BMC MOVIE OF THE WEEK: THE CALLING

The Calling (2000)

• 
• 

• Nick Brimble,
• Alice Krige,
• Camilla Power

Lots of women get the feeling that their boyfriends become different people after they've married them, but one finds herself dealing with a much bigger problem than leaving socks around the house or not taking out the trash in this supernatural thriller. Kristie (Laura Harris) is a sweet but slightly naïve young woman who is soon to marry the man she loves, Marc St. Clair (Richard Lintern), a television reporter. On the night of their wedding, Marc leads Kristie away from the wedding reception and takes her virginity near a strange stone monument in the woods. Kristie is a bit surprised by this behavior and even more startled when she discovers she's pregnant. Nine months after her wedding day, Kristie's son, Dylan, is born and the new mother is thrilled, but as the child grows older, she begins to sense that things aren't right. Marc seems to take an obsessive interest in his son, while even more surprisingly, his boss, Elizabeth (Alice Krige), is nearly as interested as Marc. In time, when Dylan begins to display telekinetic powers and Kristie discovers Elizabeth has given him a book of Satanic prophesy, Kristie begins to wonder what sort of a person Marc really is -- and whose child did she really bear? – All-Movie Guide

19% want to see it

PG, 1 hr. 29 min.

Director: Jan Dunn, Richard Caesar

August 15, 2010: Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Year C)

If you’ve watched any movie involving the antichrist, then you’ve already seen most of The Calling because it freely references all of them, from classics like The Omen and Rosemary’s Baby to deservedly obscure dreck like Bless The Child. (It also, inexplicably, riffs on Eyes Wide Shut. Who knows why?) The only original idea The Calling has going for it is the notion that the antichrist must go through events paralleling (albeit, sped up) the life of Christ by having corrupted, satanic versions of a baptism, a crucifixion, and a resurrection.

Maybe it’s that one spark of originality that kept me mysteriously glued to the movie till the end. It certainly wasn’t the script which not even the dependably weird Alice Krige could save. I mean, it was actually painful to watch a fairly solid actress like Laura Harris forced to play a character so irritatingly stupid. “Son, are you impaling your guinea pig? Oh, you kids do the darndest things!” Seriously, would someone please explain to aspiring screenwriters that naive and moronic are not the same thing.

And while you’re at it, tell them to pay attention in their religious ed classes too. Look, anytime you’ve got a movie dealing with Christianity, it’s pretty much a given that the teachings are going to be played with fast and loose. But The Calling really jumps the shark in one scene. Without giving too much away, a mysterious character (please allow me to introduce myself) explains to Ms. Harris that she had to be drugged and raped on her wedding night in order to conceive the antichrist because… that’s exactly what God did to an unwitting Virgin Mary. Riiiight.

I suppose, given who the character is (pleased to meet you, hoped you guessed my name), it’s quite possible that he’s lying. But the movie never says so, which means we’re to assume in this film’s universe that Mary must be the worst sufferer of Stockholm Syndrome ever. How else to explain her exclamation in this week’s reading? “My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my Savior for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant. From this day all generations will call me blessed: the Almighty has done great things for me and holy is his Name.” Not exactly the way most rape victims talk about about their abusers, huh?

I think I’ll stick to Mary’s story as originally written, where her fiat “Be it done unto me according to your word” makes her willing participation quite clear because, as the Catechism notes, “By her complete adherence to the Father's will, to his Son's redemptive work, and to every prompting of the Holy Spirit, the Virgin Mary is the Church's model of faith and charity.” Plus, I’m pretty sure the real Mary would have been smart enough to recognize something was wrong after her son hung the family dog.

BMC MOVIE OF THE WEEK: THE HOUSE OF THE DEVIL

The House of the Devil (2009)

• 
• 

• Jocelin Donahue,
• Greta Gerwig,
• Tom Noonan

A coed struggling to pay her rent ends up taking the wrong part-time job in writer-director Ti West's old-school 1980s-set horror flick, The House of the Devil. Samantha (Jocelin Donahue) is a sweet-natured and retiring young woman, unlike her rambunctious, loud, and self-assured best buddy, Megan (mumblecore stalwart Greta Gerwig). After moving into a new apartment, Samantha is desperate for a way to make a few more bucks. When Mr. Ulman (Tom Noonan) comes on campus looking for a babysitter, Samantha jumps at the opportunity. Once she convinces Megan to give her a ride to the creepy old Ulman house, Samantha learns that the job is not quite what was advertised. Ulman and his wife (Mary Woronov) don't even have a child. He tells Samantha that she just has to stay in the house with his elderly mother-in-law while he and the missus go out to celebrate the lunar eclipse. When she balks at the change of plans, he offers her more money. As the night goes on, it becomes clear that Samantha is a much bigger part of the Ulmans' plans for the evening than she would ever want to be. West established his genre credentials with low-budget cult favorites The Roost (which also starred Noonan) and Trigger Man. The House of the Devil also stars A.J. Bowen and Dee Wallace. The movie had its world premiere in the Midnight section of the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival. – All Movie Guide

54% liked it

R, 1 hr. 33 min.

Director: Ti West

 

August 8, 2010: Nineteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C)

Not too long ago, I made mention that “if I had to pick my top five horror movies of 2009, House Of The Devil would definitely make the cut.” Here’s why.

For my money, this is one of the best realizations of Alfred Hitchcock’s “bomb theory” ever put to film. “A bomb is underneath the table and the public knows it” Hitchcock explained, “probably because they have seen the anarchist place it there. The public is aware the bomb is going to explode at one o'clock and there is a clock in the decor. The public can see that it is a quarter to one… The audience is longing to warn the characters on the screen: "You shouldn't be talking about such trivial matters. There is a bomb beneath you and it is about to explode!" For Hitchcock, building tension involves the audience in a film more than sudden shocks.

The first 80 minutes of The House Of The Devil is almost entirely ticking bomb. Along with the title (oh, what a giveaway), the movie begins with the words, “During the 1980s over 70% of American adults believed in the existence of abusive Satanic Cults.” So, in the first ten seconds you see the bomb planted, you know exactly what the main character has in store for her. You just don’t know when. And you wait and you wait while she walks around her college, goes to the titular house, watches TV, orders a pizza, explores all the rooms, looks out the windows. Honestly, if you prefer quick cuts and jump scares in your horror movies, then you’ll likely find this film excruciatingly dull. But if you enjoy suspense, lots and lots and lots and lots of… well, you get the idea. If you like that, then this is THE movie for you.

And really, as Christians, waiting for a big payoff should be no problem. Every reading this week has something to do with patiently biding our time until God delivers on His promises. “However, there are very different ways of waiting.” Pope Benedict XVI reminds us. “If time is not filled by a present gifted with meaning, the waiting runs the risk of becoming unbearable; if something is expected, but at this moment there is nothing, namely, if the present is empty, every instant that passes seems exaggeratedly long, and the waiting is transformed into a weight that is too heavy because the future is totally uncertain. When, instead, time is gifted with meaning and we perceive in every instant something specific and valuable, then the joy of waiting makes the present more precious.” Christian waiting is active, not passive. We don’t sit on our butts until God pops in with a big musical cue and shouts BOO. Instead, we constantly work on our salvation with fear and trembling and with a growing sensation that something big is coming. It’s coming. We just don’t know when.

TECHNICAL DIFFICULTY

As you can see, we’ve had a few gremlins loose in the theater here. Yes, we’re having another one of those “perfect storms” of unavoidable work, social, and personal responsibilities, so the screen will have to remain dark until some time next week. See you when the doors open back up.