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Post by Jojo Lapin X on Dec 25, 2023 21:04:38 GMT
On paper SALTBURN (2023) sounded exactly like my kind of thing, but in the end it was a disappointment. Nevertheless, it sports fantastic cinematography, and the very last scene made me smile.
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Post by helrunar on Dec 26, 2023 0:21:02 GMT
Just watched the latest Ghost story for Xmas, an adaptation of Conan Doyle's "Lot No. 249," via the US BritBox thing. Frankly, I loved it. It's mostly being panned by members of the M. R. James Appreciation group on social media, I suppose because of the florid, vintage-styled touches. Apart from the mummy makeup and the musical score, I was very impressed by the ensemble cast, gorgeous sets, and a deftly achieved additional element I'll not specify, but which was delightful. Extra points for some neat bits of homage to both the 1932 and 1959 Mummy films.
Hel.
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Post by Shrink Proof on Dec 26, 2023 12:52:17 GMT
I watched "Lot No 249" on Christmas Eve, by the fire with a rather fine Scotch to hand (yes, really). I enjoyed it, though some of the dialogue was anachronistic - a few modern phrases sneaked in that didn't fit with the Victorian setting. That said, the sets were excellent and the costumes likewise and I for one, quite rated the mummy - not something I would like to encounter on a woodland path after dark either. Of course, being a Gatiss production, we had the inclusion of a young Sherlock Holmes, stretching the envelope perilously close to breaking point (“The world is big enough for us. No ghosts need apply.”), and a very Victorian gay vibe too.
Allowing for the fact that most other Christmas TV has been wretched, and that by the time it was broadcast I was well into a second generous glass of a favourite malt, I thought it was half an hour well spent.
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Post by helrunar on Dec 26, 2023 13:28:20 GMT
Dr Shrink Proof, I realized that one reason why I loved it is that it was an old fashioned monster movie. Freddie Fox was really good too as the pert, perverted young eee-vil Egyptologist. I thought the Mummy makeup was superb.
I was also struck by how staggeringly close to what I recall of certain portraits in pages of the late Victorian issues of The Strand the features of a certain individual were. (Ungainly syntax there--apologies).
cheers, Hel.
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Post by andydecker on Dec 26, 2023 13:36:37 GMT
Sounds great. Unfortunately last years The Mezzotint didn't made it across the Channel, and I guess this will follow the trend.
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Post by Jojo Lapin X on Dec 26, 2023 19:07:34 GMT
Sounds great. Unfortunately last years The Mezzotint didn't made it across the Channel, and I guess this will follow the trend. There are ways, Herr Decker! There are ways . . .
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Post by The Lurker In The Shadows on Dec 26, 2023 21:19:29 GMT
I also enjoyed 'Lot No. 249'. I thought James Swanton - who I last saw playing the infected astronaut Victor Carroon in the live 70th anniversary staging of 'The Quatermass Experiment' at Alexandra Palace in September - made the creepiest mummy I've seen onscreen in a long, long time. Good fun to see the author of 'English Gothic', 'American Gothic', 'Euro Gothic', and other excellent books and articles on horror cinema, Jonathan Rigby, as the college porter. Terrific cast, a great looking production - amazing given the ridiculously short schedule and low budget - and I found Mark Gatiss's ending more effective than Conan Doyle's.
Last week, I went to my local arts cinema to see 'The Eternal Daughter', a ghost story starring Tilda Swinton as mother and daughter visiting a haunted hotel. Various reviews described it in terms of Hammer horror, but while it was atmospheric, beautifully filmed, and haunting, it certainly isn't a horror film. I did find it engaging and quite moving. And there's a nice guest appearance by a Fontana Book of Great Ghost Stories.
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Post by helrunar on Dec 27, 2023 1:43:33 GMT
Daniel, that production of The Quatermass Xperiment must have been amazing. James Swanton made a fabulous mummy.
cheers, Steve
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Post by helrunar on Dec 27, 2023 1:56:01 GMT
Here's a cool description and accolade for Swanton's performance in the Quatermass event, a "radio play" style dramatic reading of the original scripts:
Separate mention must be made of James Swanton’s phenomenal performance as tragic man-into-monster Victor Carroon, who bucked the general trend by giving a hugely physical acting performance to go with his rasping, confused voice. That physicality drives the finale as Quatermass battles to reach the remaining humanity within the hideous creature towering over Westminster Abbey. Largely conveyed by dialogue only, the struggle is depicted by Swanton’s twisting agonies in silhouette against a green backdrop. It was an incredibly effective way of depicting a huge effect on stage.
From a website called SciFiBulletin.
Hel.
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Post by The Lurker In The Shadows on Dec 27, 2023 13:19:24 GMT
Daniel, that production of The Quatermass Xperiment must have been amazing. It genuinely was. With only two of the six original episodes existing (the final four never having been recorded as the technology was too primitive at the time), it was incredible to have the whole thing re-enacted in the same building it was broadcast from seventy years before. And Kneale's script is so strong that the audience (well, this audience member, at least) forgot they were watching about 25 actors holding scripts at microphones and got drawn into the drama. James Swanton's physical contribution helped enormously here, and the entire cast were fantastic. Incidentally, the director and narrator for that live performance, Jon Dear, provided the mummy's 'voice' for 'Lot No.249', and the commentaries on several of the '70s Ghost Story for Christmas productions on the BFI Blu-Rays (joined by his Professor Quatermass, Mark Gatiss, on 'The Signal Man'), and is currently researching and writing a book on the Ghost Story for Christmas productions.
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Post by helrunar on Dec 27, 2023 18:35:29 GMT
As no doubt you've seen, Daniel, there's a rumor that Gatiss has been greenlighted for another Ghost Story for Xmas film next year. Everybody's wondering if he will finally do Benson's "The Room in the Tower." Would love to see how he would handle that one.
I'm finally catching up with "The Mezzotint" (perhaps later tonight) and "The Dead Room" with my BritBox trial adventure.
cheers, Steve
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Post by bluetomb on Dec 29, 2023 2:42:47 GMT
Will add myself to the ranks of appreciators of Lot No. 249. A nice balance of schlocky fun and well observed and played character drama with an imposing mummy and effectively jolting pay off. While I'm not sure that Gatiss will ever quite recreate the essential eeriness of the classic Ghost Story For Christmas run, he can really nail old fashioned spooky short entertainment with interesting, fairly judged modern touches. Fans of James Swanton may also want to look out for Sean Hogan's recent long-short TV horror throwback To Fire You Come At Last, in which he appears as a shabby drunk member of a nightime coffin carrying party.
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Post by ripper on Dec 29, 2023 11:53:23 GMT
I've just watched Lot No. 249 on Iplayer. Yes, I thought it was rather good. Agree with Blue Tomb about the 'mood' of the 70s Ghost Story for Christmas not being quite there, but enjoyable fun, particularly that neck-snapping, which made me wince. It has been decades since I read the story, so I think I shall have to read it again to see how close Gatiss's adaptation is.
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Post by helrunar on Dec 29, 2023 13:45:46 GMT
Thanks for mentioning To Fire You Come At Last. I found a trailer, which includes a synopsis that seems to be missing the lead paragraph--oh well. I presume at some point Severin will include it as an extra on one of their massive box sets and it might also show up on Talking Pictures. It doesn't seem to be available in any format. www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oiKn_QAn-oBeautiful, harrowing photography. Hel.
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Post by bluetomb on Dec 29, 2023 14:47:31 GMT
Thanks for mentioning To Fire You Come At Last. I found a trailer, which includes a synopsis that seems to be missing the lead paragraph--oh well. I presume at some point Severin will include it as an extra on one of their massive box sets and it might also show up on Talking Pictures. It doesn't seem to be available in any format. www.youtube.com/watch?v=4oiKn_QAn-oBeautiful, harrowing photography. Hel. The photography is definitely a key selling point, some very nice work. I also much appreciated the subject, as otherwise I only know about corpse roads from the spooky Brit black metal band Old Corpse Road. I saw it at Frightfest in August so who knows when it will appear to the outside world but thought it worth a mention in case it's sooner rather than later. If I recall rightly it is intended to be a Severin release, so hopefully sooner. The screening was incidentally a joy for Vault haunters, as the film was short it was followed not just by the customary Q&A but a panel discussion, in which Kim Newman and John Llewellyn Probert as well as Sean Hogan and James Swanton learnedly held forth on folk and British TV horror. Great stuff.
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