It could be argued that parallel universes are the ones we
aren’t supposed to be living in ourselves, because to some, reality is merely
what we think it is -- but such a premise is not very scientific. If anything
the possibility of universes existing beside our own sustains fiction more than
it does provable fact, which is not to denigrate the possibility. Merely to
suggest that reality is sometimes what Hollywood says it is. And THAT is very
disturbing, when you think about it.
This is a list of some movies that I like, because they focus on the
possibility that our reality is not the only reality that may exist. Unfortunately it seems to be only mentally
ill people who suffer the most from this delusion, that is, if it is a
delusion. H.P. Lovecraft didn’t think so. But then again, he was crazy.
The Forgotten (2004)
When Roger Ebert gives a movie the thumbs down, I usually take notice, but with
‘The Forgotten’ his bad review unintentionally tweaked my interest. Normally
wary (as well as weary) of the ‘You must believe me I’m not mad’ or the ‘You
must believe me I’m not guilty’ [cue Hitchcock] genre of misunderstood heroes,
‘The Forgotten’ convinced me to suspend
my disbelief in its first half hour. I can’t speak for anyone else really. I
guess I’m just gullible. I believe what Julieanne Moore says, and what she’s going
through. I also enjoyed putting the boot into all of the [male] characters, who
are either deliberately contradicting her, or trying to put her away. I’m not
making a case for it as the best movie ever made, but director Joseph Ruben,
writer Gerald DiPego and the entire cast put their heart and soul into making
the story as believable as possible. Ruben previously directed ‘The Stepfather’.
It was pretty good and I think that ‘The Forgotten’ has that same dogged
intention to make the audience consider
the possibility that what they are
watching could maybe happen. What ‘The
Forgotten’ lacks in veracity, it makes up for in courage and panache, and to me
that can’t be a higher recommendation.
The Others (2001) This is the scariest ghost movie since ‘the
Innocents’, and has a lot going for it. It’s written with a great deal of
imagination. Its leisurely paced (but in
a good way), good to look at and in a
nutshell, turns the scary ghost movie on its head. The plot twists do not
become stale with further viewing – they still surprise me when I’ve actually
seen them before which encourages me to watch the movie again with the same sense of anticipation.
The viewer is for the most part as lost as Grace Stewart, played by Nicole Kidman,
who is living in a large house on the
island of Jersey in the closing years of the second world war. She is expecting
her soldier husband to return home,
while she is left alone with her children, and a strange trio of servants whom
we are left to wonder what they in fact, are doing in the movie. To say any
more would be spoiling this bizarre foray into a parallel universe that
confounds the viewer as much as the characters. But that’s just part of ‘The
Others’ eerie charm and its pervading sense of mystery that has the viewer
caught off-guard till the denouement which is as tragic as it is convincing. Directed by Alejandro Amenabar.
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| Johnny Depp's dressing gown is wonderful |
Secret Window (2004). There’s an excellent set-up by
writer/director David Koepp in the first hour, which loses momentum by the end, as it tries to tie up its loose ends
a bit too neatly. At least for my liking. Koepp’s affection for ‘Psycho’ and
‘Repulsion’ is apparent. Comparisons to Polanski’s acclaimed fable of mental illness
would be unfair but ‘Secret Window’ is reasonably smart and scary, as it
attempts to portray its main character’s descent into a parallel universe,
which I think would question the nature of madness itself if it wasn’t for the
film’s predictable descent into slice-and-dice by the conclusion. Johnny Depp is believable and surprisingly
subdued as Mort Rainey, a writer of mystery stories who is being stalked by a
demonic kind of fan who doesn’t like him very much. The other supporting
players are a little off kilter themselves, which makes the audience uneasy
about the veracity of anything that seems to be going on in the strange town of
Tashmore Lake, where things are not as they appear. [Cue for raised eyebrows and creepy organ music].
Carnival of Souls (1962) I voted for this when I first went
on-line, as the best independent horror movie ever made, and I see no reason to
think differently now. Director Herk Harvey appears in his own film as an
apparition stalking our heroine Mary Henry, played by Candace Hilligoss, a church organist who emerges unscathed from a
car which drives off a bridge in which she was passenger. The ‘passenger’ metaphor is
continued, as Mary’s dilemma consists of being aware that life and the living
of it does not last forever. There is
definitely something strange going on, as she drifts in and out of what we
would like to call ‘conventional reality’. ‘Carnival of Souls’ weaves its spell
on the most jaded viewer as it draws us into its vortex of uncertainty and
impending panic. The audience is offered
little explanation until the end, but
frankly I wasn’t the least bit surprised. I unabashedly love ‘Carnival
of Souls’, even the budget Region 0
version that I own without special
features, and I wouldn’t trade it in for a hundred Matrixes, Minority Reports
or Inceptions
.
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| My what a big hypodermic you have. The doctor from hell. |
Jacob’s Ladder (1990). The brainchild of writer Bruce Joel Rubin.
‘Jacob’s Ladder’ spent years in
development hell, but I think the wait was worth it. Taken with a grain of salt
on first release, the film rises in estimation with repeated viewings. In other
words, ‘Jacob’s Ladder’ is the kind of film that digital technology was made
for, and I think it’s as perfect as a
movie can be, about the possibility of an alternative or parallel reality which
exists outside our own dimension. Jacob
Singer as played by Tim Robbins returns
home from Vietnam and works as a postman. His existence is not as mundane as it seems, as
Jacob begins to have hallucinations. What really happened to him in Vietnam? The hallucinations get worse as director
Adrian Lynne pulls out all the stops with amazing visuals that are so real we
can understand what Jacob is feeling,
and it is certainly alarming. Elizabeth
Pena plays girlfriend Jezzie without giving
the story away, and Danny Aiello is an osteopath without a halo, telling
Jacob he must give up his memories in order to journey on up the ladder. I found, and still find ‘Jacob’s Ladder’ a
riveting experience, sympathetically played, beautifully presented, and a
satisfying example of Hollywood commerciality at its noblest and most
artistic.
NOTE: Roger Ebert’s review of ‘The Forgotten’ may be
online. I haven’t checked because it’s
included in one of his yearbooks: Roger Ebert’s Movie Year Book 2007, Kansas,
pp. 241-242. I haven’t quoted or even paraphrased, but used it as a jumping-off
point for my own ideas. It certainly makes for a good read even if like me, you kind of enjoy the film unlike Roger.
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