The Wonderful, Fascinating, Intoxicating, and Confusing World of THE LURE (2015)

Original Post Date: 05.02.18

Hello friend! I hope things are doing well on your side of the planet. Over here things are A-OKAY! I am writing this entry tonight from my home in North Hollywood, accompanied by cool air coming from my air conditioner [to my left] and a cold cup of freshly brewed iced coffee [to my right]. It is always sunny and warm here in Southern California and I love it always yes you bet, but man, did I feel the 90 degree weather today or what? I was not prepared for it, hence the amazing feeling of having cool air and a cold drink with me at this moment.

Warning! Warning! This is the part where I tell you there will be spoilers ahead: There will be spoilers ahead!

The Lure (2015) is a very ambitious horror fairy tale musical from Poland. Let me say it again, it is a Horror Fairy Tale Musical… A HOOOORROR MUUUUSICAL. (I KNOOOOW!!)

I stumbled upon a clip of it on Instagram a couple of weeks ago but at the time I did not know what its title was, or any other identifiable information for that matter, so I asked around in my horror community but none of us knew about it, and none of us spoke Japanese either so that wasn’t helpful. The video clip that made me fall in love with the then-mysterious movie was this one, go ahead, click HERE and go watch it, I’ll wait for you.

*sips iced coffee*

What did you think? Wasn’t it extravagant and big and loud and colorful and fantastic and human and sexy and frightening, all at once? Didn’t your mind explode with questions and demanded more? Weren’t you aroused by it just a little? Nope? Just me!?

*sips iced coffee awkwardly*

So, where was I? Oh yeah, me not knowing the title of the movie. So yes, days passed and I kept coming back to the clip until—don’t ask me how—I finally found it on Monday and I was so happy and wanted to watch it right then and there, but I had to put a pin on it because I had stuff to do that evening (my husband had returned home from out of town and I was thrilled to have him around again). So Tuesday came and I rented online Corki Dancingu (aka The Lure) and OMG I couldn’t even. Wednesday arrived and I watched it again and this time I took notes, like, literal notes, five pages worth of notes, I am looking at them right now, I am touching the pages right now, the point being, it got super intense.

*sips iced coffee smugly*

On Thursday I took a wellness class and also had a massage so I was super chill by the time I arrived home so I was like, nope, I am not talking about any movie tonight, hence you reading this on a Friday evening — welcome, to THE LURE!

The story is about two mermaid sisters, Gold and Silver, who are making a stop in a small town before they go to America. The sisters have beautiful voices so they sing, and I mean they sing sing, like, in a band, like in a get-your-wardrobe-ready band. The sisters are so different from each other: Gold sees humans as food, while Silver sees them as beautiful creatures to fall in love with which is the reason why they get into trouble. Gold is trying to protect Silver from destruction because if she falls in love with a human and he marries someone else, she will turn into seafoam. So romantically dramatic! Gold loves her sister too much and can come across as overprotective and insensitive. You, as the viewer, can develop certain animosity towards Gold because, come on girl, live a little and let everyone be happy, am I right?

Gold definitely has some low points, not only does she alienate Silver but also acts out by going out and hunting humans, using sex as a gateway –she seduces, gets intimately close, and attacks her prey by ripping out their hearts. Gold has a dark past and it shows. Gold is my favorite.

This was my favorite song sequence from Gold. Even though she was surrounded by the whole gang, she was lonely in her own world:

Man, I have so much to say about this movie that it is overwhelming for me to continue gushing about it, after all, I have five pages worth of notes for heaven’s sake. I’ll tell you what, I will list ten things I loved about it, no explanation, just a list:

1.        Mermaids’ bizarre anatomy while on their human form (no anus, no vagina)
2.       Their ability to communicate telepathically
3.       The lesbian sex scene between the detective and Gold (omg so hot!)
4.       Silver trading her tail for “real legs and a pussy”
5.       Triton! (so badass!)
6.       The dream sequence where the human leader of the band sees herself as a mermaid, breastfeeding Gold and Silver
7.        All the musical acts (The Lure would make for a great Broadway musical)
8.       Random moments of the film score that reminded me of Bjork’s Vespertine album
9.       Anytime the sisters transformed into their mermaid form (those snake-looking tails!)
10.      The eerie sequence from song “Czy to Juz” 

To be fair, not everything was perfect and, honestly, there were a few things that were not clear to me, such as:

-   Was the human trio a family? Mom, dad, and son? If so, why did they show the mom giving oral sex to, nope, cannot finish that sentence
-   Did the owner of the club sexually assault Gold and Silver? Was that the reason why they were almost dying on their human form after they were left alone with him?
-   What happened to Gold’s face? One moment her left cheek was fine, the next she had a long thick cut on it
-   If water turned their legs into tails upon contact, why did they not transform under the rain?
-  What was the poison that almost killed the human trio? They all had some sort of sexual interaction with the sisters so, was that it? (so many sexually inclined theories!)
-   In the ending scene, once Silver died and turned into seafoam and Gold killed the guy and ran toward the lake, in that moment, what did it mean when the camera took us to the bottom of the lake and zoomed into rocks? Was that Gold? Did she also die and dissolved into nothingness? I mean, what was that all about?

Wow. I am exhausted. Not only because it’s almost midnight, but because my brain capacity is maxed out thanks to the wonderful, fascinating, intoxicating, and confusing world of The Lure.

Going to bed now. Hope to have sexy dreams with mischievous mermaids who break into dance and song every time something exciting happens. Good night everyone, until next time.

—Marath

THIS FRESH BLOOD: Happy Death Day (2017)

Original Post Date: 04.09.18

Last year at HHN I was introduced to the horror movie Happy Death Day (2017)and to be honest it did not get my attention enough to go the movies for it, and instead decided to wait for the dvd. Sure, the Blumhouse maze consisting of The Purge/Happy Death Day/Sinister combo was okay (I will soon be sharing the video I recorded inside… jeez, I’ve been saying that since last October! Crap!) Where was I? Oh yeah, the maze. The Happy Death Day section was 100% new to me, and by that I mean I had zero idea of what the movie was about or who the evil character was, and quite frankly the baby mask was super annoying, so yeah, I said to myself let’s wait for the dvd.

Fast forward six months and ta-da! The dvd is now in my hands!

I humbly would like to tell you that I was quick to judge the movie, it was really good and I will explain why, but first, take a look at this:

So now at least you know the story is about a sorority/mean-girl type woman (Tree Gelbman) who keeps waking up on her birthday only to find out she gets killed and ‘brought back’ again and again and again. As you would expect, she gets the handle of things really fast and one by one she keeps crossing off her list of potential killers until she finds who that person is. I am *not* going to spoil it for you as the whole adventure is super engaging and entertaining and, guess what? Just when you thought Tree had finally figured it out, boom! She wakes up on her birthday yet again! This was fantastic as a viewer because I myself was already getting ready to stop the dvd when no no no, the show ain’t over yet!

A few other things I enjoyed from the film: their ability to make you care little by little for the protagonist, their ability to trick you into believing one thing and then proving you wrong, their fresh way of basically doing the same thing (waking up, getting dressed, explaining what’s going, navigating life) over and over without being repetitive or boring, the subtle camera effects used to emphasize certain aspects of Tree’s journey, the good example of a woman who started by running away from her problems (by avoiding them) and then ended by facing them and succeeding after much struggle (by being resilient), and lastly, I obviously enjoyed all the creative ways in which Tree gets killed by our baby-masked friend.

So yeah, if you haven’t watched the movie already and are game go have a look and let me know what you think (shoot me a DM on my IG and let’s discuss all those juicy small details).

 “I can’t change what I’ve done, but I can start trying to be a better person today/ It’s been so much worse. All of this running and hiding has made me so miserable and i think i finally figured it out. For me, it took something, like, totally crazy, but… but I’m here and I love you and I’m so, so sorry that i hurt you.” -Tree

- Marath

DARK WATER (2002)

Original Post Date: 02.17.18

The Japanese horror movie Dark Water (2002) is another example of why I have been falling in love with the literary work from author Koji Susuki. In this film adaptation from his 1996 novel with the same title, the main character, Yoshimi Matsubara, gives us the best she has to give as a woman, a mother, and a protector. (And strangely enough, I saw glimpses of myself thru her and of course that made me happy, but ultimately it made me sad.)

The movie showed real vulnerability, anxiety for a life getting out of control (in Yoshimi’s case, divorce/custody battle, new apartment at run-down building with a leaking problem, new school for her kid with less than desirable teachers, a brand new job), worry for seeing this strange kid and her mysterious red bag when no one else did (was Yoshimi’s going mental again?). The movie was sad, scary yes, but mainly sad and that was a good thing as it made me feel the characters were authentic with real everyday life problems, characters just like you and me. Characters, however, that due to their unique circumstances were in the middle of experiencing supernatural events that were gradually getting worse and worse.

One might say that Yoshimi was a weak woman riddled with neurosis, and actually yes, she even verbalized it once or twice to her Lawyer when she shyly confessed “I get confused by myself,” but in the end that same alleged weakness, that same intensity for feeling things was what made her sacrifice herself to save her daughter, little Ikuko Matsubara. Yoshimi gave herself to the strange kid’s ghost, Mitsuko Kawai, so her little Ikuko would no longer be in any danger. Yoshimi chose to be the ghost’s mother so she could save her real daughter. Sad ending.

Now, let me talk real quickly about the beauty of the film. Visually, Dark Water was so intensely packed with nerve-racking images of decay, despair, isolation, frustration, and vulnerability, oh, and lots and lots of gloomy rain. (I LOVED IT SO FREAKING MUCH!)

These were the scenes I adored:

• Ceiling leaking and getting the whole bed wet (my own anxiety was triggered major time!)
  

• When the mom goes to the vacant 405 apartment upstairs looking for her daughter after getting lost/hearing footsteps and she opens the door and sees everything covered in water: floor, sinks, walls, its own ceiling, it almost looked as if it was raining inside, also, we see Mitsuko in the shadows just for a brief moment
  

• After the manager fixes the “water problem” from 405, and Ikuko’s health starts improving, and the custody battle starts looking better for Yoshimi, all their sense of normalcy gets shattered when Yoshimi has a vision of Mitsuko’s death and goes to the roof to investigate, leaving little Ikuko alone and vulnerable to an attack by Mitsuko… this is when we see for the first time the ghost’s gray/pruney-looking hands!
  

• When the mom finally comes downstairs and finds her daughter motionless on the floor and carries her to the elevator but the elevator doesn’t move and she sees from afar her daughter sleepwalking/coughing and… here’s when she realizes she carried the little ghost instead AND we see the little ghost girl in her yellow plastic attire with face, arms, and legs all gray/pruney-looking (this one scene was the one that made me scream in terror!)
  

• Then, so sad, the mom accepts that she has to let go of her own daughter to save her… so she leaves her alone and both mother and daughter know this is goodbye and start crying in pain (dude, my feelings!)
  

• The daughter goes after her mom, takes the stairs from the third to the seventh floor and while sitting on the floor, defeated, suddenly the elevator door opens and only dark water comes rushing out, sweeping the little girl, leaving her alone (for real this time), crying for her mom… cut to the water tank on the roof, fade to black*

Since I must insist on the great visual quality of the film, I feel obligated to share it with you in the following twenty-one screenshots. Enjoy:

In Love and Fear,

- Marath

[*] I would have loved the movie had ended here but it didn’t and instead gave us an extra eleven minutes of the 10 Years Later deal which kind of felt unnecessary to me, it felt like a failed attempt at trying to give the audience some sort of reassurance that things were going to be okay for the dead mother and the abandoned daughter. News flash! Horror movies do not need to have a happy ending, just FYI.