"Samurai" is an early work by the great comic book artist Gene Day. It's equal parts elegant and spooky, making it great feature for our month-long Halloween-build up here at Shades of Gray! (Click on the pages for larger, more easily read versions.)
Garden of Souls (2022) Starring: Betty Roehm Widdoss, Karen Lynn Gorney, Eric Bower, and Jackie Capizzi Director: Christopher Milewski Rating: Six of Ten Stars
A grieving young widow (Widdoss) is approached by a strange old woman (Gorney) with a promise to reunite her with her dead love.
"Garden of Souls" is one of many attempts at emulating the style and content of silent movies from the 1910s and 1920s that you can find while prowling through the depths of YouTube. Although the pacing is a bit slow at times and the story logic is a bit murky, the creators here captured the style of early films with great effectiveness.
One thing that would have improved this film would have been a more effective use of the color tinting. I am not a fan of this, but when I've seen it used in actual vintage films, I could easily and quickly grasp what they were trying to convey, either scenery-wise or character-wise. Here, there didn't seem to be an immediate comprehensible reason for some of the color choices -- or maybe I was just particularly dense on the day I watched the film. Take a moment and watch the film (embedded below for your convenience) and tell me what YOU think the viewer should infer from the various tints.
Another thing that would have made this a much stronger film would have been a stronger attention to detail as far as the costumes go. In one scene, Widdoss character while dressed in an immaculate white gown picks up a shovel and starts digging in a grave. When she's done, her gown is still spotless. This REALLY pulled me out of the film, and I think that even filmmakers in the 1910s would have dirtied her up a bit.
The House on the Lake (2019) Starring: Oriane Gyseling, Jeremy Murrow, and Lenise Buttner
Director: Damien Kazan
Rating: Seven of Ten Stars
A young woman (Gyseling) is watching videos of her childhood when she realizes that she is not alone in the isolated house.
Featuring "The House on the Lake" was originally released as a color film, but writer/director Damien Kazan decided to see what it would look like in black-and-white... and, with digital magic, he bled all color from the films world, making the film darker and spookier than the color version! (You can watch it and compare the two versions by clicking here. Please tell us which version you like best!)
Although some of the scenes seem underlit (although they may have looked fine before the color was removed), this is a spooky and tense film. Actress Oriane Gyselings has a very expressive face and she does a great job moving from relaxed happiness, to unease, to outright horror. Her performance is made even more impactful by great camerawork and tight editing and story pacing.
Click below to check it out, right here from this post!
Edgar Allen Poe (aka "Edgar Allan Poe") (1909) Starring: Herbert Yost, Linda Arvidson, Arthur V. Johnson, David Miles, and Anita Hendrie Director: D.W. Griffith Rating: Seven of Ten Stars
Writer Edgar Allan Poe (Yost) is struggling to make enough money to purchase the food and medicine needed by his ailing wife (Arvidson). Can he find a publisher for his latest peom before it is too late?
"Edgar Allen Poe" is a fictionalized version of the circumstances surrounding the creation and publication of Edgar Allan Poe's most famous work, "The Raven". It condenses several key events in Poe's life to make them occur simultaneously, but what it lacks in historical accuracy it makes up for with heightened drama and tragedy.
One mildly amusing fact about the film is that Poe's name is misspelled in the title--no, for once I did not make a typo in the heading, the film is actually titled "Edgar Allen Poe". This error is typically explained by the fact that the film was rushed to market in order to capitalize on the centennial anniversary of Poe's birth (he was born in Feburary 8, 1809, and the film began playing in theatres on Feburary 8, 1909), having been filmed over two days in January of 1909. By the time the error was noticed, copies of the film had already been made and were shipping out to movie theaters.
This film is far superior to what it's rushed production schedule might seem to infer. It is another innovative entry in Griffith's unfolding invention of much of what remains technical standards in filmmaking today--in this specific case, it was how Griffith lit the scenes.
Whether you have an interested in Edgar Allan Poe, silent movies, or just well-made dramas, I think you might find the few minutes it takes to watch this film. Click below and sit back.
_as_Edgar_Allan_Poe_in_1909_Biograph_film.jpg "Herbert Yost, Anita Hendrie, and David Miles in \"Edgar Allen Poe\" (1909)")
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