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TIFF Review: ‘The Lighthouse’ is Not For the Faint of Heart

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The Lighthouse

Robert Eggers’ sophomore follow-up to 2015’s The Witch is a gradual descent into madness; a journey not for the faint of heart.

The Lighthouse follows two lighthouse keepers on a remote and mysterious New England island in the 1890s. As their time on the island progresses, their patience wears thin and an obsession develops around the brilliant beacon of the lighthouse.

Visually, the film is stunning. Shot in black and white with a 4:3 ratio, the cinematography grips its subject and holds tight. Entire monologues are held with an unblinking eye, driving the incredible performances from stars Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe deep through so you can feel their intensity in your bones.

The Lighthouse

via A24

As The Lighthouse progresses, the camera echoes the characters’ slip on sanity by increasingly leaning on dutch angles, putting the audience ill-at-ease. The lighting – as with The Witch – appears to be all done naturally; scenes are awash with natural daylight and shadowed by the light of a single lantern in a dark room. For a film that is built around a growing obsession with a beacon of light, every change in lighting feels emphasized, particularly in the stark black and white coloring.

The imagery found within The Lighthouse is entwined in beautiful tableaux seeping with symbolism. Maritime superstitions and mythology flow throughout the film, washing over the action and crashing into the story like waves, pulling the characters under.

Robert Pattinson digs in with a tortured performance that puts DiCaprio’s in The Revenant to shame. He physically toils scene after scene after scene, exhausting the audience and drumming up immediate empathy for his struggles. Both Pattinson and Dafoe leave it all on the table; they suffer greatly for the sake of the film, and it’s incredible to watch. Their collaborative commitment to constantly one-up each other on the scale of insanity is wildly impressive. 

Dafoe is completely lost in his character, so much so that his strong accent and mumbling dialogue can be difficult to suss out at times. There’s one particularly earth-shattering monologue that reverberates on screen that – thankfully – is spat out with such passion that it’s much clearer than some of his other ramblings. Though it can be challenging to track exactly what he’s saying, he’s always easy to follow thanks to Dafoe’s crystal clear performance. 

When it comes to monologues, The Lighthouse is blessed with some real knockouts. Pattinson and Dafoe rise to the challenge and deliver gripping performances that speak to their raw talent as actors. Eggers knows the level of skill he’s working with and captures their tirades with the utmost respect, allowing them to flex their artistic muscles.

via A24

Surprisingly, The Lighthouse actually has some moments of real humor peppered in. These bits of levity are drawn from the overall absurdity of the film and build on the relationship between our two main (and only) characters — though they’re not exactly jovial. Their constant battle turns from a one-sided verbal thrashing to a hypnotic dance of toxic camaraderie. 

Eggers has proven himself to be one of the most exciting directors working in genre cinema today. The Lighthouse has so much bubbling under the surface, and as the film progresses, it boils over and floods every inch of the screen with unhinged madness. Eggers is extraordinarily talented and we can’t wait to see what he does next.

All that said, The Lighthouse is not for everyone. It’s definitely a slow burn, and it may be a bit too off-kilter for some audiences. But if you approach the film with patience and an open mind, there is a lot to take away. It’s not an easy journey, but it’s one you won’t soon forget.

For more on TIFF 2019, check out our interview with Midnight Madness programmer Peter Kuplowsky and the full 2019 Midnight Madness lineup.

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Brad Dourif Says He’s Retiring Except For One Important Role

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Brad Dourif has been doing movies for nearly 50 years. Now it seems he is walking away from the industry at 74 to enjoy his golden years. Except, there is a caveat.

Recently, digital entertainment publication JoBlo’s Tyler Nichols talked to some of the Chucky television series cast members. During the interview, Dourif made an announcement.

“Dourif said that he’s retired from acting,” says Nichols. “The only reason he came back for the show was because of his daughter Fiona and he considers Chucky creator Don Mancini to be family. But for non-Chucky stuff, he considers himself retired.”

Dourif has voiced the possessed doll since 1988 (minus the 2019 reboot). The original movie “Child’s Play” has become such a cult classic it’s at the top of some people’s best chillers of all time. Chucky himself is ingrained in pop culture history much like Frankenstein or Jason Voorhees.

While Dourif may be known for his famous voiceover, he is also an Oscar-nominated actor for his part in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Another famous horror role is The Gemini Killer in William Peter Blatty’s Exorcist III. And who can forget Betazoid Lon Suder in Star Trek: Voyager?

The good news is that Don Mancini is already pitching a concept for season four of Chucky which might also include a feature-length movie with a series tie-in. So, Although Dourif says he is retiring from the industry, ironically he is Chucky’s friend till the end.

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Editorial

7 Great ‘Scream’ Fan Films & Shorts Worth a Watch

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The Scream franchise is such an iconic series, that many budding filmmakers take inspiration from it and make their own sequels or, at least, build upon the original universe created by screenwriter Kevin Williamson. YouTube is the perfect medium to showcase these talents (and budgets) with fan-made homages with their own personal twists.

The great thing about Ghostface is that he can appear anywhere, in any town, he just needs the signature mask, knife, and unhinged motive. Thanks to Fair Use laws it’s possible to expand upon Wes Craven’s creation by simply getting a group of young adults together and killing them off one by one. Oh, and don’t forget the twist. You’ll notice that Roger Jackson’s famous Ghostface voice is uncanny valley, but you get the gist.

We have gathered five fan films/shorts related to Scream that we thought were pretty good. Although they can’t possibly match the beats of a $33 million blockbuster, they get by on what they have. But who needs money? If you’re talented and motivated anything is possible as proven by these filmmakers who are well on their way to the big leagues.

Take a look at the below films and let us know what you think. And while you’re at it, leave these young filmmakers a thumbs up, or leave them a comment to encourage them to create more films. Besides, where else are you going to see Ghostface vs. a Katana all set to a hip-hop soundtrack?

Scream Live (2023)

Scream Live

Ghostface (2021)

Ghostface

Ghost Face (2023)

Ghost Face

Don’t Scream (2022)

Don’t Scream

Scream: A Fan Film (2023)

Scream: A Fan Film

The Scream (2023)

The Scream

A Scream Fan Film (2023)

A Scream Fan Film
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Another Creepy Spider Movie Hits Shudder This Month

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Good spider films are a theme this year. First, we had Sting and then there was Infested. The former is still in theaters and the latter is coming to Shudder starting April 26.

Infested has been getting some good reviews. People are saying that it’s not only a great creature feature but also a social commentary on racism in France.

According to IMDb: Writer/director Sébastien Vanicek was looking for ideas around the discrimination faced by black and Arab-looking people in France, and that led him to spiders, which are rarely welcome in homes; whenever they’re spotted, they’re swatted. As everyone in the story (people and spiders) is treated like vermin by society, the title came to him naturally.

Shudder has become the gold standard for streaming horror content. Since 2016, the service has been offering fans an expansive library of genre movies. in 2017, they began to stream exclusive content.

Since then Shudder has become a powerhouse in the film festival circuit, buying distribution rights to movies, or just producing some of their own. Just like Netflix, they give a film a short theatrical run before adding it to their library exclusively for subscribers.

Late Night With the Devil is a great example. It was released theatrically on March 22 and will begin streaming on the platform starting April 19.

While not getting the same buzz as Late Night, Infested is a festival favorite and many have said if you suffer from arachnophobia, you might want to take heed before watching it.

Infested

According to the synopsis, our main character, Kalib is turning 30 and dealing with some family issues. “He’s fighting with his sister over an inheritance and has cut ties with his best friend. Fascinated by exotic animals, he finds a venomous spider in a shop and brings it back to his apartment. It only takes a moment for the spider to escape and reproduce, turning the whole building into a dreadful web trap. The only option for Kaleb and his friends is to find a way out and survive.”

The film will be available to watch on Shudder starting April 26.

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