settima

@settima@zirk.us

Il demonio [The Demon] (Brunello Rondi, 1963)

Oct

6

exorcism

Il demonio (1963)

While several men hold her down, Purif (Daliah Lavi) sticks out her tongue to the crucifix held up to her. DP: Carlo Bellero.

[A favourite] exorcism film*

“Blood of Christ. Demon. A curse upon this man. A curse that he will never forget me. Blood of my body. Until the grave. A curse that he will never forget me.”

– Purificazione

When a rejected young woman puts a curse on her heart's desire, the locals see nothing less than witchcraft. It is decided that Purif must be possessed, and exorcised.

 

* the Bales 2025 Film Challenge for October is horror-themed as opposed to date-based, and is all about favourites. Expect non-horror and films I believe to be relevant instead.

Grey Gardens (Albert + David Maysles, Ellen Hovde + Muffie Meyer, 1975)

Oct

5

1973

Grey Gardens (1975)

Washed out felt-tip penned well-wishes read: OCTOBER 5th – 1973 “GREY GARDENS” AT 78 IT IS TRUE – YOU CAN LIVE TO BE 80 TOO. DPs: Albert & David Maysles.

“Thank you for your card and your ice-cream, I love you very much!”

– Edith 'Big Edie' Bouvier Beale, saying goodbye to her birthday party guests

Calle Santa Fe (Carmen Castillo, 2007)

Oct

5

Calle Santa Fe (2007)

Miguel Enriquez holding Carmen Castillo in a family snapshot. DPs: Ned Burgess, Sebastián Moreno, Raphaël O'Byrne & Arnaldo Rodríguez.

Your Safety First (George Gordon, 1956)

Oct

5

2000

Your Safety First (1956)

The protagonist, voiced by George O'Hanlon, reading an ad for tomorrow's car in the October 5, 2000 newspaper.

Spectres of the Spectrum (Craig Baldwin, 1999)

Oct

4

Spectres of the Spectrum (1999)

A scene from the TV series Science in Action (1950—1966) showing Chuck Yeager, the first man to break the sound barrier. DP: Bill Daniel.

The Sniper (Edward Dmytryk, 1952)

Oct

4

The Sniper (1952)

Man's hands, one bandaged, holding a rifle. DP: Burnett Guffey.

“I'm gonna be happy for a change.”

– Edward Miller

Soy leyenda (Mario Gómez Martín, 1967)

Oct

3

zombies

Soy leyenda (1967)

Robert Neville (Moisés Menéndez) looking out over an empty rooftop. DP: Jesús Ocaña.

(A favourite) zombie movie*

 

Now, settima. Of all the zombie movies in the world you had to pick a vampire story? Why yes. Yes I did.

“Again he shook his head. The world's gone mad, he thought. The dead walk about and I think nothing of it. The return of corpses has become trivial in import. How quickly one accepts the incredible if only one sees it enough!”

– Richard Matheson, I Am Legend (1954)

Just like my actual favourite zombie film, that one from 1968, Soy leyenda is based on Richard Matheson's post-apocalyptic horror novel I Am Legend (1954). The story describes a world where the living have become undead vampire-like creatures. A lone man tries to rationalise that new world through reason and science, and legend.

 

In the man's mind, the undead become the familiar, the vampire. In our mind, watching this, we believe to see the foreshadowing of the popculture zombie. The abandoned well-known landscapes, the ceaseless repetition of what the old life had instilled, the normalcy of the grotesque. Oh how familiar they have become.

 

* the Bales 2025 Film Challenge for October is horror-themed as opposed to date-based, and is all about favourites. Expect non-horror and films I believe to be relevant instead.

Le boucher [The Butcher] (Claude Chabrol, 1970)

Oct

3

Le boucher (1970)

Popaul (Jean Yanne) and Hélène (Stéphane Audran) in the former's butcher shop. DP: Jean Rabier.

Vampyros Lesbos (Jesús Franco, 1971)

Oct

2

Dracula

Vampyros Lesbos (1971)

The Countess (Soledad Miranda, sigh…) in a blood curling striptease (via). DP: Manuel Merino.

A favourite Dracula movie. As my very most favourite Dracula movie has been claimed, I go with its nearest competitor that somehow also features my favourite Jesus*

 

Linda (Ewa Strömberg) has been summoned by Countess Nadine Carody (Soledad Miranda) to handle a real estate inheritance from a certain Count Dracula. Spellbound, she finds herself on a small island, and helpless in the Countess' embrace.

“You are one of us now. The Queen of the Night will bear you up on her black wings.”

– Countess Nadine Carody

A film that can easily hold up against Jean Rollins' dreamy vampire erotica, this love letter to Soledad Miranda's brooding torment is a delight to watch and a pinnacle in Jess Franco's filmography. Its influence on neo-Giallo Amer and Dario Argento – particularly his Suspiria – is evident, and that in itself should give you enough clues of how much of an essential chapter Vampyros Lesbos is in adult European filmmaking.

 

* the Bales 2025 Film Challenge for October is horror-themed as opposed to date-based, and is all about favourites. Expect non-horror and films I believe to be relevant instead.

Medium (Jacek Koprowicz, 1985)

Oct

2

Medium (1985)

A man in an impeccable, light-colored suit. His nose is bleeding. DPs: Jerzy Zieliński & Wit Dąbal.