If you’re looking for horror, sex, and a little intrigue look no further than this incredible cult classic from 1964: Hiroshi Teshigahara’s “Woman in the Dunes”. This art house film that could would garner Teshigahara an Academy Award nomination for Best Director in 1967 (he was beat by Robert Wise for “The Sound of Music”).
It’s a strange story, one first told by Japanese author Kôbô Abe (who also wrote the film’s screenplay) in the hugely successful novel by the same name. This is 1960s cinema at its finest and absolutely darkest. It’s also the kind of film that you wish was made now; a film that is provocative, lingering, sexy, intellectual, and above-all screams style!
So if you enjoy films with a core, and our thirst for the strange you’ll definitely appreciate this one. There’s little blood, and definitely no ghosts, but there’s definitely something creepy that lurks with you long after the movie has ended. Trust us on this one and grab a copy from Amazon today!
“The most frightening thing in the world is to discover the abnormal in that which is closest to us.”
They don’t have out contests like this anymore…can’t even imagine the liabilities and lawsuits that could potentially haunt the contest’s organizers in the long-run.
We procured this 1958 issue of “Suspense Magazine”, and couldn’t ignore the idea of this contest invite. In fact, it got us really thinking if we could truly spend a night in a haunted house…
Cobwebs, passageways, and broken shutters immediately come to mind. You never know what could be lurking in the shadows. After all, it is haunted, and what horrible past could really be contained within its cold cavernous walls? The whispers beneath the floor boards might be telling you something…
I guess we’ve just been in the mood for a little scare. So if you too are urging for a little hit of mystery and wonder…check out our latest {PHOTOBLAST} – it’s been a while!
We had been anticipating watching this one for some time, and finally this past weekend we indulged in a masterpiece called Suspiria! Starring a young Jessica Harper who’s starred in The Phantom of theParadise and Rocky Horror Picture Show II, and keeps us entertained to this very day as the Crabby Cook.
This is tale of an elite european ballet School where collecting on debt is a ‘charming habit’ of the students(insert the very sexy and very shadey Barbara Magnolfi), and the teacher’s and staff know more about the historic ballet school then they’d ever to let on.
From the Blind Pianist, to a creepy little blonde boy, this flick has got it all, including a killer soundtrack!
Drawn in by the Euro-Horror King, Dario Argento’s name alone, we knew we’d be in for some fun gore, sexy girls, and supernatural spooks, but were clueless to where the story may lead us other than reading a brief synopsis before hand. To our delight, every scene was as beautiful as the last!
With a set as beautiful as any work of art, adorned in blue and red velvet wallpaper, labyrinths of stripes, a wide assortment of stained glass windows, shiny black lackerred wood panels and door’s, mile high ceilings, and an opulent Serpent staircase we’d love to climb.
We are introduced to the school through the eyes of a wide -eyed newcomer , played by Jessica Harper, who quickly grows suspicious of the happenings within the domineering school.
Upon her arrival, she witness a leggy buck-toothed blond fleeing from the school in a rainstorm, and learns the next morning of the school escapees dreadful fate (emphasis on the wide assortment of stained glass…).
Odd events lead to odder. Must be more than Voodoo? With everyday shrouded in mysteries, it isn’t until our heroin shares her suspicions with her classmate, played by lovely Stefani Casini, that the puzzle truly begins to come together. Leading Harper to a Psychiatric Convention and conversations of Witches and Covens. Speculation leads to proof when it’s realized the Ballet school was founded by a great and powerful Witch who was said to be killed in a fire at the turn of the century.
If you’re a fan of Black Swan or Rocky Horror Picture Show, this one’s for you!
This is no chick flick by any means despite the gaggle of gals in ballet shoes. Scene after scene, Dario Argento will keep you shocked and in suspense as this tale unravels. Enjoy the Eyeful of opulence but be prepared for some gross yet charming gut-turning death’s.
With a killer soundtrack (excuse the pun), and plot twists we couldn’t let you miss, the respectable Eye highly recommend this one-of-a-kind spooky 80s thriller.
I know that a horror movie seems like a weird place to go for style inspiration, but with costume designs by Giorgio Armani, Jennifer Connelly’s crisp and breezy summer white looks are as classic today as they were in 1985, and twenty years before that, and so on.
So don’t be left out in the dark. . .
Oh, and if bugs or ESP give you the willies… you better go ahead and watch this (even if it makes you squeamish)!
So the trailer is out for Fox Searchlight‘s latest cinematic craving “Hitchcock“; a biopic starring Anthony Hopkins as the famed director during his trials and tribulations during the makings of his iconic film, “Psycho“.
The film features a roster of talent that include Jessica Biel as actress Vera Miles, Scarlett Johansson as the lead with the bad deed, Janet Leigh, Toni Collette as dedicated production assistant Peggy Robertson, and Helen Mirren as his loving and loyal partner-in-crime Alma Reville.
Set for release on November 23, expect the master of suspense to inspire and influence us all once again! From the looks of the trailer, this Hitchcock shows great panache when it comes to business, a savvy for story telling, and a committed loving and working relationship with his wife, Alma.
“Suspense is like a woman. The more room she leaves to the imagination, the greater the emotion and the expectation. The audience is much more frightened by what it imagines than by what it actually sees. There’s nothing terrifying about an explosion, only the expectation of it.”
-Alfred Hitchcock to Bernard Parkin
It was around the time of “Psycho“‘s release that the British born director began garnering notice for his unique artistic contribution to popular culture and the cinema. The french in particular took a special admiration for the director, who they formidably christened a grand auteur of the medium – a worthy honor (they don’t take that term lightly, en France).
Indeed, his films inhabit a very special singular world, one which can only be simplified to a single term: Hitchcock.
The settings of his stories become a collage of reality, dreaming, and desire. The inhabitants are as stylized and edited as the story lines – always modern and even hip; the heroes are all dashing, the man Hitchcock idolized for himself, and the heroines typically blonde with assets.
They all play pawns in a wicked game of cat and mouse meticulously planned and drafted by Hitchcock and his wife, Alma, script supervisor and Hitchcock’s private second set of eyes (it was her who noticed Janet Leigh swallowing after her death scene which would later have to be altered from the negative).
When actors asked their motivation for a scene, he simply stated “Your salary”. If they couldn’t push to the emotional degree he needed for the scene, he said “Fake it”. And when asked if he felt actors were cattle, he quickly corrected that he only felt they should be “treated” as such.
While Hitchcock never won a coveted Best Director statuette at the Academy Awards, he did receive the Irving G. Thalberg Memorial Award from the Academy for his contributions to the industry.
It was an impressive career lasting from the early 1920s up to his last film in 1976, “Family Plot“.
There’s no denying the influence the man has had on popular culture. Many suggest there wouldn’t have been a James Bond if it weren’t for “North by Northwest” kicking off the action genre the way he it did. Others cite Hitchcock for his innovation in the medium, always adapting and quickly changing with the times.
Designers such as Alexander McQueen have cited Hitchcock’s influence, and with “Hitchcock” kick starting you can expect to see more and more of the master’s presence come into play. Best thing is, both men and women can easily cite these films for alluring, modern, and sophisticated looks that will have everyone saying “WHOA”.
And for as dark or complex his story lines took him, he was always able to hold on to his enviable sense of humor. From his various walk-on parts in every film, to the character he invented of himself – Hitchcock was a wildly entertaining individual drenched in that very dry, very British sense of humor.
Hopefully “Hitchcock” hits the nail on the head with his one, but with such a talented cast and crew, and the impeccably talented Sir Anthony Hopkins at the wheel, there’s no doubt in my mind this film will continue to pave the legacy that we can simply sum up as his very own.
We picked out some of our favorite photos of the Hitch hamming it up for the camera to get those creative juices flowing, and to show the softer, sillier side of this irreverent genius.
An exciting event has been announced by Turner Classic Movies along with Universal, in celebration of Alfred Hitchcock’s seminal 1963 classic The Birds, and in honor of its upcoming 50th Anniversary will be presenting TCM Event Series Presents The Birds, a special engagement screening of this Horror Classic in select theaters across the US.
On September 19 the event that features TCM host, Robert Osborne, giving an introduction to the film, will also feature an exclusive interview with the film’s blonde bombshell, Tippi Hedren, and how she was picked for her iconic role.
The film, which has been glorified by Barbie, as well as inspire the late Alexander McQueen, is an unexpected and vital piece of our collective style consciousness! So if you have a chance to catch it – definitely do!
{Building a Mystery…found this on Tumblr and thought it exhibited an undeniable quality you all would just love! Something wicked this way comes, girl!}
