The Lighthouse

"The Lighthouse" (Robert Eggers, A24, Regency Enterprises, Universal Pictures) is a black and white psychological film inspired by the avant-garde/experimental style.


Set in the late 19th Century, two lighthouse keepers are sent to the lonely and secluded island for their four week shift. The two do not get on and, trapped on the island in a storm, it seems that they both begin to lose their sanity with deadly results...


Personally, this film was not for me. Technically speaking, however, it's an interesting film. Well shot and bleakly atmospheric, it delivers a disturbing piece. Filmed on 35mm and in an old fashioned ratio adds to the cinematic experience. From what I've read, the set up and filming process were both extremely labour intensive and complicated, so the film is certainly a feat in this regard.


Both Robert Pattinson and Willem Dafoe give intriguing performances as the younger, less experienced keeper and the abrasive older keeper. Their relationship is taught, uncomfortable and ultimately deadly. There's also the added element that both characters are extremely unreliable narrators (given their own secrets, alcohol abuse and apparent cabin fever), so that we are never truly sure what events are happening, and what are figments of the men's imaginations.


Overall, I found the purposefully disjointed style and delivery to be rather boring and I definitely felt the full 109 minute runtime. Whilst I can appreciate the style and aesthetic of the piece, I didn't find it to be particularly entertaining and, unlike Eggers' "The Witch" (2016) or Ari Aster's "Hereditary" (2018) , I wasn't even left with the same grim emptiness or shell-shocked feeling that lingered after the credits rolled. While I think it's sure to become an important film in the future for aesthetic and style reasons, I wasn't overly impressed with it as a film and wouldn't hold it in the same esteem as I do David Lynch's surreal and uncomfortable "Eraserhead" (1977) (which no doubt played some part in inspiration). For me it played out a little too much like a project piece rather than a finished article.


So, although I can and do appreciate the film's technical and aesthetic merits, it's unlikely to be one I'd choose to revisit. However, for the intrigued, it's certainly worth catching for the experience.

[Image: A24, et al]

Hani

Dolls

"Dolls" (1987, Stuart Gordon, Empire Pictures) is a killer doll movie.


Little Judy Bower (Carrie Lorraine) is an unlucky tyke. Her parents are divorced and she's stuck on holiday with her selfish father, David (Ian Patrick Williams), and his new wife, Rosemary (Carolyn Purdy Gordon) - the epitome of wicked stepmother and lover of hair wraps.


After their trip is cut short due to a thunderstorm, the family seek shelter in a nearby house; that of elderly puppet-maker, Gabriel Hartwicke (Guy Rolfe) and his rather dotty wife, Hilary (Hilary Mason). They are later joined by some other stranded strangers; punk girls and thieves, Isabel (Bunty Bailey) and Enid (Cassie Stuart), and the child-at-heart schmo the girls have marked as their next robbery victim, Ralph (Steven Lee). The old couple are very accommodating, giving everyone a room each for the night and offering them supper and wine. Gabriel also gifts the young Judy a Mr Punch doll upon finding out that Rosemary threw her favourite teddy bear into the woods!


But as the night wears on the dolls and puppets placed around the large house seem to move, strange voices can be heard coming from behind locked doors, people appear to go missing and suspicious bloodstains begin to appear. Are the friendly Hartwicke's up to something devious? Will Judy escape from her awful father and stepmother? What's the deal with Mr Punch? All is revealed in this fun, cheesy caper.


Despite falling into the low-budget category, "Dolls" enjoys some effects that still look good today. The doll face effects can vary in quality between props, but are pretty good overall. There's also a variety of different little doll-monsters to enjoy and the scenes with them in are fun in a way similar to the "Puppet Master" series. There's also the added layer of watching the dolls' creation which was pretty fun.


Rolfe and Mason provide some likeable villains with an effective creep-factor, both Williams and Gordon also bring some unlikeable fodder to the tale and Bailey and Stuart provide further villains with more annoying accents. Carrie Lorraine does great work as the little leading lady and pushes the plot on with her childish curiosity and bravery.


There's a lesson in there about being a nice person, being a good parent and also about watching out for vengeful dolls. The film delivers this in a gleefully schlocky b-movie way before sending us on our way as yet another family of unhappy individuals lands themselves on the doorstep of Hartwicke's dollhouse....

[Image: Empire Pictures]

Hani