Top Ten Non-Horror Films

I suppose one of the ironies about horror films is that the majority of them are, in fact, not that frightening (if at all).  There is a certain absurdity that goes hand-in-hand with horror that allows us to keep a distance emotionally and even intellectually from the contents of the film; compare horror to comedy, for example, and you will find more parallels than you’d initially anticipate.  With keeping this in mind I have decided the time was nigh to introduce you all to my top ten favorite movies that have (more or less) nothing to do with our beloved horror genre; indeed, I’m going outside of the box here to do something a bit different.  The paradox here, of course, is that many of the following selections are horrific at heart in one way or another as they touch upon a deeper, more personal level than most films swathed with gallons of blood and foggy cemeteries.  Keep in mind that this list is meant to be subjective and not objective.  Please enjoy and, as always, your thoughts, reflections and your own selections are both encouraged and welcomed!

10.  Conan: The Barbarian (1982)

Fantasy films usually have source material but, unfortunately, fantasy films usually also capture nothing of the atmosphere and feel of said source material.  The Lord Of The Rings, anyone?  Anyway, Conan: The Barbarian captures the essence of Robert E. Howard’s Conan work beautifully and without flaw – the characterization is spot-on and the aesthetic of the sets and landscapes transports you right into the heart of the Hyborian Age.  Although Conan: The Barbarian is lacking in social commentary (there is some, believe it or not, as would perhaps be expected from a script coming from Oliver Stone) it is still an exceptional aesthetic experience that is worth numerous ventures therein.

09.  The Holy Mountain

Alejandro Jodorowsky’s 1973 film The Holy Mountain is quite a psychedelic piece chockfull of metaphorical imagery that, depending upon your spiritual center (or lack thereof), could be interpreted in an endless variety of ways.  I have always found the film’s structure to be most satisfying and unique, journeying through the eccentric lives of individual characters that eventually all partake on a journey together themselves ending in one of the most paradoxically climatic and anti-climatic sequences one is likely to see in cinema.  I always enjoy hearing interpretations of the ending since it,  very much like the film itself, could be deemed meaningful in a plethora of ways.  The Holy Mountain is a unique, visually stunning film that comes recommended most highly!

08.  Taxi Driver

Taxi Driver is my favorite Martin Scorsese picture and its influence on the more artistic side of cinema cannot be denied.  We follow an isolated, existentially conflicted and relatively misanthropic individual around through the more mundane moments of life that ultimately give bloom to an expression of extremity that is one of the most memorable to be found in the world of film.  Ultimately Taxi Driver allows the internal state of a character to reflect upon the environment rather than the more common opposite which is something that, to this day, sets this remarkable film apart from most of the so-called competition.  Essential viewing!

07.  The Good, The Bad And The Ugly

Sergio Leone pretty much single-handedly reinvented the western genre with his “dollars trilogy”, giving it a much-needed injection of humanity.  Westerns beforehand generally focused on a very defined “good guy” and “bad guy” with there being very little room for development within that basic, obsolete construct.  Leone gave us characters that, despite their almost mythological and highly romanticized presentation, were undoubtedly driven by human nature as is made obvious by their actions throughout the films.  Eastwood’s character in The Good, The Bad And The Ugly, for example, is “the good” but not in the archetypical sense and this is exactly the kind of characterization that helped evolve the western into something much more compelling and powerful.  The Good, The Bad And The Ugly is not only Leone’s ultimate film but the ultimate western as well.

06.  Fatal Attraction

Adrian Lyne is quite an excellent director and if this list was detailing horror films Jacob’s Ladder would be right towards the top (although it’s more than just a horror picture, of course); anyway, Fatal Attraction is another Lyne picture and it is by and large the best thriller I have ever seen (and I’ve seen a lot, actually).  Infidelity can quite literally destroy lives – not only those who decided to partake in said infidelity but all those who it negatively affects – and Fatal Attraction epitomizes this very real horror of human desire, nature (?) and sexuality.  An intense, culminating and very real film worth seeing more than once.

05.  Scarface

Capitalism has been covered in a number of films in a plethora of ways but Scarface seems to capture its essence more accurately and romantically than any other movie I’ve seen.  Scarface warns of the self-destructive nature of capitalism; it warns us against the disastrous snowball effect it has not only on people’s lives but  on the system itself; it does these things, yes, but it also covers the glamorous, hedonistic excesses of capitalism that make those who really benefit from it feel invincible.  When Tony Montana expires at the end we experience a moment of disbelief that this seemingly indestructible force of greed and desire was, at long last, destroyed.  There is a great balance and harmony to be found in the film itself which is ironic since all of the characters are unbalanced and corrupt in some way or another.  Scarface is a masterpiece and will forever remain De Palma’s best and most iconic film.

04.  First Blood

Yup, you’ve got it, a Stallone film at number four here.  I used to be quite the Stallone fan in my youth and, as a result, have a lot of nostalgia attached to his films; had I seen most of them for the first time yesterday I probably wouldn’t be too impressed but First Blood would undoubtedly be the exception to this.  Featuring beautiful cinematography, intelligent action, an ending no one would expect from an action film (instead of the shedding of blood there’s the shedding of tears) and war-time commentary that’s potent enough to get even the most uninterested viewer thinking.  First Blood is an all-around great film of the action genre that transcends the genre’s negative stereotypes with flying colors.

03.  Salò, Or The 120 Days Of Sodom

Where to even begin with Pier Paolo Pasolini’s breathtaking and heartbreaking Salò?  Being banned in several countries and having had to go through intense criticism and scrutiny from most viewers and critics, some say Salò ultimately cost us Pasolini’s life.  Salò is, reputation aside, one of the deepest, most intense and strongly inspired films you will ever see although it is also one of the most extreme.  If you’re reading this you’re undoubtedly well-versed in horror but no amount of conditioning can prepare you for the emotional and intellectual onslaught you’ll experience amidst the depraved, surreal scenes to be found throughout Salò’s depths.  This is an adept and challenging piece of cinema that remains one of the most vivid and important I’ve ever seen.

02.  Amadeus

I was entranced by this film the first time I saw it in my youth and, to this day, I watch it at least a few times a year and never fail to fall under its magnificent spell.  The undercurrents of commentary to be found throughout the film meditating on things such as faith and hatred come from such a human place that it’s actually quite easy to relate to Salieri’s emotional disposition throughout the film.  Overall the characterization throughout the film is of the utmost quality and thankfully Amadeus falls into none of the one-dimensional pitfalls we generally see with period pieces.  Speaking of period pieces, Amadeus is one of the most convincing I’ve seen, every little minute detail making up a whole that is arresting in its grandiose, eloquent and operatic (no pun intended) vision.  An incredible film and an all-time favorite of mine.

01.  The Godfather

No commentary is really needed for this one, is it?  Imagine cinema as a whole and then imagine every possible facet of that whole perfected – that, my friends, is The Godfather.

Nuit Noire (Black Night)

Olivier Smolders is a more or less unknown director from the Democratic Republic Of Congo that, to this date, has only one full-length feature film under his belt: the marvelous, Kafkaesque Nuit Noire (meaning “black night” in English).  I read about this particular film some years ago in what I presume to be an ad in Rue Morgue (I can’t quite remember) although it wasn’t until very recently that I actually came across a copy to add to the collection.  I am quite a fan of Franz Kafka and have been ever since I read The Metamorphosis when I was a lad although I’ve noticed that, despite his popularity in existential circles and elsewhere, it seems his influence on film has been minimal; or, perhaps it is better to say that there are only a few films I have seen that actually possess an atmosphere and aura that would be considered wholly and undeniably Kafka.  Nuit Noire, along with the likes of Soderbergh’s grossly underrated Kafka (ironic, huh?) and Polanski’s The Tenant, is one such rarity to have Kafka written all over it.

The horror elements in Nuit Noire are light at best but they’re there enough for me to justify writing about this little gem here at Horrific Healing.  While one cannot expect gallons of blood or aggression, there is an abundance of both subtle perversity and darkness (figurative and literal) throughout the film’s duration to appeal to most seasoned horror fans out there.  The dialogue throughout the picture is minimal, the tapestry of its cleverly simple yet highly metaphorical narrative instead being woven by all kinds of arresting imagery and wonderful cinematography that definitely wouldn’t be out of place amidst a David Lynch feature.  I mentioned that the narrative itself was highly metaphorical although it is also worth mentioning that the imagery is highly open to interpretation as well which, depending upon the kind of film-viewer you are, could be a positive or negative thing.  Nuit Noire, very much like the aforementioned David Lynch’s Eraserhead, is highly open to interpretation and meaning.  I personally adore this kind of filmmaking since it allows me to integrate my own interpretations and thoughts into the experience of the film without being necessarily told what I am watching, why I am watching it and how I am to logically go about the film’s content.  Nuit Noire captures this particular spirit of filmmaking perfectly.

All-in-all I was quite impressed by Nuit Noire and wish that I could get my hands on some of Olivier Smolders’ shorts because he seems to have a lot of promise as a filmmaker.  If you’re a fan of Kafka, Lynch, the arty side of horror or just art films in general, I can only recommend the immersive Nuit Noire to you in highest regards because it’s definitely worth seeking out despite its obscurity.  A surprising and wonderful gem!

Daughters Of Darkness

Daughters Of Darkness is a film that I have wanted to see for many years – six or seven, at least – and, after finding it at a local shop, I was finally able to sit down and give it a much anticipated viewing last night.  There has been a fair amount of genre-hype around Harry Kümel’s 1971 film as it is often considered to be a top-notch European vampire flick but, upon viewing it myself, I can only question the hype.  The movie essentially follows a recently wed couple who quickly encounter a modern-day Elizabeth Báthory and, from there, things slowly spiral out-of-control and, when I say slowly, I mean slowly.

For those uninitiated, this is pretty far off from a horror film and, instead, only has trace elements of the genre scattered throughout its duration so if you’re steadfast on seeing a horror flick Daughters Of Darkness isn’t going to be your cup of tea.  If I had a throw a classification on it I’d say it’s somewhere between art-house and exploitation rather representative for its period; there is also, perhaps expectably, a slightly psychedelic feel to it as well.  None of the aforementioned bothers me as I like all of the said genres on their own and, in many cases, when they’re mixed together also; no, the bane of Daughters Of Darkness, as hinted earlier, is its rather trying pace.  Indeed, this film is quite slow and will certainly drive anyone who isn’t used to these kind of movies mad.  Even though I am a rather seasoned viewer I still found the pacing of this vampiric venture to be lacking considerably – there’s not much violence, there’s not much sex and there’s not much clever dialog and, if such things are absent, how can a film of this nature possibly be a success?  Daughters Of Darkness has some impressive cinematography, decent acting and a first-rate soundtrack, yes, but otherwise I can think of nothing exceptional to point out other than a handful of well-constructed scenes.  For example, the Countess and Stefan (one of the newlyweds) begin to caress each other rather vigorously whilst describing all kinds of sadistic acts of torture in one scene and the results are a pure delight; Stefan’s mother is of considerable interest, also, haha.

Eh, I am having difficultly coming up with more to say about Kümel’s sole venture (from what I understand, anyway) into the realm of vampirism.  The film, despite having my full attention, just dragged on longer than it was welcome and while it does have its moments they were too few and far between to save it from mediocrity.  I have seen worse, yes, but I have also seen better.  Nevertheless, I do recommend viewing Daughters Of Darkness for yourself since this flick has got a lot of supporters out there and is considered to be a cult classic by many so perhaps I am just one of those folks who simply doesn’t “get it.”  In time I will be giving this one another spin to either verify or thwart my current standing since I do want to like it but, as for a first impression, I was disappointed.  Recommended to those dedicated to the genre only.