Editorials
The Devil’s in the Dance: ‘Climax’ and the Extreme Horror of Gaspar Noé
Some filmmakers want to tell a visual story. Some simply want to elicit an emotional response through the medium. French auteur Gaspar Noé, however, wants to confront his audience through unrelenting graphic violence, controversy, and nihilism. It’s not just the subject matter of his films, though that alone would be enough to set him apart, but in the way he toys with cinematic convention to put the viewer in an intimate, voyeuristic position that challenges us to face the ugliest aspects of society. From the flashy, atypical title credits that immediately set the precedent that this isn’t your average film to the jarring, swirling camera movements and long takes as it follows unsavory lead characters, Noé is seeking a visceral response meant to test the audience. It all culminates in his best work yet, the profoundly disturbing horror film Climax.
His earlier films made him a pioneer in the world extreme cinema that emerged in France dubbed New French Extremity and put him on the radar of die-hard horror fans, but the irony is that most of his filmography isn’t technically horror at all. Yet, the extreme and shocking acts depicted within them pushes them straight in genre adjacent territory that’s generally shunned by mainstream audiences.
Take his first film, the short Carne in 1991, and its full feature length sequel I Stand Alone, in 1998. Both center around The Butcher (Philippe Nahon), an antihero that begins his journey by mistaking his autistic daughter’s first menstruation as signs of surviving a sexual assault, which then prompts him to take revenge on an innocent man. Carne opens with a graphic scene of a horse’s slaughter for meat processing, a brutal introduction to The Butcher’s desensitization to violence. With I Stand Alone, it picks up after The Butcher has left prison and moved to rural France, his daughter institutionalized. Discontent, the film sees The Butcher heading back home to attempt to reclaim his old life and finding it a struggle. Eventually, Noé flashes a warning card across the screen, giving the viewer 30 seconds to leave (or turn the film off) before a heinous, shocking act commences (spoilers ahead)– The Butcher, who takes his daughter out of the institution to see her one last time, decides to give in to his incestuous feelings for her before killing her. The major taboo-breaking act rendered all the more shocking in the way Noé made light of it with dark humor.
I Stand Alone plays a major part in Irreversible, the first film to launch Noé into the international spotlight. It opens with The Butcher confessing to his crimes of incest before setting up the film’s themes of time. From there, events of one traumatic night unfolds in reverse order, through a series of 12 long takes for its central characters Alex (Monica Belluci), Marcus (Vincent Cassel), and Pierre (Albert Dupontel). It means that the most vicious scenes come near the beginning, first with Pierre smashing in an innocent man’s skull with a fire extinguisher, and then with the most excruciating, traumatic long-take of Alex’s harrowing sexual assault and beating at the hands of a pimp. Noé forces the audience to be uncomfortable, unwilling participants in the way he films the scene; when the rest of the film contains his trademark dizzying camera work, this scene remains stagnant and fixated upon Alex, her assaulter, and the filthy underpass in which the monstrous act takes place. By playing the night’s events in reverse order, these scenes of nihilistic, graphic violence become tragic, when the film ends by depicting these characters happy, normal, and in love. As The Butcher lamented in the opening, “Time destroys everything.”
Enter the Void took a hallucinogenic journey into the afterlife with more dizzying overhead camerawork and permeating neon colors. It followed drug dealer Oscar (Nathaniel Brown) as he’s shot to death in a drug deal, his soul then hovers overhead as he follows the repercussions of his death while in search of resurrection. It’s a long journey, with a 142-minute runtime, and also Noé’s most ambitious in terms of visual storytelling. Much more explicit in its depictions of sex, with some violence, Enter the Void is less horrific than previous films and exists more overtly in the realm of fantasy. For many, it’s considered the auteur’s best work.
But arguably, his best is Climax, set to release stateside on March 1. It’s also firmly planted in horror. What begins as a night of dancing and celebration for a dance troupe gathered at a remote school building mid-winter turns into a hallucinatory nightmare of hellish proportions when they discover their sangria has been spiked with LSD. Noé’s trademarks are all on display, the vivid colors, atypical film credits, and the swirling camera work as it follows the beleaguered dancers in their journeys of torment, by way of continuous long takes.
At the beginning of the film, we see a television framed by books and VHS tapes, all which shaped and inspired Noé throughout his life. Two noticeable VHS tapes are Possession and Suspiria, both which play a major influence in Climax. But the horror in Noe’s film is psychological rather than supernatural. It doesn’t make the events that unfold any less harrowing or horrifying. Climax earned a spot on 2018’s most disturbing moments in horror, but truthfully the entire film could’ve dominated the list. Noé has never been afraid to break major taboos, but he throws caution to the wind and tackles just about every single taboo in his latest. Surprisingly, Climax also is the director’s most accessible film to date.
Noé’s films aren’t for everyone, and the unflinching way in which he challenges the viewer often means that even if you do appreciate his films, it’s not often an experience you’re willing to sit through twice. His cinematic style and shorthand are distinctly his, and his use of graphic violence and sex make bold statements on society and the morally ambiguous nature of humanity. They also ushered in a wave of extreme cinema in France. The definition of dance is the movement of the body in a rhythmic way, usually to music, for the purpose of expressing emotion or an idea, or releasing energy. It’s also a perfect summation of Noe’s style, in that he uses movement and score to force his audience to face the ugly head on. Climax is the culmination of everything the came before, in one heady, hellscape of dance.
Editorials
‘Immaculate’ – A Companion Watch Guide to the Religious Horror Movie and Its Cinematic Influences
The religious horror movie Immaculate, starring Sydney Sweeney and directed by Michael Mohan, wears its horror influences on its sleeves. NEON’s new horror movie is now available on Digital and PVOD, making it easier to catch up with the buzzy title. If you’ve already seen Immaculate, this companion watch guide highlights horror movies to pair with it.
Sweeney stars in Immaculate as Cecilia, a woman of devout faith who is offered a fulfilling new role at an illustrious Italian convent. Cecilia’s warm welcome to the picture-perfect Italian countryside gets derailed soon enough when she discovers she’s become pregnant and realizes the convent harbors disturbing secrets.
From Will Bates’ gothic score to the filming locations and even shot compositions, Immaculate owes a lot to its cinematic influences. Mohan pulls from more than just religious horror, though. While Immaculate pays tribute to the classics, the horror movie surprises for the way it leans so heavily into Italian horror and New French Extremity. Let’s dig into many of the film’s most prominent horror influences with a companion watch guide.
Warning: Immaculate spoilers ahead.
Rosemary’s Baby
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The mother of all pregnancy horror movies introduces Rosemary Woodhouse (Mia Farrow), an eager-to-please housewife who’s supportive of her husband, Guy, and thrilled he landed them a spot in the coveted Bramford apartment building. Guy proposes a romantic evening, which gives way to a hallucinogenic nightmare scenario that leaves Rosemary confused and pregnant. Rosemary’s suspicions and paranoia mount as she’s gaslit by everyone around her, all attempting to distract her from her deeply abnormal pregnancy. While Cecilia follows a similar emotional journey to Rosemary, from the confusion over her baby’s conception to being gaslit by those who claim to have her best interests in mind, Immaculate inverts the iconic final frame of Rosemary’s Baby to great effect.
The Exorcist
William Friedkin’s horror classic shook audiences to their core upon release in the ’70s, largely for its shocking imagery. A grim battle over faith is waged between demon Pazuzu and priests Damien Karras (Jason Miller) and Lankester Merrin (Max von Sydow). The battleground happens to be a 12-year-old, Regan MacNeil (Linda Blair), whose possessed form commits blasphemy often, including violently masturbating with a crucifix. Yet Friedkin captures the horrifying events with stunning cinematography; the emotional complexity and shot composition lend elegance to a film that counterbalances the horror. That balance between transgressive imagery and artful form permeates Immaculate as well.
Suspiria
Jessica Harper stars as Suzy Bannion, an American newcomer at a prestigious dance academy in Germany who uncovers a supernatural conspiracy amid a series of grisly murders. It’s a dance academy so disciplined in its art form that its students and faculty live their full time, spending nearly every waking hour there, including built-in meals and scheduled bedtimes. Like Suzy Bannion, Cecilia is a novitiate committed to learning her chosen trade, so much so that she travels to a foreign country to continue her training. Also, like Suzy, Cecilia quickly realizes the pristine façade of her new setting belies sinister secrets that mean her harm.
What Have You Done to Solange?
This 1972 Italian horror film follows a college professor who gets embroiled in a bizarre series of murders when his mistress, a student, witnesses one taking place. The professor starts his own investigation to discover what happened to the young woman, Solange. Sex, murder, and religion course through this Giallo’s veins, which features I Spit on Your Grave’s Camille Keaton as Solange. Immaculate director Michael Mohan revealed to The Wrap that he emulated director Massimo Dallamano’s techniques, particularly in a key scene that sees Cecilia alone in a crowded room of male superiors, all interrogating her on her immaculate status.
The Red Queen Kills Seven Times
In this Giallo, two sisters inherit their family’s castle that’s also cursed. When a dark-haired, red-robed woman begins killing people around them, the sisters begin to wonder if the castle’s mysterious curse has resurfaced. Director Emilio Miraglia infuses his Giallo with vibrant style, with the titular Red Queen instantly eye-catching in design. While the killer’s design and use of red no doubt played an influential role in some of Immaculate’s nightmare imagery, its biggest inspiration in Mohan’s film is its score. Immaculate pays tribute to The Red Queen Kills Seven Times through specific music cues.
The Vanishing
Rex’s life is irrevocably changed when the love of his life is abducted from a rest stop. Three years later, he begins receiving letters from his girlfriend’s abductor. Director George Sluizer infuses his simple premise with bone-chilling dread and psychological terror as the kidnapper toys with Red. It builds to a harrowing finale you won’t forget; and neither did Mohan, who cited The Vanishing as an influence on Immaculate. Likely for its surprise closing moments, but mostly for the way Sluizer filmed from inside a coffin.
The Other Hell
This nunsploitation film begins where Immaculate ends: in the catacombs of a convent that leads to an underground laboratory. The Other Hell sees a priest investigating the seemingly paranormal activity surrounding the convent as possessed nuns get violent toward others. But is this a case of the Devil or simply nuns run amok? Immaculate opts to ground its horrors in reality, where The Other Hell leans into the supernatural, but the surprise lab setting beneath the holy grounds evokes the same sense of blasphemous shock.
Inside
During Immaculate‘s freakout climax, Cecilia sets the underground lab on fire with Father Sal Tedeschi (Álvaro Morte) locked inside. He manages to escape, though badly burned, and chases Cecilia through the catacombs. When Father Tedeschi catches Cecilia, he attempts to cut her baby out of her womb, and the stark imagery instantly calls Alexandre Bustillo and Julien Maury’s seminal French horror movie to mind. Like Tedeschi, Inside’s La Femme (Béatrice Dalle) will stop at nothing to get the baby, badly burned and all.
Burial Ground
At first glance, this Italian zombie movie bears little resemblance to Immaculate. The plot sees an eclectic group forced to band together against a wave of undead, offering no shortage of zombie gore and wild character quirks. What connects them is the setting; both employed the Villa Parisi as a filming location. The Villa Parisi happens to be a prominent filming spot for Italian horror; also pair the new horror movie with Mario Bava’s A Bay of Blood or Blood for Dracula for additional boundary-pushing horror titles shot at the Villa Parisi.
The Devils
The Devils was always intended to be incendiary. Horror, at its most depraved and sadistic, tends to make casual viewers uncomfortable. Ken Russell’s 1971 epic takes it to a whole new squeamish level with its nightmarish visuals steeped in some historical accuracy. There are the horror classics, like The Exorcist, and there are definitive transgressive horror cult classics. The Devils falls squarely in the latter, and Russell’s fearlessness in exploring taboos and wielding unholy imagery inspired Mohan’s approach to the escalating horror in Immaculate.
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