THE WOMAN: The Film AND The Book

　

Last summer, during the annual Fantasia Film Festival craze here in Montreal, I missed the opportunity of seeing Jack Ketchum and Lucky McKee’s highly controversial movie THE WOMAN. Like everyone else, I had witnessed the infamous video featuring one man’s rant over the film content during Sundance, and to tell you the truth, nothing about it surprised me. Anyone who has ever read Ketchum knows what he or she is in for. Obviously, this man had never heard of him, for he would have chosen not to make a fool out of himself like he did. As for I, missing this highly sought-after film event was really a bummer, but work schedule interfered and, try as I did, I couldn’t get out of it. And, besides, it wasn’t like I would never see the film again. I could always catch it on DVD, or better yet, wait for the film wide theatrical release. For surely it would grace our big screens very soon, wouldn’t it? Wouldn’t it?!

　

Well, as it turned out, the outcome was far from what I expected. It took me the longest time to finally get the chance to see the film. And the reason? Simple: I live in Canada. Indeed, my own hometown—which had so prided itself for showing THE WOMAN before many others just last August—failed to be selected for the film’s limited release this time around. I was floored. Literary floored. Couldn’t walk for days. No, just kidding. Let just say I was miffed. But being the trooper that I am, I took the time instead to read the novel upon which the film is based. I love doing that; you know, comparing the written words to the actual movie adaptation. Since Ketchum did both jobs on THE WOMAN (along with McKee, who, as you all know, also directs the film), I was even more intrigued.

　

Before getting to the movie, let me just say that THE WOMAN ended up being at the top of my list for the best reads of 2011. How’s that for a little book that could (barely over 200 pages), huh?! Yes, I concur, it might have been a slow year for horror in print (at least for me), but THE WOMAN definitely put the genre back on my map. The way both authors succeeded in fleshing out their characters while mixing dread with violence made my nerves stand on end. Being the second sequel after OFF SEASON and OFFSPRING you’d think Ketchum would run out of steam. No siree. THE WOMAN is fresh, disturbing, and very well-written, I might add. Yes, the story could have done without the unnecessary epilogue, and the overall presentation sometimes do feel like a written script. But as a whole THE WOMAN sure kicks ass, I’m telling ya.

　

And the movie adaptation? Even better. From first reel to last I was caught up again into the story of a troubled family man capturing a cannibal woman from the wilderness to tame her and make her his own, even though I already knew more or less of the outcome. But seeing it all, moving and shaking up there with all those great actors was definitely icing on the cake. It made me realize yet again how much I dig this type of horror. You know, those films or books that send shivers down your spine while making you think about important stuff like human behavior and how screwed up the world really is underneath its cookie-cutter facade. Pure gold, dear readers, pure gold.

　

And now the big question: does THE WOMAN really carry a misogynistic message? At face value, it probably does, but when you scratch the surface a little, you soon realize that the problem goes way deeper than that, to the beginning of civilization perhaps. Whether you agree or not with this is up to you. But one thing’s for sure, THE WOMAN is one hot commodity. I urge you to see it. Heck, read the novel first if you prefer. But just do it. You’ll thank me again later, I promise.

　

THE WOMAN movie has moved on to the DVD market from The Collective (with Bloody Disgusting Selects); while you can catch the novel wherever books are sold.

　

Until next post—Martin

FRIDAY THE 13TH PART 2: MY FIRST

Aside from the many glittery, not to mention very sleazy, films I dissect with love every week on my other blog, I also have the strongest view regarding horror movies. I fancy every type of horror but mostly the slasher genre. It all started with a little film called FRIDAY THE 13th PART 2 which I saw at the young age of 15 in a darkened movie theater in the spring of 1981. Yes, the film was rated R, meaning no one under 17 was allowed, but I had managed to sneak in, to the delight of my best friend at the time who also desperately wanted to see the flick (with whom I also went to see X-rated movies sporadically, but that’s a whole different topic in itself). Suffice to say, my life as a horror enthusiast really began that faithful day.

Now, I sure  as heck don’t need to recapitulate the film since the entire world knows all about Jason and the fate of the many camp counselors who have crossed his path. The only thing I’m going to say about the plot of FRIDAY THE 13th PART 2 is that, although very cliched even back then, it was all new to this teenager innocent eyes. Indeed, for the first time there I was, thanks to the keen direction of Steve Miner, at camp Crystal Lake with an axe murderer at my heels (because even then I could put myself in the characters’ shoes) and I was digging it like you wouldn’t believe. And not any axe murderer, mind you, but the one that would later become the baddest of them all, Jason Voorhees. Remember, it took another sequel for him to don the hockey-mask and become the anti-hero he is known to be today. So in this one, he was just a one-eyed burlap sack wearer Mongoloid who was avenging his cuckoo mom for her untimely death by offing the same people who had killed him.

What?!! Come again?!!! The same people who had killed him?! In a way, yes. Think about it: Pamela Voorhees was slaughtering camp counselors in the original film because years ago some other counselors had not taken proper care of her sick child who had accidentally drowned in the lake (in other words they were having sex while the kid was going under). After slicing and dicing horny teenagers, she ended up being beheaded herself by the strongest and purest teen of them all, Alice. Then, five years later, supposedly dead Jason takes over his mom’s workload (for part 2) by first, killing our sweet Alice who, frankly, was still lost in wonderland after the brutal attacks, then by continuing the bloody rampage just for the vengeance sake of it; a mother and son behavioral pattern passed on from one generation to the next.

After spending an hour and a half enjoying some gruesome killings while being scared out of my wits, I desperately wanted to check out the original movie on which this sequel was based, but remember, DVD players were nonexistent in those days, as were VHS recorders. Well, not exactly; we, the population, knew of them but barely could afford one since a single machine cost around 700 to 1000 dollars in Canadian money. But a streak of luck came my way during the summer of that same year. I was hired at Canada Post as a letter handler (putting envelopes into the right zip code box) and made enough money to purchase a Beta VCR system, the black sheep answer to the VHS player. Naturally, I was ecstatic as you can be, as well as being the neighborhood star for owning the first video cassette deck. Needless to say, I was not alone when I rented and watched the original FRIDAY THE 13^TH.  But sadly, as my friends could still attest, I came away rather disappointed by the Sean S. Cunningham film. To me, it didn’t hold a candle to the kick ass sequel.

Of course, that was way before FRIDAY THE 13TH began to grow on me, years before I came to put it up there with the best of them. You could say that maturity has something to do with it, as well as my love for anything grade-B of the late ‘70s early ‘80s. But back then I did think the pacing and the acting were a little off compared to its sequel. And to tell you the truth, I still think the same today. But I also know that however amateurish it appears to be sometimes, the overall effect is quite impressive. Because, yes, with all its apparent faux pas, FRIDAY THE 13TH still manages to sparkle due to its effective on-screen dread and overall special FX. And, because of those, every year like clockwork I pop in my DVD disc and enjoy the film for what it is and not for what it should be.

Like I said in an earlier post regarding one cinematic production, they sure don’t make them like that anymore, and it’s a shame. Oh, many have tried, but no one achieved the apogee of success and likability as Cunningham did with FRIDAY THE 13TH. And even if FRIDAY THE 13TH PART 2 is a lot better in the look, acting and pacing departments, both films are major influences in what would later be known as the heydays of the slasher genre, a genre that will forever stay dear to my heart, as it made me what I am today; and for that I will eternally be grateful. So here’s to you, Mr. Cunningham and Mr. Miner for introducing me to the Voorhees clan and their sickening ways.


Until next post—Martin