First, before I get into recommending the Spanish horror classic NIGHT OF THE SEAGULLS:
I've realised, since last I entried this blog, that it behooves me, as a movie critic publishing without any editorial oversight or restraint, to explain how I treat and deal with "SPOILERS!" I understand that a lot of movie geeks who use the Internet to research movies, a lot of the people, that is to say, I expect to read this blog, someday, are deeply concerned with having movies' stories blown for them, by casually exposive (sic) reviews, posted or published by writers who don't know or don't care that in ignoring this issue, they're doing real harm, in however limited a way. For instance, writer/director James Gunn probably didn't think the real harm was so limited, when it was his movie SUPER, a movie that depends in part upon an unexpected plot twist for its positive effect on any audience, being spoiled by Roger Ebert, who may be the most widely read movie critic on the planet; Ebert not only spoiled that twist in his review, but did so flippantly, in the course of writing a largely negative review. There wasn't much James could do about it, except complain on his Facebook page, and that's why this SPOILERS! issue really pisses people off: once the harm is done, it's done, and there's no way to undo it; there's no way to restore a story's element of surprise to a reader and/or viewer.
So here's the deal, with me, and SPOILERS! This is the deal you'll always get from me, as a writer, in this matter.
I can be, at times, brutally careless about disclosing details of plot, but only in discussing movies I've carefully judged to have no chance of surprising anyone, by way of anything scripted; I may be careless in disclosing story points, but only when I'm discussing movies that clearly don't depend, in any way, on keeping those story points hidden, for their effect. Most movies don't set out to offer plot-related surprises, for anyone over the age of twelve; it's almost universal, in fact, that screenwriting is thin in exactly this sense, and that includes the scripts for a lot of movies worth writing about. A lot of filmmakers believe that writing should be thin on story, in this exact sense; in fact, this is one of the major ways in which big studio Hollywood, collectively, is falling way, way behind these times, and today's audiences, and their expectations... but that's a subject far beyond the scope of this blog entry.
Back to the subject of SPOILERS! and this blog. There are, of course, a lot of movies that are story driven in ways that require reviewers to exercise care, regarding what they reveal, in writing about them. Don't worry: being a studious movie geek, and having been a professional Hollywood screenwriter, myself, I have an intimate working knowledge, of what kinds of stories, in what kinds of movies, require this kind of care. I can't promise you that I won't give away story points, in discussing any specific movie; nor can I promise to let you know when I'm about to "SPOIL" something in such a way; but I do promise that I'll always show excellent judgment, about what kinds of details comprise storytelling "secrets," so that any movie I happen to discuss, remains as enjoyable as it can possibly be, for those of you who haven't seen it yet. I seriously promise to do better than Ebert; that is to say, as a movie critic, I will be respectful, and attentive, in this matter, when writing about any movies - even when I'm writing about movies that I don't like or care about at all.
Luckily, today I'm still exploring my three years' "best" list, so that last point doesn't apply, to present company. (But earlier points do apply; that is to say, NIGHT OF THE SEAGULLS, for all its many and various strengths, does not have what you might call an unpredictable storyline...)
Another set of preliminary observations, to get out of the way, before recommending NIGHT OF THE SEAGULLS: when circumstances require me to try to explain my lifelong obsessive fascination for old fashioned, Gothic-esque, Halloween-y horror cinema, I'm more or less at a complete loss. Why do castles, spooky organ music, beautiful women in period costume and/or nude with fangs added, colorful unjustified lighting and wildly excessive machine-generated fog... etcetera, etcetera... why do these most elementary elements of generic genre horror, hold such overwhelming, enduring appeal, for me, or for anyone? Why is it that this is the cinematic stuff for which some among us, myself included, live? I could work hard to explain it, but I know from experience that if I do so, I will, most likely, mostly fail. It's easier for me to simply say, that's just how it is, with me, and folks like me, and Gothic-toned "classic" horror movies; if you're one of the many, many other movie geeks out there, who don't quite agree with me, in terms of taste, in this matter, all I can really say, is, it's a shame you don't enjoy this stuff as much as I do.
If, however, you do agree with me, on this subject; if you are, like me, unhealthily entranced by just about anything one might accurately describe as Gothic horror, or classic horror, or old fashioned horror, this next movie on my three years' "best" list is not unlikely to excite you, too. If you're not so susceptible to such cinema, not yet, anyway, maybe a good way to start yourself in that direction, if that's what you think you really want to do, is the old fashioned Gothic 1975 classic known in the States as NIGHT OF THE SEAGULLS.
Spanish director Amando de Ossorio has a pretty good reputation, among those horror and Eurosleaze cinema fans serious enough to know his name at all; most of the cult followings his movies have earned, have accrued to the several titles in his "blind dead" series. No, NIGHT OF THE SEAGULLS is not the first of these slightly famous Spanish zombie movies, but I think it's easily the best. It certainly has the most appeal for those of you who are not among the aforementioned serious horror and Eurosleaze cinema fans; that is to say, NIGHT OF THE SEAGULLS, as the strangeness of its title possibly implies, is, somewhat self-consciously, an "art film," or something a lot like one. I'd encourage anyone unfamiliar with these movies, to start with NIGHT OF THE SEAGULLS (and if you like this one, backtrack to see the earlier series entries); and though my own personal tastes make it hard for me to say so, for sure, I suspect this movie is good enough to be a good place to start, for anyone who's enough of a neophyte, to lack all points of reference, for understanding what is meant by "nineteen seventies Eurosleaze horror cinema." (Of course, most of the best places to start, are among the better known Italian genre classics; but my best lists draw only on movies I myself saw for the first time, in any given year, and I saw most of that Italian stuff, for the first time, many, many years ago.)
There is no narrative connection among Amando de Ossorio's "blind dead" movies; they do not share characters, nor does any strand of story run through and connect them. What they do share, is their Knights Templar zombies, and even a glance at the stills available online will make it clear to you that these makeup creations may be the most frightful and memorable screen zombies in all horror cinema. These extremely slow-moving, ominously silent zombies, are dressed in Knights Templar costumes so weathered and tattered, you could almost believe their putative age; they're so thoroughly and effectively redolent of all things ancient and dead, that even those jaded horror geeks who find the "blind dead" movies too slow, quiet and restrained, all around, usually concede that their zombies, are, if nothing else, unforgettable.
NIGHT OF THE SEAGULLS has an unusually tasteful script for a seventies European zombie movie; the desire on the part of the filmmakers, to give this movie a timeless, "classic" feeling, is almost palpable. A young doctor on his way to his first post, accompanied by his nervous wife, arrives in the tiny seaside fishing village that is to be their new home, to find they're not welcome and not wanted. The locals won't speak to them at all if they can help it, and won't even sell them groceries without telling them to leave town and mind their own business. The doctor being replaced flees without explaining the curse the town is under, beyond warning the new doctor that if he and his wife do stay, they must never go outside at night. Soon enough, the newcomers figure out that something strange is going on, something that causes the disappearances of young girls from the village, night after night - disappearances that are always preceded by the ominous clangor of churchbells, and the screech of weirdly nocturnal seagulls... and also, eerie slow-motion photography, of a troop of zombie cavalry, climbing from their graves, and riding out of their ruined castle, by moonlight...
The reason I mentioned the SPOILERS! business in this entry, is, of course, that this story is so thin, it's so old-fashioned, that it's hard to believe anything in it, is capable of "surprising" anyone. That being said, it's a tasteful, thoughtful script, that gives this movie all the excuse it needs, to pour on the style. The amazing locations clearly go back hundreds and hundreds of years; every shot in NIGHT OF THE SEAGULLS is crowded with decaying masonry of jawdropping age. The photography is astonishingly beautiful, dripping with opiated distortions, imagery often so fuzzy it's as textured as paint on canvas. Atmosphere and mood? NIGHT OF THE SEAGULLS is almost nothing but atmosphere and mood.
It's getting too late in the day, for me to fuss over giving this blog entry a rounded ending. I'll be blunt and brief: it's true it's a matter of peculiar personal taste, for me, with NIGHT OF THE SEAGULLS, and my passionate recommendation of it; for those of you who are generally disinclined to see this kind of thing, I guess I wouldn't recommend it, so highly... but if you happen to have no set opinion of such things, as yet... if you happen to be Eurosleaze horror-curious, so to speak... NIGHT OF THE SEAGULLS is as good an introduction to the Spanish side of the field as you're likely to have easy access to.
