LACE CRATER and Other Ghostly Sexual Encounters

Lace Crater follows the story of Ruth (Lindsay Burdge), an awkward twenty something that begins to experience strange physical changes after a weekend tryst with a ghost. The phenomenon of sexual encounters between ghosts and humans is called spectrophilia, and there are some films that have explored this phenomenon in the past. While not exactly a trope explored often, the relationship between humans and ghosts is one that can produce either romantic or terrifying outcomes.

Ghost (1990) is perhaps the most famous example of a romantic haunting. While no actual human-ghost sexual encounter occurs in the film - the famous pottery scene occurs at the beginning of the film - Sam Wheat's (Patrick Swayze) love for Molly Jensen (Demi Moore) is so strong that he watches after her to protect her after his murder.

The Entity (1981) is a film that is the exact opposite of a romantic haunting, and Martin Scorsese considers it one of the scariest horror movies of all time. The film stars Barbara Hershey as a woman who is tormented and sexually abused by a ghost. The film is based off the story of Doris Bither, a woman who in 1974 told Culver City, California police that she was raped by invisible assailants.

Last year's hit Midnight Madness film It Follows (2014) doesn't feature a human-ghost sexual encounter, but it does feature something arguably scarier - a sexually transmitted poltergeist as programmer Colin Geddes put it in last year's programming notes. The film follows Jay (Maika Monroe) as she confronts a murderous entity visible only to her after having sex with a new boy she has been seeing.

 

Further information about Lace Crater can be found on the Festival website, as well as on the film's Facebook page and director Harrison Atikins' website.

LACE CRATER Screening Times:

Tue. Sept 15, 9:30PM SCOTIABANK 10

Thu. Sept 17, 9:30PM SCOTIABANK 14

Sun. Sept 20, 3:15PM SCOTIABANK 9

HERE COMES THE DEVIL: Review

If you're familiar with Mexican horror films and are expecting something Gothic, spooky, and languorous from Adrián García Bogliano, you're in for a surprise. His newest film, Here Comes The Devil, is going to scorch your eyeballs and bathe them in blood.

Sex, sex, and more sex. And blood. And sullen teenagers. These aren't your average sullen teenagers; they're creepy. Creepier than your average sullen teenagers, that is.

There's a lot going on in Here Comes The Devil and to attempt even a plot synopsis would ruin the thrills. You might already know that the film is about possession, possibly the Devil, and missing kids who return to their worried parents as mysteriously as they disappeared, but who don't seem quite the same after they come back.

The devil in question isn't the one you're expecting, and that is a big part of what makes Here Comes The Devil so complex and fascinating. Ironically, Bogliano's visual style—lots of zooms, close ups, and intense deep focus shots—is straightforward and almost humorous. In the Q&A after the film's premiere at the Festival, he professed his love for Nicolas Roeg's style of filmmaking (Roeg is thanked in the credits) and noted the audience laughter during all those crazy zooms, which, along with some unusual sound design and a particularly emotional score, have led a few critics to dismiss Bogliano as an amateur, but he's way smarter than they think.

What such over-the-top cinematic tropes do is provide a lighthearted counterpoint to a deeply unsettling film. Yes, the handful of graphically violent scenes are going to shock you, even if you think you're used to movies where blood spurts at you like a busted fire hydrant. The most potentially disturbing scene in the movie, however, is not even shown; what's more disturbing is that it's hinted at early on, leaving the audience to wonder if the Devil was just finishing up what nature already started.

As the troubled parents, Francisco Berreiro and Laura Caro are outstanding. It's even more impressive when you learn this is Caro's first film role (she's a trained singer and had previously only acted in a soap opera). Their performances add some grit to an also-excellent screenplay with a believable narrative arc and convincing dialogue.

References to other films—Picnic At Hanging Rock, The Entity—were obvious before Bogliano admitted they were an influence in that Q&A. I'll add two more: The Exorcist and (the original) Invasion of the Body Snatchers, but here they're both cleverly inverted.

You don't have to be a film buff appreciate Here Comes The Devil, but although it's (relatively) straightforward, don't expect to have all your questions answered at the end, either. This is one you're going to think about for a while after you leave the theater.

HERE COMES THE DEVIL Screening Times:
Wed., Sept. 13th, 7:00PM, SCOTIABANK THEATRE 3
Sun., Sept. 16th, 3:30PM, SCOTIABANK THEATRE 4