Martyrs writer/director Pascal Laugier picks his five favourite scare-flicks…
1. The Exorcist
“It’s not very original, but I still can’t believe my eyes. I’m still totally frightened by the intensity of the film. The way it makes documentary of the Grand Guignol elements. The censors at the time said there was something nasty, something corrupt, in the entire film negative itself – and I think they’re right.”
2. Deep Red
“The first time I saw it on video it was a cut version, but that didn’t prevent me from being blown away. I didn’t know that a horror film could have that effect on me. It’s so sophisticated. It’s so Italian. I think it’s a better film than Suspiria. There is a script and there are really great actors. It’s a masterpiece and one of the most important films of the ’70s, much better than Blow Up
3. The Innocents
“For me, it’s the quintessence of Victorian Gothic horror. That’s one of my favourite subgenres. I love the way Gothic films mix the natural and the supernatural and you never know if the horror is objective or subjective. The entire film is seen through the eyes of a sick girl. The acting is amazing. The photography is a masterpiece. And the famous sequence with Deborah Kerr in front of the window and the shadow of the daughter… I get shivers just thinking about it.”
4. Picnic At Hanging Rock
“It is horror! It is. It’s metaphysical horror. The sequence on the rocks in the middle of the afternoon is totally scary and I love the fact there is no ending. It’s just a big enigma. And of course, any kind of metaphysical enigma can’t be answered. This film fascinates me. And I really cherish the idea that in the ’70s, you could make a film without an ending. Today, it would be impossible. They would force you to write a resolution. But the film was still a triumph at the box office.”
5. Full Circle (1977)
“A very ignored, very unknown film with Mia Farrow. It’s also known as The Haunting Of Julia. It’s a modern ghost story about a woman who loses her daughter in an accident – involving an apple! The mother buys a house in London and the house is filled with the ghost of her daughter. But is it her daughter? It’s beautiful, it’s totally melancholy and it’s my kind of horror.”
[…] the cinema manager, handing out refunds? Or a counsellor, perhaps? In fact, French writer/director Pascal Laugier the man responsible for impromptu redecorations of screening rooms and toilets across the […]