Through the Spooky Looking-Glass - And What You Could Find There

I find it extremely annoying when I'm roused from a deep slumber in the middle of the night. Obviously, I want to have someone or something to "ptchhh" at before I crawl back to my nightly neverland. But last night was weird. You see, I don't quite know what woke me up. I don't remember hearing a sound, whether it was as light as paper rustling or as noisy as the clatter of a midnight snack's sneaky construction. It wasn't a bad dream for I don't remember dreaming. It wasn't even a subconscious, maternal sense of Saanvi falling off the bed, for she was sound asleep.

And then it hit me. That strange, inexplicable, deeply unsettling feeling of a presence that you can't quite grasp, shining a torch on my darkest fears. For you don't know what lies ahead of you, and you sure can't go back to sleep. Suddenly, I get this urge to go to the bathroom. No, it's not a biological one. You know, just to make that journey of peering into the darkness, look at my reflection, double-check if there's any blood coming out of nose (or flies climbing into my mouth) or worse, an ominous presence lurking right behind my shoulders. With my heart racing, I head to the bathroom. I nervously fidget for the switch in the crippling darkness. Warm lights try to appease my discomfort, or maybe fool me into walking in. I stand at the entrance, the ominous air whisking across my face, arresting me right at the door. Like all slasher movie protagonists who are too zoned out on pills to say hello to logic, I go against my instincts and step right in. I survey the surroundings. Nothing in sight. I peer down the toilet seat. Nope, no waxy fingers climbing out. Lastly, I stare at myself in the mirror. Sure, I'm sporting my post-midnight pasty bloodsucker complexion (minus the red lippy) but nothing out of the ordinary, I'd say. I'm staring at myself hard, mentally telling myself there's nothing wrong and I should now go back to sleep. But suddenly, out of the corner of my eye, for a fleeting second, I see it. Or did I? I mean I think I saw it. And there it is again!

AAAAAAhhhhhhhh!

It seemed to me like a startlingly blown up version of what I remember of it. And all this while, I was living in the false hope that it's gone forever. And yet here it was...More life-like, more invincible...And it was still that murky green, nasty form of wiggling tails and slithering slimy skin.

Fine. It was only a lizard. But OMG, lizards are my worst fear! Being trapped with them in a small space could potentially give me a stroke. Their presence is both inexplicable and unsettling. How could they possibly crawl into a home that couldn't be more unwelcoming and hostile to them? It is a real-life horror that I'm constantly trying to escape....They somehow manage to give me the chills even when existing somewhere in the unknown crevices of my kitchen....It's their small, slow-moving, silent existence that is capable of completely transforming my perfectly homey surroundings into a cold, unpleasant atmosphere of imminent danger.

Uncannily enough, for that reason, atmospheric horror is the only kind that truly gives me the spooks. A dilapidated Victorian house covered in weeds, a cob-webbed antique mirror, creaking doors, deeply disturbing salon art and everything sinister about a seemingly innocent person or the environs of a place that only reaffirm your deepest, darkest fears of peering into the unknown are the things that haunt me the most. I think, the primer before the occurrence of a supernatural event is what you take home after watching a horror movie; the suspense is what keeps you hooked on to your seat. But jump scares whether it is in the form of creepy girl ghosts, strange beasts in the shadows or gory-masked slashers...while they may have you modulating like Julia Child at the spur of the moment but with time, they slip from your memory. The atmosphere is what gives any horror movie its spine-chilling potential and unnerving quality.

So here's my list of kickass horror movies that'll stay with you for days, have you requesting an escort service for your post-midnight bathroom trips, dodging eye-contact with your reflection or making soap opera endings of mundane events, including going to your room to fetch a towel by yourself.

1. The Innocents (1961):

First of all, let me just say this is such a beautiful movie! But maybe a small disclaimer. If you've been through the whole catalog of horrors and don't really flinch much to skeletons dropping in the dark at horror houses, this is not for you. I love it for the eerie, sinister atmosphere in monochrome; the old Victorian mansion, dark hallways, beautiful camera depictions of spectral presence in daylight and night-time apparitions on French windows. Add to that a weird governess of two delightful kids who can't quite make up their mind if they're representatives of the angel or demon. Maybe there is possession. Maybe there is not. But then there's more to all three of them that meets the eye. Well, maybe I shouldn't say any more.

2. The Orphanage (2007):

Speaking of creepy children, The Spanish film Orphanage masterfully sets a tense atmosphere of vulnerability through a lady in her mid-thirties returning back to her roots - her childhood foster home, now a creepily desolate remnant of its past glory. She brings her husband and newly adopted child along so that she can turn it around to a home catering to children with learning difficulties. But Simon, her adopted son, has a thing for imaginary friends. One of them mysteriously leads him away from his family for an extended period, following which an agonizing search begins. The search operation only makes us delve deeper and deeper into the horrors of the house, without any sign of Simon.
Caution: The jump scares in this movie will send ice cubes down your spine.
This ghost story, set in what looks like a chapel in shambles, empowered by creepy children games leading to secret basements and attics, and the melancholic theme of separation from loved ones renders it as one of the best horror movies I've ever seen, probably one that I wouldn't venture to watch again.

3. Repulsion (1965):

If you're a believer in love at first sight, maybe not such a good idea to watch this Roman Polanski spine-chilling psychological thriller. For this one is terribly convincing. Catherine Deneuve plays an evocatively beautiful, reserved woman who lives with her philandering sister in a small uptown apartment. Her sister's fling with a married man is a constant source of disgust to her, but we don't know the extent of her repulsion to proximity with the opposite sex, until an eligible bachelor comes along and vies for her attention. Now probably this man is a decent one and exactly what she needs. But her mind's clouded with all sorts of repugnant ideas, something that takes the form of an extreme form of paronoia. The chilly atmosphere created here is in the mind of this outwardly shy, harmless woman. To be subject to the hallucinations and nightmares of her warped existence is the scariest thing that I've ever witnessed in a movie. By the end of the movie, I could literally see the cracks on the wall and feel things crawling on my body. Yikes!

4. The Conjuring (2013):

Everyone I know has seen this movie, including 12-year olds, and we all agree it is nightmarishly scary in parts. I recall being scared of clapping my hands for the longest time after watching this movie. Sure it has the usual suspects - an Amityville-ish deserted house and a violent ghost shutting down clocks and banging doors shut. There are the usual spookies, creepies and inexplicable bump bumps.. But the shocks, some of them completely absurd, are so powerful that it'll have you not wanting to fall asleep at all....or appointing a night-time guard for your feet.

5. The Devil's Backbone (2001):

They just don't infuse drama with horror the way the Spanish do! This is another one based in an isolated boarding school brooding with the tragedy of lone corridors and orphaned sons of Republicans. It shows us a historical perspective of the Spanish civil war through the eyes of a young boy, not old enough to understand political calamities.  It's 1939 and in the middle of the school courtyard sits an unexploded Fascist bomb, symbolic of the state of limbo that Spain was in and the doom that was to follow. But the dark corridors of the school and the near-empty closets reveal to us much more than the imminent tragedy looming over them. A haunting of a former-child resident, the villainy of the snaky caretaker, and the layers of dark fears that the boy is both curious to uncover and terrified to find out, make this film a hauntingly melodramatic horror.

6. The Shining (1980):

A gloomy isolated hotel. Bleaky winter days. A dysfunctional family, led by a deranged alcoholic who declares his cold, unappealing abode as "Cosy"! And there's nobody else for company. Naturally, things will go awry. And how? The house takes its own sweet time to unravel empty rooms with ghostly apparitions, ominously vacant corridors turning the corner to reveal elevators filled with blood. And then, you have a man driven to destroy his small family for no rhyme or reason, except his hypnotic surroundings. This is one hair-raising tale, incidentally based on Stephen King's novel.
The last scene of the movie still haunts me. That chilling smile of Jack Torrance, impossibly captured in a picture, taken sixty years before the period that the movie is set in... I still don't get it.

7. The Haunting (1963):

This is a good old-fashioned haunted house chiller. The plot is a conventional one, something that's probably been used by one too many horror movies we know of. A bunch of stereotypical guests are cordially invited to spend a few days at an idyllic old mansion. But things are not as they seem. OK, I see you yawning. But get this. This is a ghost story plot but ghosts are not the reason you'll get spooked out. It's the anticipation of them that'll drive you crazy till the very end. There's the possibility of a hidden secret, murder, insanity and the works. You'll see the characters hunched up together in fright listening to sounds coming from the corridors - screeches, bumps, even gun shots, and you can't help wondering about what the darkness holds. The spooky set-up of it all will give you goose-bumps without quite knowing what's causing them.

I know I'm missing a host of good horror movies in this list including the likes of Exorcist and Omen. By no means is this a list of horrors that'll have you shutting your eyes through some jolt-inspiring scenes in blind terror.

But these are movies that'll creep into your psyche without a sound and come to haunt you the next time you find yourself alone.

More outlandish or conventional horror stories to add to the list? Be my guest and write in the comments below.

My Personal Alternative Art Exhibit

According to an article in nytimes, "art appreciation is a female predilection". How can they say that? Well, we spot a larger number of women buying art in comparison to men at art galleries. And it's not just another desire to browse, shop and possess that brings them to art galleries.  These women are dead serious. If you happen to overhear their conversations, you fathom that they get the esoteric symbolism and all the subtle undercurrents conveyed by the artist.

And this is where I'm at pains. Call me uncouth but for the life of me, I don't get art exhibits - expressionistic or abstract. So, for example, if you show me a modern art sketch of a horse drinking out of a can of OJ in a rather dismal setting, I will see a horse drinking out of a can of OJ in a rather dismal setting and not the evils of consumerism on our nutrition and well-being.(Duh.) So I live in the happy realization that maybe I'm one of the un-art-initiated and that's why I generally steer away from art galleries and exhibits.

But then not all art is for everyone and come on, the Museum of Modern Art in New York is now projecting video games as serious works of art. Of course, it has given rise to a heated philosophical debate among art aficionados, but at least we can safely conclude that anything can be art, as long as it renders us a personal vision inspired by life or our own perceived reality.

Which brings me to an art form that is close to my heart. Movie posters. Um, yes, I'm a movie buff and browsing through movie posters generally means either looking through them or stopping to interpret the movie's essence and decide whether it's worth anticipating for. Ok, there are these soul-less posters that just throw the core essentials that sell a movie at you - the actors and actresses you like, a picturesque setting, the movie title and the release date. And chances are, you will still go watch the movie and come back and rave about how it was all that it promised.

But there are some movie posters that go way beyond.

These are the ones that stuck...that so simplistically captured not only the gist of the movie but also the feeling that one has after watching that movie. These movie posters to me became art - that one visual that elevates the movie beyond its recurrent theme and socio-cultural subtext to be eternally etched in one's mind as a miniature of the movie.

So without further rantings, I give to you a list of movie posters that, for me, have made the cut and remained with me for reasons I can't completely decipher.

In no particular order, they are:

1. A Clockwork Orange:

I remember what a demonic cult classic this movie was and naturally, with all the peer pressure, I had to see it for myself. First glance at this poster and I knew it's going to hit me straight in my guts. The disturbia in the movie's quite evident. I was raptured by the piercingly sinister eyes of the knife-bearer and then I spot the eyeball. As expected, I couldn't go past the first fifteen minutes of this movie and that eyeball continues to haunt me.

2. Shawshank Redemption:

What you see in this image is a man with his arms stretched outwards standing in the rain, his liberated spirit, looking up at the falling rain, full of hope. What you don't expect is to see a movie about a man in prison. This poster, to me, is a spiritual experience, much like the movie that could be easily mistaken for a dreary prison drama from its title, but instead offers us a much deeper connotation of life - of the importance of slowing down and reflecting, of hope and of the human spirit. Maybe, I'm biased towards the movie but the truth is that this is the visual that I carry within me to represent this beautiful masterpiece. 

3. Trois Couleurs - Rouge

Ah, the inner limbo of Irene Jacob is unmistakable in her expression in this beautiful picture, which is also one of the central themes of the movie. The clever use of a similar poster within the movie in the form of a giant billboard located at a city crossroad and the way the other characters react when they look at the billboard for the first time is also what makes it a strikingly captivating movie poster. The color red, of course, is symbolic of the multifaceted meditations on love and fate.

4. Anatomy of a Murder:

The simplicity of this poster is what wins it for me. The cutout body - I mean you can't get more symbolic.

 5. E.T.:

This stunning poster shows us the coming into contact of E.T and Elliot in a starfield backdrop. Interestingly, this was inspired by Michelangelo's "The Creation of Adams", alluding to the portrayal of E.T as Jesus Christ and Elliott as the one in need of guidance and salvation. But as kids, we could only link it with the desire for a cool friend from the outer space. Whichever way. It works.

6.V for Vendetta:

What brilliance of color composition! The menacing dark shadow of V looms over the entire city with his sole intent of revolution symbolized through a dagger. Revolution is also portrayed though the use of a tilted angle and a color composition of red, black and sepia.

7. American Beauty:

The poster takes a bite at the fantasies that can stem out of an unchangeable but safe, surburban life. The image, in the face of it, seems fairly innocent. And then you read the tagline, "Look closer." And you just know that there will be a seedy disclosure, unfolding slowly, much like the petals of a rose.

8. Rosemary's Baby

One word. Creepyyyy...Just look at the details. That cold, eerie shade of green. Mia Farrow's vacant face superimposed over a silhouette of a baby carriage. A baby carriage seemingly on the foot of a hill, unattended. And lean closer towards the darkness and you see a tagline, "Pray for Rosemary's Baby." I got goosebumps.

9. Pulp Fiction

Seems like a round-up of everything sleazy. Uma Thurman's icy stare, the cigarettes, the cheap paperback, the pricetag and the gun. Takes you back to the jarring 90s and still so contemporary.

10. Blow-Up

I'm kind of a fan of Michelangelo Antonioni movies because they're such a tease - so new-wave and so damn incoherent that at times, you feel like you're losing your mind. And on repeat watches, you realize what a fleeting mirage they really are. The inspiration behind this iconic poster is the celebrity-obsessed mania that we, as a culture, are afflicted with. The themes that immediately come to mind when you see this poster is voyeurism. However, if you look closely, you also notice that the unsuspecting voyeur (the photographer) has entangled himself in the lure of beauty to become the one who's being watched.

I'm sure I've offended a lot of people by missing like a whole generation of kick-ass movie posters in my list but I wanted to keep it small :). And these posters to me not only have a high recall value but also that out-of-the-box, artsy touch. Feel free to slam some more awesome poster artwork in my face in your comments below.


Image Source: www.movieposter.com

Great Gatsbian Vogue- More Everything!

So this weekend, I finally put on my brave face and sat down to watch a movie that I'd been dying to see for really long. But somehow, I just couldn't summon the courage to witness the silver screen manifestation of what can only be known as the Fitzgerald's greatest prose and a significant allegory of the fuzzy Jazz Age. The movie was a kaleidoscopic delight to the eyes but missed an important detail - the disclaimer that before watching this movie, pull the intellectual mantle down and keep all your cult worshipping at bay.

My first impression was "Wow, this movie's far more grandiose than my imagination....Tad loud though, eh?" The way Baz Luhrmann gives us an obscenely flamboyant and a larger-than-life theatrical rendition to the beautiful, sombre prose of Fitzgerald was not quite what I expected, to say the least. However, as you watch the movie, you realize that it is this reinterpretation that struck a chord somewhere. And thus, swaying to Jay-Z urban hip-hop and donning a flapper-style spirited nonchalance, we are flimsily glided through Gatsby's life in a lavish and an emotionally-charged ride, much like one of his party crashers.

All of which adds up to the fact that this movie is not about delicacy or light breezes or the lyrical prose of Fitzgerald that coolly embodied the bittersweet abstractness of his characters' mental landscape. It is about the jarring cacophony of money, the overstated thoughtlessness of a hedonistic lifestyle, and above all.....Prada's exquisite tribute to the Flapper woman's exuberance and flair.

Right, about the fashion then. So if you're a "less is more" sort of fashion enthusiast, then read no further as the flapper style statement was all screeching, in-your-face embellishments of crystal and lustrous pearls, fur collars, opulent headdresses and jewel-encrusted gowns. The Roaring Twenties woman, the one armed with money and who was, I believe at that time, making waves to embrace the new and shed old inhibitions, obviously couldn't resist the swagger of excessive consumerism. And sartorially, Miuccia Prada and Catherine Martin were spot on in depicting her! This iconic woman unabashedly wore her shimmering "I couldn't care less" attitude on her sleeve with a trademark ease, and that's what makes her truly modern. No wonder, designers are drawn to the Flapper woman time and again in an attempt to touch her spirit and shape her mercurial personality in all kinds of feathery fabrics that dance up a storm when urged into the slightest motion.

So here are my personal favourite costume picks for two of the most iconic women of the 20s

1. Daisy Buchanan:

Daisy Buchanan...The girl we hate so much that we love her to death...fleety, impressionable, selfish and of course, highly-coveted. The golden girl with sad, enchanting eyes and the voice full of money... who's incapable of real emotions - her artifice is the stuff that legends are made of, probably the same stuff that inspired reality TV too.

We can only conclude that Daisy Buchanan is not an easy woman to style, for she's all about the manic, dream-like light she radiates, more than her wealth and glamour quotient. And Miucca Prada, although she confesses that none of the dresses were inspired by the 20s fashion, has captured her essence with perfection. Floaty silhouettes, ruffled feathers, fringes, faux collars, sheer silks, enhanced with bejeweled overlays and flashy headdresses all work like magic to enhance her Bambi-ness. Cary Mulligan's slender frame in sharp body-hugging dresses and the absurd burst of colors, fringes and sparkle, are totally in tandem with the over-the-top lifestyle of the 20s. Ofcourse, I didn't think any of her dresses, stunning as they were, are wearable otherwise. Nevertheless, the winner of all for the sheer craftsmanship is this magnificent chandelier dress with a dangling crystal overlay and the diamond-encrusted headdress.

Chandelier Dress

FYI, the ruffled fabric details in this lavender and cool blue garden dress were a strong influence from the 20s as women of that time wanted to emphasize movement through dress and make the most of their hip swings.

Garden Dress

I'm personally in love with this black robe! This stars in my to-be-designed list as a short black silk kimono dress with similar details. I think it'll be very flattering for a relaxed lounge wear sort of thing. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a better image but if you've seen the movie, you know what I'm talking about.

Black Silk Robe

Jordan Baker:
Strong, sexy, debonair, fiercely independent and modern, not just in her look but spirit. Jordan's not tied down by the men who're with her, much contrary to someone else we know. She's a pragmatist and also a highly-skilled golf champ, the occupation itself lending to her largely boyish mannerisms and choice of wardrobe. "She wore her evening dress, all her dresses, like sports clothes.", Fitzgerald quotes. But the essence of Jordan Baker is not her gawkish, masculine personality but that she's unconventional, aloof and has a likeable coldness to her. Baz Lurrmann retained all that and gave her a raw sensuality and a sophisticated look that is more recent than the 20s. Because her wardrobe's more relatable and not silly and soppy like that of the other one's, (considering we're in 2014), she becomes the fashion protagonist of the movie.



The narrow breastplate of sparkle frames her slender shoulders gorgeously! This dress is perfection for her as it brings out her the strong, resilient and slightly lethal personality - that is so Jordan Baker. The black veiled hat gives her an enigmatic edge.

Jordan Baker 

Ah, this geometric satin silk tunic with its sheen in that lovely color of champagne! Teamed with beige pallazos and strings of pearl, there's nothing that can look more sleek and elegant and above all fuss-free! The only drama going on is in her smokey eye make-up and coral pout. Thumbs up!

In all, I am not really impressed with this loud and shallow representation of Fitzgerald's subtle prose (and I would have really liked to believe that underneath all those collossal party scenes, the characters were deeply broken and misguided). The only saving grace that shines through, like the  Fitzgerald novel, are the costumes of the movie. Maybe they did betray the factual Flapper fashion by adding modern elements but strangely enough, the contemporary twist is what brought his prose to life for me.