Editorials
5 Favorite Iconic Female Horror Performances Picked By ‘Proxy’ Director Zack Parker!!
Director Zack Parker‘s controversial new film Proxy opens on April 18th on various VOD platforms via IFC Midnight. It will also be opening in New York’s IFC Center with a Nationwide rollout to follow. Check out our review here!
“A very pregnant Esther Woodhouse is walking home after her latest OB appointment, when she is brutally attacked and disfigured by a hooded assailant. When Esther seeks consolation in a support group, she finds friendship and empathy in Melanie, another mother scarred with tragedy. Esther soon begins to believe that the horrific event might be a bittersweet act of fate. However, friendship and empathy can be very dangerous things when accepted by the wrong people.” Alexia Rasmussen, Alexa Havins, Halloween‘s Kristina Klebe, and The Sacrament and V/H/S‘ Joe Swanberg all star.
I’ll have an interview with Joe Swanberg up later this week, but first I wanted to share this list Zack Parker sent us. Proxy is a movie built around bold female performances, and we wanted to know which iconic films informed his choices!
Head below to check out Parker’s 5 Favorite Iconic Female Horror Performances!!
“They say some actors are born to play a role. If this is true, it certainly applies to Mia Farrow in Rosemary’s Baby. A film that has captured the inspiration and admiration of several generations of filmmakers, Roman Polanski’s gothic and densely atmospheric tale of a mother-to-be (who may or may not be carrying the spawn of Satan in her womb) set a new standard in intellectual horror. Farrow’s at first sweet and innocent Rosemary Woodhouse slowly becomes the only line of defense between her unborn child and the deceptive witches that live beyond her walls. Farrow captures the paranoia and maternal protectiveness of Rosemary with such charm and presence that her performance still unlocks layers of depth upon nearly five decades of viewing.”
“If anything can be said about Lars Von Trier, it’s that he is a singular filmmaker who is making some of the most challenging and inventive films of our times. If anything can be said about Charlotte Gainsbourg, after working with von Trier on three films, it’s that she’s probably the bravest actress on the planet. I believe the most difficult thing an actor can do is to surrender themselves completely to a director. Gainsbourg leaves nothing, be it physical or emotional, behind in this somber and fascinating tale of a couple grieving and examining the loss of their young son. In my eyes, it’s one of the rawest, courageous, and most authentic performances I’ve seen by a woman (or man for that matter) on screen.”
“I think few could disagree that that Janet Leigh’s Marion Crane in Psycho is anything less than iconic. Growing up, years before seeing the actual film, I already knew about “the shower scene.” Didn’t we all? While on the surface just another “Hitchcock Blonde,” Leigh was able to transcend this trope to create a character comprised of charisma and humanity. We believe without doubt that this strong and progressive woman will carry this story, and we must, otherwise one of the greatest and most daring narrative shifts in the history of cinema would never have worked.”
“Yes, Sissy Spacek is absolutely amazing in Brian DePalma’s stylish and vengeful fantasy of anyone that’s ever fell victim to school bullies and humiliation, but Piper Laurie is on a whole other level. Portraying simultaneously the epitome of an overbearing mother and a religious fanatic, in my opinion Laurie steals every scene through her wildly insane and wicked hilarious performance of Margaret White. In what could very easily drift into extreme melodrama, Laurie creates an incredibly unique and colorful portrayal of a mother who is just trying to protect her daughter from the evils of this world, even if one of those evils is herself.”
“Another Polanski masterpiece, and in my personal opinion, his most underrated. Deneuve’s skillfully quiet and withdrawn Carol is easily one of the most accomplished introverted performances ever. Through virtually no dialogue, Deneuve executes a spiral of paranoia, compulsiveness, and mental fracture that is as much fascinating as it is horrifying. A must for, not only horror fans, but cinephiles alike, Polanski and Deneuve showcase the power that visuals and expression possess when used to sheer perfection.”
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Editorials
‘Leprechaun Returns’ – The Charm of the Franchise’s Legacy Sequel
The erratic Leprechaun franchise is not known for sticking with a single concept for too long. The namesake (originally played by Warwick Davis) has gone to L.A., Las Vegas, space, and the ‘hood (not once but twice). And after an eleven-year holiday since the Davis era ended, the character received a drastic makeover in a now-unmentionable reboot. The critical failure of said film would have implied it was time to pack away the green top hat and shillelagh, and say goodbye to the nefarious imp. Instead, the Leprechaun series tried its luck again.
The general consensus for the Leprechaun films was never positive, and the darker yet blander Leprechaun: Origins certainly did not sway opinions. Just because the 2014 installment took itself seriously did not mean viewers would. After all, creator Mark Jones conceived a gruesome horror-comedy back in the early nineties, and that format is what was expected of any future ventures. So as horror legacy sequels (“legacyquels”) became more common in the 2010s, Leprechaun Returns followed suit while also going back to what made the ‘93 film work. This eighth entry echoed Halloween (2018) by ignoring all the previous sequels as well as being a direct continuation of the original. Even ardent fans can surely understand the decision to wipe the slate clean, so to speak.
Leprechaun Returns “continued the [franchise’s] trend of not being consistent by deciding to be consistent.” The retconning of Steven Kostanski and Suzanne Keilly’s film was met with little to no pushback from the fandom, who had already become accustomed to seeing something new and different with every chapter. Only now the “new and different” was familiar. With the severe route of Origins a mere speck in the rearview mirror, director Kotanski implemented a “back to basics” approach that garnered better reception than Zach Lipovsky’s own undertaking. The one-two punch of preposterous humor and grisly horror was in full force again.
With Warwick Davis sitting this film out — his own choice — there was the foremost challenge of finding his replacement. Returns found Davis’ successor in Linden Porco, who admirably filled those blood-stained, buckled shoes. And what would a legacy sequel be without a returning character? Jennifer Aniston obviously did not reprise her final girl role of Tory Redding. So, the film did the next best thing and fetched another of Lubdan’s past victims: Ozzie, the likable oaf played by Mark Holton. Returns also created an extension of Tory’s character by giving her a teenage daughter, Lila (Taylor Spreitler).
It has been twenty-five years since the events of the ‘93 film. The incident is unknown to all but its survivors. Interested in her late mother’s history there in Devil’s Lake, North Dakota, Lila transferred to the local university and pledged a sorority — really the only one on campus — whose few members now reside in Tory Redding’s old home. The farmhouse-turned-sorority-house is still a work in progress; Lila’s fellow Alpha Epsilon sisters were in the midst of renovating the place when a ghost of the past found its way into the present.
The Psycho Goreman and The Void director’s penchant for visceral special effects is noted early on as the Leprechaun tears not only into the modern age, but also through poor Ozzie’s abdomen. The portal from 1993 to 2018 is soaked with blood and guts as the Leprechaun forces his way into the story. Davis’ iconic depiction of the wee antagonist is missed, however, Linden Porco is not simply keeping the seat warm in case his predecessor ever resumes the part. His enthusiastic performance is accentuated by a rotten-looking mug that adds to his innate menace.
The obligatory fodder is mostly young this time around. Apart from one luckless postman and Ozzie — the premature passing of the latter character removed the chance of caring about anyone in the film — the Leprechaun’s potential prey are all college aged. Lila is this story’s token trauma kid with caregiver baggage; her mother thought “monsters were always trying to get her.” Lila’s habit of mentioning Tory’s mental health problem does not make a good first impression with the resident mean girl and apparent alcoholic of the sorority, Meredith (Emily Reid). Then there are the nicer but no less cursorily written of the Alpha Epsilon gals: eco-conscious and ex-obsessive Katie (Pepi Sonuga), and uptight overachiever Rose (Sai Bennett). Rounding out the main cast are a pair of destined-to-die bros (Oliver Llewellyn Jenkins, Ben McGregor). Lila and her peers range from disposable to plain irritating, so rooting for any one of them is next to impossible. Even so, their overstated personalities make their inevitable fates more satisfying.
Where Returns excels is its death sequences. Unlike Jones’ film, this one is not afraid of killing off members of the main cast. Lila, admittedly, wears too much plot armor, yet with her mother’s spirit looming over her and the whole story — comedian Heather McDonald put her bang-on Aniston impersonation to good use as well as provided a surprisingly emotional moment in the film — her immunity can be overlooked. Still, the other characters’ brutal demises make up for Lila’s imperviousness. The Leprechaun’s killer set-pieces also happen to demonstrate the time period, seeing as he uses solar panels and a drone in several supporting characters’ executions. A premortem selfie and the antagonist’s snarky mention of global warming additionally add to this film’s particular timestamp.
Critics were quick to say Leprechaun Returns did not break new ground. Sure, there is no one jetting off to space, or the wacky notion of Lubdan becoming a record producer. This reset, however, is still quite charming and entertaining despite its lack of risk-taking. And with yet another reboot in the works, who knows where the most wicked Leprechaun ever to exist will end up next.
Horror contemplates in great detail how young people handle inordinate situations and all of life’s unexpected challenges. While the genre forces characters of every age to face their fears, it is especially interested in how youths might fare in life-or-death scenarios.
The column Young Blood is dedicated to horror stories for and about teenagers, as well as other young folks on the brink of terror.
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