Lords of Chaos

  

Lords of Chaos

2018

Director- Jonas Åkerlund

Cast- Rory Culkin, Emory Cohen, Sky Ferreira, Jack Kilmer, Anthony De La Torre, Valter Skarsgård,  Sam Coleman, Jonathan Barnwell, Wilson Gonzalez Ochsenknecht,  Lucian Charles Collier

            

     Based on real life events, Lords of Chaos centers around some shocking events during the birth of Norwegian Black Metal music, specifically involving the band Mayhem. The film follows Øystein Aarseth, better known by his stage name Euronymous, a guitarist who was one of the pioneers of Black Metal. He espouses a nihilistic form of Satanism endorsing a grim and extreme view of humanity. He finally meets a singer whose obsession (devotion?) with darkness rivals his own; Per Ohlin, better known by his stage name, Dead.

            

     Dead’s obsession with death goes far beyond theatrics. He seems to think of himself as already dead. He is obviously depressed and engages in self harm on stage. All of this finally reaches its logical conclusion when he decides to kill himself. He cuts his wrists, his throat and then blows his head off with a shotgun. Euronymous finds his friend’s corpse and decides to take pictures of it. The images of his dead friend, head half blown off, eventually become the cover of a Mayhem album, adding to the band’s shocking reputation.

            

     Euronymous’  fame and influence grows, and he opens a record store (called Helvete, or Hell) and starts his own record label. He gathers a small group that he calls the Black Circle, a group devoted to Euronymous’ special brand of nihilism. He meets a fan, Kristian Vikernes, that Euronymous initially spurns as a poseur. Kristian is eventually welcomed into the circle, under the stage name Varg, because Euronymous sees that Varg has some real musical talent.

            

     The film presents Euronymous as a showman and it’s never clear how much he buys into the evil image he is selling. Whether he bought into or not, Varg certainly did, and begins a series of arsons, burning down churches.  A kind of antisocial competition begins within the Black Circle, as members try to prove they are really devoted to evil. Things begin to get out of control when they progress from arson to murder.  A member of the circle ,Bård Eithun, (drummer for the band Emperor, known as Faust), murders a man by stabbing him to death. Euronymous is at first  surprised by this but then sees it as a sign of his own influence.

           

     Egos clash and Varg and Euronymous seem to be on a deadly collision course. Euronymous is ultimately concerned with making music and Varg is committed to his goal of social upheaval. Their already tense relationship strains until, in a final confrontation, Varg stabs Euronymous to death, bringing the film to a close.

           

     I’m not a music historian and my love of metal never got any heavier than Megadeth so I won’t claim any special insights about the characters portrayed in the film. Whether the portrayals are accurate or not is matter of opinion, but the basic events in the film all really happened. Dead did kill himself, the picture of his suicide did become an album cover, Faust really murdered a stranger and Varg really murdered Euronymous.

           

     As far as the portrayals, the characters are presented as celebrities who begin to believe their own press. They are also mostly presented as anti-social personalities, which makes it a little difficult to identify with any particular character. Rory Culkin, as Euronymous, does a good job of presenting a morally ambivalent character as likable. I think this character could have taken up a whole movie in and of itself trying to discern how much of the image was real and how much was show.

            

     The only real complaint I have is that even though the film is supposed to center around the progenitors of a music genre, you’ll leave this movie knowing little more about Black Metal than you did going into it. Unlike other music centered biopics like The Doors or Walk the Line, Lords of Chaos has very little music. This is surprising given the director’s background was in music videos.

            

     The film’s depictions of violence are disturbing, not because of their graphicness but rather their matter of factness. They are brutal and without theatrics, especially Dead’s suicide.

            

     The most disturbing thing however, is not the film’s depiction of violence, but the real life fates of those involved. Varg, a professed arsonist and neo-Nazi who was convicted of 1^st degree murder only did 15 years in prison. Faust, who murdered a stranger by stabbing him 37 times, only did 9 years in prison. If the movie has a lesson, I guess it’s that if you’re going to murder someone, it’s better to do it in Norway.

 

 

Malabimba

Malabimba- The Malicious Whore

1979

Director- Andrea Bianchi

Cast- Katell Laennec, Patrizia Webley, Enzo Fisichella, Giuseppe Marrocco, Mariangela Giordano, Elisa Mainardi, Giancarlo Del Duca, Pupita Lea Scuderoni

            

     The story begins with a rich aristocratic family participating in a séance. The medium summons up Lucrezia, the spirit of an old, and apparently horny, family ancestor. The spirit begins by sexually assaulting all those present before settling down and making itself at home in the body of Bimba (Katell Laennec) the developmentally arrested and sexually naïve teenage daughter.

            

     Bimba quickly turns into a foul mouthed pervert. Her behavior is made all the more shocking because the family tries to maintain an air of prudery. However, Bimba has some competition in the horny department. Nais (Patrizia Webley) is married into the family and is a take charge kind of lady, especially when it comes to seducing the various men in the family. Bimba spies on Nais and gets some ideas of her own.

            

     

     The family goes through the usual hand wringing typical of exorcism movies including calling in a doctor who assures them that nothing is wrong. On staff at the family’s estate is a nun-in-training, Sister Sophia (Mariangela Giordano who you may recognize from Killer Barbies, Satan’s Babydoll and The Devil’s Daughter). Sister Sophia correctly diagnoses the problem as a spiritual malady and tries to help Bimba, only to find out that she was in fact the evil spirit’s target all along.

            

      Malabimba is one of the many, many exorcism films that came in the wake of The Exorcist, some better than others. Malabimba’s script is basically a stripped down version of The Exorcist; all the outrage with none of the suspense or character development. At first glance it’s just a pornographic adaptation of William Friedkin’s movie. At second glance, it’s still just a pornographic adaptation. But on third glance, this is a really clever, chance taking film.

            

    

    The film takes shots at hypocritical sexual attitudes. Nais is viewed as a wanton harlot, yet the men in the family don’t seem to have a problem with helping her satisfy her sexual appetites. It also has fun with its exploitation nature. In the Exorcist, Regan shocks her family by peeing on the carpet during a dinner party. Here, Bimba gives the guests some full frontal nudity. Instead of the demon jumping into the priest at the end of an exorcism, here that is accomplished via a lesbian sex scene.

           

     Though Katell Laennec ,as Bimba, is supposed to be a Lolita figure, I don’t think that goal was realized. Though she was only 18 when the film was shot, she doesn’t have that Lolita look that you see in something like Don’t Deliver Us from Evil. She is convincing as the sexual predator. She seduces a nun, tries to seduce her father and kills her sick uncle by felating him until his heart gives out. She’s also hell on her collection of stuffed animals.

 Despite all of this perversity, Bimba’s scenes are overshadowed by the buxom blonde, Patrizia Webley. She steals every scene she is in. Patrizia was in several exploitation films during this era and also did some layouts in “men’s magazines.” Her character of Nais is an interesting departure from a lot of the vixens in sexploitation films. She’s not the victim, she’s the aggressor. She demands that her partner’s make her happy and she never suffers a single consequence for her sexual antics. How many times do we see characters murdered or otherwise punished after engaging in salacious behavior; not here!

       

     

     It was not uncommon during this era for multiple versions of the same film to be released, one version for mainstream audiences and another version with hardcore sex. The works of Jess Franco are a good example of this. This film has a few hardcore inserts but they add nothing to the film. Not only are they obviously “stunt genitals” not belonging to the actors, but the film was already pretty erotic without actual penetration.

            

     This movie is sometimes thought of as nunsploitation and I suppose, in the loosest sense, it is. It has a nun and some lesbian sex, which seems to be the two main ingredients for the genre. However, nunsploitation usually comes with a healthy dose of cynicism toward the Church and other conventions that are not present here. The nun in this film is, at best, only the 4^th most important character.

            

      If you want a scary film, this is not it. If you want something deep and thought provoking, this is definitely not for you. But if you want a great example of 70s Euro sexploitation, and don’t mind a ton crotch close ups, this film is for you.

 

The Devils

The Devils

1971

Director- Ken Russell

Cast- Oliver Reed, Vanessa Redgrave, Dudley Sutton, Max Adrian, Gemma Jones, Murray Melvin, Michael Gothard, Georgina Hale, Kenneth Colley

            

     The movie is based on the real life case of Urbain Grandier, a French priest who was accused of sorcery and blamed for the possession of several nuns by demons. His “trial” involved torture and ended in an execution. Whether he was really a sorcerer, or just one of the thousands of innocents caught up in the witchcraft hysteria of the period, is a question for the historians. His trial did produce a rather sinister contract where he supposedly sold his soul to Satan, signed by the devil and several important demons. Whether the contract is genuine or contrived is, again, a question for historians.

            

    

    The Devils paints Grandier (portrayed by Oliver Reed) in a much more sympathetic light. Grandier is a womanizer who doesn’t seem to have any problem violating his vows of celibacy, including carelessly tossing aside a girl he gets pregnant. To say he is amoral would be inaccurate. Grandier seems to operate according to his own morality, a morality that is tainted by a self-destructive urge. Although he seems ambivalent about being the spiritual leader of his town, he has a genuine interest in helping them maintain their independence from the French crown and that eternal villain of The Three Musketeers, Cardinal Richelieu. This makes him some political enemies.

            

     Father Grandier’s reputation as a womanizer seems to be the worst kept secret in town and several of the Sisters in the local nunnery lust after him, particularly the Mother Superior, Sister Jeanne (Redgrave). Jeanne is a pathetic figure, a hunchback who dreams only of being beautiful and finding love. To her, Grandier has taken on Christ like significance in her mind, even though she has never met him.

            

     Grandier meets Madeline (Gemma Jones), a young girl whose love convinces him to give up his philandering ways. They are “secretly” married but word spreads eventually to Sister Jeanne who feels spurned and rejected. She accuses him of sorcery and this is just what Grandier’s enemies need to engineer his downfall. The entire convent degenerates into debauchery as the various nuns are “possessed” and debased by their interrogators.

            

     

     The film has a salacious reputation that is frankly unearned. There is some nudity, but not nearly as much as some of the more prominent exploitation films of the era. There is almost no violence until the last few minutes of the film. What the film does have in spades is a clear disdain for the Church and a few instances of sacrilegious imagery. The film has undergone severe censorship and finding an unaltered copy is rather difficult since it has never been in print for the home video market. Various versions of 103 to 109 minutes have been released. Apparently the full original cut was between 111 to 117 minutes. The version I saw was 114 minutes and I have to assume it was complete as it had all of the scenes that I had read were cut out, including the “infamous” scene where naked nuns cavort upon a crucifix.

            

     This film illustrates the danger of censorship. Taking out even a single scene can drastically alter a film’s artistic vision. Imagine Empire Strikes Back without “I am your father” or God forbid, Ben Hur without the chariot race! You’d think the important actors and the director involved would be enough to justify preservation of the film for posterity’s sake. But such is the world we live in.

            

     The Devils is not a great film. It is a good film however. It is artistically done and features sympathetic, dynamic characters. I don’t normally advocate movie piracy, but a bootleg copy is the only way, as of this writing, that you can see the movie as it was meant to be seen.

 

 

The contract from Urbain Grandier's trial.

The Witches of Eastwick

  

The Witches of Eastwick

1987

Director- George Miller

Cast- Jack Nicholson, Cher, Michelle Pfeiffer, Susan Sarandon, Veronica Cartwright, Carel Struycken

            

     You’re not likely to find a movie with better credentials than this. The director and the four principal performers have either won or been nominated for Oscars, not to mention a musical score by John Williams and it was based on a novel by Pulitzer Prize winning author John Updike. But this movie doesn’t rely on star power alone. It is clever and, for its day, provocative.

            

     Three women, Alexandra (Cher), Jane (Sarandon) and Sukie (Pfeiffer) are friends in a small New England town. They get together and lament the problems in their life, particularly the lack of a good man. They are each creative women. Alexandra is a sculptor, Jane is a musician and Sukie’s creative energy expresses itself in a more literal sense in that she has a whole passel of children. Their energy is also being stifled. No one buys Alexandra’s sculptures, Jane is stuck directing a terrible elementary school band, and Sukie’s husband leaves her because she gets pregnant every time she has sex.

           

    

      Enter into this, Daryl Van Horne (Nicholson), a mysterious out of towner who buys the local historic landmark, a mansion where they used to burn witches. Van Horne suffers from a severe excess of personality and is forward to the point of vulgarity. He quickly brings the women into a four way relationship. He cultivates their individuality and creativity and their latent magical energy flourishes.  The women have the ability to make things happen simply by focusing on it. However, when Daryl’s sinister nature becomes apparent, the women decide to take a break from the relationship and Daryl lashes out, forcing the women to team up and fight back.

            

     The movie is a showcase for Jack Nicholson as an obvious Satanic figure. He is allowed to get as wild and silly as he wants which only helps to make the character more bizarre.  Almost lost amongst the star power is a fine supporting performance by Veronica Cartwright (Alien, Invasion of the Body Snatchers). She plays a prominent woman in the town who is particularly sensitive to the presence of Van Horne’s evil. She loses her mind slowly as she tries in vain to warn the townspeople.

            

     

     

    As for its three leading ladies, this movie was made when they were all at the top of their game. Cher had just begun her 3^rd musical comeback and released a platinum album that year and a triple platinum album (Heart of Stone) two years later. On top of all of that she was also in two other critically acclaimed movies the same as year as Witches; Suspect with Dennis Quaid and Moonstruck, for which Cher won an Oscar.

            

     Susan Sarandon is probably not thought of as a genre actress but had a long history of genre credits including Rocky Horror Picture Show and The Hunger with David Bowie. She paid her dues and Witches came along as she was finally reaping the benefits, starring in several important movies over the next few years including her Oscar winning performance in Thelma and Louise in 1991.

           

     Michelle Pfeiffer was likewise beginning to enjoy the fruits of her labor. Though not in the business as long as Sarandon, she was in the excellent Ladyhawke a few years earlier and Scarface before that. The year after Witches she was in three different Oscar nominated movies and the next year she was nominated herself for The Fabulous Baker Boys.

            

     For its day, this movie was saying some pretty far out things. It talks about the power of these three women and the tendency of the townspeople, even other women, to view powerful women suspiciously. The sexual freedom they experience with Van Horne is gossiped about and the women become ostracized. These insights may seem obvious now, a generation later, but at the time there weren’t a lot of movies examining these ideas. The idea of women being oppressed and empowered was revisited by the film’s director, George Miller, in Fury Road. Those familiar with Miller only through his Mad Max movies may be surprised to find out that he directed this, but Miller is very diverse (having won an Oscar for the animated Penguin cartoon, Happy Feet).

            

     Despite its title, there is very little witchcraft involved. The women only cast one spell, a type of voodoo ritual. The rest of their magic is more of their will manifesting itself in the world around them. However, the act of effecting reality through one’s willpower is pretty much how magic is described in The Devil Rides Out, which is one of the best movies ever made about the subject, so I guess we can forgive this movie for its lack of black robes and pentagrams.

            

     I recommend this movie to anyone wanting a smart supernatural comedy. The fact that it was made with some of the best talent of its decade only adds to the appeal.

Fun fact: Bill Murray was originally cast for the Jack Nicholson part but dropped out before filming started.