Swissmade [Swiss Made 2069] (Fritz E. Maeder, Fredi M. Murer + Yves Yersin, 1968)
Oct
20
Alien
A man hooked up to a device with tubes dreams about a strange, unsettling creature. Just out of a frame someone (H.R. Giger himself) works on the being with a grinder. DPs: Witold Lesiewicz, Fritz E. Maeder & Fredi M. Murer.
[A favourite] Alien [“alien”?] movie*
Three segments envision the future of the Swiss Confederation. In the Fredi M. Murer instalment 2069 – oder wo sich Futorologen und Archäologen gute Nacht sagen, an alien visits surveillance state Switzerland. The visitor in question is designed by H.R. Giger, and glimpses of the XX121 xenomorph are present in its exoskeletal core.
* 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.
Nattmara [Nightmare] (Arne Mattsson, 1965)
Oct
19
Tue
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spoiler warning: click to read
Hands hold up a small diary. The camera is focussed on Tuesday the 19th of October, 1965. Handwriting, a chicken scrawl, reads CITROEN A66692 MAJ BERG ✝. Besides that the week is uneventful. DP: Max Wilén.
“Strange things are happening today.” Au secours ! [Help!] (Abel Gance, 1924)
Oct
18
Au secours !
A rather tall ghost struts along a nonplussed Max. DPs: Émile Pierre, André-Wladimir Reybas & Georges Specht.
A [favourite] horror comedy*. This post goes out to Max Linder, who – together with his wife Hélène “Ninette” Peters – took his own life 100 years ago, on October 31, 1925.
Max (Max Linder) bets that he can spend one whole hour in a haunted castle without calling for help. In face of all the (in camera!) terrors, Max faces his fears with ease. Until, just minutes before the clock strikes midnight, the phone rings.
– title card
And there was this other bet. One between Linder and director Abel Gance. Linder bet that Gance would not be able to shoot a movie in only three days. With ghosts, skeletons, and wildlife galore, the result is a delightful Grand Guignol à la Max.
* 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.
1943-1997 ['43 – '97] (Ettore Scola, 1997)
Oct
16
1943
The boy (Francesco Cencioni) on the run in a locked down town. DP: Carlo Tafani.
Könnyű testi sértés [Tight Quarters] (György Szomjas, 1983)
Oct
16
Csaba (Károly Eperjes) and Miklós (Péter Andorai) in their reluctantly shared apartment. Every frame is claustrophobically filled with people, including the television. DP: Ferenc Grunwalsky.
– The Paris Court of Appeals, meeting on October 15, 1959, pursuant to the charges against Dominique Marceau. – With a girl like that, truth may be the best defense for once.La vérité [The Truth] (Henri-Georges Clouzot, 1960)
Oct
15
1959
Gilbert (Sami Frey) and Dominique (Brigitte Bardot). DP: Armand Thirard.
The day of the court case. Numerous other dates are mentioned, all in flashbacks.
0課の女 赤い手錠 [Zeroka no onna: Akai wappa / Zero Woman: Red Handcuffs] (Yukio Noda, 1974)
Oct
15
1937
Rei (Miki Sugimoto) wielding the long red chain of her handcuffs. DP: Yoshio Nakajima.
狂った一頁 [Kurutta ichipėji / A Page of Madness] (Teinosuke Kinugasa, 1926)
Oct
14
silent cinema
A masked inmate (Eiko Minami) dances. The shot of the dancer is superimposed over a shot of her cel's bars, putting the viewer in the position of the husband witnessing – or is he hallucinating – an inescapable nightmare (via). DP: Kōhei Sugiyama.
A [favourite] silent horror film*
Incomplete and, despite the generally accepted popular Occidental opinion, not a horror film. Oh, to have seen this narrated by Musei Tokugawa…
* 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.
“One can meet only god at such hour.”駅 [Eki / Station] (Yasuo Furuhata, 1981)
Oct
12
Eiji Mikami (Ken Takakura) and Kiriko (Chieko Baishō) watching TV in her quiet bar. She sings along with her favourite song. DP: Daisaku Kimura.
Set 278 days before the start of the Tokyo Olympics.