31 DAYS OF HORROR SCENES THAT STICK. DAY 24: POSSESSION AND STARRY EYES

“Out of Body Experience”

I am somewhat free styling going off the top of my head riding in the direct moment, but I would definitely venture to say as truthfully as is possible that body horror is either the number one or number one A. most terrifying form of horror for me. And for today I'm going to do a sort of a double feature of 2 scenes that I think represented the best of this sort of sub genre within horror. Heck even within body horror, because there are different kinds and types for example; the sort of corporealistic body horror of a Cronenberg,  or in another case the mirror touch synesthesia that comes with watching someone have their Achilles tendon sliced.   In these cases the body horror is one of a psychotic kind as well as a physical possession of sorts. The kind of possession that leads to the loss of control of one's own body and then begins to look and feels as if damage is being inflicted upon that person's body merely by the act of being watched. I think the easier part for an actor to perform (and in I say this with an air of relativity) is a production of the effect of just the possession and of itself the entry of something foreign into the body. This is mostly an action, and can be reproduced to the audience through a strange or unfamiliar dance move, or a combination of some form of jerking, or convulsing simulating to the audience that something foreign has entered possession of your body.  The harder part, the part that I think both these actresses the legendary Isabelle Adjani, and Alexandra Essoe execute is the indication that you yourself, the owner of the body is still there, as well as the foreign invasion, because that is where the deepest fear is at, or at least that's the case for me. When done well you can look into the actor's eyes and feel like they are still there, afraid, fully aware of what is going on but unable to do anything about it because that the entity is too strong , the feeling to seductive, or enticing. There is a real terror behind possession, in my opinion, it's not merely something taking over. Without your knowledge that is scary in and of itself, but I think when we can identify with a feeling of complete powerlessness, being awake and held prisoner inside our own bodies, aware of what is going on and yet out of control, I think that's a few layers deeper in the psyche. As far as the actor, it becomes their job to kind of take on a form of double mindedness . In essence, they're playing 2 roles with their body when they have to disconnect the mind a little bit from the body, disassociate. You have to produce this kind of air or feeling that has no exact definition,in experience but what the actor can imagine, and reproduce this for the audience. In 1981 “Possession” and the lesser known but absolute gem “Starry Eyes” (2014) we see two actors who provide us with both the body horror in the physical nature and the horror that lies in a more cognitive nature, the consciousness, the awareness. The recognition that you're going somewhere else.

Adjani’s work is physically terrifying.  Watching her writhe,  contort, and scream,  and resist,  and give in,  is something that goes seemingly beyond the pale of acting and ironically into possession itself.  It's mortifying watching her descend into her attack,  and equally as mortifying to watch her return.  It's maybe THE Masterclass in physical acting,  and body work as Adjani seemingly incorporates dance and breathing technique into a canvas of her own creation to morph into something unlike anything ever seen on screen before or after.  Its harrowing in and of itself and one of the greatest feats of acting Iv seen on screen that haunts much more than any ghoul or goblin Ive encountered on the silver screen.

a maravilhosa atriz Isabelle Adjani dando um show de atuação na cena do metrô no filme Possessão de 1981. Cena de ARREPIAR! palmas para Isabelle :) the wonderful actress Isabelle Adjani giving a performance show on the subway scene in the film Possession 1981. chilling scene! palms for Isabelle.

In Starry Eyes ( which I again highly recommend) Alexandra Essoe’s possession is more gradual, less explicit but nonetheless still there. There is more of a seduction here, a wooing, by an entity that begins to take hold of her and Essoe’s work is again like Adjani both very much so in and out of her body. You can feel the lure of letting go, but also the fear of being out of control and - without giving anything away - taken over. Essoes scene is terrifying because it seems like it feels good, and sometimes thats the worst of the lures into darkness. Essoe is hyper expressive, and a lot of the work integral to the scene is done with her eyes, her voice, and her hands. Its very expressive work done by an actor who has a clear hold on what and who her character is, and - maybe an actors best friend - a hyper imagination. Its great work creating one of the more memorable scenes in my recent memory. Both scenes are representative of the power, the allure, the physical and psychological terror of possession communicated to us the audience via fantastic performances etching the terror in our minds eye.

31 DAYS OF HORROR SCENES THAT STICK. DAY 21: THE DEVIL'S RAIN

“THE EYES HAVE IT”

I am 99.9 percent sure that I'm not educating anyone when I say there is something very important about our eyes..  Windows to the soul it's said...I'm not so sure that they aren't THE soul.  When the eyes seemed glazed over,  when there is damage to the iris, if the cornea is milky or cloudy,  or if the eyes are simply missing, the body seems like a hollowed out shell,  some part of our brain assumes a lacking in empathy in any number of known human conditions and expressions of emotion.   A Person can appear robotic, and historically,  as well as in horror,  these various conditions of the eye are associated with the demonic,  otherworldly,  or supernatural.

David Cronenberg's “Scanners”, Nicolas Roeg's “ Don't Look Now”, Francis Ford Coppola's adaptation of Bram Stoker's Dracula, and Sam Raimi’s “Drag me to Hell” all represent different aspects of the ways in which the eyes can be used to demonstrate other worldliness.

   In horror, as in life, I don't think there's any other extremity that is as terrifying as horrifying,  as conducive to producing an empathetic nervous response as is watching someone's eyes be popped out,  pushed in,  burned out,  or injected with some sort of needle.   In a great deal of horror films these phenomena, and our cultural unease with them has been used to effectively produce a mood, or quite simply to frighten us. A character in possession of these characteristics maybe presented as some sort of gateway as in communication with some supernatural power or possessed by some demon, as is any person whose eyes have some of unique discoloration,  or whose eyes are completely missing. I had and still have this feeling of the eerie when watching this scene in 1975's The Devil's rain. I first stumbled upon this movie when I was younger up later than I was normally allowed watching those Saturday night late night movies that would come on on local networks. Needless to say this did not go very well, cheesy effects and all I saw those hollowed out eyes and I was done. Those final minutes of cavernous eyes, and a goat like Ernest Borgnine, and melting skin produced quite a few nightmares, for weeks after, but I was also very intrigued, and weirdly excited.

Featuring William Shatner as Mark Preston, Ernest Borgnine as Jonathan Corbis, Tom Skerritt as Tom Preston, Ida Lupino as Mrs. Preston, Anton LaVey as High Priest, and John Travolta in his first feature film role as Danny ("Blasphemer! Blasphemer!").

Much later on when I saw it again on the AMC in my 30's I found myself thoroughly enjoying it. It's cheesy, pretty poorly acted, and camou as hell, but it's also fun, and the scene in question were William, Shatner is awakened now a disciple like all the others, his eyes hollowed out of his head is still like the ultimate creep factor for me, I know what's going on, I know it's going to happen, and I can't stop myself from feeling that eeriness.  If you're looking to take a rest from having your nerves rattled by ACTUALLY scary films or psychological thriller films where your mental endurance is tested I highly recommend popping in the devil's rain and just enjoying seeing a silly, ridiculously bad in all the best ways B movie horror film featuring the likes of John Travolta, Ernest Borgnine, Tom Skerritt and William Shatner. Oh and don't cover your eyes.