The Big Sleep, Dreams in the Witch-House (Masters of Horror)
The Big Sleep (1946). Dir Howard Hawks. This Raymond Chandler mystery features Humphrey Bogart as the inimitable Phillip Marlowe, private dick extraordinaire, in one of his most famous stories. The film also features the beautiful Lauren Bacall as the eldest daughter of the elderly Colonel Sternwood. I won’t spoil the plot by attempting to give a straight narration of who killed whom, and when, mainly because I don’t think it is possible. I have heard that there was an on-set argument between Bogart and Hawks concerning the perpetrator of one of the murders, settled by calling Chandler himself. He, according to the story, didn’t know either.
Luckily it’s not the mystery that matters, and in my opinion, it’s the ensemble and the dialogue that are the real focus. Marlowe has the excellent luck to be constantly surrounded, obviously there is a dearth of male shop-help and cab-drivers in town, by attractive ladies who all seem drawn to the taciturn Marlowe. I only wish that I was so lucky.
Great film, doesn’t quite fit the stereotypical Film Noir mould, but there are moments where the influences show through. For example, the scene where Lash Canino (Bob Steele) is questioning Harry Jones (Elisha Cook, Jr.) and a shaft of light falls across Marlowe’s eyes as he steps behind the office door.
H.P. Lovecraft’s Dreams in the Witch-House (2005). Dir. Stuart Gordon. Well-known (and loved) for his horror classic Re-Animator, Stuart Gordon brings us a functional adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft’s short story “Dreams in the Witch-House.” Nothing really wrong with Gordon’s direction, the cast is pretty good, and the effects are acceptable. One note on the effects, I found the Brown Jenkins effects to be very sub-par, and more of an attempt at humor than necessary. I remember being absolutely horrified by the character in the short story and, as is usual with adapted works, was let down by the direction chosen for bringing the character to life.
It makes sense why Lovecraft has almost always been adapted poorly, it’s hard to justify the suspense and narrative structure when there are few, if any, peripheral characters to be menaced by the horror in his stories. Notable exceptions to the rule are Gordon’s Re-Animator and the amazing Call of Cthulhu (2005).
Unfortunately, I hate to say that I was let down by Gordon, I’m emphatically a fan of several of his films, but this is just not at the same level. As an episode of the Masters of Horror series it’s also lagging far behind my series favorites’ Argento’s Pelts and Miike’s Imprint.
