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Who Saw Her Die? 1972 ★★★˝
An early seventies giallo that in theme and, at times in tone, feels reminiscent of Don't Look Now. Don't let that fool you. The at times somber, whistful tone of DLN does not compare to this one here.
The opening already makes that quite clear. With an image of a muredered child being covered in snow in order to hide the body. That'll cause some nightmares for some people.
The main story however, is a murder investigation after the daughter of an artist (George Lazenby with a seventies mustache) is killed. Said investigation having everything to keep you entertained: incompetent and seemingly not too interested cops, a witness being murdered, a kill in front of a bird cage (all that effort and all for the birds),...
The acting is okay. Lazenby is solid as the passionate artist. But, to me, the real star is Ennio Morricone's amazing score with a haunting children's choir. That alone is worth the price of admission.
Who saw her die. A hidden gem for sure. Check it out.
The Fog 1980 ★★★★˝
Back to the end of the seventies. John Carpenter delivers one of his better movies, both in atmos and in score. The man sure can compose a solid bit of movie music.
The movie itself is a different stroke. To call it a slow burn would do it injustice, but it does take it's time in setting up the characters and their story arcs. The fidgety local politician, the single mom who has her own radio station by the sea, the hitchhiker who ends up getting more than she signed up for,...
The fictional town of Antonio Bay is anticipating it's 100 year anniversary, only to find out that it's heroes were actually killers. And now the ghosts of the victims are coming back to haunt them and reclaim their gold. With kills interspaced enough to be close to a small burn, but not quite enough. We still get our beaks wet enough to be spontaneously invested. They save most of the tension for the ending. When the ghosts take over the town and go on their killing spree. Polite ghost killers, though. They wait for the kid to quit whining and head on up the stairs before offing his babysitter.
But Adrienne Barbeau terrified on the radio as her son is in danger, the people in the church trying to fight off the ghosts, Jamie Lee's character and her impromptu crossing the town and saving the kid, Barbeau fighting off the ghosts,... Great stuff, that. You're on the edge of your seat throughout it.
The kills themselves are closer to Halloween. Not as gory as Jason does it and, apart from The Thing, Carpenter has never really been a man of special effects and gore. He's more about moods and atmosphere. Or at least, that's the impression I have of him.
As far as the characters are concerned: now that I think about it... It features among others a single mom and a sex positive hitchhiker, and everybody's cool with that. No negative sound or anything like that. The single mom DJ even has her fan club among the fishermen. I'm not sure if woke is the fitting term, but it did strike me that a seventies movie went there (in an era where slutshaming and other forms of shaming were common than they are today) and in some ways is perhaps more modern than you would intuitively give it credit for. How much of that came from Carpenter and how much of that came from Debra Hill?
Hal Holbrook is solid as the priest, Adrienne Barbaeau is solid and kick ass as always. Jamie Lee Curtis does a good job as the happy go lucky hitchhiker and the same goes with Janet Leigh as the ever nervous politician. Come to think of, every other seventies or eighties film would probably have her be a chain/stress smoker, yet this movie does not.
Also funny to see Holbrook and Carpenter share a scene in the beginning with dialogue (“Can I get paid?”) that, in real life, is more likely to be the other way around.
Not for the ADD prone among us, but recommended for all other horror fans and cinephiles looking for a solid horror.
Close Encounters of the Third Kind 1977 ★★★★★
What makes Steven Spielberg such a great director? Not saying that there is a simple, straightforward answer. It's probably a combination of factors. But one key element is his capability to merge movie magic with topics that appeal to a mass audience. Dinosaurs came later in Jurassic Park, but here he explores space for the very first time.
While ET was later to be more family firendly, this is all about the mistery, the wonder, the discovery. The feeling of holy moly, something is out there! And they might be closer than we all think!
The opening immediately has you covered with the mistery of the 1945 airplanes. What the hell is going on? Really no (cinema) sin to be found? Well...
Sin 1: This movie does not feature David Duchovny (ding!)
Sin 2: Or Gillian Anderson (ding!)
Sin 3: And no sign of The Lone Gunmen or the Cancerman (ding!)
All kidding aside, there is not much room for comedy here. The words that come to mind are more likely to be terms like bewilderment, obsessiveness and (no pun intended) alienation. Keep in mind: this was the era where merely investigating and believing in alien life was more seen to be reserved for fruitcakes and general weirdos.
The bewilderment when you encounter something something that your mind does not and cannot comprehend. And the subsequent obesessive search in order to do so. Best example: Roy Neary is so obsessed with finding out about the aliens that he does not even notice how half his face is sunburnt. Or of course the infamous mashed potato scene. Interesting how this scene became iconic, since it is not the oddest thing he does while still in the family house. Maybe it's because this one still has somewhat of an attachment to everyday family life?
And lest we forget, the alienation. It's not difficult to see how this behaviour alienatesNeary from his family, even with his wife trying to be a good sport about it all. Until, eventually, even she reaches her breaking point. Richard Dreyfuss brilliantly portrays a man getting more and more detached from society, up until the point where he only has a few diehard fellow travelers/believers left.
Which brings us to the moment where the aliens arrive. I found it really touching to see how the two species found a common ground for communication in a form of music. The five tones we first hear in the massive group chant undeniably have a musical element to them and for reasons I cannot explain, it's comofrting to feel that music could accomplish that.
I was also struck by the way of communicating. To me, the aliens using tonal vocabulary fits perfectly with the notion that one of the oldest languages in the world – Mandarin – is based on tones rather than words or verbs and conjugations. And it adds to the wonder of the Western characters discovering a manner of communicating most of them are completely unfamiliar with. Trying to discover patterns in what the others are saying. A base for talking, getting to know each other. Also also, how nice is to see people meet aliens and actually smiling? How you can have different species meeting and the overall sentiment is curiosity and wonder? How no one feels the need to blow up literally everything?
The fact that this is “snowed under” by movies like Jaws, Schindler's List, ET or Jurassic Park only serves to show how amazing mister Spielberg's filmography is. And this is still a marvelous piece of cinema that you should see when you get the chance.
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