Chloe's Not Scared

I knew about the reputation of Possession before I even knew what it was about. Banned in several countries and garnering the title of a “video nasty,” this Isabelle Adjani and Sam Neil supernatural divorce film has gained a huge following in both the horror scene and Letterboxd/Criterion film studies scene (I belong to both). Before this year, Possession was only available to view at select theaters (usually around Halloween) and a limited-release BluRay from Mondo Vision in 2014, in which there were only 2,000 units distributed. I personally sought out Possession for years, finding it on Vimeo or YouTube and seeing it deleted shortly after I sat down with my popcorn. With the re-release of Possession right now in select US Theaters, I started thinking a lot about hard-to-find horror movies and how they became cult or lost to time. 

The Keep

Directed by Michael Mann (1983)

Michael Mann has disowned his film The Keep, which perhaps unintentionally fueled the film’s mythology over time. The Thief director’s original cut was 210 minutes- much too long for audiences at Paramount. The theatrical release was cut to 96 minutes, riddled with continuity errors and not very well-received. The film never gained a DVD or BluRay release due to copyright disputes. I can’t even remember how I got my hands on the director’s cut of The Keep, but this was my first introduction to Tangerine Dream properly and I will never forget it. If you love fantasy-horror with great 80’s visuals and a synthesized score, this movie is for you.

Dead of Night

Directed by Alberto Cavalcanti, Basil Dearden, Charles Crichton, Robert Hamer (1945)

Stream it on Hoopla

Dead of Night got a 4K restoration in 2019, but I feel that this was too little too late. This is a classic horror anthology movie and one of my favorite movies period (shoutout to my horror-obsessed father!). Each of the anthology entries were directed by different people, but the standout director is Brazilian film director Alberto Cavalcanti. Cavalcanti directed the stories “The Christmas Party” and “The Ventriloquist Dummy,” the latter being the most memorable story of the bunch and influencing many movies and tv shows to come. Besides having some genuinely creepy scares, Dead of Night also deals with a lot of horror psychology and critical dialogue about narrative storytelling, similar to that found in later Hitchcock films. 

Let’s Scare Jessica to Death

Directed by John Hancock (1971)

Quietly re-released on BluRay at the beginning of 2020, Let’s Scare Jessica to Death remains a generally unseen cult classic, perhaps because it is very rarely available on streaming services. When Jessica returns to society after being hospitalized for her mental illness, her husband and their friends buy a remote house by a lake… a house that may already be occupied. The film is a psychological thriller that humanizes Jessica despite her mental illness and invites the audience to relate to her, which is so very rare in horror movies. Let’s Scare Jessica to Death was filmed without a distributor and published independently. The film has appeared on many top horror lists, including those of famous horror directors.

Popcorn

Directed by Mark Herrier (1991)

Not yet belonging in the hallowed halls of cult horror cinema, but I’m still listing it. Filmed entirely in Kingston, Jamaica, this teen slasher starts off pretty lackluster and quickly builds momentum. Ahead of its time in the meta-horror aspect of the early 90’s, Popcorn follows a group of teens run a horror movie festival at a local theater, including a cursed film. The movies shown within Popcorn are perhaps some of the best, and there are some classic gross prosthetics and slime synonymous with horror of the era. A copy is nearly impossible to find, but I think it’s worth a watch. This movie could be very easily adapted in the right hands (I nominate Leigh Janiak or Christopher Landon). And can we just talk about that movie poster? One of the best.

I have so many other films to add, and not enough space. Do you want to see a Part II of this post? Let me know in the comments!

Sources

Blu-ray Review: The POSSESSION Release By Mondo Vision Owns All Others (screenanarchy.com)

The Disappearance of Michael Mann’s The Keep – Den of Geek

Main image attribution: Isabelle Adjani, Sam Neill @ Possession (Andrzej Żuławski, 1981) by deepskyobject on Flickr (CC by 2.0)

I want to also give a big shoutout to both Scream Factory and Criterion, who love to re-issue old movies lost to time. If you have the means, please support them!