 2/5 Zombie Films; 8/9 Decades

    By C. Ramsay

    “Please say hello to me.”

    Considering the creatures in this adaptation of I Am Legend are stylistically hybridized as vampiric zombies, I’m considering it enough of a fit to be included in the Hooptober zombie category this year. 

    There’s a lot to like about this one, contrary to what some might argue. The pacing throughout most of the film is consistent and contributes to the atmosphere, blending introspective scenes with stress-inducing action sequences, and splicing in flashbacks during well-suited moments. The news segment that’s used to open the film, with the audio filtering in before we see the accompanying video, is great for providing enough exposition to inform the audience of what went wrong before cutting to the present day to allow us to visually witness the aftermath as we’re introduced to Will Smith’s Robert Neville, an immune army virologist. The worldbuilding layered into the advancing plot is rich, with extra details for information we’ve previously learned about being peppered in to shift or deepen context. The logistics of how Neville gets through his days are considered highly important, not only in how he physically survives and sustains himself, but also in what he does to try to stay sane as the supposedly last remaining uninfected person. Whichever expository details might be missing from inclusion as a focal point in different scenes can often be found in the set design, perhaps never outright discussed, but waiting nevertheless to be discovered in the background. The interior of Neville’s home, for example, is flooded with objects that are revelatory to his personality prior to the virus, something we’re never witness to otherwise, and which then also act to more deeply contextualize his current interests and goals. Although the score and soundtrack are good, and feel utilized to continue to round out Neville’s characterization, it’s their absence during key scenes that’s most effective. The quiet, occasionally accentuated by the sounds of rapid breathing or animalistic wails in the night, is what’s most deafening.

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  • Hooptober 12: Def by Temptation (1990)

    Film #20 — 1/1 Film From a Black Director With a Black Lead; 7/9 Decades

    By C. Ramsay

    Distributed by Troma Entertainment and directed, produced, and written by James Bond III, who also stars, Def by Temptation is a small-scale production about a succubus who takes the form of a Black woman to seduce and kill Black men in New York City.

    For an independent project this size, every component is well put together. Featuring an overall killer soundtrack, as well as gorgeously moody lighting and cinematography by Ernest Dickerson, frequent collaborator with Spike Lee, the atmosphere is pristine. The script is vibrant, with Bond’s writing creating a well-paced comedic tone that’s effortlessly carried through the film thanks to the acting done by himself, Kadeem Hardison, and Bill Nun. The viewer is able to learn a lot about each character after only a few lines of dialogue each, and anyone who isn’t simply a background actor therefore feels well-rounded and either relatable or identifiable in personality.

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  • Hooptober 12: Paperhouse (1988)

    Film #19 — 1/1 Film with Dreams as Part of the Plot

    By C. Ramsay

    From Bernard Rose, director of the original Candyman, Paperhouse is about a young girl named Anna who uses a dreamworld she’s created by drawing in her school composition notebook to escape her struggles in real life. Using a touch of Solaris to establish this, the quiet emptiness of Anna’s initial visit to her dreamworld is then juxtaposed with the suffocating and endlessly busy city of her reality, made worse by the fact that she is trapped in a car with her mother driving while being scolded for her recent behaviour. Tonally, however, the film is most reminiscent of The Babadook—Anna being annoyingly whiny but still endearing, the script a touch repetitive in its dialogue, and the editing a bit too choppy to fully come together in a polished way.

    Although the concept of drawings coming to life or generating an alternate realm is not unheard of, it also isn’t the most popular basis for a storyline. Relatedly, as the film is only loosely adapted from a novel, Bernard Rose was able to establish the lore and mechanics of the dreamworld as he desired, which was incredibly interesting to experience unfolding without knowing what would come next. The set design is gorgeous, with the house itself being faithful to the wonkiness of Anna’s drawing capabilities. Having been drawn with regular pencil, every part of the house is in drab sepia tone and is disorienting and cavernous, the walls only meant to create a sheltered space to contain the most imaginative components of Anna’s world. The dreamworld set and its dressings are stylistically similar to Terry Gilliam’s designs, and do a great job of solidifying the imagination of their creator, reflecting whimsy along with the underlying fear and unease that so easily creeps into the minds of children.

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  • Hooptober 12: Spoorloos (The Vanishing) (1988)

    Film #18 — 4/4 Films Based on Novels

    Also filed under: A-One

    By C. Ramsay

    An extremely slow burning, quiet character study about loss, grief, and the human condition in the face of tragedy. Rex and Saskia, a couple on holiday, pull up to a busy rest stop where Saskia suddenly disappears. Rex, never having given up the search and taunted by postcards from the supposed abductor, returns to the scene after three years desperately seeking answers. Aside from a few minutes the audience has alone with Rex and Saskia at the beginning of the film, the killer is introduced early on. The focus is almost never on who, but on the depressingly unanswerable question of why.

    Jumping between character perspectives, director George Sluizer subjects the viewer to a mixture of firsthand accounts of the actions of certain people as well as the secondhand understanding of them through stories and explanations. From our own viewpoint there is no telling what’s reliable or to what extent, we’re forced to accept what we’re given without question or risk our questions being forever unresolved. The scene of Saskia’s disappearance at the start of the film, shot from Rex’s point of view, provides a sample of the frustration this feeling brings—of realizing something isn’t right and thinking there must be an easy explanation, something simple we’ve overlooked, before the aching sense of dread starts to creep in, giving way to overwhelming panic. Everything can be done right and it still won’t matter.

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