HoopTober 8: Mosquito Takes Mandragon

Movie 12
Six decades: 1st of 2 films from the 70's

Every now and again you happen across one of these old grindhouse horror films from the 70's which have lurid exploitation posters but which seem to have been put together almost like an art film. Often a bit rough around the edges, but I feel like I have seen a lot of these: some of the more obscure stuff like The House That Cried Murder and The Brotherhood of Satan was like a bonus nice surprise, because given their obscurity, you go in assuming they must be a bit shit. Let's Scare Jessica to Death comes with a bigger reputation, and although this is never going to be everyone's cup of tea, I have to agree with its fans - this is terrific.

It does have that amateurs-going-for-arthouse vibe that I really like, and this along with its creepy smalltown atmosphere and oblique storytelling really reminds me of another favourite of these kinds of films, Messiah of Evil. The Connecticut location is truly gorgeous, especially this deep in the autumnal fade (although there are many sequences involving the cast swimming in a lake which I'm going to assume was fucking freezing - if nothing else impressed me about the art of acting, just Zohra Lampert's ability to get in for a swim without pulling a face and groaning and spasming like I did during our summer holidays in an English seaside town this year would be enough to get my respect).

Speaking of Lampert, apparently her grinning pixie dreamgirl routine turns a lot of people off, but I think that's misreading the intent. Jessica has just been released from an asylum, so that constant grin and all that overt frolicking is clearly her trying to show how great everything is, despite them having no money and the fact this weird hippy they found in the house is trying to get her leg over with Jessica's husband. Lampert is fantastic in this film - showing the character's vulnerability in such subtle and imaginative ways. After all, as much as that title is a silly and misleading grindhouse moniker, it does at least capture the central dynamic of the film being Jessica's psychological journey into fear and beyond.

Many will find this slow moving, but there's something so languid and enjoyable about the experience of watching it if you choose to get into its wavelength.

This is really nice stuff (stick that on the poster - what an amazing bit of film criticism).