The Lucky 13 Returns! Week Five: Hanukkah

Mel Brooks gave us Jews in Space, but this week in The Vault of Horror--as well as Brutal as Hell--we're giving you Jews in horror! That's right, it's Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights! And this time around in The Lucky 13 series, we're casting our oil lamps on Jewish horror directors. Specifically, I've chosen to write about my very favorite horror film by a Jewish director, and my dear colleague Ms. BJ-C of The Vault's sister blog Day of the Woman has taken an even broader approach, spotlighting three of her very favorite horror directors among the Chosen People.

So put down that dreidel, stop giving your poor mother so much shpilkes with all your meshugass, grab a bissel cake and read on...

B-Sol on The Exorcist

It may seem a tad silly selecting this film, since it could very easily top the list of most people's favorite horror movies, period--let alone horror movies from Jewish directors alone. Nevertheless, since The Exorcist went mysteriously absent from the original Lucky 13 series (Not even in the Devil & Demons category?? Come on, people!), this is my chance to right that heinous wrong.

What can possibly be said about this classic to extol its greatness that hasn't already been said? It was nominated for the Oscar for Best Picture, and remains the highest-grossing horror movie ever made. And although it has its detractors--as all great films do--there can be little doubt that The Exorcist is one of the all-time triumphs of American cinema, a crown jewel from an era that gave us so many.

With stellar performances from Ellen Burstyn, Max Von Sydow, Linda Blair and especially Jason Miller in particular as the beleaguered Father Damian Karras, this is a film of great depth and weight, finished in a way in which few horror films are finished, with the deft touch of a master auteur. It's unfortunate that Friedkin never quite equaled the heights he achieved with The Exorcist, his masterpiece, but it nevertheless remains as what it has been for much of the past four decades--not just a great horror film, but the great horror film.

BJ-C of Day of the Woman on David Cronenberg, Eli Roth & Sam Raimi

Cronenberg:
Okay, so I'm sort of splitting hairs on this one, considering Cronenberg has denounced his Jewish faith and identifies himself as an atheist. Regardless, he was raised in a Jewish household and that's good enough for me. Cronenberg is easily the king of venereal horror films. No one can make a film as gruesomely intelligent as Cronenberg. His films often times explored the fear factors humans possess when it comes to infection and bodily transformations. For me, someone with an uncontrollable fear of being diagnosed with leprosy, he hits the nail on the head every. single. time. A small little tidbit is that Cronenberg was considered to be the director for Return of the Jedi, and I can honestly say that the world wouldn't have been able to handle that much awesome in one film, and the results would have been the equivalent to dividing by zero... So I guess it's a good thing he didn't pick up that job. But Cronenberg will forever be the king of body horror.

Eli Roth:
Oh, Eli Roth, you sexy sexy bear Jew, you. As much as the world is fully aware of how much of a douchebag you are in real life, I can't take away the fact that you directed some of the most highly thought-of horror films of the last decade. Personally, I disliked Hostel, but I'd be a fool if I denied the fact that his films have developed an almost cult-like following. Roth definitely has a fiery passion for the genre and for that, he has my respect. As for his actions on Twitter towards other horror journalists... he's on the fence ;)

Sam Raimi:
Alright, Sam Raimi is the God of my world. He gave me our savior, Bruce Campbell, and his Necronomicon Ex Mortis serves as my Holy Word. There is absolutely nothing that this man touches that didn't turn to perfection. I'm including Spider-Man 3. There, I said it.

* * * * * * * * * *

Join us next wee for an edition of the Lucky 13 that will be very near and dear to my heart... as we commemorate Frank Sinatra's birthday weekend with a look at our favorite musical horror films! Ring-a-ding-ding, baby!

Week 1: Halloween
Week 2: Man vs. Nature
Week 3: Veteran's Day
Week 4: Thanksgiving

Friedkin and Blatty Reunite for Exorcist Blu-Ray Special Feature

I'm trying real hard to resist jumping on the Blu-Ray bandwagon, only because I despise the idea of being suckered into buying the same titles over and over again (and really, how goddam clear do I need my picture and sound to be???) That said, it's getting harder and harder.

William Friedkin, director of The Exorcist, is a major fan of the Blu-Ray format, and has been working hard to generate a boatload of special features for the impending Blu-Ray release of his masterwork, despite the release still being nearly a year away.

The National Ledger reports that Friedkin has reached out to Exorcist author William Peter Blatty, and the two men will engage in a walking tour of all the famous locations in and around Georgetown, where the movie was filmed some 35 years ago. The tour will be filmed, and included on the Blu-Ray special edition. I just eat up that sort of thing. As anyone would be, I'm looking forward to seeing that sick staircase. Hopefully it still exists.

This doesn't mean ol' B-Sol is ready to make that switch to Blu-Ray just yet. For one thing, I'm looking forward to DVD prices dropping through the floor in the next couple years once the rest of you saps make the switch!

* * * * * * * * * *

HORROR SURVEY UPDATE: For those wondering, the tallying process for my grand poll of the "Cyber-Horror Elite" is currently well underway. In fact, the first round is done, and I have a list of the fifty. My issue right now is that several of the titles are tied for various positions, so I'm hosting a series of back-room run-off elections to determine the final positioning. When all is said and done, it should be one hell of a list: The 50 greatest horror movies of all time, as determined by some of the web's most prominent horror bloggers and writers. And I'm honored to have folks like Brad Miska of Bloody Disgusting, Stacie Ponder of Final Girl, Kim Paffenroth, John Kenneth Muir, BC of Horror-Movie-a-Day, Pierre Fournier of Frankensteinia, Chad Helder and many others participating. Stay tuned, it won't be much longer now...

DVD Review: THE BOYS IN THE BAND

Written by Matt Crowley
Directed by William Friedkin
Starring Kenneth Nelson, Peter White, Frederick Combs and Leonard Frey


Michael: There is nothing quite as good as feeling sorry for yourself, is there?

They just don’t throw parties like this one anymore. And if they did, no one would necessarily even notice. THE BOYS IN THE BAND was born as a play in 1968, off-Broadway. It ran for 1001 performances and was optioned by Hollywood just two years later. Today, this would not be so uncommon. It would not have been so uncommon in 1968 either but this was no ordinary play. THE BOYS IN THE BAND was the first gay-themed play written with every intention by its author, Matt Crowley, to be seen and enjoyed by mainstream audiences. Though I wasn’t alive to feel the impact the play had, I can’t imagine how this play, where nine men, almost all gay, spend an evening celebrating a birthday by lashing out and breaking each other down in a drunken stupor, could have been appreciated by mainstream audiences. It embodies pain, struggle and desire but it keeps everything bottled up, making for quite an explosion.

THE BOYS IN THE BAND is not an easy movie experience. It is however, an enlightening one. It has been 40 years since audiences first heard Crowley’s telling words and just under that since William Friedkin brought it to the screen. The world has changed. Attitudes have changed. Neither Crowley nor Friedkin were the least bit concerned with the attitudes of the audiences that saw this landmark. It was the attitudes of the characters that mattered. THE BOYS IN THE BAND debuted to audiences before the gay rights liberation movement even officially began, but spoke in a voice that needed to be heard. The boys in this particular band come from all different walks. They are closeted, married. They are depressed, on drugs. They live above their means to portray a certain image. They drink and they drink until they no longer have the burden of having to think any longer about how miserable they are with life and with themselves. And that’s only the first act. The second act plummets into despair. There are no more laughs to be had but there is an unexpected emotion seeping beneath the surface and sitting in the back of this party like the guest no one saw arrive – love. It may come out as loathing but it is love they have each felt for another man that has manifested itself as this hate.

(Please note the film is in full colour.)

One can only hope that each character is able to tear away that hate and get back to the love that hides in their hearts. . Watching THE BOYS IN THE BAND now, having just been remastered and re-released for its 40th anniversary with three new featurettes looking back on the groundbreaking release and a brand new commentary with Friedkin, one can’t help but notice that though so much has changed for gay men and women, that so many of the issues these men faced are just as prominent today as they were then. And so again, one can only hope that the love that started it all will prevail and heal rather than destroy.

FILM


DVD