The wind has begun to howl, and promises to rise. The temperatures are frigidly bitter. The first snowflakes are falling, and soon I’ll be trapped alone in my home. Alone…my wife is a thousand miles away, I’m the sole guardian of this lonely old wreck. She promises to return next week, but can you trust the airlines? I may be here forever, abandoned. Did I say alone? Not quite. There is a sullen black cat here, watching me. There is madness in her eyes. We shall be howling at each other before this is over.
Then I think, am I in a Robert Eggers film?
So I decided to watch The Lighthouse to find out. Yep, definitely. My situation could be the premise for Eggers’ next film. Fortunately, I loved it, so bring it on — one of the best films of the year.
It felt much like The Witch, moody and atmospheric, with a growing sense of dread. You know no one is getting out alive, and it’s going to be their own paranoia and fear that destroys them. Every character is flawed, and those flaws just expand in the vacuum of their isolation until they all crumble under the weight of madness. Everyone is saturated by their environment — in the case of The Lighthouse, everyone is wet and cold, and you can almost smell the sea salt coming off the screen. There is a hint of the supernatural, but you can never quite be sure whether it’s real, or if it’s insanity, the best kind of spooky.
Well, I’ve got to get back to staring down the cat, and the liquor is already running low. The movie also has great tips for dealing with that situation…turpentine & honey, hmmm? We’ll have to try that, just before one of us staggers off into the blizzard to meet…check back later to find out.
This sounds like “The Horror of Fang Rock” without Doctor Who.
“We’ll have to try that, just before one of us staggers off into the blizzard to meet…”
A snow spider!
@ Susan Montgomery, # 1: “At the Mountains of Madness?”
All is not lost. I sighted a spider this morning and besides you could be in St. John’s.
A nice day in Newfoundland
Snow at times heavy and blowing snow. Amount 40 to 50 cm. Wind northeast 60 km/h gusting to 90 except gusting to 110 along parts of the coast. High minus 2. Wind chill near minus 13.
Tonight Snow at times heavy changing to light snow overnight. Blowing snow. Amount 15 to 25 cm. Wind north 90 km/h gusting to 120 except gusting to 150 along parts of the coast this evening. Wind becoming northwest 70 gusting to 100 overnight. Low minus 7. Wind chill minus 13 this evening and minus 19 overnight.
Not my spider but isteresting.
A spider down under
@3 I wouldn’t know. Apart from “The Re-Animator” (1985) I’m not into Lovecraft. Not to suggest any of it is bad, just not my cup of tea.
#1 Susan Montgomery
My thought exactly!
#4: Sounds like us, except slightly warmer.
Regarding ambivalent horror plots, I see that “The Turning” is coming out next Friday, based, of course, on “The Turn of the Screw”. I sincerely hope it retains the possible unreliable narrator issue, but, given the January release date, and the current state of film production, I’m not optimistic.
https://youtu.be/rl33gU2APIs
Meanwhile in Australia, “Everything is on farking fire, run for your lives.”
Meanwhile in Australia, “Everything is on farking fire, run for your lives.”
I remember there was an 70s/80s movie where a couple go camping and the bush/ forest was trying to kill them. Wish I could remember the name.
Oops double post. Sorry.